The White City
Trip Start
Sep 08, 2008
1
6
35
Trip End
Nov 02, 2008
Arequipa, Peru
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Looked out of the bus windows early morning only to see brown, rocky, arid mountains. I can't believe how dry it is and how the people that live here still somehow manage to grow crops and make a living.
Our arrival in Arequipa at our hotel was too early for us to check in which resulted in a bit of a forced city walking tour. Nothing like it to make you feel miserable and irritated first thing in the day. I had no desire to be forced to walk through the shops, much less buy anything.
When we eventually were checked in Nix and I managed a 2 hour snooze before actually venturing out of the front door of our hotel. There was no planned itinerary for the day and thus were left to our own devices. Angel made a few suggestions including museums, the Santa Catalina convent, and a few others. As we'd just been to the Chauchilla cemetry we felt we'd seen enough of the crispy mummies that idea of seeing Juanita (the other famous mummy) didn't exactly enthrall us with excitement. We where however told by some of the others in the group that the Santa Catalina convent definitely was worth a stop.
Nix and I spent the day slowly walking around the city, stopping off at a small restaurant up one of the alleys which gave us a beautiful view of some of the surrounding volcanoes - Misti, Picchu Picchu and Chachani. After our slow relaxing lunch we headed out into the main square to have a cup of coffee. The square was incredibly social and busy. Some people were selling bird seed, other buying it and feeding the pigeons, some taking photos, eating icecreams, but mostly just sitting around enjoying the atmosphere and company.
At sunset the plaza, cathedral and all surrounding buildings were beautifully lit up being built from the white lava ash stone sillar.
