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Peurto Inka and Arequipa.

Well I hope you enjoyed Jude´s first entry to the blog if you prefer her style then please let me know so I can either change or get her to do all the entries! Our nextstop from Nazca was only a short 4 hr drive down the coast to a tiny remote sandy cove called Peurto Inka.  On the way we had a guided tour of the Cemetery of Chauchilla, just outside Nazca.  It is a pre-Inca cemetery and had hundreds of graves that contained mummies and offerings but most had been plundered by grave robbers as the mummies are so well preserved they are used on the black market for all sorts of weired and wonderful things.

The mummies are over 1000 years old but due to the desert environment they are wonderfully preserved with hair and skin still remaining on some of them.  At the cemetery 12 graves have been preserved and now form the tour route.  The best examples were of the Rasterfarian mummies complete with dreadlock 2m long that Bob Marley would have been proud of.  Also in the graves were bones and skulls.

Peurto Inka itself is a former Inca site aswell, most sites are either Inca or pre Inca quite an easy history really!  It is more complex than that but it will get you going. At PI the Inca rulers used to catch fresh fish and it was sent to Cusco on the original Inca Trail part of which we saw before arriving at the beach. The journey was covered by runners in stages, relay style in a day.

We camped right on the beach and almost had it all to ourselves apart from a frnach couple who were there before us.  I am bet they were pleased to see a huge yellow truck arrive and dump 34 of us onto the beach ruining their peacefull stay, oh well if it was any other nationality I may have felt sorry for them!!

It is a very remote spot with just a small hotel that we used the facilities of mainly the bar, pool table, table tennis table, volley ball and football pitches.  It may sound like we are being very athletic but dont believe it the hearty meals and cheap drink mean no one is wasting away. Team Tucan managed to beat a local team at 6 aside football which was quite a surprise, what we lacked in speed and finesse we sure made up for in size both height and width wise.

I did go for a quick shower before lunch in the ocean which was bracing to say the least but what was required after the drive.  The hotel also owned a talking parrot that could wolf whislte and even meow, quite bizarre.

From the beach we headed into the foothills of the Andes winding our way up to Arequipa which is overshadowed by the massive volcano El Misti which with others volcanoes provides an awesome back drop for Peru´s second largest city.  The city has some of the best examples of colonial architecture and the main plaza is quite magnificent with a cathedral on one side and the others decorated with impressive archways and many great restaurants from which to watch the city go by.  We spent 3 nights in Arequipa which was plenty of time to see two amazing sights.

The evening we arrived we went for a group meal to, in our tour leader´s opinion, the best restaurant in the whole of South America!!  Yeah quite a bold statement given the delights we have sampled so far and we have not even got to Argentina, home of the dinner plate sized steaks!  So it was with baited breath that we sat down at Zigzag and we waited for our dinners.  The speciality dish and by the far the most popular choice was called the Meat Trilogy.  Consisting of either 200 or 300g of meat made up from beef steak, ostrich and alpaca all served on a thick slab of volcanic rock.  Sounds good?  Well it was amazing with a capital A, Jo was not wrong it is defiantly thebest place we had been to so far and will take some beating.  The best bit of the experience was that everyone had to wear a fetching paper bib with their meal.  Now this was not because they knew we were a bunch of inexpert eaters who habitually leave half their food on the shirts, although I have been known the do that on numerous occasions.  But the sole purpose was , despite making you look daft, catch the ferocious spitting of the steak as they are brought to your table.  They really were worth their weight in gold.

The next day we had a busy day of sightseeing lined up starting with the Museo Sanutarios Andinas.  But first we had to load up Jack as we were due to move hotels after 1 night due to slight hitch with the bookings but no great dramas.  The museum was home to some ice mummies that were discovered in 1995 on volcano Ampato when a neighbouring volcano erupted.  The force of the eruption forced the mummies to fall from the summit at 6380m 100m lower down where they were discovered by chance.  The best preserved mummy is called Juanita and is thought to be aged 12 to 14 and buried in the ice for over 500 years.  She is perfectly preserved and is of a great scientific importance as all her internal organs are still intact.

The museum also displays the clothes she was wearing and the ceramic offerings that were contained within her grave when she was offered as a sacrifice by the Ica preists.  Juanita is still kept within a case at -20 degrees to ensure she is preserved.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to really explain all the artifacts on display. (www.ucsm.edu.pe/santuary is the link Ed)

The next port of call was the Santa Catalina Convent which is a stunning walled citadel that once housed upto 450 nuns and servants and covers 2 hectares in total seclusion. The rooms have been refurbished with period furniture and painted in traditional blues and browns.  It consists of many mazy cobbled streets and flowered decked cloisters and houses.  To say they had a good life would be stating the obvious.  It was built in 1579 and finally opened to the public in 1970. Today 30 or so nuns still live there and are paying the penance for there predecessors. (www.santacatalina.org.pe)

Our last day in this beautiful city was spent walking around the local markets which was full of lots of interesting cuts of meat, hooves and all, and loads of different fruits and vegs.  We also indulged in a bargain 3 course set lunch comprising chicken soup, chicken or beef with rice followed by fruit salad and washed down witha glass of papaya juice all the princely sum of S/6 or 1 pound!! Tonight we will also be going for happy hour drinks, 3 mojitos or cuba libres (rum and coke) for S/10.  The best bit is the happy hours are more like happy 3 hours, I hate it when that happens!

Tomorrow we set of bright and early at 4.30 so it will be early to bed after the happy hour or three. Well this entry is a bit a of a marathon effort, if you have managed to get this far give your self a pat on the back.  I will attempt to write less next time but it is for two entries as one!

Ciao,

Billy and Jude

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