Inti Raymi Festival in Otavalo, Ecuador
The Inti Raymi ("Festival of the Sun") is a religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honour of the god Inti. It also marks the day of summer solstice. The whole festival is two weeks long and there are always groups of men jogging down the street at night with their vocoders, guitars and flutes singing songs as loud as possible. 
For the actual night of the solstice, the place to be was definately is the small town of Peguche, just 5 minutes from Otavalo. Here is located the beautiful Peguche waterfall, where Inti, the sun god, is meant to of risen from. 
People from all over Ecuador (and abroad) travel here to bathe on this special night, so that their souls will be cleansed. All the volunteeers came up to visit the spectacle and some to even have a bathe in the waters, their souls obviously needing a good clean! 
The place had a really magical feel to it, if not a little dangerous, as thousands of people pushing and shoving in the dark, near the edge of a waterfall, to get to the front.
Otavalo has always been a special place, but during Inti Raymi it makes one appreciate how unique this area really is.
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