On Thursday we observed the holiday of Santa Rosa del Lima (meaning we didn't have school), so I took advantage of the opportunity for a four day weekend and just ran with it! Since traveling by bus is relatively cheap down here, I took a three and a half day trip to three different cities south of Lima (along with some other exchange students): Ica, Nazca, and Arequipa. Each city had it's own adventures and plenty of culture and history to keep this girl busy behind her camera.
Ica is a relatively small city out in the dessert, but it is right next to an oasis, Hauachinca, filled with sandy fun! We spent the afternoon climbing sand dunes (with our backpacks!), watching kids fly kites, and enjoying the sun with a cool beverage. That evening we caught the next bus and headed to Nazca to sleep in a hostel for the night.
Nazca, also in the desert, is a bit larger than Ica and has some great little shops and restaurants around the main plaza, but the hostel we stay at totally deserves some recognition. Hostel Posada Guadalupe was our oasis in the desert: clean sheets, warm shower, helpful locals, and super cheep (plus they let us keep our bags locked in the room while we went out on adventures!). If you ever go to Nazca, Peru, you better stay the night there!
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| The Tree image of the Nazca Lines |
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| The tomb of La dama de Nasca (Maria Reiche |
Anyways, we did go see the Lineas de Nasca (Nazca Lines), but our land tour also took us to some older drawings in the sand called Las lineas de Palpa (Palpa
Lines). Since these lines are visible from the hillsides, the natives had to deconstruct the figures in order to prevent the Spanish from destroying what their ancestors had worked hard to create and preserve. After almost 500 years, the figures were 'discovered' and set back to their original state. A plane flight over the Nazca Lines would be awesome (and about $125 US), but I was able to get some decent pictures from the 30m tall
observatories. While the sights are stunning, the history behind the discovery was what captivated
my attention. One very determined German woman (with five degrees and fluent in 4 languages) spent the bulk of her
life in the desert of Peru uncovering the mysteries that litter this
vast expanse: Maria Reiche was pretty amazing.
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| The Family images of the Palpa Lines |
After a night on the bus, we arrived in the beautiful mountain side city of Arequipa bright and early in the morning. From the Mirador de Yanahuara, we were able to capture the three snow-capped peaks that surround the city: Picchu Picchu, Volcan Misti, and Volcan Chachani.
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| La Basilica Cathedral de Arequipa |
While playing the tourist role (backpacks on, taking photos and the like), we met a very nice and helpful policeman and policewoman. They recommended some sights to see, filled us in with some cool history and gave us directions to the best restaurant in town. Peruvian gastronomy is world famous, but the food from Arequipa is distinct in their use of spices and I had to eat the best of the best here. Of all the places I have traveled thus far in Peru, Arequipa emits the richest sense of colonialism: decorative arches lining the plaza, Gothic architecture and ornately adorned cathedrals, and cobble-stone roads.
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| Inside la Basilica |
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| Once you get past the little ears, it's 100% delicious! |
After capturing the Plaza de Armas and surrounding cathedrals with our cameras, we headed to La Nueva Palomino to eat some cuy. (Cuy is a traditional food in Peru, especially in the mountains, but American's don't typically like it because cuy is a guinea pig that has been deep fried) I have to say that it taste more like rabbit than chicken, but it was good and yes I would eat it again.
We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and taking pictures. An hour or so before it was time to catch the bus back to Lima, we found a lovely little cafe to sit and enjoy the sunset in the distance. Taking to the owner (the the other locals we chatted with that day) made me realize how much pride these people have in their town and in their country; it is quite refreshing. As we parted ways, the man told us 'Enjoy my country!' What awesome people!
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| Picchu Picchu at dusk |
Well I hope this blog post wasn't too extremely long. It's very to hard to be objective when selecting what photos I share with you guys (personally I think they all deserve to be seen). This week should be filled with school and reading 100 Years of Solitude. I've been told it's a very adventurous read for a native Spanish speaker, so I have buckled down and put on my determination pants: face it, I'm going to ride this one out. (plus I'm interested to dig into the writings of such a celebrated and revered author). Hasta luego mis amigos!
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