Las Mercedes Hostal Arequipa

... in their eyes.<br><br><br>&#8220;The smell of freshly cut roses was in the air, the sun was out. Old and young couples were enjoying each others company on benches circling the fountain. School children played and chased each other while parents caught up on the days news.&#8221;<br><br><br>They looked at me with bewilderment in their eyes. <br>I continued.<br><br><br>&#8220;It seemed like every narrow alley lead to the Plaza and as an outsider I ...

... Arequipena food at a local restaurant. I ordered a tamale (not like the tamales from Mexico which are muy rico) and ceviche. It was quite different than ceviche I have had in other places. The pieces of fish are large and the flavor is much plainer. It was served with sweet potato and lots of sliced onions and peppers. While a nice experience (the restaurant was an open patio with lots of plants, trees, flowers and some live music ...

... the group for pancakes, both Kate and I had ice cream in ours... yum!!!<br><br>Really tired, even following the afternoon nap, however I did manage to watch a bit of the American Football on telly while Kate slept... Dallas won!!!!!<br><br>Brilliant day in Arequipa, however Kate started to feel unwell that night, think she might have what I had early in the tour!!!!<br><br>Blog you later!!!<br><br>Mark &amp; Kate

One of Serving Alto Cayma's main projects is a cardmaking shop. Jim and Gloria Hintz, the founders of Serving Alto Cayma, started this project several years ago, as a way to teach local girls a skill that they might be able to support themselves and also to teach them skills that they might be able to translate into other jobs.<br><br>There are about 15 girls that work in and now run the cardshop. They do everything from taking and filling orders, to ...

... to get tired and out of breath, so we went for an afternoon siesta before dinner. For dinner we went to a local restaurant and both had Alpaca! Danielle said it was the nicest meal of our trip so far!<br><br>We then had a night on the town with the rest of our group, the bars were busy due to the festivities and several Pisco sours were enjoyed....<br><br>The next day we started our trip to Colca Valley, so PTO....

... a bar recommended in our book to listen to some traditional music - panpipes, drums, singing and recorders - and it was great because they were so enthusiastic you couldn't help but like it! When we got back to our room in the evening they'd turned the heater on and left us chocolates which said "Happy Dreams" :-).<br><br> On Sunday we got up and had breakfast sitting outside in the verranda ...

... with flaps and tassels as well as gloves that are suitably cheesy for my Peruvian adventures. I've basically worn the pullover as my outer layer every day since.<br><br>I get probably (hopefully) my earliest start yet -- 3:15am departure on my way to a 3d/2n trek of Colca Canyon. Our shuttle takes us first to Cruz De Condor at 8:15 to watch the largest birds if prey soar effortlessly ...

... know much about the place at all. Here´s some history for you: The monastery was founded in 1520, and basically functioned as a city inside a city, complete with streets, squares, kitchens, laundries, etc etc, with the nuns living there rarely (if ever) venturing out into the city itself. It wasn´t opened to the public until 1970, once a newer and smaller convent was built behind the original, and now of course it functions purely as a tourist site and art gallery.<br>The ...