AREQUIPA - The White City Between Volcanoes

AREQUIPA - The White City Between Volcanoes

Accommodation

Our accommodation, "Hostel Fuentes," was quite alright. The highlight was definitely our sweet receptionist Hilda and the size of our room. For the first four nights, we paid around 40 euros. We then extended our stay by one more night before heading to the canyon. Pascal stayed at the accommodation during this time. We had both a shared bathroom and kitchen with reliable hot water. However, it was about a 15-minute walk to the city center.

Attractions

I explored almost everything in Arequipa on my own. Only at the monastery, the main square, and “Mundo Alpaca” was Pascal with me. Here are the attractions:

• Claustros de la Compañía y Templo La Compañía de Jesús Arequipa with colorful sacristy
  • Beautiful church with a beautifully decorated facade and sacristy (extra fee required)
  • Mix of jungle motifs and Christian wall paintings
  • Great courtyard with small shops and cafes
• Galeria Artesanal Tumi de Oro
  • Nice shopping arcade with standard items
  • For some reason, only half was open
  • At the end, you can see a beautiful painting exhibition in the courtyard
• Plaza de Armas
  • Main square with a fountain
  • Many vendors and occasional demonstrations or festivals
  • On June 6th, it was World Environment Day, and I saw a demonstration through the city and later a chapel performing at the main square
• Basilica Cathedral
  • Long church at the "Plaza de Armas"
  • Beautiful interior
• Monasterio de Santa Catalina
  • Giant complex in the middle of the city
  • High entrance fee, but worth it
  • Many ovens inside
  • Cafe and herb garden for relaxing and unwinding
• Viewing tower, church, gallery, and regular houses
• Plaza San Francisco
  • Nice square at the San Francisco complex
• Complejo San Francisco
  • Church complex with a great courtyard
  • Cheap entrance and private guide
  • Interesting tour through the buildings
• Fundo El Fierro
  • Shopping arcade in small brick niches around a courtyard
  • Nice place to buy souvenirs in a relaxed atmosphere
  • Besides the standard souvenirs, there are actually some handmade items
  • Cute and free alpaca museum
• Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
  • Free museum with two floors
  • Great exhibition
• Mundo Alpaca y Museo Textil Precolombino Amano Michell
  • Established clothing store aiming to showcase and promote the textile richness of Peru and the Andes
  • Alpacas and llamas that you can feed
  • Indigenous people demonstrating how to weave fabrics
  • Museum with antique fabrics from the Inca era
  • Private guide who took us through the buildings
  • Trustworthy quality of the products
• Palacio Ricketts
  • Only saw it from the outside
• Mirador de Yanahuara
  • Great viewpoint over the city towards the volcanoes
  • Small park and cute stalls
• Monasterio y Museo de la Recoleta
  • Only saw it from the outside
• Calle “Del Solar”
  • Cute street with pretty white houses
• Parque Selva Alegre y Parque Juan Pablo Vizcardo y Guzman
  • Visited with a nice Argentinian from our hostel
• Mercado San Camilo
  • Great market with meat, fish, pastries, fruit, Arequipa strawberries, and pet supplies
  • They also have a restaurant area with traditional Arequipa food I also took a day trip to the Salineras. I had to be ready by 5:50 AM — an early start! But not as bad as the day trips in Cusco :) I slept a bit in the transporter (even while the others paid for breakfast), and then came the first stop: a viewpoint for the volcanoes. Then we continued: we saw super cute llamas and vicuñas — so cuddly! Luckily, I had Pascal’s camera with a zoom lens. Then we moved on to the salt lake. We paid 5 soles entrance and took funny perspective pictures with a plastic dinosaur. Greetings at this point to my Lesosaurier book club from Görlitz/Cottbus! 🦖 I had a nice chat with three lovely nuns named Katie, Noemi, and Mariella from Peru and went for a little walk. I even discovered flamingos! They live here despite the cold. Normally you can see the salt, but as there had been a lot of rain in the region, the salt lake was filled with water. Then we moved on. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I slept through the next stop: a small mini-volcano you could climb and a hot spring aka mud hole ;). Then it was time for lunch. Although I had enough food packed for both breakfast and lunch, the altitude made me hungry, so I ate an extra portion of fries and was offered rolls, tuna, tomatoes, and a few other things from the three nuns. Then it was back to Arequipa, where Pascal was waiting for me (he wanted to rest a bit after our vomiting session). I prepared my luggage for the next day (as I am heading to the canyon) and went to bed early. On to the next adventure!

Getting Around

Within the city, we mostly walked. A few times, we had to take a taxi:

• On the way from the terminal to the city
• When I felt sick and took a taxi from downtown to the hotel

Food and Drink

Among other things, we ate:

• Papa Rellena (a stuffed potato)
• Rocoto Relleno (stuffed, spicy pepper) We repeatedly ate the vegan menu at "Omphalos." But after being charged for the wrong dish the last time, we looked for an alternative for the next days. At "El Turko," I drank a delicious pineapple juice. At "Mi Kcao Chocolates y Café Rooftop," where I also wanted to volunteer, I drank an expensive hot chocolate with pisco and a great view over the “Santa Catalina” Monastery and the surrounding volcanoes "El Misti" and "Coropuna." What I noticed once again here: Alcohol combined with coffee or hot chocolate is really awful. Never, never again! The poor hot chocolate, so desecrated... And at "Lokanta," we drank tasty beer with Guy, my acquaintance from the Rainbow Mountain tour.

Cafes and Restaurants

• Omphalos Restaurant Vegetariano y Vegano
• Mi Kcao Chocolates y Café Rooftop
• Lokanta Restaurante

Number of Germans in the City

There were a few German people.

Interaction with Locals

I had a small conversation with the nice Argentinian Diego from our hostel. By chance, I met him later in the city and strolled a bit through a park and the local market.

People Met

Diego and our receptionist Hilda

Expenses

• Strawberries from Arequipa
• Cocoa shell tea and salted, toasted corn from the market
• Pencil case
• Gourds
• Trip to the Salineras (55 soles plus 5 soles for the entrance)

Standard Stand Offerings

The same as in Cusco…

Doing Laundry

We had our laundry washed at the hostel for 7 soles per kilogram. Unfortunately, Pascal's linen shirt from Paraguay shrunk in the wash :(

Unsolvable Mysteries

Why did both of us feel so sick? Pascal started throwing up in the bus at night, and I followed in the afternoon while I was in the city...

Tour in the Colca Canyon

My booked tour into the second or third deepest canyon in the world (depending on where you measure from) started around 3 AM. More about this in the next article!

Post Scriptum

More pictures from the city at the volcano can be found at https://hoenisch.eu/photo/mo/sharing/5tZxk8RHO