Arrival into Arequipa

Alright alright! We’ve spent the morning so far eating our standard breakfast of two rolls of bread with margarine and jam, watching the pregame show for the bullfight we’re going to tomorrow and just relaxing. It’s been quite nice.

After Machu Picchu we returned to Cuzco and passed out hard. The next day, however, was a wonderful day. We walked around the city with Elizabeth and did some shopping, but mostly we just hung out. We had decided that a Pisco Sour Night was called for, so we got all the ingredients and spent the day cooking. Dry beans take a good long while to cook at 11,000 feet of altitude, approxiametely 2 1/2 hours or so, which gave us plenty of time to catch up on everything. Elizabeth got out her stethoscope and we listened to our hearts and lung work away. It was educational and fun! Erin and I both enjoyed having the opportunity to hang with Elizabeth for a few days.

Then, we were leaving. But we were not going to leave without seeing some of the Cuzco sights. We had managed to avoid any tourist stuff in the city itself for nearly 9 days, so the last day we checked out the cathedral, which turned out to be a fantastic decision. While it may be really dorky, the free audio guides toured us around the three different chapels, explaining the intricate intertwining of Spanish and Indigenous styles in the church. Unfortunately, there are no pictures, because they wouldn’t let us take any, but it was beautiful. They have the first cross ever to touch american soil, which they brought all the way from spain. Such an incredible piece of history, to see a 500 year old symbol of the physical, cultural and spiritual conquest.

So after that we left. A 10 hour bus ride down to Arequipa brought us into town around 6:30am, when we checked into our hostel and immediately went sightseeing. This my second time in Arequipa, the first being when I was here in 2002, so I was a little familiar with the city. We went straight to the museum where they hold the Juanita, a 500 year old mummy of an Incan sacrifice to the mountain gods. It is a fantastically done museum, with a movie explaining the importance of the findings as well as the archeological and conservation techniques used to locate and preserve the body. The relics buried with the bodies at the ceremonial site were in amazing condition. It almost looked like something you would see in the local market, that’s how well it was preserved. Just incredible.

From there we went to the Santa Catalina Convent, which is one of the first monasteries founded in the new world. It’s a city within a city, pretty much a fortress of solitude for the nuns locked inside. I remember it as being an intensely colored place, with courtyards containing fruit trees and religious paintings all around. I was not disappointed. Each corner seemed to be a photo opportunity, either for a simple picture, classic in composure, or a chance to take a sacrilegious pose. I resisted getting up on the cross with my arms outstretched. Just seemed a little too much, even for me. Plus, there were too many people looking. I did manage to get up on the pulpit in a small chapel and pretend to preach to the empty room, all the while hissing at Erin to take the picture before someone came in and yelled at us. It was a successful venture.

After the morning of sightseeing, we sat down to figure out our options of what to do and when. We’re trying to figure out how to get to Cotahuasi Canyon, the world’s deepest canyon, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to do that. We’ll just have to settle for the world’s second deepest canyon, Colca Canyon. Should be on Monday that we’ll touch that, riding out on motorcycles over some mountain passes to enjoy the natural beauty of the place and, hopefully, some condors flying on the rising air. But tomorrow is the big day. Our host at the hostel invited us to check out the local bullfight. It’s different than the traditional bullfights in that there is no matador. It’s more like a rooster fight, except with bulls. There are two bulls that the owner force to fight until one submits. 1,400 kg bulls fighting one another is the closest thing I think I’ll ever see to a live animal demolition derby. I’m pretty excited. We’ll let you know how it turns out.