gardenofwine.com

Note: this is taken from emails sent in 2001. Hemi

Hi Friends,
We are now in Quito, trying to arrange a good tour to the Galapagos.
I will now recount our advenutruer in Peru in the last few days.

Arequipa
We returned from Macchu Picchu and arrived in Arequipa on a day that had some sort of strike going on there. It seems that strikes are chasing me in Peru, but fortunately it was something minor that did not affect our traveling. We spent the day relaxing, strolling around the streets around Plaza de Armas (the main plaza of the city).
We went to a nice museum in which “juanita” a 500 year old inca human sacrifice was on display. The incas would have the maidens walk up to a very high mountain (6000m) where thay would have a ceremony, kill the poor thing with a jab to the temple and then bury her in a an embryonic position, fully dressed and prepared for the afterlife. the perfectly preserved body is due to snow and ice that covered juanita for centuries. the grave was encountered when a nearby volcano semi-errupted and its hot ash reached the aforementioned mountain and melted the ice.
We also went to a nice monastary and received interesting explanations from a guide to be (they need to master 4 foreign languages before getting some sort of government certification!).

Colca Canyon
The following morning we left for a 2 day excursion to Colca canyon, twice as deep as the grand canyon in the USA. it was an interesting 5 hour drive to the starating point, a small town called Chivay. On the way our guide stopped to show us various sites and wildlife. we saw wild Vicunyas which are a cross between llamas, alpacas and sheep (well not really, but that is
what they look like).
Arequipa has 2 huge volcanoes towering over it so we basically circumvented them to the north. the highest point we reached was 4800m and in order to feel ok with the altitude some people chewd on coca leaves. others took a pill that is supposed to help. at this high point there are many mounatains on all sides so it is a great vantage point. the locals have some beliefs about the holiness of the place, so you see hundreds of piles of rocks (Rug´em in hebrew) for good luck.
We reached Chivay at noon, had an expensive tourist meal, and then proceeded to a 3 hour hike in the neighboring area. we saw ruins of ancient pre-inca cultures and the great depths of the canyon. the treat was great thermal baths in the early evening. Though it was around 5 deg celsius outside, when immersed in the water, the feeling was great.
Paola, with her world renowned sensitivity to cold, really had a great time. Getting out was a bit more complex, but not as bad as we expected. In the evening we went to yet another tourist trap, where there was a penya show. this is a a traditional music, with hornpipes and mini guitars (they have a name which i cant recall) that are the most significantly different instruments from what we know. there was also a dancing performance by a local man and woman, with traditional costumes. It was all to corny for us, and after eating dinner we departed for bed.
The next morning we drove to the hilight of our tour - The “Mirrador del Condor”. Its a viewpoint on the edge of the canyon where at certain hours, huge condors are seen flying really low, so even a simple non zoom camera can catch the wingspan across an entire picture.
These birds are truly graceful and big!!! after about an hour and a roll of film, we proceeded on another nice little hike. All along the canyon are huge and different types of cactii. By the way, everywhere we stopped along the drive and walks during those 2 days, were locals trying to sell us anything from food, drink to clothes, and other souvenirs. we tried some interesting fruits - one is exactly like the israeli sabra (prickly pear). another is similar but tenfold more sour than a household lemon. they have another fruit called pepino (cucumber) which is shaped like an apple and tastes exactly like… a sweet melon.
there were a few more stops on the way back, but most of us were tired and dosed off. In Chivay we decided to go to lunch in a non tourist place which aside from different food is much cheaper, but we did not enjoy the food. With all the little snacks we bought later, the lesson learned is simple…
Back in Arequipa we prepared for a night journey by luxury bus to Nasca. Its the best bus I hve ever seen, including Europe. The 10 hour drive went by quickly, the reclining seats were practically like beds! there were stewardesses handing out pillows and blankets. sweet dreams.

Nasca
we reached Nasca at around 5am and crossed the street from the bus station to the closest and recommended hostel. after getting in good with the night guy, we got free beds for a few hours and booked a flight over the “Nasca Lines”. The Nascas were an ancient culture many years before the incas. They created huge impressions in the desert teraain, which have withstood the
test of time. there are many shapes, simple geometrical to animals such as monkey, dog, and condor, as well as an astronaut? The drawing are 10s if not 100s of meteres long.!!
The best way to enjoy them is from the air. we wanted to take the morning flight before the turbulent winds of noon, but it was too hazy. so instead we went on a tour of some ancient cemetary that had been graverobbed. we saw some more mummies, these were well preserved due to the desert climate of the Peruvian shoreline.
our guide was very knowledgable and later on we even got into a philosophical discussion on whether religion is the cause of all wars, or simply man has a bad nature. we later went to shops were clay pots are made much like they were 2 thousand years ago, and another place where we received an explanation about goldmines, and how gold is found.
a bit after midday we arrived at the airport. weather conditions were good. Paola and I, another girl and the pilot got into the 4 seat cessna and proceeded to a 40 minute tour of the lines. the view was great and the plane behaved ok. nobody puked. on the way back i got to fly us home (Hata”m - pilot joke).
we felt a bit queasy after the flight but a bottle of coca cola helped us out.

Ica
our next destination was the town of Ica, three hours drive away. we will tell you about it in the next mail.

bye for now…….
H and P