By Luis Yerovi

EL CISNE. JUNE, 2003. On August 15th of every year, the faithful and devoted gather en masse in El Cisne, a small town in Ecuador's Southern Andes. From El Cisne, they begin a 74 kilometer religious procession that will end in the city Loja. The centerpiece of the peregrination is a locally famous religious relic, the Virgin de El Cisne. For most of the year, the six-foot tall wooden statue resides inside the basilica of her namesake.

The sight of the marchers has been described as incredible--thousands of campesinos or country folk, stretched for miles on a twisting highway, coalescing to form a river of faces, colors and devotions. Those who participate in this procession wouldn't miss this occasion for the world.

On our recent trip to the province of Loja, we were privileged to a much smaller, private trek to visit the Virgin, on a quest to learn the secret of her grand following. By literally taking the road less traveled, we discovered more than we could have hoped for.

At the top of the mountain ridge separating the Cuxibamba valley from the valley of Catamayo, my uncle turned of the main paved road and unto an unmarked dirt road. This alternative road leads to El Cisne and, although much longer and bumpier, is a little more interesting, he explained. How right he was. We had only to travel 100 meters before I realized that we would be traveling back in time, where we would be allowed a glimpse of life before the industrial age and individualism shook the foundations of our human essence.

The road we traveled on was etched into the faces of the mountains that envelop the Catamayo valley. The natural scenery--looming mountains present in all directions, steep precipices leading to deep gorges, green forests, blue skies interrupted by billowing clouds and the occasional waterfall-- was the form of our journey. The towns, churches and people we met along the way were the content. El Cisne was the illusion we seemed to be seeking.

The first town we came upon was Cera, which was really more of a loose collection of red tile roofed houses than a "town." On the side of the road, I was quite surprised to find a shop were the townspeople sold brightly colored clay bowls. As we investigated, we found out that the people from Cera are actually famous for their products which are sold at all the souvenirs shops in Loja. Congratulating ourselves for coming to this merchandise's source, we nevertheless ended up paying more for a couple of souvenirs than we would have in Loja. Of course, the pleasure of having met the artists added intangible value to our purchase.