So we celebrated Jordan’s birthday in Cusco. His 22 was spent in a local bar watching Miami beat Detroit for the second time in their playoff series and playing Pinochle which we managed to teach to Fabrice and Julian. The next day Jordan and Fabrice had to wake up early to start their hike to Choquequirao, another set of ruins near Cusco that are supposed to be cool. They made the deal with one of the porters we had on the Inca trail and are even going to do some of it on horseback. I decided it would be better if I stayed out of this one, so Julian and I made our way to Arequipa, through a long uncomfortable bus ride that at least had the kindness to play some movies with English subtitles.
Arequipa is Peru’s second largest city after Lima and legend claims it’s name came about when the Incan king passed by the area and the locals said in Quechua, a popular indigenous language of these parts, “Ari, quepay” which means “Yes, you can stay”. The town itself is very beautiful with plenty of old churches and side-walk cafes. It is also is near the second deepest canyon in the world Canon del Colca, at around 3400 meters deep. The deepest canyon is actually closebye and is named Cotahuasi Canyon and is only about 163 meters deeper. Originally I thought I was going to do a two day tour of the place but it proved to be a bit more expensive then advertised and didn’t sound that spectacular enough to merit the price.
So instead Julian and I spent the first day sleeping and recuperating from the bus ride, then we went out to tour the town a bit. It’s a lot lower than Cusco and is quite a bit warmer which I’m appreciating. There are even palm trees in the main plaza. All the old buildings in this town are made out of volcanic stone so they have an beautiful white appearance, giving Arequipa’s nickname “The White City”. The town is nestled nicely in the Andes surrounded by many mountains and volcanos including El Misti at around 5822 meters. Julian and I appreciated all this beauty just long enough to find the nearest mall so we could go to the movies. We saw “The da Vinci Code” which I thought was pretty good. I’d really enjoyed the book and was excited to see how it translated onto to the big screen. All say it was good and leave at that rather than spoil anything. I was even more excited to see that X-Men 3 is finally out. This means that when I get to Lima I will probably be able to see it *eyes flash with joy*. Yeah, I know I’m a dork but I’ve been wanting to see this movie for roughly three years now. That’s a long waiting period.
The next day Julian and I went to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. This massive convent covers a whole city block and was built in 1580. A rich widow chose her nuns from the richest families in the area and from the age of 12 onward lived solely inside the walls and were never allowed out. There are still nuns living there today but their lives are not quite as strict. There are many little streets inside this small city and lots of little apartments for each of the nuns, who at first could buy special priviliges with money and class.
We also went to the Museo Santuarios Andinos to see one of the city’s most famous attractions: Juanita the world’s highest human sacrifice. The Inca’s believed the mountains were gods and if they erupted or anything of the like the people would offer sacrifices to appease them. The sacrifices were usually children aged 12 to 14 who were chosen around the age of 3 to be sacrifices. They were raised especially carefully to maintain their health and purity. It was considered a great honor to be chosen as it was believed they would be going to live with their gods upon being sacrificed. Even still hearing how this was carried out unsettles me. This poor girl had to walk from Cusco to hear over many days of travel and then had to climb to the top of an almost 6000 meter peak in very weak shoes and clothes. Then after the ritual ceremony the child’s face was covered with a vale and then the preist would smash her skull in with a large stone mallet and then buried for the gods. I can’t imagine what the kid must have felt like leading up to that. We were not allowed to take pictures of the actual mummy, but if you do a google search under “Juanita the inca ice mummy” you can find some more info and pictures.
Sadly, Arequipa is also were I will say goodbye to my friend Julian who we met way back in San Pedro de Atacama. He’s a very cool guy and has been fun to travel with. We’ve discussed the finer points of German beer, American-European intricacies, and taught each other numerous card games. He leaves tonight to go to Lima and fly back to Europe to continue his trip before he does his required service time. I hope he has a safe journey and that I get to see him again someday. I’ve always wanted to visit Germany anyways!
So that’s it for now. There are pictures from both Cusco and Arequipa for you to look through. The people page has also been massively redone with pictures of people we’ve met and links to our adventures with them. Hope everything’s great with all of you.
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