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Published: August 7th 2007
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We took the night bus to Arequipa (which arrived at a painful 5 in the morning). After a bit of a nap, we had a look around the Santa Catalina convent. Today, there are only 30 or so nuns living in the convent, but in its day, it would have been quite a little village. The complex takes up a whole street block and has its own internal streets and parks. The nuns had it relatively good. Most were the second daughters born to rich colonial families. They could take in a dowry and so had their china tea sets and silk curtains and rugs. They were allowed servants and even slaves. They had concerts and gave parties and generally lived it up until a new strict mother superior came in and shook things up a bit.
We climbed up onto a roof and were treated to a grand view of the nuns´ undies billowing in the breeze. Ben, who had a Catholic upbringing, was naturally horrified. He was lucky enough to see them taking the washing in from a second roof top. Normally, you only see the nuns as they head over to mass.
After that, we signed
up to do a trek in Colca Canyon - which is definitely one of the deepest canyons in the world, although we have yet to establish for certain if it takes the top prize.
We spent a day zig zagging into the canyon (thankfully not the deepest bit) and another day zig zagging out. One side is really dry and dusty, the other is strangely green with waterfalls appearing out of nowhere, thanks to some natural springs.
We stayed with a local family, and I think they may have fed us something slightly dodgy as my guts played up for a few days afterwards (thankfully, it didn´t set in until we were well out of the canyon as there is little in the way of cover on the path). Ben put our guide to shame and raced on up ahead to beat everyone to the top. He proudly proclaimed that he had beaten a team of donkeys, although later admitted that they were being led by a lady carrying a baby and a sack of potatoes on her back. Had they been carrying equal loads, she could well have smoked him.
While in Arequipa, we also got
to meet ´Juanita´. She is an incan mummy that was found on Volcan Ampato back in 1995. The poor thing was only 12 or so when she was marched from Cusco to Arequipa, up a 6000m + peak (including a spot of ice climbing in her llama skin booties), fed some drugs and alcohol, whacked over the head and buried as a sacrifice to the gods. She sat there for the next 500 years, occasionally being struck by lightning, when finally the next door volcano erupted and melted the ice that entombed her. An earthquake then broke open her grave and shook her out into Ampato´s crater. Two days later some American climbers happened to be wandering by and saw her lying in the open (thankfully still frozen). She now suffers the indignity of sitting in a museum in Arequipa, with her face in a permanent grimmace, freakishly well preserved and still looking cold. Some 14 or so mummies have been found on other mountains in Peru, Chile and Argentina. Amazing artifacts have been preserved along with them including tunics and sandals, pots, jewellery and metal figurines.
On our way to Lima we made a short stop at the
Nazca
lines. A whole patch of desert here is covered in strange lines, shapes and figures made about 2000 years ago by the Nazca people. The lines are huge. You really have to see them from the air to contemplate it. They run across plains, up mountains, over river valleys. There are also huge figures and shapes. Some people think the lines were made by aliens to mark out landing strips for their space craft. Hippies still sneak out to sleep on the lines and absorb their cosmic engergy. However, most think the lines had something to do with the worship of water gods (not surprising since it rains for about 2 minutes a year in Nazca).
We pulled some major Gs as the pilot did tight figure eights over the lines. It was a struggle to take photos when my cheeks were touching my shoulders and I wanted to hurl. (Thank goodness the stomach bug had abated by then!)
Back on tierra firma, we jumped straight on the next bus to Lima. Lima is an odd place. It is a real mix of westernised displays of wealth and extreme poverty. We felt safe walking around the area
we were staying, but that might have something to do with the fact that there were security guards on every corner. The security guard outside Norky´s (a Peruvian version of KFC) wore a bullet proof vest. This is the only place I´ve been where the taxi driver holds the door open for you, then locks it as he closes it. While I think about it, it is also the only place we´ve been where the taxi driver locked his own door.
Despite all this, Lima has its charms. It has some lovely old colonial buildings and a grand governing palace (complete with tanks!). We wandered around crazy old churches with walls on impossible leans and basements full of bones. During renovations of the main cathedral, the body of Fransico Pizarro (the Spanish dude who nailed the incas) was discovered in one of the walls. His severed head was found neatly placed in a box nearby. He and his head have since been reunited and sit in one of the side altars of the church.
As we were leaving Lima, we heard that things were brewing in the Capital. Protests are expected (not that they are ever unexpected), plus
a couple of the roads around the place have been blockaded, stopping all traffic. Perhaps it was a good time to leave...
We are now back in Buenos Aires. Not long till we are in Mexico!
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