14:00 PM just started from Arequipa to Puno. This was a very short visit to the city, but worth every minute! I started from Lima early in the morning. Lima is located on the center of the Peruvian Pacific coast, and Arequipa is located towards south, in the mountains. This is the second largest city of Peru, founded during the Spanish rule. It was an early morning 5:30 flight. This was the cheapest air ticket I have ever booked, just 37$! After 1.5 hours of TACA flight, arrived in Arequipa at around 7. Arequipa airport is just next to two giant volcanoes, Chachani & El Misti! It was an amazing view early in the morning! Few miles away, is the historical city center of Arequipa, a World Heritage site! Many historical buildings in Arequipa were built using the white volcanic stone 'Sillar' that is found in this area, and hence the city has got its nickname 'La Ciudad Blanca' or 'The white City'. After a short cab ride, I reached the 'plaza de armas', the main square of the city. All the sites on my list were located at around 15 minutes from the main square. I started with the Cathedral. It was still very early for the city of Arequipa to wake up I guess, I did not find much traffic on the roads, nor any tourists near the main square. Cathedral of Arequipa with its two bell towers was looking magnificent with the backdrop of El Misti volcano. The Cathedral has seen many severe earthquakes and has undergone destruction-restoration multiple times, but even today it stands as a main landmark of the city. Interior of the cathedral is like any other old colonial church in Peru with the main Altar decorated with Gold and Silver, and with the wooden image of Jesus Christ. By the time I finished phographying the church, I was damn hungry. I found a small restaurant nearby serving veggie continental breakfast and also with a nice view of the main square and the cathedral. Served both the purposed 'Potoba' and 'Photoba' (food and photos) :-) By the time I finished the breakfast, it was 9:00 am. Time to move on to the next place. Museo Santuarios Andinos: the Museum of the ancient Andean cultures. Here they have the famous Inca mummy 'Juanita' (pronounced as Ua-ni-ta). This museum was absolutely worth visiting. First they showed a 15 minute movie about the discovery of the Incan mummies (5 of them) and the later research on whether they were sacrificed or any other reasons explaining the religious beliefs of the Incas. All these mummies were found in the crater of the volcano and scientific research with X-ray and scanning and stuff, shows that these are the teenage kids who were sacrificed with other offerings to the mountain and the fire god (volcano). The museum contains many gold artifacts, pottery and the textile samples from the Inca period. The main attraction of the museum, 'Juanita' has been kept in the inner most temperature controlled area. The mummy is draped in a typical Peruvian colorful poncho. One of her hand is visible and you can even see the nails are intact. She had long hair which are also preserved to a good extent and can be seen coming down on her face. She wears a mysterious smile of eternal bliss, as if her dream of the life after death has come true and today she is telling us the story of her own life and death. It's an amazing museum and a must visit site in Peru. Next city attraction was a catholic monastery of Santa Catalina. This monastery was founded during the Catholic Spanish rule. This is the monastery for the nuns of the Dominican Second Order, and even today around 20 nuns stay here with the same lifestyle as that of the nuns who used to stay here 400 years ago. The monastery is famous for the vividly painted walls. The colorful walls contrast with the streets, the sky, and the plants around and create very beautiful effects for a perfect picture! It appears that the nuns staying here must have been really wealthy by looking at their well-furnished apartments. I also learned that the nuns to get admitted here, their families had to pay dowry (that's the word they use, not donation) of 4000+ silver coins (worth $150,000+ today) ...all went to Europe! I had left only an hour after that to catch this transport vehicle where I'm writing this now, to go to Puno. In that hour I had to finish lunch and do some shopping. I came out of the monastery and an old lady caught my attention. She was weaving small doll-dresses with colorful Alpaca-wool, and to my surprise she spoke in English and asked me whether I would like to buy something from her. I bought a doll for my niece, and I continued to the lunch place. At the main plaza I saw a restaurant in the morning. The specialty of that restaurant was Peruvian Inca cuisine and they had many vegetarian options too! What I ordered turned out to be a Potato-Corn dish with some local spices. That small dish contained 6 types of potatoes. Starch, starch and starch... is what I'm eating since three days... I had to start for Puno from Arequipa by around 1 PM. I had the booking with one of the local tour company for the transport. There are only three passengers today and hence they have arranged for a small van instead of bus. This van is more comfortable and hence today I decide to start writing the Arequipa experience, sitting in the car itself. I have 350 Kms of road journey ahead of me, through the high altitude planes of southern Peru. Exciting... we also have few stops covering some picturesque locations on the way. Day is sunny and weather is nice, but looks like it will get a little cold as I see the road going uphill. Very beautiful view of the city of Arequipa between the Volcanoes! More details about this journey after I reach Puno... Hasta luego..!