Arequipa

I am overwhelmed by how beautiful Arequipa is. I am tempted to say that it's indescribable, but that would make it a pretty short post.

The main reason that tourists visit Arequipa is because it's the so-called gateway to the Colca Canyon where you can see condors in flight (more below). But the city itself is worth the trip to South America. It's that good.

The central city is a triumph of Spanish colonial architecture. If I was Spanish, I'd buy myself a big trumpet and march around town singing 'yay us, look at our fancy buildings'. The main square is surrounded on three sides by beautiful covered archways supported by countless pillars. (That's not quite true - I could count them. The number is definitely finite, and is probably less than a hundred. I could probably count that high in Spanish if I had some thinking time. It would have been far more accurate to have written that the square was surrounded by a finite and eminently countable number of pillars. That's still quite impressive). On the fourth side - or is it the first side? - stands a magnificent cathedral built of a pale grey volcanic rock. It is such a grand building that it could easily be a palace or, um... something like a palace.

We went and had a wander inside the cathedral. It was undergoing some restoration, so wasn't presented at its best, but it was still mighty impressive. We were lucky enough to be there while the choir was practicing. It made the atmosphere almost, well, religious. It was pretty cool.

But I haven't even got to the best bit yet - the incredible Santa Catalina monastery. The monastery has been open to the public since the 1970s. It was founded in the 1500s and has had nuns living there continuously ever since. They have retreated to a small section of the complex to allow visitors into the rest.

The buildings have been restored and are in excellent condition. They form part of a massive two hectare complex of chapels, prayer rooms, courtyards, orchards/groves, kitchens, washrooms and sleeping chambers. We visited in the late evening when the whole monastery was lit solely by candles and gas lamps. It was absolutely spectacular. We loved it so much that we braved the $15 entrance fee a second time a couple of days later. Go there.

While in Arequipa, we also went to see the Colca Canyon and the condors. We took an overnight tour into the canyon, which allowed us the luxury of spying on the condors both in the early evening and the following morning. They're massive birds and look amazing in flight. We also saw llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and lots of other fancy animals. The scenery was amazing too. The canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, the surrounding mountains are beautiful, and the whole valley is filled with Incan and pre-Incan ruins and terraced hillsides.

The area is a complete blast. We loved it.

Off to Nasca next.