Once again this title doesn´t have any relevance to what I am about to talk to you about, but it will explain itself in time!
So! When we last spoke Ruby and I had just arrived in Nasca, yes? Well, little did we know that as soon as Ruby had sent this post, we were about to consume our weight in chicken. I´m not even kidding, south americans love their chicken, and so when you end up going to a hige bbq chicken restaurant for dinner, we´re not talking about measly little wings, these chickens are BIG! I was saved by Ruby from consuming heart on a stick ("oh, that looks nice, I might get that" "you don´t want that..im pretty sure its heart¨" "...oh) so i ended up having chicken with everyone else. Good move I think.
The next day was pretty significant, as it was the day that we got to visit the Nasca Lines. Wow! For all of you who dont know, these are basically huge outlines in the Nasca desert of animals such as monkeys, hummingbirds, condors, etc. that were carved by the Inca´s many many moons ago. There are many theories behind what they actually mean, ranging from Incan calendars to evidence of alien life. We still don´t know what they actually are, but they are pretty amazing to look at. Unfortunatly, in order to see them you have to be up in the air, ie. fly over them in tiny tiny planes. Yet, we were determined to witness the phenomenon that is the Nasca Lines, so we downed some travel sickness tablets and jumped on the planes, I was on one of the larger 10 seater planes, whereas poor old Ruby got put on a plane that only seated four people, including the pilot! Eeep! Yet apparently she enjoys turbulence so it was a win win. The flight was very bumpy, yet we could see the lines very clearly and it was spectacular! The only downside was poor Vicki got rather sick, even though she was the one with the travel tablets! But she got some great photos, which are at the end of this blog :)
The rest of the day in Nasca was pretty relaxed; I discovered the most amazing ice cream sandwich ever, and proceeded to have two for lunch :) and we spent most of the day on the roof of the hotel watching the city and the sun go down. We couldnt go out that night because we were about to hop an overnight bus (!!!) to Arequipa! it wasnt as bad as we thought, not as nice as the last bus, but still pretty comfortable, with wifi snacks and blankeys :) we arrived in Arequipa as the sun started to rise.
Yet, there is no sleep for the wicked, as they say, so we went straight from our hotel in Arequipa to the Santa Catalina Nunnery! Yep thats right, Ruby entered a nunnery and didnt melt or burn or get chased out! Who would have thought? The nunnery was actually really beautiful, these nuns lived the highlife! Their houses were bigger than Pigeon Cove was! Apparently, rich families used to send their second born daughters to nunnery to pray for the family, along with gifts and money for the nuns and the church. So, really, we were returning Ruby to her rightful place, being the second born and all, although all of you who know her know that she wouldnt have lasted a week, especially with the vow of silence! Teehee, you know its true. But yes it was very colourful and lovely, not like you would expect a nunnery at all!
From there, we split off from the group, as neither of us were keen to try guinea pig for lunch, so we went and had sandwiches at a restaurant on the rooftop of the square :) It was so nice, if a little windy, and we could look down on the whole of the main square and the church (things weve learnt about south american cities; no matter what size they are, there is always a main square and a church.)
Then we went to the cultural museum to see ...the MUMMY! hehe sadly there was no Brendan Fraser (lame), but it was still pretty cool. The mummy aka the ampato maiden aka juanita was found frozen at the top of the ampato volcano, with most of her body and her hair still intact! They have deduced from the body and the artifacts that were found near her that she was sacrificed as part of a ceremony to pay respects to the Incan gods, which the Incans believed were the volcanos and the mountains. Poor girl! But apparently it was her destiny to be sacrificed, and she would have felt it to be quite an honour to be sacrificed for her people. We actually got to see the real live mummy, which Ruby thought was kinda creepy, but I thought it was actually really facisnaing (I totally had a Bones moment :) Yeah.)
Now unfortunatly Arequipa is actually at really high altitudes, so poor Ruby has not been feeling very well at all, damn this altitude sickness! were going to have to strap an oxygen tank to her back for the inca trail!
To make matters worse, the next day we left for Colca Canyon, which is situated about 3,600m above sea level! Oh dear! Now, I was loving the highlands, its so much prettier than the dusty desert, yet poor Ruby was not dealing with it well at all. But we´ve put her on the drugs and the gatorade (shes been recommended to take at least 3 bottles a day!! She´s having to pee like seabuiscut! You didnt really need to know that but, well, im telling you :P)
I looooooooved Colca canyon, apart from Mancora it is my favourite place in Peru so far. Alpacas and llamas roam the mountain side, and everything is just so clean and clear and beautiful. We took a hike to some really nice thermal baths nestled in the mountains (nicer than the ones in Banos...although we still love you Banos, cos you are in Ecuador, which is still our favourite country so far), to try and adjust to walking at such high altitude.. its amazing how just walking straight on flat ground can make you so short of breath up there...cue more sympathy for Ruby and her big lungs :(
That night was one of the most unique things we have experienced on this trip so far. We went to a traditional Quechuan family´s house for dinner, which meant preparing and cooking our own food! Quite different from the restaurants weve been visiting every night, but it was amazing! The people were so lovely, they dressed us up in their traditional clothes, let us play with their pets (an Alpaca named Suma! So cute)and....kill guinea pigs!! I would like to point out that I had no hand in that what so ever, we left that to the boys. Nor did I eat any (no food that still has a face is my rule), but I did have some alpaca (sorry Suma), which was really delicious. Ruby was good and didnt eat either, she stuck to cheese porrige potatoes and rice which was also really nice :) It was such a great experience, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Today we had to get at 5:30am (cue urrrrrrrrrggh its so early), but it was totally worth it as we got to visit the actual Canyon that is Colca canyon. Just a random tidbit of info for you; colca canyon is the deepest canyon in the world, much deeper than the grand canyon. They also have Andean condors there, which are, in one word, amazing. They just glide around on the air currents looking majestic and beautiful, searching for eyes and stomachs to eat (nature nerdgasm!!!) Mmm tasty :P It took them a while to show themselves (divas, always showing up late) but it was well worth the wait. We also went for a hike around the canyon to get a grasp of just how big it was, and to test our hiking skills in high altitude for the Inca trail. So far I am doing fine, apart from being a little short of breath, yet I will still be taking plenty of cocoa tea, cocoa candies and lots of water. The main aim is to get poor Ruby up the mountain still breathing! Yet if worse comes to worse, she will definatly make it up to Macchu Picchu, even if she has to take the train :)
Today we are back in Arequipa, and as a treat for being such a brave girl, I am taking Ruby to see Harry Potter today!!! She is very excited! Sadly, I believe there will be no spanish dubbing, so no sexy spanish harry. But it will still be awesome! Love to you all, the next time we speak will probably after the Inka trail!!!! Get excited!
Love Sally xoxoxox
Me and Ilze getting on our plane!
Steph, Brogan and Vicki (pre vomit)
The Nasca Condor
The Nasca Monkey
The Nasca Hands
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