arequipa.... the final frontier

yesterday we went to a convent that was an enclosed city - it was called the santa catalina monastery. pretty much it was a bunch of rich kids who were shipped off to peru by their parents to become nuns. apparently, there was one that escaped the monastery in james bond fashion, burning a pig in her bed and then escaping in her own coffin. WHAAAAAAAT! the nuns had their own private rooms, as well as nannies and a whole bunch of personal belongings, not to mention their own BALLIN´ kitchens. craziness!

at lunch, we went to a rooftop terrace type place in the plaza de armas (the main square). i ordered guinea pig, to the horror of our table and those surrounding it. the guinea pig came deep fried in its entirety, including its paws and head. poor kavitha and cheryl were mortified. the guinea pig was a bit difficult to eat as it was mostly bone, but it tasted like a cross between chicken and pork.

in the afternoon we kind of pfaffed about, and we had a dinner in an alleyway! cheryl ordered the area´s signature dish, the stuffed pepper, while i got a shrimp fried rice (the regional shrimps are TINY and not very good, as i found out), keith got a ceviche mixto, kavitha got a crab shell stuffed with shrimp, and smutty didn´t eat.

the next morning, cheryl, keith and bossi went to go white water rafting on the rio chile, while kavitha and i did a city tour with carlos, the guy who drove us from the bus station. we found out from maria, the owner of the hostel that we were staying at, that we were ripped off for our tickets. we paid 65 soles, instead of the 40 soles price that was listed on the ticket. WHAAA! she suggested that we report it to the tourist police, which we did. an investigator came with us to talk to the travel agency that ripped us off, eco tours, and the guy was totally unreceptive, going to talk on his cell phone. ugggggh! in the end, instead of 25 soles back, he made us an offer of 7.5 soles so we wouldn´t report him. we decided to report him instead to the consumer protection bureau instead. ah! scandals! in the end, this ended up being the agency´s first complaint (if they weren´t bad, i can only imagine how the other agencies are!), so probably not much will happen. however, it was a lesson in the importance of transparency. arrrgh!

at night we took a bus to cusco, where we are right now. it was surprisingly comfortable, save for the periodic screaming and kicking from the child behind me, as well as the fact that they jacked up the heat really high! however, i would rather that than the ridiculous cold that we encountered in uyuni - holy schmoly!

we are going to book a tour to macchu picchu/hiking for tomorrow - we are staying in a really nice hotel for 15 soles a night - the rooms are actually heated, there is a breakfast buffet, there is warm water and water pressure, and comfy beds. i can´t wait!