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PACHAMAMA, MOTHER EARTH
For the inhabitants of the Andes Mountains Pachamama is the personification of Mother Earth. She gives life, nurtures and protects us. Whosoever takes anything from Pachamama should give something in return. A way of thinking that we should also incorporate into our way of life and the way we treat other people and nature.
Again we cannot resist the mountains. Just like we did for the last collection we turn our backs on the flatlands and this time head for “Pachamama”. But still this is an enterprise that matches no other we have ever set out on. It leads us to the mountains of South America, to the high plains of the Andes. To roads that are not roads, to bridges that are no more, to bus drivers who accomplish the extraordinary, and to people from whom we have much to learn.
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Beyond a doubt: the photo shooting for the summer collection 2013 in Peru has left its hooks.
We crossed personal borders, gained new friends, we were very intensely able to experience the “Pachamama” philosophy of give and take, and we brought back with us a piece of wisdom:
„Cuanto más difícil es, más hay que sonreir.“
„The harder it gets, the more you have to smile.“
This we learned from our bus drivers Miguel and Chumpi. And there was reason enough to smile.
We will probably never reach the top. Minute upon minute, hour upon hour, turn upon turn – the switchback curves will not end. Bumping, hobbling, pushing and shoving – that was our mode of travel to the top of Punta Olimpica, one of the highest passes in Peru. We had to push, because – without the additional horsepower –
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our equipment bus would never have made it up the steeper climbs,
loaded as it was with twelve travel bags, ten trolleys, eight bicycles and four camera bags.
Bumping and hobbling because the Peruvian roads have nothing in common with
alpine passes. Instead of tarmac there’s gravel, sand and rocks. The busses toil there way uphill. Again and again Miguel asks us to disembark.
12 Malojans are just too much for the raspy-breathed vehicle to handle. We walk the last meters of altitude. Breathing heavily – the altitude... and then we are at the top.
4.890 m, higher than the Montblanc.
Closer to the sky than most any of us ever were. It’s a magic moment – that Chumpi makes unforgettable.
He unpacks his Cajón, a box-shaped drum, and sings the “Jip- pijaya” for us;
not a farewell song, a welcome song, he insists. “Because we all helped together so well.”
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He smiles like he always does.
For Chumpi is grateful for every moment in life. That, too, is Pachamama. Even more than Chumpi’s smile a water ritual symbolizes this philosophy.
Before every bus ride Miguel takes his water bottle, concentra- tes and pours a small sip on the ground. To make sure we reach our destination, he explains.
But this gesture also embodies the gratefulness to Pachamama, Mother Earth. The people worship her like a Goddess. With the first sip of every drink they give something in return – as thanks, because she is so generous in giving. We were truly impressed by this philosophy of gi- ving and taking and the utmost respect for nature. It should be followed everywhere, not just in the Peruvian Andes – 11.000km away. Pachamama fits just as well to the Alpine way of life. And to Maloja.
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Maloja?? Pronounce it "mah-low-yah". You could say, we got hooked on Maloja, the “alderwoods” of the Swiss Engadin. First, there was only this picture of a snowboarder on the internet, but for some odd reason the image refused to let us sleep. Then came a deep feeling of curiosity and the unresistable urge to find out what it was all about. We were fed up with the uninspiring organizedness of mass tourism in the posh alpine towns, bored from all the empty chitchat at party after party, weary of the fight to be seen among and belong to the "in crowd", those people, nurtured by understatement or vanity, and beautiful by law. We set out for the mountain village of Maloja , only a few kilometers away from all the buzz. We were determined to find something different.
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We reached the end of the steep curvy pass and came upon the most inviting, beautiful powder snow you can imagine. An untouched winter landscape, framed by pine woods and rocks. Not a human being in sight. But where are the lifts? Finally, at a distance, we spot one - an immobile, ancient t-bar lift that only adds to the impression of this enchanted place being locked in a strange but tranquil Sleeping Beauty trance. Not an easy walk over there, several hundred meters away. But are we going to give up now? Turn around, disillusioned and disappointed? No, not on a sparkling day like this - the sun shining, beckoning us on. Suddenly the lift operator emerges from his tiny wooden hut and lifts his arm in a warm greeting.
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Seconds later he has started the motor with a rumble and is joyfully ready to attend to his task of reaching up and conveniently handing his customers the t-bars as they swoosh down from above. For us, the following hours have become legend. Whether it was the awe and respect we felt for the pure beauty of nature, or the honesty and simplicity of this enchanting place that filled us to the brim and inspired us, is hard to say. Maybe it was the intensity of being yourself, of sharing this experience with your best friends. Maybe it was the immediateness of feeling alive in the here and now, just riding the moment. We cherish the memory of Maloja, and, in retrospect, find it difficult to explain in its uniqueness - for us it's simply "Maloja"! More than worth the search.