10th - 13th September 2012
After such a crazy few days on the Inca Trail you would figure that we would have scheduled some downtime, right?! Wrong! Monday 10th September was our last day in Cusco so we had a few last bits of souvenirs to buy and needed to post stuff home. We checked out of Loki at 1pm and headed off shopping and in search of a post office. This would be our fourth time posting home on the trip and it was by far the cheapest and easiest. Much easier than Australia where the people actually spoke English!! A lovely little man who owned a shop in the post office sold us a box, wrapped it in loads and loads of silicone wrap and used a roll of Sellotape to seal everything in for the grand sum of €1.50. Then he proceeded to march us around the long queue, through security and in behind the desk! We were standing there behind the desk and security panels extremely awkwardly going what do we do now until the lady behind the desk sorted us out with the necessary forms.
Afterwards we went for an early dinner before heading back to Loki and hanging around there for a while before getting our bags and heading to the bus station.
We knew it was a risk getting an overnight bus when we were still going to be wrecked from the Inca Trail but all we had heard from people was how good the buses in South America were, specifically Peru. We had paid the most we could for what we thought was a bed and with the best bus company (Cruz del Sur). Imagine our disappointment then when we only had seats. Yes they were comfy and reclined slightly more than aeroplane seats but they weren't the beds we were expecting! The sleeping buses in Asia were much better. Ronan had his seat reclined and was told to put it up half an hour into the journey so they could serve food. No chance of getting any sleep yet. Then imagine our horror after dinner when the bus bingo started with the numbers being read over the PA system really loudly! Finally bus bingo ended and they had the telly on with a South America documentary on really loud. It was awful! Eventually around 11pm the lights dimmed and with our earphones in we managed to get some sleep. Such an uncomfortable night though.
We eventually arrived in Arequipa at 6am but of course we couldn't get checked into our room in the hostel at this time. We were hungry so went wandering around town to see if there was anywhere open to eat. There wasn't. We ended up just wandering around the town for about an hour before coming across the only two places open at 7.30am - of course McDonalds and Starbucks! We went to Starbucks for a couple of hours seeing it as the lesser of two evils! At 9am things started to open so we went to book our 2d/1n tour to the canyon. We had such a short time in Arequipa that we had to do this tour tomorrow, Tuesday. To be honest another tour was the last thing we wanted to do - not being able to control what you do, what you eat as the lunches and dinners are always buffets so you can't order off a menu or even plan when you go to the bathroom!! But a tour was the only way to see the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep than the Grand Canyon!) so we had to do it. One disadvantage of South America in my opinion is the fact that almost everything has to be done in tours and there isn't much scope for independent travel.
After getting our tour booked we went back to the hostel and got our room so we could shower and change. This is our only day around Arequipa so all sightseeing had to be done today so napping was not an option!
We headed out to Museo Santuarios Andinos. Now some of you may have noticed a lack of references to museums in our travels so far as its not something we are usually too interested in but this museum was fascinating! The Incas believed in human sacrifice of women and children to their gods after a big event like the death of an emperor or a famine. This museum houses the body of Juanita, an Incan princess who was about 12-14 years old and was sacrificed. There were hundreds of sacrifices done by the Incans but Juanita is special because her body was frozen at the top of the Ampato mountain and preserved because of the ice. When she was found her hair, muscles, tendons, skin etc were fully preserved. This has allowed scientists to do many tests including DNA tests so they have learned so much from the discovery of her body. Another interesting fact is that her body was only discovered because of the eruptions of the Ampato mountain in September 1995 where the ice melted. Now her body is kept at -25 degrees to preserve it. There were no photos allowed in this museum and frankly you wouldn't want to see it anyways but the story was super interesting. There are a couple of graphic pictures in this link if anyone is really interested: click for Mummy Juanita
After our museum visit, it was time for lunch. I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat after the gruesomeness of the museum but Ronan had found a creperie that was supposed to be amazing so I was tempted. We had the most amazing savoury crepes with a strawberry milkshake followed by a dessert crepe! We couldn't help ourselves as it was just so delicious!
Afterwards we wandered around the town looking at the main buildings. It's a really beautiful city all built from an unusual white stone called sillar. Then it was back to the hostel to change and head out to the Santa Catalina monastery at around 6pm. We got a tip from Jennifer (Mark's girlfriend who we met in Vietnam) to do this by night as it was extra beautiful. She wasn't wrong! We were lucky in that it only opens late Tuesdays and Thursdays and by coincidence Tuesday was the only day we had for sightseeing in Arequipa so it worked out well.
This was another fascinating story - basically the monastery/nunnery was set up by a rich woman who demanded huge sums of money from women to enter (equivalent of US $150,000). Women were put into this nunnery by their families as it was cheaper than allowing them to get married - in those days in Brazil womens´ families had to pay extortionate sums of money to the grooms family upon marriage so the nunnery was the cheaper option! It then became a bank of sorts loaning out the money paid by the 'nuns' and the nuns were given the interest earned as there spending money. They had very big opulent rooms and generally lived in luxury and had an easy life drinking and gossiping with friends - they even had personal slaves! Spirituality didn't come into it. We got a guide here as it wasn't expensive and it meant we could get the full background story but it was so interesting. Aside from that there was no electricity so the nunnery was lit by candles, lanterns and log fires so it was extremely beautiful and a great experience. For us Arequipa was worth the visit to see these two things alone!
Afterwards we went to an amazing restaurant called Zig Zag. Ronan got the trilogy of meats served on a hot lava plate and had to wear a bib cos it spits as it is still cooking on the lava plate when they bring it out! I had an antipasti which was delicious but I was still pretty full from the crepes earlier. I also had my first good mojito in ages!
All in all despite the tiredness we had a fantastic food day and cultural day! Loved it!
The following day was Wednesday 12th and we were collected at 8am for our 2 day canyon tour. Imagine our disappointment when first view of said canyon wasn't until 4.45pm that afternoon!! We spent almost 9 hours wandering about looking at llamas, alpacas, birds, vizchuas etc which was extremely boring to us as we had seen them all so many times before. Ronan has a photo of a llama in a shop in San Pedro de Atacama, so a tiny dot of a llama far off in a field that we weren't allowed walk near didn't come close!
We finally got to the canyon which was good but we had seen much more impressive scenery on the Inca Trail that this didn't even come close. There is a viewing point called Cruz del Condor where you can see condors - now this is something I hadn't seen before and really wanted to see. The company pride themselves on avoiding the large volumes of tourists visiting this area and when we got to the Cruz del Condor, we were the only tourists there. But there was a reason for that - all the condors were back in their nests for the night so we didn't see any! So despite missing the tourists we also missed the birds! I said to our guide that sometimes there is a reason for all the tourists to be about! We were finally brought to our hotel at 6.30pm after a crap, disappointing day and brought out for a crap, disappointing dinner before everyone headed off to bed! There were 10 people ranging from 22 to 35 in our group but everyone went to their rooms at 8pm. Right barrel of laughs, not!!
Thursday morning we had a crap breakfast before heading on a 'hike' which turned out to be a walk along a main road which was the same road the bus later drove along to collect us - pointless and bizarre I would say! Afterwards we went back to the Cruz del Condor at about 9am where we did see a couple of condors but most of them leave between 8 and 8.30am but again we were avoiding the masses of tourists! By the way I have loads of condor facts like the fact that they only eat once a month and then eat so much that they are too fat to fly but I won´t bore you with any more!
There were a few more stops on the bus to see more of the same and myself and Ronan didn't even bother getting off the bus! It was time for the hot springs which we were looking forward to but that ended up being a big heated swimming pool. After another disappointing meal it was time to head back to Arequipa finally! It was a terrible tour and definitely the worst one we had spent money on.
We felt we deserved a treat after two days of crap food so back to Zig Zag with us for another trilogy of meat for Ronan and a fabulous duck for me before going up to Crepisimo for dessert! Of course I also had to have a mojito to get over the shock of it all!
Back in the hostel it was packing again and an early night as our taxi was collecting us at 5am for the next chapter of the adventure!
After such a crazy few days on the Inca Trail you would figure that we would have scheduled some downtime, right?! Wrong! Monday 10th September was our last day in Cusco so we had a few last bits of souvenirs to buy and needed to post stuff home. We checked out of Loki at 1pm and headed off shopping and in search of a post office. This would be our fourth time posting home on the trip and it was by far the cheapest and easiest. Much easier than Australia where the people actually spoke English!! A lovely little man who owned a shop in the post office sold us a box, wrapped it in loads and loads of silicone wrap and used a roll of Sellotape to seal everything in for the grand sum of €1.50. Then he proceeded to march us around the long queue, through security and in behind the desk! We were standing there behind the desk and security panels extremely awkwardly going what do we do now until the lady behind the desk sorted us out with the necessary forms.
Afterwards we went for an early dinner before heading back to Loki and hanging around there for a while before getting our bags and heading to the bus station.
We knew it was a risk getting an overnight bus when we were still going to be wrecked from the Inca Trail but all we had heard from people was how good the buses in South America were, specifically Peru. We had paid the most we could for what we thought was a bed and with the best bus company (Cruz del Sur). Imagine our disappointment then when we only had seats. Yes they were comfy and reclined slightly more than aeroplane seats but they weren't the beds we were expecting! The sleeping buses in Asia were much better. Ronan had his seat reclined and was told to put it up half an hour into the journey so they could serve food. No chance of getting any sleep yet. Then imagine our horror after dinner when the bus bingo started with the numbers being read over the PA system really loudly! Finally bus bingo ended and they had the telly on with a South America documentary on really loud. It was awful! Eventually around 11pm the lights dimmed and with our earphones in we managed to get some sleep. Such an uncomfortable night though.
We eventually arrived in Arequipa at 6am but of course we couldn't get checked into our room in the hostel at this time. We were hungry so went wandering around town to see if there was anywhere open to eat. There wasn't. We ended up just wandering around the town for about an hour before coming across the only two places open at 7.30am - of course McDonalds and Starbucks! We went to Starbucks for a couple of hours seeing it as the lesser of two evils! At 9am things started to open so we went to book our 2d/1n tour to the canyon. We had such a short time in Arequipa that we had to do this tour tomorrow, Tuesday. To be honest another tour was the last thing we wanted to do - not being able to control what you do, what you eat as the lunches and dinners are always buffets so you can't order off a menu or even plan when you go to the bathroom!! But a tour was the only way to see the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep than the Grand Canyon!) so we had to do it. One disadvantage of South America in my opinion is the fact that almost everything has to be done in tours and there isn't much scope for independent travel.
After getting our tour booked we went back to the hostel and got our room so we could shower and change. This is our only day around Arequipa so all sightseeing had to be done today so napping was not an option!
We headed out to Museo Santuarios Andinos. Now some of you may have noticed a lack of references to museums in our travels so far as its not something we are usually too interested in but this museum was fascinating! The Incas believed in human sacrifice of women and children to their gods after a big event like the death of an emperor or a famine. This museum houses the body of Juanita, an Incan princess who was about 12-14 years old and was sacrificed. There were hundreds of sacrifices done by the Incans but Juanita is special because her body was frozen at the top of the Ampato mountain and preserved because of the ice. When she was found her hair, muscles, tendons, skin etc were fully preserved. This has allowed scientists to do many tests including DNA tests so they have learned so much from the discovery of her body. Another interesting fact is that her body was only discovered because of the eruptions of the Ampato mountain in September 1995 where the ice melted. Now her body is kept at -25 degrees to preserve it. There were no photos allowed in this museum and frankly you wouldn't want to see it anyways but the story was super interesting. There are a couple of graphic pictures in this link if anyone is really interested: click for Mummy Juanita
After our museum visit, it was time for lunch. I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat after the gruesomeness of the museum but Ronan had found a creperie that was supposed to be amazing so I was tempted. We had the most amazing savoury crepes with a strawberry milkshake followed by a dessert crepe! We couldn't help ourselves as it was just so delicious!
Afterwards we wandered around the town looking at the main buildings. It's a really beautiful city all built from an unusual white stone called sillar. Then it was back to the hostel to change and head out to the Santa Catalina monastery at around 6pm. We got a tip from Jennifer (Mark's girlfriend who we met in Vietnam) to do this by night as it was extra beautiful. She wasn't wrong! We were lucky in that it only opens late Tuesdays and Thursdays and by coincidence Tuesday was the only day we had for sightseeing in Arequipa so it worked out well.
This was another fascinating story - basically the monastery/nunnery was set up by a rich woman who demanded huge sums of money from women to enter (equivalent of US $150,000). Women were put into this nunnery by their families as it was cheaper than allowing them to get married - in those days in Brazil womens´ families had to pay extortionate sums of money to the grooms family upon marriage so the nunnery was the cheaper option! It then became a bank of sorts loaning out the money paid by the 'nuns' and the nuns were given the interest earned as there spending money. They had very big opulent rooms and generally lived in luxury and had an easy life drinking and gossiping with friends - they even had personal slaves! Spirituality didn't come into it. We got a guide here as it wasn't expensive and it meant we could get the full background story but it was so interesting. Aside from that there was no electricity so the nunnery was lit by candles, lanterns and log fires so it was extremely beautiful and a great experience. For us Arequipa was worth the visit to see these two things alone!
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Afterwards we went to an amazing restaurant called Zig Zag. Ronan got the trilogy of meats served on a hot lava plate and had to wear a bib cos it spits as it is still cooking on the lava plate when they bring it out! I had an antipasti which was delicious but I was still pretty full from the crepes earlier. I also had my first good mojito in ages!
All in all despite the tiredness we had a fantastic food day and cultural day! Loved it!
The following day was Wednesday 12th and we were collected at 8am for our 2 day canyon tour. Imagine our disappointment when first view of said canyon wasn't until 4.45pm that afternoon!! We spent almost 9 hours wandering about looking at llamas, alpacas, birds, vizchuas etc which was extremely boring to us as we had seen them all so many times before. Ronan has a photo of a llama in a shop in San Pedro de Atacama, so a tiny dot of a llama far off in a field that we weren't allowed walk near didn't come close!
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| Llamas were dots in the distance! |
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| First look at the canyon |
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| Waiting for condors to show up! |
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| The eagerly awaited condor! |
There were a few more stops on the bus to see more of the same and myself and Ronan didn't even bother getting off the bus! It was time for the hot springs which we were looking forward to but that ended up being a big heated swimming pool. After another disappointing meal it was time to head back to Arequipa finally! It was a terrible tour and definitely the worst one we had spent money on.
We felt we deserved a treat after two days of crap food so back to Zig Zag with us for another trilogy of meat for Ronan and a fabulous duck for me before going up to Crepisimo for dessert! Of course I also had to have a mojito to get over the shock of it all!
Back in the hostel it was packing again and an early night as our taxi was collecting us at 5am for the next chapter of the adventure!
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