After being stamped into Peru for the third time (they gave us a different number of days each time), and having traversed the length of Peru almost twice already, we´ve finally come to a standstill in Arequipa. But our story begins in Baños, where we left readers...
In Baños, where no one has heard about the things you can catch when you put your head under in hot pools, we were asked if we wanted illicit drugs for (remarkably) the first time in South America. I´m not counting the many questions we were asked in Buenos Aires but didn´t understand. After refusing politely but firmly a couple of times the guy tried to compromise by booking us onto a rafting tour the next day, which we also declined. Another first in Baños was the way I was shamelessly oggled by every male over 10 in town, particularly at the hot springs. Nick, bless him, thinks this is because I am very attractive, but I suspect it has more to do with being nearly a foot taller than the local women, much paler, and just about the only women in town to get past 21 without my figure being ravaged by childbirth several times. It´s all relative, and in Baños I was a freak to behold.
Next was Riobamba, a city only on the tourist map because it is the departure point of the famous Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s Nose) train ride - now strictly a tourist event.
Unfortunately there was a big landslip over much of the track, so instead of an exciting day out on a train we ended up being bussed out the first 4 hours, then gettting a return journey for the ascent and descent of the actual devil´s nose part, which lasted less than 2 hours, then another 4 hours back to Riobamba by bus. Admittedly, it was still very cool to ride on the roof of a train through steep, lush green valleys up narrow switchbacks (where they go up one side of the peak in a zig zag by changing the direction of the train at each end, rather than in an ´S´ or a spiral), but not exactly what we anticipated. Still, this is south america. In the first world, the track wouldn´t have been closed so long by a landslip, but then, they also wouldn´t let you go on the roof when some Japanese guy was partially decapitated and killed on the roof last year when he didn´t gethis head down at the right time - perhaps a tunnel. Swings and roundabouts.
Hopefully we´ll be able to get on the ´Tren a las Nubes´ (train to the clouds) in northern Argentina on our way back - a 15 hour trip that apparently takes you over some amazing viaducts and past stunning scenery (although not on the roof).
We then went down to Cuenca, which is a lovely colonial city about the size of Christchurch about 5 hours south. We visited the ruins across the road from the hostel (it seemed churlish not to), which was a very interesting site with remains of one of Ecuador´s pre-Inca cultures, the Incas and the Spaniards. The pre-Incas had built basic shelters and stone irrigation channels and pools, and cultivated potato and legumes on the site. Then the Incas had built larger structures, including an place for sacrifices (the big stone where the cut things open was still there) with their more sophisticated stonework, and then the Spaniards turned up around 1550 and pinched a lot of the cut stone from existing structures to put in the town´s first mill and one of its first stately homes, also bringing in their own style of cut stone, and then bricks.
Cuenca´s ´new´ (18th century) cathedral is one of the most attractive buildings I´ve ever seen. It´s huge and high and light, and made of beautiful, marbled volcanic stone from the area, but what really sets it apart is how restrained they´ve been with adorning the inside. There are no sarcophagi of spent bishops, no plaques to patrons, or people who died in wars or struggled for independence or founded the town. There weren´t even the 12 scenes of the passion of the Christ, which are highly standard here. There was a lot of while stone and plaster for the walls and ceiling, and the tile work of the floors was very simple. All this really drew attention to the comparatively small, intricate stained glass of the windows throughout and the beautifully carved and gold-leaved alters. It´s as if, just once in South America in the 1700s, someone in the Catholic church decided that less was more, and they were absolutely right.
Then the long bus trip began. We left at 3.30am on Wednesday for Guayaquil, and all the males where ordered off the bus at a police checkpoint just out of town and patted down for weapons, another new experience (although in the end Nick only had to show his passport). We arrived at 8.30 that morning, had breakfast, then got the last to seats on the only bus to Lima, leaving at 11.30am. That night, over the border in Peru, everyone was ordered off the bus and locked in a holding pen while (presummably) the police spot-checked the luggage for god knows what, and large crickets attracted by the bright lights jumped all over us. We arrived in Lima after 27 hours, had lunch, taxied to another bus terminal, and got ourselves on a bus to Arequipa. The special thing about that trip was that we arrived AN HOUR EARLIER than we were told, which was totally unprecedented by any south american bus trip we´ve done (we´re in the habit of adding about 25% to any expected arrival time we´re told). Another first for that trip was that I finally succumbed to motion sickeness on a bus, and threw up copiously the next morning (luckily just water) - if only the plastic bag hadn´t had a hole in it.
Frankly, 46 in 52 hours on buses was pretty rough, particularly the last night of it, but we´re very happy to cover all that ground and be ahead of schedule. We´re also happy to still have our luggage and not to have experienced any hijackings yet (touch wood - the Shining Path movement is making a bit of a resurgence here).
Arequipa a temperate, pretty colonial city at about 1500m. Nearby are the world´s 2 deepest canyons (a bit over 3 km down), a lot of condors and more hotsprings. The city itself is full of attractive cathedrals and monasties, set against snow capped volcanoes. A good place to spend a few days before we get to the tourist Mecca of Cusco.
We like: Set menus - you pay about half the price of an ala cart main for 3 courses, and they have it in front of you about 2 minutes after you walk in the door.
We don´t like: bus seats where you just can´t quite stretch your legs straight, even in first class, because all the seats were designed for midgets.
Nick particularly likes: the ´fanny´ brand tuna and strawberry jam on sale in the supermarkets here.
Amiria particularly doesn´t like: The jolly, jolly panpipe music which is everywhere again, and every taxi on the streets (so, about half the traffic) honking at you for business because you´re a gringo.
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