arequipa
Another couple of nights in Cusco followed the Inca Tril and then it was back on the road again. Shame really as I felt I hadn't enough time to enjoy the place. That's probably a consequence of going out and getting wrecked everynight I suppose! It is gringo central after all and it caters well to the booze hounds. For some reason we were heading back south to Arequipa. I didn't really get a satisfactory answer as to why this was plan as it seemed more efficient to have seen this town earlier in terms of mileage and time. Maybe I was reaching my tolerance of sitting on a big yellow truck staring at the passing moonscape. At least the road was decent.
Arequipa is a beautiful place though. UNESCO declared it a world historical centre in 1990. It has wonderful colonial architecture and one of the best plaza´s I have seen. The place is refered to as the 'white city' due to the type of stone used for many of the buildings. A white volcanic stone called 'sillar' obtained locally. The whole place fluttered with flags and banners hailing Peru. Independence Day had arrived. I had heard that the people of Arequipa regard themselves as separate from Peru. They´re always banging on about being the Republic of Arequipa so it was a surprise to the effort being put in to the celebrations. But this is South America after all. Any excuse for a dancing festival! The parade and later the party in the plaza were quite something. Revellers packed the whole central area of the city. Rozzers were everywhere. I was frisked in and frisked out of the plaza. I watched the coppers round up all the local hoodlums into a truck. They grinned and shouted defiantly back at the coppers. The vechile was more suited to cattle transport really. All said I saw no trouble.
The local attractions are St Catherines convent. A city within a city that was closed to outsiders up until 1971. A fastinating place. How all these nuns lived in complete isolation from the world and from each other for four centuries is incredible. Some walked around all day with barbed wire and such like under the clothing to demonstrate their empathy with the suffering of Jesus. Another key point is the Ice Mummy Juanita. About 500 years ago, the volcano erupted and teh Inca's took it as a sign that the mountains gods were angry. To placate them a human sacfrice was needed. So they walked from Cusco (a long way, away) with a procession that included a young teenage girl. They climbed the highest summit, got her drunk on the Inca brew called chica, did a ritual, cracked her over the left eye with a rock and she died. In 1990 her perfectly preserved body was discovered. Kind of gruesome, particularly the rock bit. Nonetheless very ineresting.
The night life was not as good as Cusco but it was adequate. One Irish pub among many other themes. One kebab house! Not lamb though.A dodgy nightclub. It was another short stay in a place I would have liked to stay longer but such is are the rigours of an organised tour. At this stage I am counting the hours to freedom which will be acquired in Lima. My tour leader finally came back to me on the cost of extending the tour to Quito. They´ll give me a 15% discount. How charitable! even if the discount was more meaningful I would not buy.
The next stop was an overnight stay in a very small town called Chivay. I nearly collapsed when I saw an Irish pub there ! Seriously, it was unbelieveable. The purpose of the stay here was to make an early morning visit to the Colca Canyon. The worlds second deepest. At about 9am, a bunch of condors take to the thermals and float around in all their majesty. They are amazing. So big (wingspan up to four metres) and graceful. They look for carrion (dead animals) although if they had a keener eye, they would have swooped on me as I was practically dead from a massive hangover. Yes, you guessed it, the Irish pub.
Arequipa is a beautiful place though. UNESCO declared it a world historical centre in 1990. It has wonderful colonial architecture and one of the best plaza´s I have seen. The place is refered to as the 'white city' due to the type of stone used for many of the buildings. A white volcanic stone called 'sillar' obtained locally. The whole place fluttered with flags and banners hailing Peru. Independence Day had arrived. I had heard that the people of Arequipa regard themselves as separate from Peru. They´re always banging on about being the Republic of Arequipa so it was a surprise to the effort being put in to the celebrations. But this is South America after all. Any excuse for a dancing festival! The parade and later the party in the plaza were quite something. Revellers packed the whole central area of the city. Rozzers were everywhere. I was frisked in and frisked out of the plaza. I watched the coppers round up all the local hoodlums into a truck. They grinned and shouted defiantly back at the coppers. The vechile was more suited to cattle transport really. All said I saw no trouble.
The local attractions are St Catherines convent. A city within a city that was closed to outsiders up until 1971. A fastinating place. How all these nuns lived in complete isolation from the world and from each other for four centuries is incredible. Some walked around all day with barbed wire and such like under the clothing to demonstrate their empathy with the suffering of Jesus. Another key point is the Ice Mummy Juanita. About 500 years ago, the volcano erupted and teh Inca's took it as a sign that the mountains gods were angry. To placate them a human sacfrice was needed. So they walked from Cusco (a long way, away) with a procession that included a young teenage girl. They climbed the highest summit, got her drunk on the Inca brew called chica, did a ritual, cracked her over the left eye with a rock and she died. In 1990 her perfectly preserved body was discovered. Kind of gruesome, particularly the rock bit. Nonetheless very ineresting.
The night life was not as good as Cusco but it was adequate. One Irish pub among many other themes. One kebab house! Not lamb though.A dodgy nightclub. It was another short stay in a place I would have liked to stay longer but such is are the rigours of an organised tour. At this stage I am counting the hours to freedom which will be acquired in Lima. My tour leader finally came back to me on the cost of extending the tour to Quito. They´ll give me a 15% discount. How charitable! even if the discount was more meaningful I would not buy.
The next stop was an overnight stay in a very small town called Chivay. I nearly collapsed when I saw an Irish pub there ! Seriously, it was unbelieveable. The purpose of the stay here was to make an early morning visit to the Colca Canyon. The worlds second deepest. At about 9am, a bunch of condors take to the thermals and float around in all their majesty. They are amazing. So big (wingspan up to four metres) and graceful. They look for carrion (dead animals) although if they had a keener eye, they would have swooped on me as I was practically dead from a massive hangover. Yes, you guessed it, the Irish pub.
posted by Ciarán at 3:39 p.m.
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