Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Trip Start Jun 03, 2008
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Trip End Aug 11, 2008


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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

On Tuesday night we got a night bus to Arequipa, the second largest ciy in Peru. This is perhaps the most sceanic city in Peru with volcanic mountains forming a backdrop to the city. The plaza is also one of the most beautiful in South America. There is also an excellent museum in Arequipa which highlights Inca history and has on display a perfectly preserved Inca mummy of a 14 year-old girl that was sacrificed by the Incas to their Gods. Her skin and clothes are almost in perfect condition despite being almost 500 years old. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed in the museum. This mummy was perfectly preserved because she was sacrificed on top of the volcanic mountain which was covered in ice and her body is now displayed in a glass case which is minus 25 degrees. The girl was only discovered in 1995. Five more mummies were also discovered by archeologists of 12 to 15 year old girls and boys sacrificed by the Incas to their Gods.
Alpacha
Alpacha
Arequipa was also our base for the Colca Canyon tour. This is one of the deepest Canyons in the world. It was a four hour drive to the canyon and the sceanry was incredible. We were driving through the Andean mountain ranges and saw loads of Llamas, alpacas and other native animals. We also reached an altitude of 4,950 metres above sea level. Thankfully I was not affected by the altitude but quite a lot of the people on the tour were. We stayed in a lovely hostel just outside Chivay, the largest town in the region, which even had a pet Llama which was house trained like a dog!! The night was freezing being at such high altitude. The next day we took a bus to the canyon and again the sceanry was incredible. The canyon is also famous for Condors which are one of the largest and heaviest birds in the world.
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