Why didn't you reach the Fortress? Why didn't you reach the Fortress? - something that I first dreamt and then heard, recognizing that voice here - dreams and reality in Marcahuasi!
I don't know if there are stories, anecdotes or experiences that are lacking or we have an excess of in Marcahuasi, because the secret of this place is so complex that I don't know if it is necessary to appeal to God to find the light of truth, or just to continue believing in the diverse theories provided by the traffickers of mystery or the interesting comments that are sewn about the sacred mountain.
It was April 1990 when Marcahuasi called me once more, to continue living the world of Daniel Ruzo, but I never imagined that the words I heard in my dream, when I descended from Marcahuasi around Upica in my second trip, were going to move time backwards. I was going to recognize that voice, and find myself face to face with dream and reality!
People arrived at Marcahuasi using this mode of transport until the start of 1990. It was part of the adventure, the call of the mountain.
In this trip I met many interesting people, interesting because they had new forms of seeing Marcahuasi, and I interviewed many people, recording conversations and capturing beautiful photos, and like this the time was diluted between Marcahuasi and ourselves, similarly during the walk to the Fortress; the people, the rocks, the sun and the wind.
When I arrived at the Fortress I had the impression of living an eternal infancy, of climb after climb, or walking, always with care, before the unleashing of the madness of the mystery of this place, the questions and the silence that surrounds everything.
A festival of emotions awaits us in Marcahuasi, where everybody learns something and when we go up to the Fortress our search for answers deepens. This only grows with every trip.
In this brief stop we made on top of the Fortress we had time to listen to everything we had recorded during the interviews, sat on the rocks defying everything about the place, and suddenly somebody arrived very carefully and approached us, without interrupting, but signalling that she also would like to hear the recording; we accepted her company, with a signal. When the recording ended she looked at us and smiled at everyone, and immediately looked at me and said "I want to speak with you!"
I want to speak with you - the instruction of Inmelda Phumpiu, where we had our meeting, and where she called me and I dreamt
Marcahuasi isn't just a physical adventure or some backpackers temptation, it's also a spiritual and emotional journey. Here we encounter people that are often very strange, and this woman I met in the Fortress was just that. Inmelda Phumpiu. A very different woman, that landed in my dream and also in my reality.
"Why didn't you reach the Fortress? Why didn't you reach the Fortress? You remember this voice? I've called you many times, and now I've met you". I was quiet, stunned, invaded by her expressions. Her voice convulsed in my mind, and I resisted responding, looking at her with an infinite silence. "Of course, ... Of course" I replied
Seeing the Fortress for the first time we say, "ahhh, how amazing", and then we go back. I don't know if this attitude upset the guardians of the Fortress, because in Upica they advised me and obliged me to return.
Many years had passed since I made my second trip to Marcahuasi, and in that opportunity I was going to go to the Fortress when we found ourselves between Cachu Cachu and this place, we observed it and said "Ahhh, there's the Fortress". Nobody had the enthusiasm to go up, so we all went back; returning because we were tired from the night we had just spent in the Amphitheatre. The next day we returned to Lima, and as soon as we left the town I was asleep. I dreamt of a woman behind me saying "Why didn't you reach the Fortress? Why didn't you reach the Fortress?" and in the struggle to discover who was this woman the truck stopped suddenly in the twists and turns of Upica. I tried to get back to sleep to find out who was this woman who was questioning me. I told this dream to my companions, and they laughed and poked fun at me. It remained just a dream from the point of crossing the bridge at Authisa, until this moment in the Fortress when Inmelda Phumpiu appeared, and silenced everyone.
I don't know if this was part of some call, or some punishment, but the dream I had here in the route down from Upica became reality years later. Punishment, such that, on every trip I have to reach the Fortress.
In Marcahuasi we ask deep questions, and very few know and answer. Inmelda Phiumpiu didn't go silent, not during any moment of the interview, debate and conversation. The evening of Marcahuasi was our enemy and we stayed in the Hut of Daniel Ruzo, while she camped below, amongst the craggs. We didn't meet after that in Marcahuasi, but we did in Lima.
Alexis patted my shoulder and in a low voice said "Poor Jose Luis, in what mess have you got yourself this time? ..."
In Marcahuasi we get ourselves in the mindset of want to know everything, yet understanding nothing. Attempting to be some sort of alchemist, getting to the bottom of every mystery, wouldn't work here; there are so many stories. Inmelda Phiumpiu said "To speak of Marcahuasi is to share not only your experiences, but also your knowledge and dreams with this place." "Why do so many people come to Marcahuasi?" "Why is Marcahuasi where it is in the map?" "Why did we choose it?" She has a response and with that she left, upright, and in every trip we make to the sacred mountain she guides us, present in the discovery that we all made, and we never forget her.
Marcahuasi is a place to escape and to find something ... something different, that is very personal to each and every one of us.
It isn't a question of simply revealing Marcahuasi to some visitors that don't see the plateau in some way. It's just that they haven't yet lived the experience necessary. We should spend less time worrying on that, and simply do more for Marcahuasi
Read the original post (in Spanish)
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Photos: John Ysrael Guevara