September 12-13, 2006
Okay, so we love Arequipa. It is cosmopolitan - good food, working people, respect for their location and properties. . . quite a nice place to visit.
I´ve added a variety of photos...beginning with breakfast on 12 Sept. at a place called El Turko II - the best meal we´ve had in 3 weeks - beautiful setting and delightful food.
Each of the towns we´ve visited has had a central square that is called Plaza de Armas. In Arequipa, the pigeons rule the square. There are thousands of them, and like Venice, the people here feed them and try to get the pigeons to feed from their hands.
While wandering around the city, we happened upon a public protest in which the elderly were raising public awareness that they do not have any finance support from the government and therefore are working well into their old age. It was a passionate protest with many canes and whistles.
One of the most bizarre experiences we have had on our travels so far was at the Sabandía grain mill. Built in 1621, itworks on hydraulic energy from a small waterfall. Seeing a working mill appealed to us, so we took a taxi ride 8km out of the city. It seems they don´t get many visitors, as we had to ring a doorbell upon arrival. The ´housekeeper´let some water into the hydraulic system as she ran to open the gate. She took our 5 soles and ran off as quickly as she opened the gate. We were suddenly alone within the confines of a grain mill. To our fright, we realized that we were in the company of an alpaca, chewing its cud. It was great to see the grindstones in action, but learned absolutely diddly about the place as there were no signs and no people. Oh well.
Another slew of photos include those of the Santa Catalina Monastery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catalina_Monastery This is an extant nunnery that now houses about 30 nuns. It was founded in 1580. In 1970 it was opened to the public. It is enormous and takes up a good portion of the touristy downtown area. The space is just incredible as you can see in the many photos we took - many old cooking ovens, lots of art, many cells, and bizarre religious paraphernalia.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in the most interesting of the sites. A local university museum houses Mummy Juanita, or "The Ice Maiden". She is a 15th century Inca mummy that was 12- to 14-years old who died sometime between 1440 and 1450. The mummy was discovered nearby in 1995 by Johan Reinhard, an anthropologist, while he was climbing a local volcano. She was remarkably well preserved in a glacier. In the museum, you can see all of the gifts that were given to the gods when she was sacrificed. Apparently her organs are intact and much research has yet to be done on her body. For now, she is kept frozen at 20´C - stored for future research. Quite awesome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita
Finally, we visited an incredible contemporary art museum...I´m sure we were not supposed to take photos, but I took a few without a flash, to show you all. Hidden in a corner of the museum was an ancient 1920´s era camera. We asked the curator about the camera and he introduced us to the world of Peruvian photography and the brothers Vargas (Carlos and Miguel). http://www.agenciaperu.com/cultural/portada/vargas_h/#
Next on our agenda, the deepest canyon in the world:
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/02-08/where-is-the-deepest-canyon-in-the-world-arequipa-peru.html
