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While Latin American leaders - including Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia - have been meeting in Ecuador to talk how to promote indigenous cultures, Ecuador's Quechua people have been gathering to celebrate the inti raymi or sun festival.

It is observed all across the Andes and it goes back to Incan times, when people in the southern hemisphere marked the winter solstice and the beginning of the indigenous new year.

In Ecuador celebrations start on 22 June and go on for six days, and include ritual bathing at midnight.

For Outlook, Irene Caselli went to Peguche - a town a couple of hours north of the Ecuadorean capital, Quito - which is known for its sacred waterfalls.