The end of Peru and the beginnings of Bolivia

Arequipa - boring, but beautiful.

The guide book talked it up, but there was really nothing to do in Arequipa, the 'white city.' Absolutely nothing was open - we roamed the streets for what felt like forever to find somewhere decent to eat, but ended up at a dingy little Italian feel place right on the tourist strip. Crapholio.

We arranged a tour of the Colca Canon - shizen. We felt like retirees. Cue 'Cecilia' our tour guide: 'On your left there a Vicunas' (with the bus slamming on the breaks for all the cameras to come out and click away like Japanese tourists). This happened a good 10 times. There are only so many VicuñasVicuñas you can look at. Yes, they are endangered. However, they still look the same every time you see them. You also start to question the information your guide is feeding you when she mentions that the Spanish brought gum trees over from Australia.... hmmmm. We then spent a good hour and a half trying to spot a Condor. We saw one. Joy. It would have been more enjoyable to trek through the Canon but after almost killing ourselves on the Inca trail we thought the bus would be a good option. Clearly not.

The scariest and most eventful thing that happened was passing an coach that had fallen off the road. It was pretty distressing - you do not feel safe at the speed that they drive here. We've been taking a lot of night buses as well which has its pros and cons. Pro - you cannot see where you are going and so don't freak out at how close you are to a cliff edge. Con - you can feel how fast you are going and so freak out even more because you cannot tell how close you are to the edge and can feel the driver slamming on the breaks as they approach a bend to fast in the over ladened double decker bus.

We did get the chance to visit Junita, the 500 year old Ice Maiden discovered atop one of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa. She was very well preserved thanks to the freezing temperatures. You could make out her hair and skin through the several panes of glass and ice that she was stored in. In all I think they have found about 16 bodies and their belongings in the surrounding area, preserved to varying degrees. It was slightly depressing. She was a child sacrifice. They estimate that she was about 12 years old when she died and that she was murdered. If you look at her closely you can see where she was whacked on the head. It is thought however that she was given the local drink, Chicha, so that she had passed out before she was hit. Not that it really makes you feel that much better about the whole situation.

We spent an afternoon wandering around the very massive and very beautiful Monasterio Santa Catalina which was founded in 1579. It was nice to have a relaxing stroll around, but it was good to finally get on the bus.