Glenn's South American Oddssy

Arequipa is the gateway to the high country of Peru and Bolivia, and a little closer the Colca Canyon (which is deeper than the Grand Canyon in the US so I am told ). Here in town there are a few things that have got my attention. Monasterio Santa Catalina and Museo Santuarios Andinos.

First I took a trip around the Monasterio which was started in 1580 just after the Spanish conquest. To be a Nun here, it was a little selective. You need to be from the best Spanish families, which in turn paid a big dowry for this. You were allowed to between one and four servants and would live the life you were accustomed to, having parties, etc. (I have to think how much church wine was used there ?) But anyway, this continued for some three hundred years till the Pope sent Sister Josefa Cadena out there to sort the situation out. Well she did. From there it was all by the book till 1970 when the Mayor got them to open their doors and the tourists came! There are some 30 nuns that are still there, living a closed life as a nun in one corner. The rest is open for all to see and enjoy and learn.

Last stop for the day was the Museo Santuarios Andinos for the Ice Princess, a young Inca girl who was sacrificed to the Mountain some 500 years ago but is perfectly preserved, frozen in time at an altitude of some 6200 meters. She was not discovered till 1995 when weather conditions and a volcanic eruption on a nearby mountain made it possible. On the same mountain there have been 3 other such discoveries since then. Sorry no pic (no camera allowed).

Colca Canyon Planning: Today I went to the Peru office for information (the national tourist office). Not much on my planned route, but when talking to the woman at the hotel she said that her boss knows the route ("just what I need ") and he will be here in the evening. When he arrives we will sit down and talk about the route and some options as well , but the part I liked was he told me where to make the turn off the Pan American HWY "50 meter before the milk factory" and yes
I know where that is as it got my attention as I drove up here. Now equipped with all the information I will set out in the morning for what is a 4WD only road, I am told, except for a stop at the market for some BBQ supplies. Well, I will need to stop for lunch some where!