Every year, the Purepecha Indigenous people take a gruelling three-day trek through the mountains and forests of violence-ridden Michoacan state, in western Mexico, to celebrate their New Year. The community revived the ancient ritual of taking a fire from village to village in 1983, keeping the flame alive all-year-round until the turn of the year, celebrated on the night of February 1 according to their variant of the Mesoamerican calendar. "People relate our customs with things from the past that are obsolete, but really I think that's what the world needs - to take a step back," says 41-year-old midwifery student Lucia Gutierrez, who lives between Michoacan and Ohio in the United States. This year, the fire was taken from Erongaricuaro to Ocumicho, a near-100 kilometre trek. The flame will then be kept alight in Ocumicho all year, before being taken to a new village next year as part of the 'Fuego Nuevo' (New Fire) celebrations. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES