Day 68 - Juanita the Ice Princess

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We nearly didn't have today to explore the city as we'd hoped for. When trying to book a night bus at the bus station in the morning, I ended up talking with the vendor on crossed wires and nearly bought a ticket for the bus leaving in an hour. He was less than happy with my mistake.

Another fresh coffee to the good, we went to meet the 3 Canadian Shipman sisters (Heather, Erin and Jill) from our Inca Trail group, who had arrived in Arequipa the previous day. It was good to see them again since they had left Cusco very early the morning after we returned from Machu Picchu. We had a delicious lunch of mixed ceviche (fish and seafood cooked only in lemon juice and chilli, served with sweet potato and salad) and some beers and wine. We followed with an ice cream on the balcony overlooking the cathedral behind which we could now see, in the daylight, the snow capped volcanoes and mountains.

We waved the girls off, promising a visit to Canada and a place to stay in the UK, and went to the highly recommended museum which housed the 500-year old body of an Incan child sacrifice, preserved over time in the ice atop volcano Ampato, the highest in the region at 6380m. She was named Juanita, after her discoverer, and it is thought she would have been 12-14 years old; an offering to the gods chosen at birth. Her and the Inca priests would have walked a long and challenging route from Cusco, and up a very high volcano; hugely difficult without modern climbing equipment. After great festivities and rituals Juanita was fed an alcoholic drink to sedate her, expedited due to fasting, before a blow above her right eye caused her death. A fascinating but chilling story. The bodies of 3 other children was discovered on this volcano but Juanita was at the highest altitude thus must have been deemed the most important; she was taken closest to the gods. The museum holds 14 child sacrifices, although only Juanita is on show; kept at -20 degrees Celsius and 99%!h(MISSING)umidity. She is removed from her showcase for half the year in order that her DNA can be studied.

That night we took Taryn to our 80p dinner find before boarding our night bus to Nazca.

Chris's Corner

Before meeting up with the girls we had a wonder into Iglesia de La Merced. The decoration which goes into the churches here is fantastic but it is weird walking around as a tourist whilst locals are actively using the sites.

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Photos

Ceviche for Lunch
With the Shipman sisters