Arequipa - 11th Jan 2018

The overnight bus drive took us from 1300m to 2400m.  So while we had reclining seats and leg rests, the twisty turns and gravel roads made for a pretty patchy night's sleep. We 'landed' at 8am, blear-eyed and feeling the altitude, we gathered our bags and drove to the hotel.  Sunny but cooler than Nazca, Arequipa is surrounded by volcanoes, El Misti being the most obvious.  We had good views, other than the very top of it being obscured by cloud, and I loved the very Spanish feel to the city as we drove into town.  Our hotel was in an old colonial building - big wooden doors and an indoor courtyard, all painted in white.  Arequipa is known as 'the white city', not because it's painted white, but due to the fact that all the original buildings were built in sillar, a type of locally sourced white volcanic rock.

Inglesia de las Compania

It was too early to check into our rooms, so Dennis took us out on a walking tour, initially to find a well known pancake house, set in a gorgeous old colonial courtyard, to fuel up, and then past small shops and cafes on the way to the Plaza des Armes.

A large busy central square flanked by baroque colonnades, government buildings and the stunning La Catedral,  Peru's widest cathedral, it was bustling with people.  The Ingelsia de las Compania with its ornate doors and beautifully carved series of cloisters now houses boutique stores and cafes.  A stunning and peaceful contrast to the bustle of the square.

Plaza des Armes

On the way back through the square we landed smack in the middle of a protest - something to do with potato price-fixing, along with general Peru-wide demonstrations against the former President Fujimori's recent pardon by the current president.  Fujimori was sent to jail for corruption, and his pardon a few years later due to supposed ill health, has infuriated much of the population.  We watched for a while, surreptitiously taking photos of the large armed police presence, while managing to avoid being caught doing so.

Street icecream 

Dennis then took Dee, Mike, SJ and I on a short tour of the city while the others boarded a tour bus they had prebooked.

Street donuts

Snacking on street deep fried batter rings (not quite like our doughnuts, but close) Dee, SJ and I decided to visit the fascinating  Santa Catalina Monastery, which is a convent taking up an entire city block. 

Kitchen in the monastery

Inside it has its own streets and houses, which were home to 200 nuns at its peak.  Second born daughters of wealthy families were sent here, spending their lives under a vow of silence - although they could bring a servant along with them!  Life was very strict, but it was a great honour to go there; and cost the families a lot of money, thereby putting them in good stead with God.  Apparently.  Nuns still live there today, although far fewer, and all voluntarily, but they take the same vows and live very much apart from normal society, much as they always have done.



Dinner was at a local restaurant with great live Peruvian music: 3 guys dressed in bright colours
playing guitar and Peruvian pipes.  On an annoying note for me, my glands were swelling up - so I hoped a big bowl of chicken soup would help.  We were heading a lot higher altitude-wise tomorrow, and I really don't want to get sick...