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I took the 6 hour bus to Arequipa then stayed in a yucky hostel called Indio Dormido - never again! I then walked around the Plaza de Armas, filled w/ pigeons and saw the Iglesia de la Compañia which had a very pretty facade. From there I spent a while in an artisans market and got to the cathedral for the 6pm mass. It was a special mass in honor of San Carmelo who worked w/ the sick and there were people there from his order visiting. I got a cab to go back to be on the safe side & the driver was an old retired guy saying how he wanted to marry me so he could go to the US!
After surviving the Colca Canyon I spent my second day in Arequipa w/ a guy named Eusebio from Iquitos who was there for a law conference and went on my bus tour of the city. Our first stop was at the mirador el Alto de Carmen where we got great views of the Misti Volcano & Pichu Pichu & another snow topped mountain. We saw the papaya arequipeña (small) and tumbo plants (related to passion fruit) & also tried maca candies. From there we went to a plaza in the rich neighborhood of Yanhuara where I tried a traditional Arequipa cheese ice cream called "charito" that was supposedly made from milk & coconut but it was really yummy & didn't taste like coconut - the cinnamon on top was really good! From there we saw a permanent collection of South American camelids including alpaca, llama, vicuña & guanaco. Eusebio touched the guanaco & it got mad & spit on someone else! Next, we went to the mirador of Sachaca where we took our pictures w/ a natively dressed woman w/ a trained hawk that I had on my arm! Our last stop was at a water mill. After lunch we went to the famous 400 year old monastery of Santa Catalina. We saw lots of nuns' cells, kitchens, chapels, paintings, their bath & laundry areas and courtyards. We also visited the Museos Santuarios Andinos where we saw a movie & got a guided tour about the Incan child sacrifices & offerings left in the tombs. It was amazing how far & how high (over 6000m) they walked to the top of the apus to perform the sacrifices. The children were chosen from birth and supposed to be perfect. We saw Juanita who was preserved because of the ice and the cold at the altitude - it was all very interesting and creepy at the same time. It was only because of the recent volcanic activity in the 1990s that the glacier melted & the archaeologists were able to uncover the tombs; the same volcanic activity that had allowed the Incas to get that high to do the sacrifices over 500 years ago. We checked out the big tourist store Eckeko that was like a mini museum and then it was off to the bus station for what would be an 18 hour ride to Lima due to a farmers road blockade along the way - ugh! It is a difficult situation in Bolivia & Peru - the poor people block the roadways to express their unhappiness with the government - a very frustrating situation for everyone who is trying to get from one place to another! Look up the roadblocks and protests on the internet - sad but interesting.
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