Alpaca for our Anniversary
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2008
1
23
101
Trip End
Jun 2009
Arequipa,
Peru
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Arequipa is known as the white city as the old buildings in the centre are made from the White Volcanic rock from the resident El Misti volcano. The rest ofg the city is quite ugly.
We arrived on a Monday and the main square was filed with people who were from various unions. Today was a protest against higher wages from the local govenment. Apparently the Arequipans are known as the revolutionaries of Peru. Things got hotter as the day progressed and we took to a rooftop terrace cafe to watch all the demonstrators march around the square with thier banners and sticks and loudhailers to watch the action while we enjoyed a beer and some Alpacca steak with Spagetti (Yummy). It was funny to see that they took a break at lunchtime and then the rest of the day they took off.
We managed to get accomm one street off the central square. The place was a well run by 2 older ladies. We instantly made a good impression on them and they were very accommodating. The one confided in us that her brother has a hotel in La Paz (Bolivia) and that we should give him a call when we arrive there. She did however tell us not to let on that we knew her whereabouts as she had just had a messy divorce and her ex husband was looking for her... She was a real character....!!
Arequipa is a pretty place in parts and we did a city tour the second day with a really nice knoweledgable young woman who took us around. See Pics. We ended up with a super 3 hour tour of the Santa Catalina which housed 400 nuns in its hayday. Intesting to see how they lived... It cost the equivalent of around 20 thousand US Dollars to send ones daughter there and then about 10 000 per year.
Today the place is a museum mostly however there are still 60 nuns there and they have a awesome cafe where we induldged in cakes and salads all named after deadly sins... there was a slice of cake there called "Gluttony" which was over 1200 calories... Some of the best food we have had in South America.
As it was the 8th of October, Ems and I were celebrating our 3rd Anniversary so we decided to try the "most reccommeded resturant" (Sonccollay) in Arequipa where they only do local special dishes. Boy were they wierd... They cook and serve the food on Volcanic Rocks. I opted for the Alpacca Ribs, Gareth and Alanna shared the Alpacca Steak and Ems had Corn Soup which turned out to be semolina. Well it was bad - the food was like charcoal and Ems could not swallow one mouthfull. Luckily we had also ordered the pumpkin to share as it was tasty. It was one to remember and thank goodness for the red wine which took the edge off.
