Relaxing in Arequipa
Trip Start
Sep 13, 2004
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24
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Trip End
May 06, 2005
Arequipa,
Peru
Monday, November 15, 2004
Well guess what? The bus ride proved to be through yet more great scenery and I had a front upstairs seat to better appreciate it, or as Pancho put it, so that we could die instantly if the bus crashed.
My first impressions were of a very nice central square and nothing so special beyond that, but Arequipa has grown on me. It's the second largest city in Peru but is nothing at all like Lima in terms of hustle and bustle or pollution, making it pleasant to wander through enjoying the colonial architecture and white stone buildings, made of sillar, the local volcanic rock
01 A street in the monastery
. And it's consistently beautifully sunny, so after lessons in the morning it's a couple of hours on my hostal's roof terrace reading 'El Codigo Da Vinci', which is every bit as addictive as everyone else who read it about 6 months ago told me. But I manage to tear myself away for some gentle sightseeing in the afternoon, before trying to catch up on my diary of an evening. I'm indulging my need to be alone from time to time and have made no effort to speak to any fellow travellers, of whom there aren't that many anyway. Glorious!On Monday I arranged my lessons for the rest of the week, leaving me with most of the day free, so I went horseriding just outside of Arequipa. The horse knew who was in charge right from the start and we weren't going anywhere fast, although unlike in Cusco it was at least quicker than getting off and walking. We went up past lush green terraces where the water had been channelled in, some dating from Inca times, into a dry area overlooking the surrounding countryside. Three or so hours in, my guide started looking round nervously and told me there was a man behind on foot, and that it would be for the best if we went a bit faster as the area was notorious for thieves. Errm, so what are we doing here then???? My horse laughed in the face of theft and carried on as before. If I got nicked his life would be easier. He did perk up a bit when we got within 10 minutes of the stables and started trotting, but after 4 hours on horseback this was the last thing I needed, and after a couple of minutes doing a very passable impression of a sack of potatoes I exerted my power at last and made him walk again
02 El Misti, through the arches in Yanahuara
.Spanish lessons have been passable but not as good as in Quito. I'm at an English language school where they also teach Spanish to foreigners, but I think that they could still do with a bit of practice, and it's a little disconcerting that at times I have been correcting the teacher or asking questions that he's been very confused about. Teaching one's own language is more difficulat than merely being able to speak it after all. Still, I've been getting to grips with some of the subjunctive (if we barely need it in English then why do they need 4 of them in Spanish?, writes a Sun reader) and I've now got a much better book.
Tuesday was just a practical things day. I bet the woman who waxed my legs wished she'd checked out the amount of work involved before she quoted her price.
Wednesday I could wear a skirt again, so to celebrate I did. I lunched in the Inkari Pup Restaurant, but opted for alpaca. Consistently good no matter where I've eaten it, and this one came with a huge salad - mmmmm, green things, my body needed it. Suitably refreshed, I visited the Santa Catalina Monastery, which is a complex built mainly of sillar taking up a block and a half of the town with its own streets inside. The only monastery/town in the world according to the blurb. It was founded in the 1500s after the Spanish brought God, and the first nuns were from rich families and were allowed to take servants in with them. Later they were restricted to 1 servant each. Finally a strict nun arrived and introduced some discipline.
Thursday I walked up throught the Yanahuara district for the picture postcard view of the volcano Misti through the arches
03 Plaza de Armas
. I think I know why it was named Misti, although they got the spelling wrong.Friday I visited the museum where they keep Juanita, the frozen Inca girl sacrificed to the god of Mount Ampato. She and the clothing and pottery found with her and with other similar child sacrifices on Ampato and other nearby mountains were incredibly well preserved, hard to believe they were about 500 years old. At getting on for 6000m, more proof that the Incas were good mountaineers, even having built a trail up to the top. The bodies were found thanks to the eruption of a nearby volcano which scattered ash which melted the snow that had been there for years.
Saturday and Sunday were very lazy, wandering the streets of Arequipa and culminating in a visit to the cinema to see 'Dias de Santiago', the most feted Peruvian film of the last ten years apparently, which leads me to the conclusion that the Peruvian film industry is not in great shape.
On Monday in a burst of activity I went to Yura, a town 30km outside of Arequipa, just to look around really before heading off to Bolivia via Puno. It is the town where all the local insects gather and I was eaten alive, not being in the habit of carrying insect repellent around in recent weeks
04 Pigeons like a carpet in the Plaza
. It is also famed for its medicinal thermal springs, but for want of swimming cossies we contented ourselves with a walk in the hills, which are impressive and beautiful in their barrenness.In the night, over a jar of rum and coke, we had the best begging line yet, which in itself deserved the 1 sol it got. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of deserving people in Peru, but it's hard to distinguish between those in real need and those on the make. This was a little girl who first said she needed money for food, but when we offered her food she said she's already eaten and actually needed the money for a school trip to Chile. Pancho pointed out that there were closer places if she was short of money, how about Machu Picchu for example? She told us, straight faced, that she couldn't go there as she was afraid of heights so it would have to be Chile.
