Arequipa

Arequipa is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It felt even more beautiful to me because we had descended to 7500 feet from 12600+ feet and consequently, my breathlessness had lessened.

The Chachani volcano

Arequipa is situated in a broad valley, surrounded by three active volcanoes. You look anywhere towards horizon, you will see the brooding bulk of one of the volcanoes El Misti, Chachani or Picchu Picchu. Picchu is peak in Quechua language. Picchu Picchu means plural peaks. The reason is clear when you see the silhouette of the mountain against the sky. It has a sort of saw tooth profile.

The El Misti volcano

The Ampato volcano, which is higher than the above three is not seen from Arequipa unless you are exceptionally lucky.

The 'sawtooth' Picchu Picchu volcano

Like every city in Peru, the city center boasts of a baroque cathedral. (Are there any other kind?) Really, the cathedrals are ubiquitous and one looks almost exactly like another.

The Cathedral

And, like God, the pigeons also seem to be Omnipresent. I have seen them in Mumbai, London, Venice and now I was seeing them in Arequipa. Was the altitude of 7500 feet not sufficient to deter them? At what altitude do they cease to exist? I will call that an optimum altitude.

Fountain with pigeons

In the Arequipa downtown, there is a small peaceful garden with exotic trees like the date palms. The arched white colonnade is covered with flamboyant Bougainvilleas of many different colors. A narrow street leads to the Santa Catalina Convent.

Peaceful garden with palms

It was a convent of the rich. Only girls from aristocratic families could enter the convent and become nuns. You will find more information here:

http://www.perutravels.net/peru-travel-guide/arequipa-santa-catalina-convent.htm

Some of the girls were being looked after by four servants during their tenure. They were also allowed to have fine porcelain, fine clothes, rich wines, in fact all the luxuries of life.

The 'Dhobighat' where servants washed clothes

Despite the luxuries, I found the condition of the girls pathetic. To be separated from loving families at the age of 12 and never being able to visit the home of their childhood again, must be very miserable. I do not suppose the girls were very happy about it, but they were told that by entering the convent, the SINS (which must have been lots.) of three generations of their forefathers would be propitiated.

Oh, those poor, poor babes!

Colorful Convent walls

Santa Catalina Convent is large. In fact, it is a city within the city, with Spanish city names for streets. So, there is a Granada street, a Cordoba street, a Seville street and so on.

Colorful Convent streets

Notice the vibrant colors of the buildings as well as the flowers? I do not know what it is about the volcanic soil, but it certainly makes the colors of the flowers dazzling. We noticed it in Indonesia too.

A Rhapsody in Red

Ever since we had climbed over 7500 feet, my Chest Cavity was trying to get rid of The Cough with the help of the reduced atmospheric pressure outside. However, the Cough was a long time resident and had decided to stay put. Like a typical Mumbai squatter, he had managed to get Ration card, gas, water connection and electricity. He had also acquired a fridge and a TV and was thinking of buying a car. Life was good; he didnt pay any taxes and so he had no intention of leaving.

The Chest Cavity was equally stubborn and had decided to make a determined effort to evict the Cough, encouraged by the external reduced pressure. I was getting extremely tired between these two arch enemies. However, my sympathy was with the Chest Cavity, the land lady. What with the Rent Control Act, and Urban Ceiling Act etc., the dice were loaded against her, so I decided to help her out.

Avis help was enlisted in procuring the cough syrup and finally, the Chest Cavity did manage to get rid of the non-rent-paying squatter.

I will never forget Avis miming act when I asked him how did he make the Spanish saleswoman understand that he wanted cough syrup. He said it was simple. He first coughed, then poured an imaginary liquid dose in an imaginary cup, did the action of drinking it, said glug, glug, and then grinned hugely with relief. The saleswoman understood perfectly.

With this kind of resourceful husband, I am in perfectly good hands and that is why we can travel anywhere together.

Our half-day tour of Arequipa was over; we had our lunch in our hotel room and were having a siesta when an earthquake shook the room. We ran out on the balcony in panic and looked for other people running helter-skelter, but we looked in vain. Nobody was stirring outside. Siesta times in Peru are sacred.

We called the hotel manager and asked where the earthquake shelters were. He was puzzled, but emphatically told us that there were NO shelters. The earthquakes strike Arequipa every day and nobody bothers about them.

Yes, Arequipa is beautiful, but with one earthquake per day, I wouldnt like to live there. When we left Arequipa that day for Nazca, I felt a huge relief.