Arequipa

We left our hotel at 7:30 to drive to the airport but once again the skies were overcast. Driving in Peru makes driving in Italy a “walk in the park”! Traffic is solid, pretty much all the way with horns blaring continuously, there is no courtesy of letting somebody in - very selfish driving.

Anyhow we arrived at the airport in one piece and found our terminal rammed with people either checking in or waiting around seeing people off. Surprisingly though we found the check in process to be quite slick and were soon at our gate waiting for the flight to be called. There were people everywhere but once again the system worked OK and we took off exactly on time.

On arrival in Arequipa we were met by Gerardo, our guide, and our driver Washington. The drive into town to our hotel took about 50 minutes due to traffic and en route Gerardo gave us information on Arequipa. The city is overshadowed by volcanoes, not all of which are dormant. It has suffered with a number of earthquakes over the years and regular tremors are commonplace.

Once we had checked into our hotel which is very centrally located in the main square, we had a walk around the city. It is a most attractive city and has been termed the White City. This is particularly evident early evening when the sun is going down and the buildings almost glow white. It has many of its old buildings built with volcanic stone (Sillar) which is white and very strong. The stone absorbs the heat during the day to keep buildings cool and then the warmth comes out in the evening.

The weather here, unlike Lima, is splendid - clear blue skies and temperature in early 20’s which is similar all year round except during the rainy season which is their summer - December to February. It gets chilly in the evening when the sun goes down.

Before leaving England we had booked a restaurant, ZigZag, for dinner this evening. It had a number of excellent reviews. The food and presentation exceeded our expectations. The main courses are served on a very hot volcanic stone with sauces and vegetables alongside. We had to wear paper bibs to stop splatters from the sizzling meat. I had told them in advance that it was Jane’s birthday and they very kindly provided a plate with 2 chocolate brownies and candles before our dessert. A feature of this restaurant is the spiral staircase which was designed by Gustav Eiffel (of tower fame).

Today, Saturday, we awoke again to blue skies and a lovely temperature. Breakfast at our hotel is served on the rooftop giving lovely views over the city to the volcanoes beyond. After breakfast we met with Gerardo again for our guided tour. First of all we visited the cathedral which was most impressive and then got into the car to drive through the city to the Founder’s House. There are areas of the city which are like a shanty town built on volcanic rock and again, like Lima, driving here is an experience. The Founder’s House was lovely. It is a little way out of the city and as the name suggests, was originally built by the founder of Arequipa. It has a lovely garden but now looks out on to the shanty town.

We drove back into the city and visited the market where you could buy everything and anything. Very very busy. The food market was very impressive and is where all the city restaurants get their supplies. Peru grows many varieties of potatoes at different heights around the country and by the volume of potatoes on sale Peruvians clearly enjoy a spud!

Last but not least on today’s tour was the Santa Catalina convent where we said our goodbyes to Gerardo and hello to Patricia who took us round. She was great fun. The convent is still occupied by nuns who are cloistered but not silent. Whilst at the convent Patricia mentioned that there would be a partial eclipse of the sun at 2.14. It was amazing to see a reflection on the floor of the moon partially covering the sun.
We have been hugely impressed with Peru and the Peruvian people. Everybody, without exception, has been friendly, smiley and happy to help. We have felt very welcome and safe.

So far we have been okay with the altitude. Arequipa is 2,300 metres above sea level but tomorrow we drive to Colca Canyon where we go through an area in excess of 5,000 metres before dropping down to just over 3,000 metres.

We have been told to keep well hydrated with water and snacks to keep glucose levels up. An excellent excuse to have coffee and cake for health reasons. All to cope with altitude.Read more