South America Day 6

We had a free day today to explore Arequipa.  After breakfast at our hotel, La Casa de mi Abuela, half of our group went on a three and a half hour 'reality tour' around Arequipa designed to show us the real Peru far away from the tourist areas.  Our quide, Miguel, was very knowledgeable.  He informed us about the political, social and economical reality of Peru and Arequipa. We were taken to see the day to day life of the poorer people living in shanty towns on the outskirts of the city. First we visited a local bustling daily market, it was as a Sunday so a busier day.  You could buy anything here.   There were fantastic colourful displays of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish etc.  We saw freeze dried whole potatoes that will keep for four years, the local mountain people have been freeze drying potatoes, corn etc for hundreds of years.  A fantastic place.  

Next we visited a stone quarry where the soft white volcanic stone used to build the local buildings is made. The workers though are treated like slaves by the government owned mine.  We met a father and son worker, the father still working at age 81 to help feed his family, hand cutting huge blocks of stone into bricks for which they get paid 3 Peruvian sols (about 60p) for a good brick, less for a less perfect brick.  The fathers posture permantly in a bent over position from 70 years of working in the quarry.  The basic hand tools they require to make the large stone bricks are dropped off at 6am in the morning and collected up again in the evening.  If they are caught selling the bricks privately they are no longer allowed to work.  They live an extremely hard life.  We all gave the old guy some extra sols.  

Next we visited a local cemetery, even though the locals have no money the graves were very well maintained.  By visiting the graves and making offerings they believe they maintain contact with their lost ones. On the 2nd November each year the locals have a 'celebratory day' for the dead and many families will visit the graves to celebrate their departeds life.   A great morning tour of which 65% of the proceeds from the cost of the tour get plowed back into the local communities, not by giving money but via food or clothing donations etc.

After the Reality tour we went to visit 'Juanita', the"Ice Maiden" at the Museo Santuarios Andinos. This mummy of a young 12 or 13 year old Inca girl killed as part of an Inca ritual has been described as one of the 10 most important historical discoveries of recent times. She was found on the summit of the Ampato Volcano in 1995.  Because the body was frozen at such low temperatures and high altitude she was perfectly preserved meaning a really extensive scientific study in to the physical health of ancient Peruvian Inca civilisations has been possible.  Again very interesting.  We have no photos, cameras were not allowed.

We had a late lunch in one of the roof top restaurants surrounding the Plaza de Armas, a pretty square in the centre of Arequipa then wandered through a few more streets before heading back to our hotel.