» Rochelle's Blog

Arequipa - what a magical city! I just spent four days in this wonderful, Spanish-influenced city with my Peruvian friend, Oscar. It's an irresistibly, sexy city and the second largest metropolis in Peru.

It's the home of 1 million people set against a spectacular backdrop of snowcapped peaks and surrounded by some of the wildest terrain in the country. This is a land of active, snowy volcanoes, high-altitude deserts, thermal hot springs, salt lakes and last, but not least, the world's deepest canyons. 

This city is the place of many secrets, many a cacti and is always sunny with blue skies. We went to the once mysterious Monasterio de Santa Catalina, which was built in the 16th century and became a secret city within a city. Behind it's walls lived up to 450 nuns and their servants that no-one knew about. It was opened to the public in the 1970's and now you can take a tour through its maze of alleyways and gardens.

We also went to see the intriguing Juanita, the Inca mummy. She's actual living proof that the Incas ritually sacrificed their young to appease the gods, who they believed were responsible for the frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. She weighs just 25 kilograms and is kept in a glass case at a temperature of below 20 degrees. She is shrouded in icicles and partial-darkness which only adds to her mystique. Her eyes are sunken holes, her teeth are still intact and protrude and she still has long black hair. Many of the textiles and gold which adorned her were well-preserved and her home now is at Museo Santuarios Andinos. 

Next, it's a long, long bus trip through the Cordilleras mountains and up to Cusco.