Lima to Arequipa

We had a few days in Lima—not a particularly inspiring city but it was a welcome break from our exotic former adventures.
We stayed in Milaflores which is an upper middle class neighborhood which makes you forget you are in South America. The faces are not as dark and everyone can speak English. The food is yuppie and shopping is as in any other large city in the world. We had a day in downtown Lima which has not preserved the Spanish colonialism that most of the other more beautiful cities we have visited have. We visited the catacombs in the old monastry which had been the town cemetary for 200 years, the bones were all on display in catagories—leg bones all together, hip bones in another vault and skulls in another—was eerie to realise how impersonal it all becomes!!
Our other experience of note was the changing of the guard at the palace. This makes Buckingham Palace pale in comparison. The streets are all blocked off with heavily armed police (machine guns at the ready) and behind the bars of the fence an elaborate ceremony takes place where dozens of troups in colourful uniforms parade with marching bands and eventually the guard is changed. This all takes place for about 45 minutes every noon and the posturing power makes the populace aware of how strong the government is.
We had intended going to a small oasis near Ica but because it was hit by the earthquake we changed our plans.
We caught a night bus to Arequipa which should have been a 14 hour trip but as it went through the ravaged area it took 18 hours. It was dark when we travelled through Pisco and the damage was obvious. People were camped outside their unstable homes using candles and small fires. It is cold at this time of year so they were wrapped in heavy blankets, the power was out over a large area. Others were walking to wherever they had to go, presumably to other family members elsewhere. It was very eerie and sad as it was obvious that any well constructed building was fine and it was the poorest who had the most to lose who lost everything and it will be very difficult for them to recover. The highway--the most travelled in South America--was damaged as the area is all sand which gives a very unstable base for the road.
The countryside all the way down astonished us as it is all sand dunes and very dry and only summer homes are on the beaches. Arequipa is an hour inland and is 2600metres above sea level and also has a desert climate. There are several volcanoes surrounding the city which is very beautiful settled in a lovely valley . Buildings are constructed of the sparkling white rock in the area. It is also in an earthquake zone so they have all been well constructed and have a low profile. It is hot in the day but cold at night and has the same climate year round. Anyone looking for the perfect climate could sart here.
We visited the museum which houses Princess Jaunita, the Ice Princess. She is a 13 year old girl who was found in the 1990’s by an American anthropologist exploring the 6000 metre high volcano and amazingly the mummified body had rolled down the volcano very recently due to some snow melt. It had been preserved perfectly and they transported her to the USA to test her and then returned her here. She was apparantly chosen at birth being of a noble family and at 13 had been dressed ceremonially and walked up the mountain from 260km away where she was given a drug orally and then hit on the head to kill her. She then was buried with many treasures, it was considered a great honour to be chosen. This was done by the Incas on many of the local mountains and was a sacrifice to the gods. There have been others found but she is the best preserved. It was incredible to see her.
Our other visit was to a huge convent which had housed nuns from Spain which covers 5 acres. This had been used for the second daughters of the wealthy Spanish families who were sent complete with dowry. They each had a huge living area with bedroom, living room and their own kitchen. They each had several servants to perform the cooking and cleaning and had a very pleasant life of parties and social activities. After 300 years in the late 19th century someone from the Vatican realised it was happening and sent someone out to re-establish the convent to one of a relgious closeted order. The slaves were freed and many stayed on and became nuns. There are still 30 nuns living there in seclusion living a very simple life and the rest of the convent has been opened as a tourist site.
We were incredibly lucky as for some reason—no-one is ever sure what reasons things happen here—there was another festival. This involved a parade from local tribes from all over Peru wearing their local costumes. They are so bright and colourful and they were happy to be photographed. It was amazing display of colour.
There are huge canyons in the area—deeper than the Grand Canyon—no doubt not acknowledged by Americans where the condors fly, using the updafts to soar over the area. We took a 3 day trip there which I will talk about next time—will also post pics in the next few days.