From Nazca to Arequipa

Well, my ten hour overnight bus turned out fantastic.  I said goodbye to my new friends, Mark and Nat and was almost asleep before we hit the highway.Natasha, Mark and I in front of the Nazca people’s aqueducts.

I really like Arequipa.  It’s a sunny place and all the buildings are made with white stone from the surrounding mountains or painted with bright colors.  I visited the colonial mayors’ house and heard all about their lifestyle.  They had two chapels.  One of which was put to use as a place to lock their crazy son away until he died of dehydration….the irony of this was not lost on me.  I also went to the most famous tourist draw in the city which was the Convent.  It’s really a small city with tons of cool passageways, tiny houses for the nuns and countless other nooks and crannies to explore.  The tour guide kept stressing how the slaves did everything while the nuns devoted themselves to prayer and, apparently sewing fancy clothes for the priests.   I wasn’t sure if she was condemning or praising them so I just kept smiling and nodding my head.   My last stop for the day was the museum of Archaeology to see Juanita the Ice Mummy.  They showed a very touching video of how she might have been sacrificed and then a guide showed us all the things that were discovered with her.  Finally, we got to view her tiny wrapped body.  Poor little thing was only 12 or 13 years old and had been chosen from birth for the privilege of getting her head smashed in (they know this because her umbilical cord was found with her) but I think the museum did a great job in showing how she and her family probably thought of it as an honour.  They confiscated our cameras at the front door so here’s a link to see what she looks like.