Time to leave beautiful Bolivia, with all its fabulous colours and outlandishly dressed cholitas. On to country number eight - Peru! We were not so lucky this time with the choice of bus company, but we only paid £10 for the whole journey so we can’t really complain. Ten uncomfortable and stiflingly hot hours later, where we endured sitting next to a monkey wearing a nappy on a lead, and a ropey, budget border crossing (see above) where a cocky, bullshitting, scamming official tried to screw us for not having our Bolivia exit slip, we finally arrived in Peru. More specifically, Arequipa. Luckily we had a lovely Airbnb booked, a relief after such an unpleasant journey. Arequipa, once the capital of Peru with a beautiful historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's whitewashed, grandiose buildings, interesting cultural sites and natural setting nestled between a string of volcanoes make it well worth a visit. Our highlight was undoubtedly wandering round Santa Catalina Monastery, a must see for anyone visiting the city. History lesson time. Built in 1579 it covers over 20,000 sqm and is characterised by its vividly painted walls. The tradition of the time was that the second son or daughter of a family would enter a life of service in the church, and the convent only accepted women from upper class Spanish families, with wach family paying a dowry for their daughter's admission. The dowry was 2,400 silver coins - about $150,000 today. The nuns were also required to bring 25 listed items, including a statue, a painting, a lamp and clothes. The wealthiest nuns brought fine English china, silk curtains and rugs. Although it was possible for poorer nuns to enter the convent without paying a dowry, it can be seen from their cells that most of the nuns were very wealthy. In addition to the stories of outrageous wealth, there are tales of nuns becoming pregnant, and amazingly of the skeleton of a baby being discovered encased in a wall. Naughty nuns. After visiting the monastery, we also popped into the Cathedral which was ok but not breathtaking. It wasn't ideal that we had to join a tour to view the place, or that the tour was in Spanish. Quite impressive at night when the facade is lit up, and interesting that it's the long side of the cathedral that faces the main square. The Recoletta Monastery is also worth a visit. It's a little further out of town but a bit of a hidden gem. The library especially was wonderful. We also popped in to see Juanita, aka the Ice Maiden, at the Museo Santuarios Andinos. Juanita is a 12-15 year old, well-preserved Incan mummy who was killed as an offering to the gods sometime between 1450 and 1480. Her tiny body was found in southern Peru by climbers inside a crater after it had fallen from an ancient Inca site on the summit. She is so well preserved that they could actually tell that her last meal before her death was vegetables. The museum is also full of all sorts of other offerings found with her, statues, food and linens. It is an odd set up but different to anything else we have seen before!
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |