- Woke up at 5 am to catch the 6 am bus to Aplao. Shit - think I am catching a cold. Weighing the pros and cons, decided to get more sleep and rest and take the day slow. It´s a pity that Toro Muerto Petroglyphs is not happening.
- Started my day at 9 am. Since I did not get to visit the Sabandia Mill last time, may as well give it a 2nd try. With previous experience, I headed my way to the bus station.
- Walked past a stall with tons of locals. Ordered a sandwich and some mysterious juice. The sandwich I ordered consisted of freshly fried french fries, sausage, and ketchup wrapped inside the bread. The mysterious juice turned out to be ´pear water´ - it tasted so yummy. After knowing that I was visiting, the lady offered me a sample of the potato wrap, which was literally sausage and ketchup stuffed in a potato cut in half. The food was so filling and yummy, and all this for 2 sol (less than 1 USD).
- Turned out the stop we made last time was the right one. Instead of walking up the path, we should have been a right turn at the intersection. (There was actually the sign ´Molino Sabandia´ with a right arrow standing at the corner. We just didn´t understand Molino was Spanish for mill). The mill was nothing super spectacular, but the place was peaceful with entertainment like horse riding. I brought sandwich, pear juice and spent the afternoon having a great picnic at the mill. Saw busloads of City Tours coming into the Mill. Glad that I found my own way to the mill, which made the trip more satisfying.
- Back at Arequipa, I was just in time to join the English tour for ´Mummy Juanita´ at Museo Santuarios Andinos. Junanita, known as the ´Ice Maiden´ around the world, is the frozen (i.e. well preserved) body of an Inca girl discovered on Mount Ampato. A 30-min movie showed how the anthrologists discovered the body, and how they made several ascents back to in the mountain ranges for further discoveries. Juanita is presumably killed as an offering to the mountain god of
Ampato, and she was specially selected for this
role even as a young girl. For the sacrifice, she would walk all the way up the mountain with the priests where she believed her spirit
would live on with the gods in the afterlife. After the movie, we were shown the pots, clothings etc offered to the gods during the ritual, and lastly Juanita in a specially acclimatized display unit. As much faith as she had, I just can´t imagine how she must have felt when walking up her mountains, knowing that death is her immediate destiny.
- Rushed back to Puerta Bolivar to take pictures of the volcanoes during sunset. It was a beautiful scene, but somehow it didn´t translate to the photos. Oh well ... at least I got to see it.
- Tried out another traditional Arequipa dish 'Chupe de Camarones´ at a local restaurant. Basically, it is a soup with shrimps (a lot of shrimps), rice, potatoes, vegetables, eggs, cheese and ... misc. Not too impressed with it ... it felt too ... ´shrimpy´ after a while. I guess that was the intention though.
- Luis, the owner of the hostel, let me use his computer till 11 pm. Good timing, since I needed to wake up early tomorrow to catch the 7 am bus to Tacna - a 6 - 7 hr bus ride.
