Back over the border to Peru's 'White City': Arequipa

I was very excited to be returning to Peru. There's just so many things about this country that I love. Travellers we met in Bolivia kept asking me why I preferred Peru: I guess there's so much to compare the two countries really. In both, you'll drive through villages of dusty roads and adobe houses when you travel from city to city. Also in both, many of the people still dress traditionally and there's no doubting the friendliness of people in either country - the people in Peru and Bolivia are far more timid than those from Argentina that we met. And in both, the food you'll be served in restaurants will be very similar, the main focus being corn and potato-based soup to start followed most definitely by chicken. So what is it about Peru that makes me like it so much more?

Peru seems that much more colourful and lively to me, I suppose: there will always be people dancing or singing about something. Its tourist towns are quite evidently richer than Bolivia's and this obviously makes it a lot more comfortable to visit and, for me at least, makes you feel more at ease. In addition to this, Peru is just so rich in history amd has built much of its tourism industry on this. I couldn't wait to get stuck back into learning all about this.

In the space of just one day, we had travelled from La Paz over the border to Puno and then jumped straight on a bus to Arequipa - another 7 hour drive away - all with sore bottoms from our mountain biking adventures on Death Road the day before! By the time we finally arrived in Arequipa we were ready for a good meal (a box of Kraft's Macaroni 'n Cheese!) then bed.

The next morning we were excited to explore Peru's second largest city, also known as 'the White city'. Most people think this is due to the chalky-looking volcanic rock used for building called 'sillar' but our tour guide later insisted that it was in fact because so many Spanish people came to live here at the beginning of the conquest and it was in fact their non-indeginous, white skin that gave the city its nickname. Surely there would have been more in Lima though? Anyhow... Arequpia is surrounded by active volcanoes, salt lakes, thermal hot springs and the world's deepest canyons. Nearby is the best place to spot the huge Andean condors famous to South America. There are thus an awful lot of reasons why so many people visit this city and it really is magnificent with a main square to rival Cusco's, in my opinion. The cathedral here is special - it's the only one in Peru that stretches the length of the whole Plaza and one of less than 100 in the world to be allowed to have the Vatican flag on display. Cool. It was such a pleasure to be walking through cobble-stoned streets past squeaky clean, just-off-white-washed buildings after the grittiness of La Paz. Walking around was also similar to Bolivia's beautiful city of Sucre in many respects. Not to mention the glorious sunshine that shone non-stop like in both Cusco and Sucre. Apparently people in Arequipa are extremely proud to come from here and want to distinguish themselves from people who come from Lima so much that they even designed their own passport and flag quite recently! It's a political town and apparently the most right-wing in Peru.

Arequipa's beautiful Plaza de Armas

One night in Arequipa, Chris and I were walking home from a steak dinner and heard classical music playing in the square. We couldn't figure out where it came from but after we'd walked on for about 5 minutes we heard it again, following us. We both laughed when we realised that it was the bin men! Their big rubbish truck was playing lovely music at 9pm to let residents know they would collect their rubbish! Only in Peru...

Top on my list of sights to see here was the Monasterio de Santa Catalina which has one of the craziest stories I've ever heard. A rich widow founded it in 1580 and only allowed the extremely rich to become nuns here, those who brought the largest dowries. It was apparently the norm for the second son or daughter of Spanish families to join a monastery or convent in this period. At this particular convent however there was no such life of chaste poverty because all the nuns had their own personal slaves (up to four each and usually imported from Africa) and life must have been a huge party. An interesting tour led us around this city-within-a-city, through courtyards and passages lined with Magnolia trees while the guide showed us the different 'cells' belonging in the past to individual nuns. The cells were actually more like apartments or houses with separate kitchens and servants' rooms in each. One thing Chris and I remember from the tour is that the portraits of the nuns, now all in one long portrait room, only show the women when they are dead: vanity is a sin so they were only allowed to be painted after they'd passed away. Another crazy thing is that the nuns used to use their own hair to decorate the statues of Christ and the Virgin Mother so there are many statues with not only brown but also ginger and blonde real hair. Interesting.

The guide explained that because of the birght sun, the walls of all buildings in Arequipa used to be painted in this natural terracotta colour using dye from the rocks nearby. Because the buildings are all made of the white ´sillar´, the reflection was blinding otherwise. Nowadays, the buildings in the city all seem to be painted in an off-white colour despite what our guide said.

Interestingly, roofs were all rounded and every bed was under an arched-roof in a niche in the wall. Arched cielings are stronger than flat ones (I knew this obviously dad since you taught me all about Roman arches and key stones when I was about four, hehe) and if there's anywhere needing strengthened buildings it's here... Almost every century since the Spanish arrived in Arequipa in 1540, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have made this city tremble. The city was destroyed in 1600 and had to be totaly rebuilt even though it was to rock again in the major quakes of 1687, 1868, 1958, 1960 and 2001. Peru's major cities have really been through some natural disasters making their current beauty even more impressive.

Water flowed through the convent in mini canals. Here, the water could be channeled into different ceramic pots for washing.

An end was only put to this life of fiestas and luxuries in 1871 when the Pope sent a strict nun over to sort them all out. For the next hundred years, the nuns lived a more conventional life and the dowries were sent back over to Europe. Some of the servants lived the rest of their lives there by converting to nuns. It must have been hard for the original rich nuns because they had to go from having their own chambers with servants to sharing a dorm room with new, young, poor girls who were now being allowed to enter the convent. Then, in 1970, the mayor of Arequipa forced the convent to open its doors to tourism in an attempt to modernise the place where the nuns lived a mysterious life, never leaving the walls of the convent. Our guide told us that there are still nuns living there, under 100 today, and they are still not allowed to leave the walls of the convent unless there is a medical emergency. They live in a separate section to that which the tourists visit and have no contact with the tourists as they are shy. Their days are spent praying, sowing and making other craft items as well as organising and administrating charities from inside the walls. The money from our expensive entry tickets (8 pounds each and not even any student discount!) pays for them to live and for their charity work. A lifestyle I can't even begin to comprehend.