Leaving Cusco by private bus, we enter the Sacred Valley. Making a stop in Pisaq to experience its delicious and well-known market for shopping and lunch, we continue on to Ollantaytambo.

You can only pronounce that word by carefully pronouncing the syllables, and you can only appreciate this town by settling in for a few days and walking the rustic, cobblestone streets. Located in the mountains that rise from the floor of the Sacred Valley, it is the gateway to Machu Picchu and the start of the Inca Trail that takes hikers approximately four days to traverse on their way to the ancient monument. The town of Ollantaytambo is geared up for the adventurer and feels similar to a college town in the 1960s (at least to me!). Shops sell adventure gear and sunglasses, and restaurants sell affordable, hearty hot meals and refreshing cold beer. The sun is strong and the air is fresh.

There are ruins to explore here and it is a perfect setting to take a moment, or a couple of days, to prepare your energy and thoughts for the journey to Machu Picchu.

Our group met a skilled shaman named Don Victor. In Spanish, “Don” is a title of respect rather than a name, a fact that comes in handy when you start to wonder why there are so many people with the same name. Don Victor gathered our group and took us to a private sanctuary called “The Garden of Illumination” to participate in a moving and healing ceremony.

Entering the property through a gate along the driveway, with only headlamps and flashlights to guide us, we find ourselves in a courtyard. We had been told that our ceremony would start in a sweat lodge and then move to a garden, however, because it was the summer solstice, the sweat lodge was being used by their home group. We made our way along paths, winding between giant cacti and foliage, and multiple paths that led to smaller gardens, to an open area on top of a hill. There we settled on the blankets we had brought, forming a semicircle around an area designated for campfires.

Don Víctor’s assistants began to bring firewood and rushes of herbs, flowers and plants for the fire. Soon, the warmth of the fire took away the chill of being outside in the winter season in the mountains of South America.

For the next five hours – until 3:00 in the morning – we would watch the fire burn and recede, we would meditate, we would witness the moon rising over the Andes with Venus in tow, we would gaze at the southern hemisphere night sky (disorientingly different from the northern ). sky) and be part of the intense activities of deep shamanic healing work. It was a memorable and life changing experience. And all I can say is that you would have to experience it for yourself as it cannot be adequately described.