Arequipa

I wasn't sure what to expect from an over bus night journey in Peru. I was feeling a little apprehensive when I arrived at the bus station in Cusco. The lonely planet guide gives various warnings about bandits attacking buses at night and luggage going missing. BUT! there was no other option than taking the night bus and everyone I had met who had done it had said it was perfectly safe. I had booked my ticket with Cruz del sur which is one of the best and most comfortable buses, never the less I'd packed my sleeping bag, valuables, pen knife and head torch into my hand luggage...just in case! As it turned out the bus was more comfortable than buisness class on a plane! We were security checked getting on, then videoed once we were in our seats and finally shown a saftey film telling us how the bus was tracked via GPS for any unscheduled stops (bandits???) and that the bus had 2 drivers who would be swapping over every 4 hours. I couldnt believe it when the time came for boarding! I had a massive seat which practically fully reclined with a blanket and pillow. There was even a bus hostess who served us tea and then handed out bingo cards! The game was in Spanish but good practise for my numbers and there was the chance for one lucky person to win a bus ticket to some other great location! I didn't win. Bingo was followed by a film. Oliver twist, dubbed in Spanish! By this stage I was wondering if there was going to be any peace and quiet to have any sleep. Luckily once the film had finished, the lights were dimmed and we all managed to get our heads down. I would like to say I slept really well and I would have done if it wasn't for the fact that the road was extreemly bumpy, bendy and taking us across a high pass of 4800m.
We arrrived in Arequipa at 7am. Rush hour on a Sunday with no traffic police on duty. It was grid locked chaos just getting out of the bus terminal car park in the taxi.
 Arequipa is Perus 2nd largest city and from the inside of the taxi a huge sprawling dusty mess of a city. Then I started getting glimpses of the snow capped volcanoes that almost surround the town. It was quite a strange spectacle.

My hostel for the next few days is in a huge building just off the main square. Its a real mix of original building on to which they have built a rear extension somewhat resembleing an air craft hanger, concrete floor and high corrogated iron ceiling. My room is nice and big and light and unexpectedly has its own bathroom!
Arequipa is still quite high at 2350m. The old center is quite spectacular with many of the buildings constructed from an off white volcanic stone called sillar. It has many beautiful old colonial buildings, churches, plazas and the main square and catherderal are quite impressive.

The outside of Santa Catelina monastary and an example of the sillar stone

I spent 3 days in Arequipa, visiting the main cultural sights, the central market, museums and walking around alot.  The most interesting was the Monastario de Santa Catelina. Its almost a mini city housed behind high sillar walls in the center of Arequipa. Its probably one of the most interesting and beautiful religious buildings in Peru. 



A square inside the monastary walls



It was founded in 1580 by a rich widow who was very selective in choosing her nuns. They came from the best families who naturally had to pay a large dowry. Normally, the 2nd son or daughter of upper class Spanish families at that time would enter religious service and for women this meant entering a life of chaste poverty. However, in this priviliged convent the nuns had between one and 4 servants and they would invite in musicians, have parties and generally live it up in the style tp which they had always been accustomed!

After three centuries of these hedonistic goings on, the Pope sent a particularly strict Dominican nun over to straighten things out. She arrived like a hurricane in 1871 and set about sending the rich dowries back to Europe and freeing the servants and slaves.



A street within the convent

 

Life in the convent was shrouded in mystery after this until it opened its doors to the public in 1970. Now about 3 dozen nuns still live in a corner of the complex while the rest remains open to the public.

The other main place of interest I visited was a museum where they keep the frozen remains of Juanita, a little girl who was sacrificed to the gods by the Incas. Her body had been wrapped at the time of death and buried and her remains were almost perfectly preserved due to the frozen temperature at the top of the Nevado Ampato, 6310m. Two dozen other child sacrifices have since been found on the surrounding mountain tops, but Juanita is the best preserved. 

I always love a food market and the central Mercado didn't disappoint, full of even more weird and wonderful things than the market at Cusco!

I mainly cooked at the hostel, after giving the kitchen a good clean and sanitize. I'd decided not to keep anything in the communal fridge as one look inside had convinced me that the contents really sould be condemned!