Arequipa, Peru Part 2

Arequipa part 2
We woke the next day with dazzling sunshine. Breakfast was on the terrace (which up until now was just a large paddling pool)

Upon ascending the twirly steps the sky was marvellously blue (yes! no rain finally! Arequipa is not grey all the time!).

It wasn't until we turned around did we see the magnificent view. There, towering behind us were the two volcanoes Chanchi and El Misti sat beside each other like brother and sister. It was such an incredible sight (again pictures will not do it justice).

For all our time in Arequipa, the thick curtain of clouds was hiding this beautiful sight. We were all in awe!

We were treated to breakfast on the sunny but chilly terrace (scrambled eggs with crusty bread and banana toffee crepe - for Dipesh obviously)

We then set of on a 2.5hr free walking tour of the city of Arequipa. Our guide, Beatrice #freewalkingtour

She told us about the history of Arequipa and the Spanish invasion and more about the Condor

Here are some facts:
a Condor is monogamous - it only has one partner in its life time
The Condor does not kill - it eats animals that are already dead
The Condor is almost on the verge of being extinction due to people thinking that they were hunters (they are not) once this was known - the people put a stop to hunting this bird
The Condor only has one offspring in its lifetime
If the female Condor dies...the male Condor will not be able to live without her - he therefore commits suicide (therefore he is symbolic of loyalty). On the other hand, if a male Condor dies first - and there is no offspring - the female will find another mate
The Condor lives up to the grand age of 70 years
The Andean condor has the largest wing area of any bird. Size relative to a 6-ft

I found a new fondness for this bird but couldn't help feel some sadness at the current state of this bird. We both felt so lucky to see this bird so close and magnificently glide over the Andean mountains

Beatrice also told us about 'Sarita' and 'Juanita' (aka inca ice maiden) who are exhibited the Museo Santuarios. Both of these young girls were killed as an offering to the Inca gods sometime between 1450 and 1480 when she was approximately 11–15 years old.

Beatrice also told us that the Peruvians still have some ancient ceremonies practiced today. (For illustrative purposes Beatrice took us to the market)
For instance, they use a skeleton of a baby lamb for good luck. Beatrice introduced us to Keko (luck in fortune) similar to the golden cat with the paw in Chinese culture.

Beatrice introduced us to various fruits my favourite was the passion fruit and a fruit that looks like a dried cucumber but like fluffy cotton balls inside (it tasted like sweet cotton wool that dissolved in our mouth)

There was another strange looking fruit...it looked like an ugly potato/cactus. It was knobby and crooked and smelt liked 6-day old sweaty socks 🤢Beatrice told us that this was used for medicinal purposes for good health (mixed in shakes)

We were also told that frogs 🐸 are used in health shakes too 😷

The tour concluded with a Pisco sour shot (Pisco, egg white, lemon and a dash of cinnamon) and fermented corn drink for the non-alcoholics.

It was after noon by the time we had finished so we joined our new dorm buddies (Julia and Manuel from Germany) for a vegetarian 3 course meal at Omphalos restaurant (so delicious!)

This took us to our time to board our bus to cusco (10 hour long over night bus ride)Read more