Arequipa, Peru 🇵🇪

The bus journey went by quickly, it felt like it was mainly downhill and the guide had to wake me up to get off, so I must have slept! I was dropped at my hotel at 4.30am and they kindly let me just go to my room so I could get a few more hours sleep.  I got up again for breakfast and found  a text from Liam & Nikki (The Southampton couple I met in Salta).  They are going to do the walking tour at 10am, so I got my skates on and joined them.

My first impression of Arequipa is how lovely and warm it is, the sun is out and at 2,328m I am finally lower.  The second largest city in Peru has a colonial feel and the streets are filled with baroque buildings constructed from sillar, a white volcanic stone.  Our guide takes us around the main area, outlining key achievements of people from Arequipa and we listen to traditional guitar music.  We walk across the oldest bridge and get a great view of the 3 volcanos that provide a backdrop to the city.  Our break is in a Saltena shop, and I can’t resist this tasty snack which can be described as a stew filled empanada.  It is delicious, particularly with a dab of fresh chilli sauce.  We dip into older streets, visit the central market and finish in a traditional old house that would have belonged to a wealthy family.  My impression from the tour is that it is a prosperous city with a well educated population, it reminds me of Sucre.

We have a late lunch and wander through the Plaza de Armas which is the centre of the city.  There are groups of young people creating religious art on the street using different coloured sand.  This is part of the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi and in the evening the Plaza is full of people as there is a special outside service.

The guys have found a Indian restaurant for dinner this evening that comes highly recommended, our meal is delicious and I may have to come back tomorrow.