- Sumaq at the foot of the imposing mountains surrounding Machu Picchu
Since January, the operations of this luxurious hotel have had Rainforest Alliance Verified TM status.
Throughout the year 2011, Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel, the only five-star hotel in the town of Machu Picchu Pueblo, also known as Aguas Calientes, will continue offering its outdoor Pachamanca and Andean Wedding activities for the purpose of enabling its guests to experience the traditions of the neighboring communities.
A Pachamanca, or literally “Earth Pot”, is a culinary activity and one of the best preserved traditions of the culture of Peru’s southern Andes.
In an interesting alternative for lovers of ancestral cuisine, participants are able to see how this Andean meal is prepared. A hole in the ground that will serve as an oven is lined with hot stones, and regional ingredients from the highlands, such as potatoes, oca, fava beans, aromatic herbs and lamb meat are placed on top of them, then covered with large leaves before the “oven” is sealed with earth.
Once the food is cooked and its aromas seep from the earth, participants prepare to enjoy this culinary activity with a toast made with glasses of frutillada, a fermented beverage prepared with corn and red fruit.
Another tradition that the hotel carries on as part of the mystical legacy of the Inca culture is the Arac Masin or Andean Wedding, a symbolic Andean ceremony of love in which couples take or renew vows in a unique, five-star style.
In an Arac Masin, a couple is joined in complicity with nature and the spirituality of Machu Picchu. Ordinarily, the ceremony is held near the Puente Ruinas bridge, from where some of the Inca construction of Machu Picchu can be seen.
The romanticism of the occasion is enhanced by the presence of an Andean priest and the Aqlla, or Vigin of the Sun, who with prayer and song, pray that the bride and groom’s relationship will prosper.
In addition to these two activities, Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel offers a wide range of cultural activities and excursions that have been planned with respect for the environment and surrounding communities.
Sumaq’s sustainable practices have recently earned it Rainforest Alliance Verified TM status, an important achievement made possible by the dedicated participation of its staff and guests.
