Im back in Ariquipa after an amazing couple of day seeing the condors in the colca canyon. This morning while I was waiting for breakfast I went for a walk and the cathederal was open so I went in for a look. The cathederal is the big building that dominates the plaza and is 1 of only 100 in the world who can fly the Vatican flag. I walked around quietly looking at the huge organ, said to be the biggest in South America. and there were all these cubicles. All wooden that looked like confesionals but they were all open so I dont know what they were. Anyway half way down the church there was a bloke sitting in one. It scared the hell out of me.....no pun intended. In the middle of the church was a huge, ornate carved wood pulpit. It kinda looked in the wrong place but the carving was amazing. Im already getting sick of looking at churches but the wood carving is something to see. It amazes me: last year through Nepal and Bhutan the best buildings were religious in their case temples and dzongs but they have been buddhists´for thousands of years, here they have only been catholic for a few hundred years but it has taken over their lives. After breakfast, included in the room price, I went for a walk to the markets. They had rows and rows of people hacking into various pieces of meat with hacksaws (maybe thats where the name came from) There were 3 or 4 rows of lamas a couple of rows of pigs one of fish a couple of chickens and one row of offle. There was heaps of fruit and veg and of course potatoes, even surprisingly flowers. Around the outside was everything you could imagine from bags to stationary and hardware. Outside was an old lady selling chicha by the bottle.... as long as you bring your own bottle. Conchita did have a few bottles she could fill up but I wouldnt trust them cos I saw a bloke washing them out in the fountain this morning. So I cant be having too much fun with Conchita so I was about to leave when I spied a down stairs part to check out. That was a waste of time, the place smelled like a toilet and was just hairdressers, about 30 of them. Next mission was the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. The place is huge, it is more than one city block. It started back in the 1600s as a convent and the rich sent their daughters here to become nuns. Aparently it was a pretty swinging place and one of the popes sent some over here to straighten things out and he sent a lot out and cleaned the place up. In 1970 the Peru government made them open the doors to the public and today they only use a small part as a nunery and john public (me) gets to look at some of it. It was quite interesting to see how they lived although parts were a bit same same. After lunch, some fruit bought at the markets this morning, I went to see Juanita. Before you get too nosey Juanita is an Ice Mummy. She was an Inca secrifice on top of Ampato volcano and discovered in 1995. Since then they have found about a dozen more. The museum tour and video was really interesting but I dont have any photos cos they dont let you take your camera in incase you sneak a photo. The thought of it??? Tomorrow Im outa here. The local agents here in town want rediculous money for a bus ticket to Puno so Im going to front at the bus station tomorrow and haggle. The locals want double what I paid to come up from Lima and it is less than half the distance. I´ll be in Puno tomorrow night.