The Ice Maiden
Trip Start
Aug 02, 2007
1
13
22
Trip End
Aug 22, 2007
Arequipa,
Peru
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Anyway, we were relieved and happy to be free in Arequipa. Well, almost free. We still had to pick up our passports, so our first stop was Colca Tours. We were very relieved that she still had them. Interestingly enough, the passports were still on her scanner, which means she hadn't booked any trips the whole time we were in Colca...guess her lying wasn't working so well. Yes, I am a little bitter. So, now we really were free and we decided to head for lunch. We found this great restaurant called El Jayari, which is attached to another restaurant, El Viñedo (The Vineyard). We sat outside in a nice little courtyard area. I can't express how happy we were to be just relaxing again with no specific itinerary. We had the best lunch. We shared little empanadas for an appetizer that came with a great spicy sauce. Mike had rice and shrimp and I had ceviche. Both were so good. I had been wanting to try ceviche since Ecuador but it just never happened. Apparently there's a debate between Ecuador and Peru about where ceviche originated. I do not know the answer, but I do know that my sea bass ceviche in Peru was amazing. We stayed there for a while enjoying the perfect weather and tasty wine. At one point, a woman walked into the courtyard with a vicuña! (After our trip to Colca Valley, I was able to identify the animal.) I'm guessing she came into the restaurant as an attempt to get tourists to take a picture. The restaurant people quickly asked her to leave but the waitress and I both agreed that the vicuña was really cute!
After our delicious lunch (I think the best on our trip), we headed out to find the museum that holds Juanita, the famous "Ice Maiden." In retrospect, it doesn't sound like the greatest idea to see a mummy after lunch, but it was really interesting! Juanita (as they have named her), was discovered on top of mountain in Colca Valley (Mount Ampato) in 1995. They think she was sacrificed there over 500 years ago. She was found when a nearby volcano erupted and melted the ice on top of the mountain she was buried on. They think she was about 13 years old when she died. We watched a movie about her discovery and then went on a little tour of the museum. She is in a temperature-controlled display case. It's kind of difficult to see her through the thick walls, but you can see how one side of her face is deformed, presumably where she received the fatal blow. We were really surprised how small she was. The tour guide said that people were smaller then; I'd say she was about the size of an 8 year old child today. I thought seeing her was really interesting, but also creepy at the same time. I also wonder what Peruvians think about how she was taken from the mountain and placed on display in a museum.
As we stepped out of the museum entrance, we saw what looked like a military band and realized that maybe we'd get to see some of the celebration for Arequipa's 467th anniversary. We went to the plaza and went up to the balcony of one of the many restaurants on the square. We were lucky and got the last spot by the railing. People were lined up all around the plaza, clearly waiting for something to happen. About 10 minutes later, the military band began, followed by military guys marching and doing formations. Then, the real parade began. Lots of music, traditional dancing, horses, alpacas, floats, and even the mayor. We had the best view and got to enjoy the parade while drinking an Ariquipeña beer. It lasted about an hour and I was a little camera happy so we'll include a few pics of the parade.
After the parade, we went back to the hotel to relax a little before dinner. We decided to break from our adventures in Peruvian local dishes to try a well-known Italian restaurant located at the edge of the monastary that we were visiting the next day. The restaurant's menu was created by the famous Peruvian chef, Gaston Acurio, so we thought we should try it. It was a cute little restaurant and we enjoyed the dinner a lot. We shared some pesto pasta, which had a local twist to it and was really delicious. I had a nice fish dish and Mike had some lamb. His was better than mine. We enjoyed our dinner, although not the best we've had! We certainly are getting picky, aren't we...
