Arequipa and the Colca Valley

After leaving the jungle, we were all exhausted and couldn’t imagine the rest of the trip living up to what we had just experienced. We flew from the jungle (Puerto Maldonado) to Cusco, where we had a layover before going on to Arequipa. Some of our friends from the jungle – a couple we met from England – was on our plane to Cusco and sat right near us so as we were getting off the plane, we were talking to them, rather than paying attention to our own belongings. About a half an hour after landing in Cusco, I was sitting with all of our stuff while my parents were window shopping. All of a sudden I see them run out of the store to a ticket counter for Lan Peru. I immediately looked at all of our stuff and realized what had happened – dad’s camera was still on the plane and on its way to Lima! The people who work for the airline radioed the plane to let them know what happened, but couldn’t confirm that the camera was still on the plane until it landed in Lima. Of course we were all nervous that someone had seen us walk off without it and was going to take it, but God must have been watching over us that day because it was still there! Dad was able to describe exactly where it was and what the bag it was in looked like and they agreed to fly it to Arequipa the next day! Thank God because what a disaster that would have been!

The plane we took to Arequipa passed through Juliaca (the airport at Lake Titicaca) and more passengers got on because after Arequipa, it went on to Lima. As we were getting off the plane in Arequipa, Dad says, “hey I know that guy!” – turns out it was some of their friends from California – Coby and Denise! My parents knew they were in Peru and visiting the jungle and Lake Titicaca as well, but we were still very surprised to see them! They were on their way home and got on in Juliaca to travel to Lima. What a small world!

It was beautiful flying into Arequipa because the sun was setting as we arrived – it was very dramatic with all of the mountains enveloping the city. Arequipa is the same elevation as Bambamarca (7500 ft.), but VERY different from what I expected. It is really dry and arid there so everything is brown, but it is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and a few active volcanoes - we saw a few from the plane and one was even smoking! Arequipa has one million people so it’s much more like Lima than Cajamarca, but more quaint than Lima (and the drivers aren’t nearly as crazy!). We met our new guide shortly after we landed and headed to our hotel. Our new guide was Raúl. He was very nice and extremely knowledgeable, but he was no Gerson. He’s been a tour guide for 18 years so to me it was more obvious that he saw this as a “job” not necessarily a passion like it was for Gerson since he’s still young and so fresh. We still had a great time with Raúl and learned a lot – he was like a walking encyclopedia of the region, as well as Peruvian politics, history, economics, etc. so dad loved it!

Arequipa is the link between the coast (1 ¾ hrs. away) and the highlands (1 ½ hrs. away). It is known as the intellectual capital of Peru with three universities – one public and two private – and it is also the alpaca capital. Arequipa does very well economically because of the alpaca and also from the copper mines. There are three copper mines near Arequipa (45 mins, 6 hrs and 8 hrs outside of the city) that bring a lot of people and money to the city. On top of that, even though the city is very arid and does not receive much rainfall, they have a very intricate irrigation system with terraced farming that allows the farmers in Arequipa city to have three harvests a YEAR of onions and garlic – not bad for such a dry place! Raúl also told us that most of Peru’s asparagus (their number one export) is grown only about an hour outside of the city!

The two Raúls (the driver’s name is also Raúl) dropped us off at the hotel to have a quiet night and catch up on some rest. The hotel is REALLY nice with internet so I was excited to finally look at my email. I felt so deprived for a whole week without it – I can’t imagine my friends, like Hana, who only get to check their email every 2-3 weeks! As soon as we got into our room, Dad ran to the bathroom to make sure there were two faucets in the shower – one for hot water of course. He was thrilled and I’m pretty sure was in the shower within two minutes of arriving! Hahahaha – good thing he doesn’t have to do this for two years (he told me at the end of their trip, “Kristen, there is a reason most Peace Corps volunteers are in their twenties!”). After dad had his shower, we went down the street to have some dinner. Dad ordered alpaca meat and absolutely loved it (he had lots more alpaca meat over the next few days and none of it tasted as good as that first night at the restaurant so he’s pretty convinced they served him beef at the restaurant and just called it alpaca – gotta love this country!). Mom and I both had some asparagus soup because we weren’t that hungry and it was absolutely delicious! I could have eaten about four bowls of it. For dessert we ordered this dessert called “queso helado” because it’s typical of the region. Queso helado literally means cheese ice cream or cold cheese so we were a little skeptical, but it turned out to be pretty good. It’s actually these little frozen tres leches (3 milks – condensed, evaporated, and regular) balls that were flavored with cinnamon and coconut.

After finally getting to talk to Giff (for the first time in a week!) and checking my email, I went to bed. I was hoping to sleep in a little the next morning since we’d been getting up at 4:30 everyday, but apparently dad had other plans for us. He woke up at 7 so I guess he thought we should all get up and opened the curtains to let in the bright sunlight – thanks, dad! Luckily I had a HOT shower to wake me up so it wasn’t so bad. After eating breakfast and dropping off 9 kilos of laundry (to actually be washed in a machine!) we were picked up by the two Raúls for a half day city tour. We were looking forward to resting in the afternoon, but we didn’t get home until 10 pm!

We started our city tour on the outskirts where we could see nice views of the three mountains (all over 18,000 ft.) surrounding the city – Chachani, Misti (volcano) and Pichu Pichu – and the terraced farming Raúl had told us about the night before. It was absolutely beautiful and really impressive! (I must admit, we had perfect weather our whole trip and a private tour the whole time that stopped whenever we wanted them to and really wonderful, knowledgeable guides, so we were really spoiled.) Raúl told us that in August there is a “crazy marathon” in Arequipa. It’s not really a marathon because it’s only 18 km, rather than 42, but the people RUN from the Plaza de Armas to the top of Misti! It takes place over two days – the first day they run to 16,000 ft. and camp out; the next day they summit and come back down! Good lord!

The rest of the tour was spent exploring the downtown area. We visited a couple of churches – La Companía de Jesus and the main Cathedral on the Plaza. Apparently there was a huge earthquake in 1970 that destroyed many buildings in the city so there has been a huge restoration project going on since then. Raúl said they are doing a nice job for the most part trying to restore everything to its original state, but the Cathedral is much more modern than it used to be and is very stuffy inside. La Companía church, on the other hand, was beautiful. It has a very Spanish feeling to it because of the architecture and a very impressive fresco we saw inside. The fresco has lots of flora and fauna painted in it, but it’s not flora and fauna you would find in Arequipa, but what you would find in the jungle because that is where the Spanish came from before arriving in Arequipa. The church also has many Incan influences – as they tied their traditions in the Catholic ones. We saw this trend all over the region both in architecture and local customs.

The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa is beautiful. It was bustling that day because they were celebrating Corpus Christi and setting up for a big party that night. There were also tons of students from local high schools in the streets making these huge “carpets” out of sawdust and flowers. We heard there is a contest of who can make the best carpet to recognize the day. They were so impressive – I had never seen anything like that before. Another thing that struck me about the Plaza in Arequipa was that there were tons of men sitting on benches surrounding the Plaza with typewriters. Raúl said they are there to type up oficios (official documents) for people who need to present them to the Municipality. It only costs one sol (30 cents) too – what a great idea!

One of the most famous landmarks in Arequipa is the Santa Catalina convent so that was the next stop on our tour. I didn’t think I would like it that much, but it turned out to be really interesting. It is HUGE – they call it the city within a city because it is 20,000 sq. meters! The convent dates back to the 16th century and is still being used today, but only a small part of it, the rest was opened to the public as a museum. Currently there are only 24 nuns living there and their life is not nearly as strict as it was in the past. Their vow of silence is only for three hours a day and they are allowed to leave more often.

When the convent first opened, it was a law that the second daughter in every family had to go live at the convent and become a nun. Their families had to pay a dowry and build them apartments or houses to live in. They could even have up to four servants! It is a cloister convent so the nuns had to take a vow of silence and could never leave. They weren’t allowed to look in mirrors or even see their own body naked because it was considered vain to look at yourself so they even had to wear tunics to bath (sponge bath only)! At the height of the convent there were 81 houses at Santa Catalina – all with beautiful furniture and china because they were from wealthy families. In 1871, the Pope made a new law that the nuns all had to start living together so houses were eliminated and common eating and sleeping areas were established. It was a huge change for the convent after more than 200 years of living separately. The servants were given the choice to leave, but some decided to stay and become nuns because their life was comfortable there and they were safe.

The convent used to have a boarding school as well where parents sent their daughters as early as age three to live there until they were 14 or 15 and ready for marriage. The nuns educated the girls as well as taught them how to cook, sew, and be a good wife. There was only one nun who chose to stay and become a nun, rather than leave and get married. Her family did not support her, but her brother understood so he paid her dowry and she stayed at the convent until she died at age 87. Her name is Sor Ana and she is beatified. They want to make her a saint, but they are waiting for one more miracle.

Arequipa has another very famous museum – the museum of the ice girl. I don’t know if you remember, but 12 years ago, a scientist named Johan, led an expedition up Ampato, one of the mountains outside of Arequipa city, and found an Incan girl from the 15th century buried in the ice! They call her “Juanita” after the scientist who found her.

At the museum we watched this really interesting video about the expedition and how they found her. During the Incan times, people really believed in the power of the mountains and worshipped them. Today we understand weather phenomenon like “El Niño,” but back then, people thought receiving a lot of rain or having a drought was a result of the mountains reacting to the people’s behaviors and punishing them. Therefore, the Incas would make treks up these 18,000 ft. mountains (in sandles!) to offer sacrifices to the Gods. The ultimate sacrifice was offering your child and some children, like Juanita, were raised in order to be sacrificed by their families (the children knew this). Since these weather patterns are cyclical, people usually saw changes in things after they sacrificed something, and therefore believed what they were doing worked.

All of it seemed a strange mix between Catholicism and Pagan religion. At the top of the mountain, the people who have elaborate ceremonies with potatoes, corn, and chica (an alcoholic drink made from fermented corn). The chica would help intoxicate the child to be offered and then they would kill the child with a spear-like tool. After they had killed the child, they would bury him or her with many ornamental things – dolls, fabrics, pottery, llama figurines, etc. – as more sacrifices to the Gods.

I found the tour really interesting, but at the end, we actually saw Juanita who is kept in a freezer at -20º C and that freaked me out a little bit. Here was this 12 year old girl from 500 years ago just sitting there – you could see her hair, flesh, and clothes – it was too much for me. They are able to keep her on display because her body was preserved really well from being buried on top of a glacier. The only reason they found her 12 years ago is because a nearby volcano was erupting and the ash from the volcano landed on the mountain where Juanita was buried. The ash melted the ice and caused her to roll down into a crater. The scientists happened to be on their expedition at the time and found her shortly thereafter. If they had come much later, they would not have been able to use her for research because she was exposed to the sun and starting to thaw. As it is, one side of her is better preserved because it was away from the sun. The museum was very interesting, but kind of weird and eerie in a way.

Our city tour ended after seeing Juanita and we had the rest of the afternoon free. Mom and I went and grabbed lunch while Dad went with Raúl to pick up his camera – what a relief to have it back in one piece! When he got it, it was completely wrapped in plastic (like saran warp) to protect it, but dad was really worried because he could see lots of water trapped between the plastic and his backpack inside. It turns out we forgot to empty his Camelbak (or turn the valve to “off”) before boarding the plane so when they wrapped it in plastic, the pressure caused all of the water to leak out, but it had nowhere to go. Well dad must have a magic backpack because the camera and all of his lenses inside were dry as a bone!

We spent the afternoon shopping for alpaca goods and chocolate because those are the two things Arequipa is known for. Raúl told us 87% of the alpaca products in Peru come from Arequipa even though they have the third largest population of alpacas. The big factories are located in Arequipa so the people in Cusco and Puno (with larger populations of alpacas) send their wool to Arequipa. I’m happy to report we were successful in both departments. We found the best dark chocolate any of us have ever had – I know that’s a bold statement, but it’s true. Unfortunately that particular chocolate was harder to find than we expected so we only had it twice – dad thinks a trip down there for chocolate should be tax deductible (hahaha – at least vacation day deductible in my opinion)!

We headed back to the hotel around 7:15 that evening (after mom and dad had their first experience of the inefficiency of Peruvian pharmacies) to meet Patricia, the travel agent who put our whole trip together. We felt like we owed her our lives for the amazing trip she planned for us. We were so happy to meet her and ranted and raved about the part in the jungle. She gave us a run down of the second half of the trip and promised us it would be just as great as the first half. We thought that was a pretty bold statement, but she was right!

We picked up our 9 kilos of CLEAN clothes from the laundry ladies and headed out for a bite to eat. Patricia suggested this placed called La Creperíe (run by a Swiss man who owns another very popular restaurant in town called Zig Zag). We had a little trouble finding it – and by trouble I mean we were standing outside of the door and asked a passerby where it was – hahahaha – but it turned out to be amazing! It was really small with a great atmosphere. All of the tables had a chess/checkers board painted on them and then had tons of games and magazines in the front that you could use at your table. There were only about 10 tables and a few couches and coffee tables upstairs in the loft. We sat in the loft, but at a regular table and shared two delicious crepes – curry chicken and apple cinnamon for dessert! Plus we all had a hot chocolate to wash it down since Peru has great hot chocolate. It was the perfect ending to a GREAT day with mom and dad! I wish they could stay for my last year….

I LOVED Arequipa and was ready to move there, but when I got back to Cajamarca, I realized it’s the place for me. I wouldn’t leave Cajamarca because I’d miss my friends too much – plus we have better hot chocolate there!

After our quick visit in Arequipa, we left the next morning at 9 am to drive to the Colca Valley. The valley is a huge agricultural area with over 20,000 hectares of terraced land for farming! The farming there dates back to the 7th century and I think Raúl told us is the biggest agricultural area in Peru (but I could be making that up). The Colca Valley is 600 years older than the Sacred Valley in Cusco, but the Sacred Valley is much more commonly known and visited. Also within the valley is the Colca Canyon – our reason for going and one of the deepest canyons in the world (deeper than the Grand Canyon)! The drive there was about 5 hours and absolutely beautiful. The landscape is really dry, but not desert. I was surprised, actually, at how much vegetation there is, and the best part is that you can always see snow-capped mountains in the distance. It was breath-taking!

The ride took us over a pass that was 16,000 ft. at the tallest point – the highest elevation any of the three of us have ever been! We also drove through the Reserva Nacional Salinas y Aguada Blanca (the second largest national reserve in Peru) that was created to protect the straw used for thatched roofs and the population of Vicuñas and Guanacos. These animals, along with the Alpaca and Llama, are all relatives of camels and were originally found in the Rocky Mountains over 40 million years ago! Apparently the reserve is doing its job because Raúl told us the population of vicuñas has grown from 100 to 3,000 over the past 20 years! However, on the other hand, there are only about 150 guanacos.

People use the wool of these animals (mostly Alpacas) to make scarves, sweaters, etc. and sell them commercially. The vicuña wool is much finer than that of Alpacas, and therefore, much more expensive. In order to sheer the vicuñas, they have to catch them by hand and only cut the short hair because their long hair protects their organs. Because this wool is in such high demand, you must have a certificate in order to sell goods made out of vicuña wool. There are two big markets for these products right now – in Japan and Italy – but lots of people try to sell them on the black market in Cusco. On the black market, you can get a scarf for $150 (dollars not soles) rather than $600, but it’s illegal because they don’t have a certificate!

It was really nice taking this long drive because we learned a lot about Peruvian history and politics from Raúl. He was telling us a lot about Fujimori and how much he did for the Peruvian “campo” (countryside). He built many schools and hospitals in the rural areas of Peru, which has considerably helped their standard of living. He also connected the Pan American highway in Peru with the rest of the continent. Right now they are building a highway from Brazil that will run through northern Bolivia and southern Peru (the jungle, Arequipa, etc.) in order to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There are obviously many advantages to this, but at the same time, many locals are very concerned how much it is going to change their lives and disrupt the habitats of all of the animals in the rainforest. I sympathize with the locals because as we were driving throughout the valley and admiring the beautiful landscape, it made me sad to think how much a 4-lane highway is going to tear up that place and take so much away from its intimate setting.

I think the same goes for tourism. Right now the Colca Valley is virtually unknown to the outside world, but little by little it is growing. There are currently five star hotels being built and I think it’s such a shame because that too will take away from, rather than compliment, the richness of the Colca valley and its peopel. What makes it so special today is how traditional life is there – you drive on dirt roads to get there and see locals walking their livestock down the road without any shoes on. There are both Quechua and Aymara people there who both dress in a distinct style, not for “show” for the tourists, but because that is their heritage. In some ways you want tourism to grow because it certainly contributes to their economic development, but in other ways, you want to preserve everything just the way it is because, unless it is done delicately and with the input of the local people, it will completely change their lives – they cannot walk their livestock down paved roads because it will burn their feet and the tourist vans will be whipping around every corner; nor will the people be dressing in their traditional clothes except for show for the tourists. It is definitely a delicate balance and I don’t have the answer as to the best way to do it, other than to keep the local people involved and listen to what they want.

Well now that I’ve put in my two cents about developing tourism in the valley, I will continue to describe what we did while we were there. One of the main reasons people go there (besides to hike in the canyon) is to watch the condors flying out of the canyon early in the morning. So the first morning we were there, we got up early to drive to the “Cruz del Condor” (Condor Cross) and watch for the condors. As you can imagine, I was not very excited about this given my feeling towards birds, but it ended up being really cool. They warned us that we might not see any since they are birds and we cannot predict their behavior, but going along with the great luck we’d had thus far on the trip, we lucked out again and saw at least 50 condors that morning! At the most, we saw 13 flying around at one time – even our guide was impressed by that! I’m not quite sure why I wasn’t scared since their wingspan is about 10 ft. and they were flying right over our heads, but I ended up getting just as excited about it as everyone else. It was really hard to take pictures because the sun was really strong and all I could see when I looked at my camera was my own reflection, but I guess when you take about 50 pictures, you’re bound to get a couple of good ones!

Besides seeing the condors, we also spent some time driving around the valley and learning about the local communities and terraced farming. At its height in the 16th century, the Colca Valley had 66,000 people and was the largest center in the West Andes. Today though, there are only about 32,000 people spread among 14 different communities. One of the towns we visited, Chivay (where Raúl lives), is about the size of Bambamarca, but seems to be doing much better than Bambamarca because it is the entrance to the canyon and therefore receives a lot of tourism. It was nice to see such a small town “thriving” in its own way. Bambamarca has a lot of great potential tourist destinations around it (ruins, caves, etc.), but unfortunately tourism is not valued by the people right now and therefore they do not see the need to develop it. Hopefully someday soon!

Another thing that really struck me was how much farming goes on for such a dry area. Raúl told us the water for the valley comes down from the glaciers on Mismi – a nearby mountain – but it did not look like it had much snow on it at all. Raúl was telling us that when he was a kid, all of the mountains in that area were covered in snow all year long, and now, very few even have snow! It is so scary to see global warming “in action” like that because it really makes you think about what a pressing issue it is for the entire world and how much it will change all of our lives if we don’t do something about it now.

Besides for all of the beautiful landscape and interesting information we heard, one of my favorite parts of the Colca Valley was the lodge we stayed at. We heard it was “rustic” but it was definitely luxury rustic! The rooms were really nice with big down comforters and a loft where I got to sleep. They also had HOT water so that right there takes it out of the “rustic” category. The best part though was that they had thermal baths in this beautiful location! Dad didn’t want to go the first day because he thought it was too cold, but I wasn’t about to miss out on that opportunity so mom and I went it and he just came to take our pictures. Man was it NICE! They are nestled in the valley amongst the mountains and the hot water just feels so great next to the cold air outside. That was definitely the best part of the valley in my opinion – sure the condors and terracing were impressive, but I’ll take the baths, thank you! Just kidding, it was all amazing!

Stay tuned for more about the trip!!!