Arequipa, Peru
I´m here in Arequipa today, having returned from a two tour of the Canyon del Colca where I saw some condors flying this morning. We were way high up in the Andies, snow capped mountains and a volcano were in the scenery. Here you are served coca tea to help with the altitude. Llamas and alpacas abounded. We got to pet some alpaca(the Quechua Indians have them at their craft stands) the fur was amazingly soft. They tie red or pink bow onto their animals. Usually on their ears or necks. It's funny to see them grazing in the fields with little bows on them.
Arequipa is pretty cool. I met up with some friends again for a few days, but we´ve since gone our own ways. Visited a cloistered convent from the 1500´s a few days ago. A portion of it is still in use today. Traditionally, the second daughters born to wealthy, aristrocratic families would be sent, at the age of 12, to begin training to become a nun. There she would remain for life, cloistered away, like it or not.
Okay, so I´m getting down to crunch time now and I´m going to try to fit Bolivia in. I can probably dedicate 10 days to Bolivia while still allowing time to see Cusco and Machu Picchu back in Peru. And, I fly home from Lima, Peru. Tomorrow, I´ll head to the Peruvian town of Puno where I´ll stay one night. The next day I´ll bus it to the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia. From La Paz I´ll catch a flight to my next destination, which is looking like Sucre at this point. I´m getting excited about Bolivia. Everyone I talk to says it´s amazing.
There is an issue though, the Bolivian government is about to require US residents obtain a visa before entering the country. We require visas of Bolivian residents, so fair enough. The problem is no one in the Bolivian government can agree on a start date. The latest I´ve read is April 1st, which would be fine, because I´ll beat that date. They aren´t difficult to get, I´d need to go the the Bolvian consulate in Puno and complete the paperwork pay some money (probably $30-$50 US) and wait a few days. But if they change that date to sometime this week, I´m in trouble. I don´t have a few days to wait.
I flew over the Nazca lines earlier in the week. Very cool! They were smaller than I imagined.
Ciao for now!
Arequipa is pretty cool. I met up with some friends again for a few days, but we´ve since gone our own ways. Visited a cloistered convent from the 1500´s a few days ago. A portion of it is still in use today. Traditionally, the second daughters born to wealthy, aristrocratic families would be sent, at the age of 12, to begin training to become a nun. There she would remain for life, cloistered away, like it or not.
Okay, so I´m getting down to crunch time now and I´m going to try to fit Bolivia in. I can probably dedicate 10 days to Bolivia while still allowing time to see Cusco and Machu Picchu back in Peru. And, I fly home from Lima, Peru. Tomorrow, I´ll head to the Peruvian town of Puno where I´ll stay one night. The next day I´ll bus it to the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia. From La Paz I´ll catch a flight to my next destination, which is looking like Sucre at this point. I´m getting excited about Bolivia. Everyone I talk to says it´s amazing.
There is an issue though, the Bolivian government is about to require US residents obtain a visa before entering the country. We require visas of Bolivian residents, so fair enough. The problem is no one in the Bolivian government can agree on a start date. The latest I´ve read is April 1st, which would be fine, because I´ll beat that date. They aren´t difficult to get, I´d need to go the the Bolvian consulate in Puno and complete the paperwork pay some money (probably $30-$50 US) and wait a few days. But if they change that date to sometime this week, I´m in trouble. I don´t have a few days to wait.
I flew over the Nazca lines earlier in the week. Very cool! They were smaller than I imagined.
Ciao for now!
posted by amy at 6:02 PM
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