Convents and corpses

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Flight: Arequipa to Juliaca, LanPeru 131 (320)
Hotel: Sonesta Posada del Inca Lake Titicaca (Puno, Peru) $65
We had all mornining free before our afternoon flight to Puno. We decided to visit the Santa Catalina convent in Arequipa; this was totally closed off to outsiders until the late 1970's! It's a truly magical place, very photogenic with red, white, and blue colored walls, and flowers and citrus trees everywhere. Different parts of the convent are designed to look like regions in Spain. Take lots and lots of film or memory cards with you! Afterwards, we decided to visit the Juanita mummy that was discovered on the top of a nearby mountain a few years ago. She is only on display for parts of the year, and today was the last day that she would be on display. We had a hard time finding the museum, it had moved from the site in our guidebook. The museum was fascinating, describing the Inca funeral arrangements, how the children were sacrificed to the mountain gods. The focal point was the mummy of Juanita herself, which is kept in a climate controlled display. After the museum, we walked back to the Sonesta, grabbed our bags, and headed for the airport. The flight to Juliaca was a quick 45 minutes, but saved another 6 hours on a bus. The airport is about an hour drive from Puno. We were staying at the Sonesta in Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca a few kilometers outside of town. The hotel is nice enough, with a pretty good restaurant, but it is isolated with nothing nearby.

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