Love & Light and everything bright...

FROM HAIKU, MAUI

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Back in Cusco, then on to Pachatusan Again

Visit to Tipon, Return Home

URUBAMBA, Peru, June 11 - After the kind of a session we had with the mountain spirits last night, almost anything would be a letdown.  But Jose Luis did find a way of keeping us going on this Day 13 of the Altomesayok trip despite the physical exhaustion which was starting to take its toll on some of our team members.  Unrelenting, our fearless leader told us to be ready to board the bus at 8AM.  He did promise to return us to Cusco by noon, at which point we were to have a free afternoon to part-take in the festivities of Corpus Christie, one of the biggest festivals of the year, according to Jose Luis.

"My God, all these people do is party," I said to the person I sat next to on the bus.  "Every other day there is a festival of sort sort at this time of the year."

I was glad I would miss this one though.  And not just because of the crowds, which I dislike.  My ride to the airport for the start of a trip home was scheduled for 2:30PM.  So I figured I'd have a couple of hours to repack and regroup. It was not to be.  We got back from our day's outing a little after 2PM.  So all I had time for is to throw some things into my duffle bag, zip it up and get going.

I didn't mind the rush.  I was so looking forward to going home that everything that had preceded my departure that day was pretty much just going through the motions.

I did not expect another hike.  I thought we might be talking to the spirits again this morning.  So when Jose Luis said that we would be going to Tipon, which is an altar facing the female expression of Pachatusan (Mtn - see Senor de Huanca, June 3), the Axis of the World, as the Inca believed, I looked at my feet and laughed.  What I had on was my city slicker loafers.  Some way to face the Axis of the World!  :-)

"Oh, well, never mind," I said to myself, as we took off the steep slope (two left shots) toward and ancient uaca (middle right).  That's where we first connected out mesas to the mountain spirits around us (Pachatusan, Salcantay, Mama Simona, Waynacari...), and then prepared our final two despachos.  We also did our final kallpay.  I did everything twice as I was carrying the mesa of one of our sisters who had fallen ill this morning.

Jose Luis also showed us here one more example that proved how great the Incas were as engineers.  They built that water canal in the middle left shot at a precise 28° degree angle down the mountain, so that not a drop of water was wasted.  Furthermore, they used the water pressure to an inverse siphon, forcing the water to shoot up a narrow spout like a geyser.

After our ceremonies, we headed back down the mountain toward the natural springs, which we used as holy water with which to "baptize" our mesas and ourselves.  As I said, by the time we made it back to our hotel, it was already after 2PM.  All I had time for is some quick goodbyes to my Altomesayok friends, and then I was off...

The sun was setting as we waited to board our flight from Cusco to Lima.  The poignancy of the Masters No. 11 hit home even on my return trip.  Not only was I leaving on the 11th day of the month, but my flight number was 38 (another #11 sign).  "Guess I am still aligned with the universe," I remember thinking as I sat down.

Such a notion was quickly shattered when we arrived in Lima, and I found out that my American Airlines flight to Miami was delayed "indefinitely."  In other words, it had not even left Miami as yet.  So I was looking at a delay of a minimum of five hours.  I might have still made my connection in Miami to my next flight to LA, but I had had it with both AA and Miami.  So I asked the agent to book me on a non-stop LAN Peru flight from Lima to LA.

As it turned out, that flight was also delayed by a couple of hours after we had already boarded it.  Mechanical problems, we were told.  But LAN Peru brought in another aircraft and we took off around 3:30AM on June 12.  The flight was very pleasant and the crew very nice.  I highly recommend LAN Peru over AA for anyone traveling to or from Peru.  And try to avoid Miami if you can at all cost.

I used the long layover in LA before my flight back home to Maui to write and send the following letter to my Altomesayok friends:

FROM LOS ANGELES, CA

 Hello, my brothers and sisters.  I have just arrived in LA where I have a long layover before continuing home to Maui in late afternoon.  My flight to Miami from Lima was delayed about five hours, so I had AA in Lima change my itinerary to fly directly from Lima to LA on LAN Peru. 

That flight was also delayed a couple of hours.  After we had already boarded it, they discovered a mechanical problem and had to switch aircraft.  But once we took off, the flight was smooth and the staff friendly.  So we did not leave until 3:20AM.  Still, I slept for about six hours.  So as Marti has already told me, I do recommend LAN Peru over AA for anyone flying from the West Coast to Peru.  I will certainly try to avoid Miami at all cost in the future.  They lost my bag there twice and are rarely on time. 

Okay, enough about travel issues.  Back to our Altomesayok Journey.  I am sure that it will take me weeks or months to process all that has happened.  One thing I know for sure already.  I am one lucky guy.  I was born with just one sister.   Now, after less than two weeks, I have 20 brothers and sisters.  That’s a gift from God that I will treasure for the rest of my life. 

As we were landing at LAX a couple of hours ago, tears of joy were streaming down my cheeks as I thought of each and every one of you with my eyes closed.  Your faces rolled in front of me like a slow motion film.  For each of you, I felt admiration, affection, gratitude and a special kind of SOULFUL kinship, one that often eludes us with our natural siblings.  What a privilege it has been to share the mountain trails and the Altomesayok journey with you!  Thank you for your love and for the purity of your hearts and spirits.  Now I can understand why Apu Wakai Willke was also moved to tears as he watched us on that ridge after the Rites of Passage last Sunday.   

The picture (right), taken with my cell phone camera, should help bring back memories of those special moments.

As you know, I am a writer.  So over time, you can expect to see links to stories, pictures and videos about our journey as I roll them out at my web sites.   If you do NOT want to receive them, let me know and I will remove you from my list.   Enclosed below are links to the stories I had published before we got to Urubamba, when our connection to the internet was severed:

Sunday in Cusco: Parada del Sol without a Sun (click on Peru 2009 to check out other stories from this trip)

And if you want to see my property in Maui and the Uaca I am building there, you can check out,,,

Also see Hawaiian tales... Stories from the Rainbow Shower (2009)

I want you to know that you are welcome to visit Elizabeth (mi Chiquitita) and I at my home in Hawaii whenever the winds blow you to the middle of the Pacific.  We can do ceremonies together in my gulch, and try to awaken the dormant volcanoes and talk to Mama Kocha (ocean) spirits.  My address is: 

[excised here]

Not everything I write about our trip will be available in public domain.  Our conversations with the Apus, for example, will be in a personal and confidential section of my web site.  You will need to ask me for a User ID and Password if you want to access those.

Hope you all have safe journeys home.  And to those of you who are staying for a few more weeks in South America, hope you have a great time.

With much munay, tu hermano,

Bob Altzar

---

 ("Dancing Stars" - Sirius A & B)

     ALTZAR

I am Altzar,

A Rainbow Giver,

From the Dogon Star,

I am a child of the Original One,

I am a ray of the Original Sun,

I am Wholeness,

I am Love.

 

Personal: YinYangBob; Business: Annex Research; Geopolitical:  Truth in Media

 I arrived in Maui on time at 7:30PM into the anxious arms of Elizabeth.  I was the first to disembark and very happy to be finally home.  It had been 15 days since I left here.  And I was back just in time for our anniversary (June 13).

TO BE CONTINUED...

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