Arequipa

  Arequipa, Peru
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

We had another long trip today!! We left Nazca at 7.30am in our bus. The scenery along the way was still a desert landscape with long sandy beaches for a good while until we turned inland and reached the Andes. So far, the roads are still good. It was one of the most amazing landscapes we have ever seen.

first mountains

 Between the dry desert mountains you can see green valleys where rice and corn are cultivated. Along the way we also passed by what looked like ghost towns. It seems like everybody has left to find a job in the bigger towns or maybe it is the result of  last yearīs earthquake. We spotted some piles of stones along the way which we later found out is a tradition thatīs centuries old. Local travellers put a stone on top of the pile and pray to the mountain Gods. They ask for such things as happiness, safety while walking, etc.

praying with the stones

We also stopped at a cemetery. It was crazy to see the difference between the graves. The poorest ones just had a wooden cross on them while the richest ones were stone tombs painted in white with roofs and loads of kitschy objects and fake flowers around them.

We finally arrived in Arequipa at 5pm. Arequipa is just so lovely, up in the mountains at 2300m. The legend says that when the earth separated from the moon, they forgot Arequipa. It is called the white town because the buildings use a lot of white volcanic stones. Far away, El Misti the volcano can be seen. Arequipa is a colonial town built by the conquistadors which is clearly reflected in its architecture. Itīs historic centre was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000 in recognition of this. Once again, the main square was surrounded by arched buildings with a cathedral on one side and was very similar to the those that we had seen previously in Mexico (and I suppose Spain too!!).

Arequipa

The town is also unbelievably clean. While we were walking in the streets there where thousands of people around us. The whole month of October is dedicated to the miracles that Jesus Christ performed during his life. Every night there were parties and tonight was the final one. There was a huge procession, families holding candles, others holding crosses or biblical icons. The most fervent ones were walking barefoot as a sign of penitence. Even though most of Peru is very catholic, Arequipa seems to be the town with the most faith. Before we went to the restaurant for dinner we talked to a man who explained to us some culinary specialties of Peru, such as alpaca and guinea pig (cuy en espagnol, a prononcer couille - c'est du cochon dīInde, pauvre Vanus). They are apparently delicious and healthy meat, full of protein with no cholesterol. Well, weīll see ...

The next day (29/10) we visited the convent of Santa Catalina. It is like a town within a town where some nuns still live (only 20 and under less strict rules than before).

city inside the city

When the Spaniards arrived, the second daughter of every rich family was sent to the convent when they were between the ages of 12 and 16. They stayed there for around a year as novices, not allowed to talk to one another, until they were asked if they wanted to stay and become nuns. Obviously most of them stayed, as they would  have brought shame on their families if they refused. There was also the added incentive that once they became nuns they could talk to one another and lived in nice houses with plenty of servants. They could not go outside the convent and only had limited contact with the outside world through a parlour and their servants who were allowed outside. The convent is very well preserved after many renovations over the years that were necessary due to earthquake damage. It is also really colourful and flowery, with a great view on the El Misti volcano.

fountain

We also visited a museum where the famous Juanita lays, a mummy sacrifice that was found more than 20 years ago by some explorers who climbed the volcano (over 6000m) after an eruption that melted the ice at the top. The mummy they discovered was the body of a young girl, apparently aged around 13 years old. After some further research, they came to the conclusion that she was a sacrifice made by the Incas to the Gods. To keep the gods happy, they travelled for 20 days to reach the top of the volcano in their alpaca shoes with soles made of lama leather to offer up the "chosen one", usually a young innocent child. Three other child sacrifices were found in the area and others have been found in the mountains all along the Inca empire. Juanita is very well preserved due to the fact that she was frozen in ice until the eruption. You can still see her long hair, her teeth, even her nails. She is sitting in a fetal position and is very small. She reminded me of the bog man exhibition I saw in Dublin, and was just as impressive.

Little peruana playing with pigeons

We were supposed to visit the Canyon de Colca, one of the worldīs deepest Canyons for two days, but after talking to a few people, I chickened out. You need to pass over a mountain that is around 5000m high and the people we had talked to had suffered bad headaches. One had vomited and the other one had landed up in hospital. I got quite scared as you cannot anticipate how your body is going to react. Old or young, fit or fat, it can strike anybody. I still hope Sean is not too disappointed that we are not doing it, but I think we are going to visit so many other amazing places that I didnīt feel it was worth it.

Happy Bday Marjo and Elo!

We finally tasted alpaca meat. I thought it was really tender and juicy. We had a trio of meat: alpaca, beef and ostrich. I found ostrich bit hard and salty.

The following day (30/10), 3/4 of the team were dead, suffering from food poisoning. Nobody knows what we got it from. We first blamed it on the pisco sours, then maybe the eggs we ate in the morning or maybe even the alpaca. As you can imagine, not much was done that day!

Our last full day in Arequipa and itīs Halloween! Everybody was more or less back on their feet, still careful of what they were eating. We visited mundo alpaca, which shows the process of making clothes from alpaca wool, from the shaving and separating of the wool to the weaving. It was very interesting. I also realised that Iīm allergic to alpaca wool. It makes my nose very itchy and bloody. I donīt care, I am still going to pet them!
Then we visited another convent, Santa Teresaīs. The whole city is really dedicated to religion. Everywhere you go, anything you visit has a link with Catholicism. The convent was not as impressive as Santa Catalina but there was much more art on display. They seemed to enjoy a lot of rich fabrics, metals and colours in their decoration, obviously inspired by the Spanish (not really inspired actually, they kind of did not have the choice!). We chilled out for the rest of the day. It seems like the Arequipians are really into Halloween. We saw little kids trick or treating in the afternoon, dressed as pirates and Snow White. We even saw one dressed as a lama! So cute! When the night came, the teenagers started to come out .. sexy devils and hot witches! I guess itīs the same everywhere.

Today (01/11), is our last day in Arequipa and itīs time to say goodbye to the parents, who are (hopefully, assuming no problems with LAN airlines) going back to Lima. We had a very exciting time, thanks! We are sad to be leaving that lovely city but we need to take the night bus to Cuzco tonight. Apparently the strikes our over and we can travel again. Fingers crossed!