PERUVAN ANDES FESTIVAL : PILGRIMAGE WORLD

Stubbornly unfazed by warnings of ''soroche,'' of altitude sickness, I swung my legs up onto a donkey and began to ascend the steep trails.

After trekking for a few dizzying hours alongside hundreds of others, I approached a glacial basin. The scene began to unfold before us : an immense valley flooded with so many pilgrims that it seemed to be covered in confetti, each tiny speck representing a huddled collection of tents and people.

The altitude sickness began to overtake every inch of my body. Even my eyeballs ached. Undeterred, I slowly navigated through the throngs of people, trying to take in every sight and sound.

Each year, in late May or early June, thousands of pilgrims trek for hours on foot and horseback through Peru's Andean highlands - slowly snaking their way up the mountainous terrain - for the religious celebrations of Qoyllur Rit'l ''I, held some 50 miles east of Cusco, once the capital of the Incan empire.

Practised annually for hundreds of years, the celebrations mark the start of the harvest season, when the Pleides, a prominent cluster of stars, return to the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.

The syncretis festival, which is on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, interweaves Indigenous and Incan customs with Catholic traditions introduced by Spanish colonizers, who sought to undermine Andean Cosmology.

Celebrations were suspended this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, with the route to the valley was completely blocked off. But when I attended in 2013, the crowds were remarkably dense.

Sinakara Valley, a glacial basin that sits around 16,000 feet above sea level. Celebrants swarm in colorful droves with costumes, enormous flags, instruments and provisions in tow.

The festivities begin with the arrival of a statue of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'I, transported from the nearby town of Mahuayani, to the valley's small chapel.

For three days, from morning until night, amid the nonstop sounds drums, flutes, whistles, accordions, cymbals and electric keyboards, the air is filled with billowing clouds of dust kicked up from twirling dancers; it settles on the sequins, neon scarves, ribbons, tassel's and feathers that adorn people's traditional costumes and attire.

People here are divided into ''nations,'' which correspond to their place of origin. Most belong to the Quechua speaking agricultural regions to the northwest, or to the Aymara speaking regions to the southeast.

The delegation from paucartambo has been making the pilgrimage for longer than any other.

''It's important to maintain this tradition, because we have a lot of faith,'' said a young Paucartambo pilgrim dressed as an ukuku, a mythical half-man and half-bear creature. Costumed in red, white and black alpaca robes, the ukuku's are responsible for ensuring safety of the pilgrims; they act as intermediaries between the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'I and the people.

The World Students Society thanks author Danielle Villasana.