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The Ice Mummy
photo of postcard as photos were not allowed inside! 27/6/06 - 29/06/06
leaving my beloved Cuzco was hard...it also meant parting of ways for many of us that had been travellin together for a while. Elliot was making his way to Lima to catch a flight back to Canada. Alex (whom i´d been travelling with since Buenos Aires), was making his way down to Puno with Helen B qwand Simon (2 Brits), Nick left to Santiago for a flight to New Zealand, Dave headed up quickly to Ecuador for galapagos trip....
so 5 of us left, we caught a bus to Arequipa. The bus (company called CIAL), was luxurious by Peruvian standards, but someone must have forgot to check the airconditioning- i almost fried as the heat scorched through the vents by my side! arriving around 6am, we headed straight to our hostel- THE POINT. it was social and friendly, but lacked the same vibe as Loki hostel in Cuzco! straight to sleep, a chimpanzee screeching for a banana couldn´t have woken me up!
the afternoon was spent (after finally waking up) wandering through the beautiful town of Arequipa. nestled among beautiful mountains, and filled with structures made from a light coloured volcanic rock called Sillar, a
canon Del Cocoa
second highest canon in the world stone that glimmers white in the sunlight- giving rise to Arequipa being named ¨the white city¨! The city nestles in a valley surrounded by commanding mountains- Volcano El Misti (5882m), Chachani and Pichu Pichu.
Headed to their famous Ice mummy museum. there is so much history and stories found in Peru that you can attribute to the Incas- suprising when their reign was just over a hundred years. But assertive and successful, their empire spread over vast areas until the conquering Spaniards arrived. This museum housed relics from atop the local volcanoes. Child human sacrifices were offered to the inca sun god to appease him, or in times of trouble, or when a new king came into power. The most beautiful children were chosen from a young age, and trained in preparation for this sacrifice. They would be taken up into the peaks of the mountains, wearing rich and elaborate clothes, given an intoxicating drink (Chachara), hit over the head and burried within a hole with riches and wealth to take with them to the afterlife with the gods. The most famous of these Ice Mummies, named Juanita, was the only one kept intact- skin, hair, features. She was
do a little dance with the small people
anyone with 2 left feet can do this dance...alot of moving arms back and forth.. found further down the mountain, entombed in ice..having slid down the mountain. She was encased in a glass fridge in the museum...which was incredible to see. Everything intact, but shrivelled. it was moving to see history look back at you like that!
We (Mario, Claudio, Helen, Rachel, Lacy) headed out the next day on a tour of the ¨nearby¨ canon Del Colca- said to be the second deepest canon in the world at 3191m high!! along the way we came across signs of ancient inca life everywhere. on epoint we stopped at an amazing view point overlooking the mountains that cast shadows over the valley of Arequipa. it was also where we laid foundations of rock moles that the ancients used to lay each time they prayed...they were everywhere alongt he path.
We passed through Villages, saw wild Llamas and Vicunas, finally after over 7 hours, arriving in the village of Chivay. our dang hostel lacking decent hot showers, we opted to head to the nearby hot water springs. Two large pools with water pumped into them heated by nearby active volcanos! it was so nice and warm...leaving ur skin as wrinkled as a grannies face! being at
nice little cicunia
similar to lama, but cuter. this one just haung around the tourist strongholds and waited for free donations of food in exchange for nbeing photographed! it was manky looking for some reason! high altitude, the air was nipple pinching- we had to run from one pool to the next, run to the shower until finally dressed again! spent the night dining on local food (couldnt get myself to order the guinea pig on the menu!), entertained by the cultural dancers, being pulled up one by one to keep them entertained with laughter at our poor attempts! finished the night off drinking and playing pool in an irish bar...even in the middle of nowhere, there is an irish bar!!!!!!!! u can´t escape them!
ealy 6am start, we veered our way to the canon, walking along the edge up to the Condor view point, where large and kingly Condor take flight right before your eyes....supposedly! seems that the condors were celebrating their annual independence day, and so we got short-lived glimpses of these majestic birds.
our long and tenuous bus journey back gave us a glimpse of inca mountainside where terraces clung to the mountains, where more than 1000 types of potatoes once were grown!
In Arequipa, we only manged to eat, have a shower before boarding an overnight bus to Nazca.
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