DAY 180
The ride Arequipa was rough. We had a great bus with seats reclining at 180 degrees. But the road is rough so the night was rough too. We're lucky to be allowed to check-in early and have a hard time to drag ourselves out after that. Eventually we succeed and reward ourselves with a delicious ceviche followed by a good coffee at the alliance francaise restaurant. People in Arequipa are significantly less Andean. It's difficult to tell exactly what but something in the physique is changing. They are also friendlier and more open ;)
We check out the main plaza but our real objective is a shop that was recommended to us at the alliance francaise restaurant. We were told they have Spanish embutido and cheese! It turns out to be true and the nearby bakery completes the picture. We're all set for tonight's picnic in our hotel room :D
DAY 181
We though we missed it because we couldn't get out of bed this morning but when we finally show up at the main plaza, the Wititi was not even started. And from the look of it, it would last more than the 2 hours we were told it would. What's the Wititi you may ask. Fair question ;) it's an arequipan festival where gals are the court of princess Collawa and guys are Inca soldier. Colonial authorities prohibited the use of Inca uniform so instead they started using dresses, usually borrowed from a sister, friend or wife.
Since nothing's happening in the plaza right now we check out the cathedral. It looks like a neoclassical palace and had a tumultuous history. It was first build in the 17th century, destroyed by fire, rebuilt, flattened by an earthquake, rebuilt, damaged by another earthquake, repaired. Humans can be stubborn sometime ;) It also has an international flair with its Italian marble, Spanish brass lamp, French pulpit and monstrous Belgian organ.
As we exit, the dancers for the Wititi start arriving in the main plaza. They left early this morning from villages around Arequipa... Dancing. We watch for a bit. The costumes are nice but it's repetitive.
The convent Santa Catalina is something unique. It was founded in the 16th century and occupy a big chunk of the city. It's protected by high walls and is actually a city within the city. Exploring the 20,000 m2 (150m x 150m) is amazing. It feels like being in a mini medieval city, with its tiny streets, red and blue walls, convents and housing blocks. The mountains in the background complete the perfect picture.
It was a great honor to be accepted here but the honor came with a hefty price tag. Depending on your wealth you were "assigned" a more or less luxuries housing. The life inside was not so different for the wealthy ones. They were entering with their servants and had houses with multiple rooms. They were just going from a place where their life was controlled by their family to a place where it was controlled by the church. The place was open to the public only in the 70s. Only a few nuns remain now. Without even noticing we spend 4h30 in the place.
Tonigh, because we need to reconnect to our roots, we have a 2nd picnic with bread, cheese and embutido!!! Yummy :D
DAY 182
It's in one of the many streets around the main plaza and when we came across it yesterday, we knew we would have to try it. It's called Casa Enrique and the owner are from Linares and Jerez (towns in Andalusia, one of them a stone's throw away from where Mar comes from). The albondigas and the huevos a la flamenca we ate cannot be considered food but medicine for home sickness ;)
The small museo santuarios andinos has a famous mommy (Juanita) and offer great insights on the Inca religion. To make it even more interesting, our guide was great. Juanita and many other kids were sacrificed on a regular basis to mountain gods (in the hope of preventing volcanic eruptions). The conditions high up in the mountain are perfect for conservation (cold and dry with no microorganism to decompose the bodies). It gave us great insight on their clothing, their diet and especially the way they could endure the harsh conditions of high altitude. Juanita and the other kids were all from noble family (evident from their garment) from all over the empire. They were brought to Cuzco young to be "prepared" for their fate. It's obviously strange for us but it was an honor. Among the many objects found in these tombs, the representation of the duck is prevalent. For the Incas, it was a magical animal that could travel between the 3 worlds (heaven, the world of the livings and the world of the dead). The museum is well though with the tension building up until we reach the room where Juanita is exposed. She's in a coffin of glass now with the conditions set to avoid any deterioration. The level of conservation is unbelievable and it's not even the better conserved one!
Wandering about again, we stumble upon the patio of the Jesuit church. The columns are beautifully carved and we stay there 2 hours enjoying the sunset and the light playing on the columns. No more picnic tonight but a top notch restaurant named zig zag. It's famous for its meat and after a delicious "alpaca tonnato" (alpaca seems to work with everything!) we try their famous trio of meat: beef, alpaca and mutton. And of course, it's cooked to perfection... Yummy!!!
DAY 183
Light day today because tomorrow at 3am we have to catch the bus to the Colca canyon :/ We check out the posh neighborhood of Yanahuara just because there's a restaurant we want to try there. It's famous for its grilled fish and ceviche, and it's delicious again. Yes we are treating ourselves ;)