3rd to 5th May, Nasca Lines, Arequipa

An early start for some of us, to avoid the cloud and turbulance later in the day. For those that don't know, it's not certain what the Nasca Lines actually are. These lines and patterns can only properly be viewed from the air as some are several km long. Aliens putting them there is one theory but more likely is the Inca's put them there as some sort of offering to the gods. Who knows. They're magnificent and a magical thing to see, so huge and surviving for centuries. They don't come out too great in photos so with my photos shrunk onto this blog, I'm not sure you'll see much. I'll put a few up and if you're really interested, go google pictures better than mine. :-) Another beach camp that night.

The monkey - hope you can see it once blogger shrinks the photo quality





Next stop Arequipa, where our hostel was situated opposite the hospital and therefore along the street where all the coffin shops were! I did try a few times to get a picture but couldn't do it without getting caught.
somewhere in town


they like BIG stereo systems in South America






Main square


Cathedral


Mikkel and I went for an evening wander and came across an evening mass which we went to watch and take in the church. We suddenly heard a band play outside behind us (I jumped out of my skin) and then bangers going off outside (bizarrely as part of the ceremony), so we did a fast but respectful (we hoped) comedy walk to the back of the pews, then ran outside to the amusement of a few locals. We'd missed the bangers but after a procession around the town, everyone converged outside the church for a fireworks display. The display was made from bamboo it seemed and as each firework went off, if any failed, the chaps just climbed in and set them off , inches from their faces. The final rocket from the top flew everywhere and as bits of flaming debris fell near us, Mikkel pulled me in to cover my highly flammable hair from 'going up'. Very funny and we were both like a pair of kids. Brilliant. Others had gone out for 'coy' - guinea pig (not a lot of meat but very boney apparently) and alpaca (a bit like beef I'm told).

Francois making us pose at the monastery


A few of us took a trip around the Monastery here where nuns have been cloistered for centuries. Apparently, this is why it's a Monastery rather than a convent, because the nuns are not allowed out into the community. A very picturesque and peaceful place. Apparently the rich would marry off their first daughter and send their second daughter off to be a nun so she could pray for the family. (Yes, I am a second daughter. eek) These 12 year old girls would be a novice for 4 or so years, during which time they had no contact with their family. Once they formally became nuns, their families contributed an amount equivalent today to $150k to the monastery and would build a house in the convent for their daughter. Some had servants, although the dowry and servants were cleared out in 1872 by the then pope. Contact with family was allowed now but only through two hard to see through grills, a foot apart, not big enough to allow them to touch.