La Serena and the bus trip up to Arequipa

Since we were in a hurry to get to Arequipa we only spent one night in La Serena but we made the most of it. On top of our list was the observatory that is located in the hills east of the city. It's built especially for tourists but in a way I was glad for it. The tour was excellent and the guides had these awesome green laser pointers that they would use to point out constellations to us. It was hard to tell myself to look at the constellation being pointed at and not longingly at the laser pointer. But in the end it was great to find out how to find south in the southern hemisphere (no northern star here). First you find the southern cross, then take the long end and count 4.5 lengths towards the bottom of the cross and that's south. They also showed us this real cool computer program Stellarium that gives you a nice map of the night sky wherever (and if you want, whenever) you may be.

Next we hopped on a bus for Arica, Chile which is right across the border with Peru. We didn't stay longer than to catch a taxi over the border to Tacna where we bought a bus ticket to Arequipa. The first bus ride took about 20 hours and was overnight and the second about 5.5 hours during the day. Pretty much the whole time in the bus we were going through the Atacama desert, the driest in the world.

From Arequipa

We thought patagonia was dry but there's nothing but dirt in this place. The only exception was when a river happened to be going by. In this case a settlement sprouts up and irrigation brings a refreshing bloom of green to the otherwise brown landscape. We thought that when we got to Peru this would stop but it didn't. Arequipa is (we hope) on the edge of it, but it is very dry as well and the whole trip up it remained very much the same. Irrigation again saves the day, making this a beautiful city with a beautiful temperate climate.

We are staying in a most wonderful little bed and breakfast. It is run by a European (Dutch I think) guy named Hans who bought the house and restored it 5 years ago. While restoring the place he found a pre-columbian archeological site filled with pottery and little stone structures. All the pottery is on display as well as the site so you can walk in and step back in time. In addition to the pool right outside, our room is amazing. We have a beautiful balcony where we sit in the mornings after breakfast and read or relax with the Volcano Mount Misti in the background.

Palm Sunday


Our Palm Sunday started with a delicious breakfast after which we headed downtown to the Plaza de Armas.  When we got there, we heard and saw a band marching around the plaza and headed to the cathedral.  Mass had already started so we hurried inside where there was standing room only.  Before we went in we bought from some street vendors our beautiful palms.  The bishop was saying mass.  During the  “Hosanna Hosanna” chorus, everyone shook their palms in the air.  Later that night, at dusk the procession started. We watched as a band moved into position followed by official looking men and women.  Then the giant doors of the cathedral opened and out came a float with Jesus carrying the cross.  Jesus was carried by about a dozen men in front and another dozen in back.  The crowd clapped and the church bells rang as they got the float down the stairs and then they moved down the plaza a little bit.  Then the same thing happened again, this time with a float with Mary on it.  Then the procession began officially.  Between the floats there was a car with speakers on it which broadcast a woman who was leading the rosary.  Suzanne and I, after taking some pictures and video, joined in the procession and followed it for its whole course.  It was a very prayerful and spiritual experience for us as we contemplated a similar procession that occurred over 2000 years ago as Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem.  Overall the procession went 3 blocks south, 3 blocks east, 3 blocks north and then 3 blocks west to arrive back at the cathedral a little over 2 hours later.

Santa Catalina Convent

On Monday we took a tour of the Santa Catalina Convent.  It's a whole block of the city that was used by an order of Dominican nuns who had cloistered themselves behind these high walls.  Their job was basically to pray all day.  However it was not exactly the ascetic lifestyle that we think of when we think of convents.  This convent was founded by a woman from Spain who recruited her nuns from among the richest families in Spain.  Somehow the nuns were allowed to live in a manner befitting their birth so they were able to have private apartments as well as servants and private things.  According to our tour guide, the 1st daughter of a family was to be married, and the second to go into a convent.  All nuns that entered the convent had to pay a dowry until 1871 when complaints of the extravagance reached the Pope and general reforms began to have their effects.  The Pope sent a strict nun to clean up the convent and she forced all the nuns to live communally and no longer have servants or as many private possessions.  In 1970 the city forced the convent to open up by requiring the convent to have electricity and plumbing.  Now poor, the convent had no option but to open itself up to tourism and that is where we come in. It was like stepping back in time and it's a photographer's paradise.  As you will see, we took a lot of pictures. :)