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One of the beautiful little streets in the Santa Catalina Monastery

One of the beautiful little streets in the Santa Catalina Monastery

Poor Arequipa. If you want a great urban experience in Peru, you go to Lima. If you want a great Andean experience, you go to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. As Peru’s second largest city, just one-tenth the size of Lima, Arequipa can be overlooked. Tis a pity, though, because it’s a vibrant, beautiful city with world-class hiking in the nearby Colca Canyon. High up in the Andes – the city sits at about 7,600 feet above sea level – Arequipa is also blessed with a wonderfully cool climate, with average summer highs (recall that it’s summer here) in the low 70s. Delightful.

Arequipa's cathedral right on the central plaza

Arequipa’s cathedral right on the central plaza

One of the most striking things about Arequipa is the local white sillar rock out of which much of the center part of the city is built. The result of volcanic eruptions, sillar is light, porous and easily carved, yet sufficiently strong to be the central element in construction. As a result buildings are beautifully white with great domes and vaults. The central core of Arequipa – particularly the baroque cathedral on the central plaza and the nearby Santa Catalina Monastery – was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.

One of the first sights you see on entering the monastery

One of the first sights you see on entering the monastery

Many of the buildings in the monastery have these great vaulted ceilings. This is part of the art collection on display.

Many of the buildings in the monastery have these great vaulted ceilings. This is part of the art collection on display.

While the central plaza is big, leafy, and surrounded by glorious sillar buildings, particularly the cathedral, the real star of Arequipa is the Santa Catalina (St. Catherine) Monastery. Built in the late 16th century with a decided Moorish style, the monastery for Dominican nuns is essentially a small, walled city within a city with five narrow streets connecting various parts and buildings. A couple dozen nuns still live in a newer section, but most of it is now open to the public. It is a site not to be missed.

One of the first things you notice as you tour the nun’s cells is that these were not poor women. Their quarters were surprisingly spacious, often with private kitchens and parlors separate from the bedroom. In fact, families had to pay a dowery of the equivalent of about $150,000 in today’s dollar. Women, we learned, owned their quarters and could and did sell them to other nuns. One of the women who entered, we read on the description of her cell, entered with a variety of possessions including one slave. Not the picture of nuns that I usually have.

And then there’s the food. We remembered from our trip to Peru in 2010 that the food here was great but I really didn’t remember it being this great. One lunch we had at a little place called Qaya was one of the great lunches I’ve ever had and sometimes it seemed as though there were no bad choices when it came to the restaurants.

We came here for four days, but spent nearly all of two of those days on a hiking trip up in the Andes a couple hours north. The time we spent in Arequipa, though, was pretty great. It’s funny; you just have no idea before getting to a new city like this if you’ll love it or be quickly bored. For every San Cristóbal (which we fell in love with) there’s a Paracas that’s, well, not so exciting. Arequipas was one of the great finds.

Mark inside the monastery

Mark inside the monastery

This beautiful park is part of the monastery but unfortunately was fenced off from tourists

This beautiful park is part of the monastery but unfortunately was fenced off from tourists

Mark loved the color contrast of this doorway. Amusingly, it's the entrance to the toilets.

Mark loved the color contrast of this doorway. Amusingly, it’s the entrance to the toilets.

Another street view

Another street view

There were beautiful flowers, plants, and bushes all over

There were beautiful flowers, plants, and bushes all over

And ornate doors

And ornate doors

Little nooks and crannies everywhere

Little nooks and crannies everywhere

Of course, the monastery was a place for worship. Latin Americans love to emphasize Christ's suffering, as this bleeding Jesus attests to. And yes, that's Mark's reflection hovering over Him.

Of course, the monastery was a place for worship. Latin Americans love to emphasize Christ’s suffering, as this bleeding Jesus attests to. And yes, that’s Mark’s reflection hovering over Him.

And then there was the food. This is octopus covered in a garlic and olive sauce. In a word, extraordinary.

And then there was the food. This is octopus covered in a garlic and olive sauce. In a word, extraordinary.

One of the sillar-constructed buildings running along a side of the central plaza, with part of the cathedral in the background

One of the sillar-constructed buildings running along a side of the central plaza, with part of the cathedral in the background

And finally the view from our hotel's roof deck across the plaza to the cathedral.

And finally the view from our hotel’s roof deck across the plaza to the cathedral.

Here we are ready to board. There were three other tourists with us and two pilots in this tiny little plane.

Here we are ready to board. There were three other tourists with us and two pilots in this tiny little plane.

From Paracas we took a long bus ride south for a short stop in Nasca. Set in the Nasca Desert, the town is a hot, dry place. It is, in fact, one of the driest places on earth; it averages just 4 millimeters of rain a year, or well under a quarter of an inch. Why go there? For the Nasca Lines, a series of ancient mysterious geoglyphs (there’s that word again!) that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Built by the Nasca people between 500 BC and 500 AD, they’re essentially huge drawings in the desert, created by removing the reddish rocks on the surface and thus exposing the whiter ground beneath. They’re only four to six inches deep, but because of their isolation and the dry, windless environment, they have survived all these centuries.

I think these are hands … or something

I think these are hands … or something

And this is supposedly a hummingbird

And this is supposedly a hummingbird

Over the many years the Nasca people inhabited the area, they constructed an untold number of these “drawings” in the desert plateau. Archeologists believe that they have religious significance, but my experience is that archeologists always assume religious significance if they don’t have any other explanation. All we know for a fact is that they run the gamut from simple geometric figures – lines – to more remarkable pictures of birds, snakes, monkeys, and people.

The figures can be huge, with the largest approaching 700 feet in width. While they can apparently be seen from the foothills that surround them, the best way to see the Lines is from the air. So there is a steady stream of small planes taking off from and landing in Nasca’s small airport, shuttling tourists up for a 30-minute tour. While you’re up there looking down, it’s pretty impressive to imagine them doing this large-scale artwork without the benefit of air travel to check on how it all looks.

Warning to the wise, though: If you don’t like heights, or get motion sickness, don’t do the tour. It’s a tiny plane taking you up, and the pilot banks and swerves and turns and angles so everyone can see the artwork below. By the end of 30 minutes I was more than ready to get my feet on solid ground again.

A view over the Nasca region from our little plane

A view over the Nasca region from our little plane

So that was Nasca. In one day in the early afternoon and out the next night on an overnight bus to Arequipa, Peru’s second city. Just long enough to do the tour, see this 2,000-year-old mystery, and get back on the road. Oh, and have a couple Pisco Sours, Peru’s national drink. We try to avoid sugary drinks, but we knew we were going to have them just one night. Why not do it, then, in a town that’s otherwise pretty grim?

On to Arequipa!

An almost deceptively beautiful shot of our hotel in Paracas. While on the coast, there was no beach for swimming so we had to settle for this pool.

An almost deceptively beautiful shot of our hotel in Paracas. While on the coast, there was no beach for swimming so we had to settle for this pool.

If four days wasn’t nearly enough for Lima, it was more than enough for Paracas.

From Lima we caught a pretty classy bus 165 miles down the coast to Paracas. Each seat had its own headphone thing, so it was blissfully absent the various explosions and crashes associated with most of our bus rides.

There’s really only one major reason to go to Paracas, to tour the Ballestas Islands. They’re a small group of islands maybe 30 minutes by boat from the mainland sometimes called “the poor man’s Galapagos.” Well, having been to the Galapagos Islands a few years ago, I would say that’s a pretty grand overstatement. But, since you go to both the Galapagos and Ballestas for the same reason – to see animals – I guess there’s something to say for the comparison. Just not much.

The biggest of the Ballestas Islands. Those dark spots on either side of the tunnel are massive colonies of birds all jammed together.

The biggest of the Ballestas Islands. Those dark spots on either side of the tunnel are massive colonies of birds all jammed together.

OK, then, we took one of the two-hour tours of the Ballestras Islands. Mostly what you see are birds, seemingly millions of birds. You never get off the boat, but rather drive around a bit looking at all the birds. Some Peruvian boobys, we were told, lots of pelicans, and cormorants. Some penguins, even, since the islands sit right on the Humboldt Current coming up from the Antarctic and thus are cold enough for the penguins. (Oh, there you have another Galapagos connection; the Galapagos Islands are on the Humboldt Current, too.)

Sea lions, too, lots and lots of sea lions making all sorts of sea lion noises. The guide showed us their “retirement home,” a beach where the older lions go to spend their last couple years, and the “maternity ward,” where baby sea lions are born and raised for a few months. (They stay there because otherwise the various dads would eat them. Seems unpleasant.)

This was the Ballestas "maternity ward"

This was the Ballestas “maternity ward”

You could see these huge sea lions in the most unexpected places, wondering how in heaven's name they could get there. Turns out they use their flippers and claws to climb up on rocks; we watched for a while as this one tried to get up to her calves up there.

You could see these huge sea lions in the most unexpected places, wondering how in heaven’s name they could get there. Turns out they use their flippers and claws to climb up on rocks; we watched for a while as this one tried to get up to her calves up there.

That’s what you see, but what you smell is bird shit. It’s pretty powerful stuff, all those birds in a relatively confined space, and there’s a lot of it. They recommend you wear a hat while in the area, since the birds aren’t polite enough to leave all their droppings on the rocks. There’s enough that does hit the rocks, though, that every few years the Peruvian government authorizes people to go out to the islands and harvest the bird shit (oh, I’m supposed to call it guano, but that’s just a fancy name for bird shit) for its properties as a great natural fertilizer. I don’t imagine I’ll ever think of many jobs that would rank lower for me than harvesting tons of bird shit. After 45 minutes or so of poking around the edges of the islands I was definitely ready for some clean air.

Back at our civilized hotel they had a fabulous little lunch restaurant, maybe six or eight tables, that served exactly four dishes. The three we had were heavenly and the location - on a pier well out away from the shore - was beautiful.

Back at our civilized hotel they had a fabulous little lunch restaurant, maybe six or eight tables, that served exactly four dishes. The three we had were heavenly and the location – on a pier well out away from the shore – was beautiful.

Another fun sight you see on the trip is world-famous Candelabra geolyph. I’ll admit, I’d never heard of this world-famous geolyph, nor did I have a clue what a geolyph was. Well. A geolyph (this is so annoying; every time I type “geolyph” spell check wants to correct it to “glyph”, which doesn’t seem like a more common word) is “a large design or motif (generally longer than 4 metres) produced on the ground and typically formed by clastic rocks or similarly durable elements of the landscape.” Make sense? According to Wikipedia, at least, the most famous geolyphs are the Nasca Lines which just happen to be our next stop.

The Candelabra geoglyph, a 2,200-year-old mystery

The Candelabra geoglyph, a 2,200-year-old mystery

At any rate, the Candelabra geolyph looks as though it’s just somebody’s sand art, the kind of thing someone etches into the sand and then gets blown away after a few days. In fact, it’s over 2,000 years old, having been carbon dated to about 200 BC. It’s almost 600 feet tall and probably half as wide, and can allegedly be seen from 12 miles out to sea. There are lots of theories of how it got there and why it’s there – a symbol of Freemasonry? put there by the great Latin liberator San Martín? a navigation tool for sailors? – but in fact no one has figured it out. It’s fun, though, to gawp at this 2,200-year-old geolyph, just sort of amazed at all it’s been through.

And that’s pretty much it, for us anyway. There was nothing much in the town to recommend itself; we had one lunch that would rank as perhaps the worst meal we’ve had in many months, or even years. There was one good restaurant that we found but it was closed two of the four nights we were there. Our resort was beautiful, but it’s strange being at a beach place where there’s no beach; the water was brown and smelly and there was not even the pretense of it being a beach anyone would swim in. Oh, and the smell of bird shit there was pretty powerful, too, when the wind came from the wrong direction. Because the area was pretty flat, though, there was some OK running and even a fun two-hour bike ride.

From here we continue by bus south to Nasca and then on to Arequipa, Peru’s second city, before eventually getting back up to Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

I did a bit of a bike ride out into the Paracas National Reserve. Pretty much just miles and miles of this, at least the part of it that I saw. It reminded me of biking across Nevada which, I realized, was 30 years ago, just about exactly half my life ago.

I did a bit of a bike ride out into the Paracas National Reserve. Pretty much just miles and miles of this, at least the part of it that I saw. It reminded me of biking across Nevada which, I realized, was 30 years ago, just about exactly half my life ago.

Here we have a classic Peruvian ceviche with just a tiny bit of fried calamari

Here we have a classic Peruvian ceviche with just a tiny bit of fried calamari

And a plate of tiridito, a variation of ceviche with Japanese hints

And a plate of tiridito, a variation of ceviche with Japanese hints

Back to the islands, at first I noticed the big sea lion - how did he get up there?? - but then saw the five penguins up towards the top of the picture. We watched them waddle around for a while.

Back to the islands, at first I noticed the big sea lion – how did he get up there?? – but then saw the five penguins up towards the top of the picture. We watched them waddle around for a while.

Birds

Birds

And more birds

And more birds