Day 3 - Around Arequipa
After a good sleep, a nosebleed was a bad start to the day for Glynis, but it settled down and we made it to breakfast, which was interesting. Coca tea was an option and so was fried pork, an interesting change from bacon, but we kept it light and just had fruit and a small amount of the interesting cooked options.
Our guide for this area, Grace, arrived promptly at 9am and we set off in a minibus just the 2 of us to two viewpoints outside the city. The first looked across the valley of the Chili River to the Volcanoes Misti and Chachani and out to the right we could see Pichu Pichu. The second looked out from a church through arches with text celebrating Arequipa. We then headed to an Alpaca 'factory' where we saw the animals and learned to distinguish alpacas from llamas and vicunas.
Once back in the city centre, we saw a mini festival of Puno people before we visited the Museo Sanctuaries Andinos dedicated to the frozen sacrifice of a young girl by the Inca to the mountain gods on Volcan Ampato. The explanatory film and the treasures buried round the sacrifices were really interesting, if the body was a bit macabre.
We walked round the streets to the Plaza de Armas, which is the loveliest Spanish colonial square we have seen and got a great view from the balcony both of the square and the Iglesias de la Campania, which we then visited. It was Jesuit and covered in frescos, but now the frescos are only in one small room which you're not allowed to photograph.
The next visit was to the local market. The fruit stalls were an amazing sight, the offal stalls less so. On our way to the Santa Catalina Monastery, we stopped to see the cathedral and to get some cotton wool in case of further nose bleeds.
The Monastery is huge, like a small town within the city. It was home to the second daughters of wealthy families, who paid for them to be there. We've never seen such deluxe accommodation for nuns, they even had servants. As they couldn't read there are religious paintings all over.
And then a delicious lunch just across the road, with local specialities. Thank goodness for our guide who managed to sort out dairy free options. Then back to the hotel for a rest before going back to the main square at sundown.
Our guide for this area, Grace, arrived promptly at 9am and we set off in a minibus just the 2 of us to two viewpoints outside the city. The first looked across the valley of the Chili River to the Volcanoes Misti and Chachani and out to the right we could see Pichu Pichu. The second looked out from a church through arches with text celebrating Arequipa. We then headed to an Alpaca 'factory' where we saw the animals and learned to distinguish alpacas from llamas and vicunas.
Once back in the city centre, we saw a mini festival of Puno people before we visited the Museo Sanctuaries Andinos dedicated to the frozen sacrifice of a young girl by the Inca to the mountain gods on Volcan Ampato. The explanatory film and the treasures buried round the sacrifices were really interesting, if the body was a bit macabre.
We walked round the streets to the Plaza de Armas, which is the loveliest Spanish colonial square we have seen and got a great view from the balcony both of the square and the Iglesias de la Campania, which we then visited. It was Jesuit and covered in frescos, but now the frescos are only in one small room which you're not allowed to photograph.
The next visit was to the local market. The fruit stalls were an amazing sight, the offal stalls less so. On our way to the Santa Catalina Monastery, we stopped to see the cathedral and to get some cotton wool in case of further nose bleeds.
The Monastery is huge, like a small town within the city. It was home to the second daughters of wealthy families, who paid for them to be there. We've never seen such deluxe accommodation for nuns, they even had servants. As they couldn't read there are religious paintings all over.
And then a delicious lunch just across the road, with local specialities. Thank goodness for our guide who managed to sort out dairy free options. Then back to the hotel for a rest before going back to the main square at sundown.
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