Massive wall terraces were used to growing crops on steep hill	Massive wall terraces were used to growing crops on steep hill	Another throne?		... and one for the "queen?"
	View toward Mt Salkantay, alas hidden in clouds	No problem even at 13,000 ft elevation.	Colonial church at Chinchero	Colonial church at Chinchero
	Main plaza	Some Incas are still growing corn on these terraces; also grazing livestock
			Mt Salkantay... still hiding behind the clouds
	Aloha! How do you say it in Quechua? :-)

The Chinchero village was an important town in Inca times. The most striking remnant of this period is the massive stone wall in the main plaza which has ten trapezoidal niches (third row, second photo from left). The construction of the wall and many other ruins and agricultural terraces (which are still in use) are attributed to Inca emperor Tupac Yupanqui who possibly used Chinchero as a kind of country resort.  Palace walls were constructed of large stones put together like giant jigsaw puzzles. Inside, the palace would have been light and bright with windows to allow the sun's rays to shine on gold and silver objects and fine weavings.

In the main plaza, there is an adobe colonial church, dating from the early seventeenth century.  As so many other Spanish churches, it has been built upon the foundations of an Inca temple or palace. The ceiling and walls are covered in beautiful floral and religious designs. The church is open on Sundays for mass but it was closed when we got there,

Flooding in Urubamba

The first thing we saw when we stopped at a lookout point overlooking Urubamba were spectacular views of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. 

Of course, I had seen these views many times before, but they still took my breath away, just like the first time.  Only this time, the hills above Urubamba were uncharacteristically green.  When I was here in 2008 and 2009, it was wintertime in the southern hemisphere (May-July).  That's a dry season.  So the hills were mostly brown (see The Altomesayok Journey: On the Angel Trail in Peru, May-Jun 2009), and Peru: Communing with Holy Mountains, June-July 2008).

And then, when we looked more closely down toward the bridge, it suddenly hit us.  We saw just how widespread the Urubamba river flooding was in that area.  So that's what all these people were looking at from the lookout...

... as well as from the bridge.

But there was no danger of flooding at our charming hotel, Ecoandina, which is well up the road even though it is down the river.  By the time we checked in, the sun had come out for the first time.  Smiles on the hotel staff's faces were also like warm sunshine.  Liz, the hotel manager, whom I first met last year when we stayed at the same hotel, had made sure everything was in ship-shape for us.  Her staff also recognized me and greeted us warmly.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Don Sebastian, a famous Inca paqo (shaman in Quechua) and his son, Nicolas, also a shaman.  Don Sebastian first did an extensive healing session on Elizabeth.  Then we prepared a despacho for her. 

I also shared with them the story of St. Nicholas, the Miracle-Maker.  He has been the Djurdjevic family's patron saint since the time of our conversion to Christianity, probably a thousand years ago. 

When I told the Inca Nicolas (right) that St. Nicholas was born in the fourth century AD, on December 6, the former Nicolas' jaw dropped.  "That's my birthday!" he exclaimed. 

I smiled.  "Of course, it is.  You saw from my story that St. Nicholas was known as the Miracle-Maker.  And now you can attest to it yourself. "

I then asked his father (through Liz, the interpreter) if he had ever heard of St. Nicholas before.  Don Sebastian said he had not.  He added that he had no idea why he and his wife picked the name Nicolas for their firstborn whose birthday was Dec 6.  But now he does.

The two Inca shamans thanked me "for a fascinating and instructive story."

In the evening, during our dinner with the paqos, the driving rain had resumed. By the time we were ready to burn the despacho, it was coming down in buckets.  So the three of us shamans burned the despacho on a covered patio of a construction site next door to our building (top left).  And we knew that Elizabeth would be as good as new by the morning.  After that, all three of us prayed for the rains to stop and the rivers to recede.

Urgent Prayer Request

Then, as the two Inca hamans and the hotel staff watched the latest news on the flooding in the lobby of the hotel, I used the hotel computer to send to you the following "SOS" (urgent prayer request):

FROM URUBAMBA, SACRED VALLEY, PERU 

Hello everybody.  This is not my usual travelogue story.  It is more like my reports from battlefronts I used to file when I covered the Balkans wars in the 1990s. Most of all, it is a request for urgent prayers for all of you who have been touched by the love of the Apus and the Holy Mountains in Peru.  And even those of you who have never been to Peru can help with your heartfelt prayers.  Here`s why and what you need to pray for... 

Cusco and the surrounding area have been inundated by rains for weeks now.  Yes, I know this may sound pretty incredible to those of you who were here in the last two years, and saw the brown hills around Cusco and Urubamba, and the receding snow lines in the mountains. Well, the rain prayers seem to have been answered in spades.  This area went from feast to famine, from drought to floods.  

The entire weekend we spent there it rained like I have never seen it before.  We were drenched each time we went out.  When we drove this morning from Cusco to the nearby Saqsaywaman, we saw the consequences.  Landslides and rock slides were visible at almost every turn.  Many houses have tumbled down the steep hills. Huge boulders rested in the middle of the road we were on.  I took many pictures. 

When we got to Saqsaywaman, I prayed for those of you who have asked me to, as well for the cessation of this deluge.  Indeed, short drizzles turned to overcast skies, which cleared into bright sunshine by mid-afternoon.  But the damage has been done.  Water levels of all rivers and creeks are rising even if the rain has stopped for the moment. 

On our way to Chinchero, in early afternoon, we saw at one point on this major road more than half a hill that had collapsed across the road into the valley below.  The crews were still clearing the debris using heavy bulldozers and backhoes.  Only one lane was open to two-way traffic. At Chinchero, several rows of ancient Inca supporting walls were reinforced by wooden beams, hoping to prevent them from crumbling under the weight soggy soil. 

When we approached the bridge over Urubamba this afternoon on the way to our hotel there, we saw extensive flooding upriver from the bridge.  Entire neighborhoods were flooded to the rooftops and treetops.  The St. Augustine hotel near the pretty monastery Ricoletto (sic), in which we stayed for shamanic dialogues in 2008, is under water.  The road to Pisaq is partially submerged in water near the bridge.  Landslides have closed the train service to Machu Picchu and washed down parts of the road from Agua Caliente to Machu Picchu.  We had bought tickets to go there tomorrow. Obviously, that`s not going to happen.  The major bridge across Urubamba river near Pisaq, one of the two main links to Cusco, is being washed down as I write this.  It has been closed all day as its supports had started shifting this morning. And so on... you get the picture. 

This evening, two high level Inca shamans and I prayed for rain to stop and the rivers to recede.  I ask you to do the same.  If you decide to do it, please put all your heart and soul into the prayers.  I know that the Apus will hear you if you do it that way.  Today, I received a confirmation that my benefector Apu Huaskaran had heard my prayers all the way from Hawaii, even though I had no immediate acknowledgement of it.  So your prayers CAN make a difference to the poor people in the Sacred Valley of the Inca whose lives and livelihoods are now being threatened by these floods. 

Thank you for listening.  God bless. Have a good night.   

This is Bob Djurdjevic reporting from Urubamba, Peru. 

P.S. I know... there is another lesson we can learn from all this. We have to be careful what we pray for.  For, it may come true.  Such as all those prayers for rain in the last few years.  The floods are a reminder for all of us to try live our lives in humility, integrity and elegance,`´ as Apu Huaskaran counseled us (visiting shamans) in July 2008.  And not assume that we understand the full consequences of everything we ask for.

And that's all she wrote on our first day in Urubamba.

Also check out...

2009

• The Altomesayok Journey (May-June 2009)

2008

• Communing with Holy Mountains in Peru (June-July 2008)

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