Arequipa - a meeting with the Ice Maiden

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August 30th 2006

Published: September 25th 2006

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Rafski

Santa Catalina Convent

The Convent has a maze of streets, and squares within its walls.

I caught a cheap bus from Puno which turned out to be a lot of fun, apart from the lack of leg room (being 6 feet tall didn’t help). Each time the bus was late to leave a stop the old ladies, dressed in traditional clothing, would bang on the windows and yell out vamos (lets go)! At most stops people selling food would get on and push through the bus. At one stop a young boy got on the bus and sang quite loudly until the next stop collecting money on his way out.

The following morning I headed out to the Plaza de Armas. There happened to be a military line up in front of the cathedral. The soldiers would sometimes lift their guns and then put them down again, and this seemed to go on for a long time. So I continued on to the church of La Compania. The church like most buildings in Arequipa is made out of white sillar rock which at first glimpse looks a bit like concrete. The façade of the church has some fine carvings made in the stone, and the angels are supposed to have Amerindian faces, but try as

Arequipan street

The buildings are generally low because of all the earthquakes they have in the region. Chachani looms in the background.

hard as I could I could not see the resemblance.

Next I organised the trek to the Colca Canyon for the next day and a climb of Mt Ampato. This involved getting some US dollars out from the bank to pay for the trips.

My next destination was the Santa Catalina Convent. I started my visit with a guided tour which lasted for about an hour. The convent was opened in 1579 by a rich widow. To enter the convent a substantial fee had to be paid. Each nun had a fairly large room and individual kitchen, on top of this the nuns also had their own servants (or slaves depending on who you believe). This all change in 1871 when the convent was reformed and many of the servants became nuns themselves. There are still around 30 nuns who live in the convent, and while we did the tour one of the nuns appeared briefly in quite colourful clothing. After the tour I had some lunch at the convent and then did another loop on my own taking photographs.

The Ice Maiden had moved house so it took a little while to find her new location,

Bulls on parade

but after a visit to the tourist information office I was on my way. The visit started with a video about how she was found on Mt Ampato and background info about the mummy. Next we proceeded with a guide to the exhibits. The highlights included gold offering status some dressed in miniature replica clothing. Another highlight was the blood stained cloth which she had worn when offered as a sacrifice. Then it was time to meet the actual Ice Maiden. She was chilling out at -25 degrees Celsius in her own freezer. Her face wasn’t in particularly good condition, but the significance of the find was that her internal organs where still frozen and in good condition so scientists have been able to take samples of her DNA. Unfortunately photographs where not allowed.

In the afternoon I did a loop around town to have a look at some of the mansions. Unfortunately all where closed for interior visits. So I walked to the Chili river not far from the centre of Arequipa. There was a great view of the river and Chachani and El Misti in the background from a pedestrian overpass. Although the overpass was also used

La Catedral

One of the towers was toppled by the earthquake of 2001.

as public toilet with lots of smelly number 2s littering the path, so I didn’t hang around.

I had dinner at the Plaza up on the balconies overlooking the square. Great place to have dinner but somehow I ordered a shrimp meal even though I hate shrimp. In the evening I met a friendly Peruvian lady and we chatted for ages before I returned to my hotel.

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