Arequipa – Between street food and some other lucky charms

Sometimes fate decides for us.

After we arrived in Arequipa we went by taxi to the hotel. Here we were able to start relaxed in the day on the roof terrace. Now we only needed a plan how to get to the Colca Canyon and what tour we wanted to do. When we got in touch with Franzi, a girl from Germany, it turned out that she and her girlfriend Livia do the same tour with Johselm that we had canceled due to the high price. When we even heard that two other participants had jumped off, it seemed to us as fate and we decided to go on the tour with the two girls. We should not regret it…

„Maybe we should sometimes do what makes us happy and not what seems to be the best.“

Arequipa spreads in front of the grandiose panorama of volcanic cones and the center has belonged to the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Now more than one million people are living mainly from trade and agriculture in the valley of the Rio Chili.  

Johselm came into the hotel to meet the girls to a private city lead. We made everything clear and joined the tour. In Arequipas green center, the Plaza de Armas, the renovated Iglesia „La Compania“ shines and with the volcanoes Chachani and Misti in the background. This was a beautiful panorama. A few streets away we visited a small monastery and came from the exit to the markets directly. Here we were able to see everything that was offered like regional fruit and vegetables, meat and fish and other strange things. In the herb and witch department you could stock up on Coca sufficient in all shapes and we were wondering about the llama fetuses offered for sale. They build them in the foundation of new houses to bring luck to the inhabitants and protect them from suffering. Other countries, other manners.
We went to the colorful juice stores, here we got prepared „Jugo’s“ in different variation. After the burst of freshness we said goodbye to Johselm and went to dinner. But first we had to fight through the alleyways. It was Halloween and the city was going crazy and half the city was dressed up, drunk and completely left out on the street. We were very surprised how excessively Halloween is celebrated in Peru. In the quite expensive restaurant „Zig Zag“ there should be served the best meat in town. This we could not pass of course. We were amazed when Andi got a paper bibs from the waitress. On an extremely hot lava stone the meat of lamb, beef and llama was served and it sizzled in front of him cheerfully.  

During the night we headed towards Colca Canyon.
More on our tour of Colca Canyon you can find here.
https://anti-itchyfeet.com/portfolio/colca-canyon-den-condoren-so-nah

After our return there was a happy reunion with Jessica and Anja in our hotel. We talked about the last days and changed tips from the last trips. Since we did not want to hang around we decided to visit the monastery „Santa Catalina“. A complete small town with narrow streets, tiny gardens and devotion rooms. A small part is still inhabited by Dominican nuns. Since the area extends over 20,000 square meters, you should have much time to visit it.

In the evening we took the night bus to Cusco and were looking forward to the visit of Machu Picchu.

Salutes from far away,
Tina & Andi from Itchy Feet