Arequipa - day 1

After noisy night (we booked the accommodation in the middle of the party area) we went to explore the city. The weather wasn’t the best but it was at least not raining. We booked the free walking tour with Juan which was great. We were walking around the city for 2,5 hours and visited the most important and beautiful places of Arequipa. Juan explained us a lot about the history of the city, inka times and Spanish colonization. Arequipa is called white city for two reasons ~ firstly, the old town was rebuilt many time in the history due the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The city was after Spanish colonization rebuilt with beautiful white stones which became the characteristic of the city. Secondly, in the city center we’re mainly Spanish immigrants living which were white compared to the locals. One of the cool places to visit is Mundo Alpaka small museum and shop dedicated to the production of Alpaka products. We visited also old prison which is used now as a souvenir shop center for tourists. Very impressive is also complex Claustros de la compañía. Incredible decorated two patios serve nowadays as shops, bars and restaurants. Our tour ended in main square of Arequipa Plaza de Armas. Juan showed us cool bar with the nice views and we tried Chicha local bear shot. We were quite hungry after the walking tour and walked to the local food market Mercado San Camilo. Flo ordered local speciality Potato Pie and Rocoton (bell pepper filled with vegetables and alpaca meat) I ordered Ceviche 😋🤤. The rest of the day we relaxed, drunk coffee, bought some souvenirs and went to bed early before departing for day trip tomorrow.Read more