Happy #DidisTravelsTuesday!
I'm excited to share the final installment of my spring break journey with you - The City of Arequipa. Arequipa is a bustling city located in southern Peru. It's west of La Paz and Lake Titicaca and just above Chile. If you recall from my earlier posts, I got there after leaving Cusco to head to La Paz, going from La Paz to Uyuni, from Uyuni to San Pedro de Atacama, from San Pedro de Atacama to Arica, from Arica to Tacna, and finally, from Tacna to Arequipa. It is safe to say it was a long journey.
I'm happy to report that the trip was well worth it. We chose to stay in Arequipa a few days so that we could make the most of it. During that time, we went to Mollendo Beach (check out that blog post here), Colca Canyon (check out that blog post here), and took a tour of the city of Arequipa.
Upon arrival, we had absolutely no plans. We didn't know where we were dropped off or where we were going. I vividly remember disembarking from the bus and wandering around the station quite confused. We took a night bus and opening my eyes to the sun and crowds of people was uncomfortable. I couldn't tell where we were, but I knew we weren't in the city center. Ignoring calls from "taxi drivers" inside the bus station, we took our backpacks (our only baggage) and walked down the street some ways from the bus station. Eventually, we stopped and hailed a taxi. "Plaza de Armas por favor." We had no clue how far we were, but figured the city center would be a good place to start.
Our taxi driver was kind and gave us all sorts of recommendations during our stay. He told us to only take identifiable taxi's with taxi numbers on them. He was a "taxitel" driver, so we chose to only use "taxitel" from there on out. There was an ID with his name and certification on it. All official taxis should have this information inside and outside of the vehicle. He said other cars were not official and would try to rob us. I quickly realized that this place hardly resembled Cusco.
Coming from Cusco, Arequipa was quite a shock. It is warmer, and more western that I had anticipated. There were hardly any indigenous folks and I came across many western stores and restaurants, on brightly lit shopping boulevards. The architecture here was also different. There were many white and grey buildings resultant of the volcanic ash used for construction in the area.
We took in the sights on our 20 minute drive to the Plaza before hopping off to find a bench in the square. Between all the people and pigeons, finding a spot took some time. I gawked at the palm trees lining the square. "Where are we?" I had not realized Peru was so geographically diverse. Sitting in the boiling sun, we tried to find an open hostel that was close to the square. I always use Hostel World.
Eventually we settled on Maycawasi and we were very pleased with this choice. It was secure and close to the square. We got a private room with two beds and a bathroom, which was perfect for my friend and I. The facilities were clean and there was rooftop breakfast every day. They also offered tours and had super friendly reception who helped us to learn about Mollendo and book a tour to Colca Canyon. After settling in and making some plans, we headed out to explore.
Arequipa is known for it's volcanoes. There are three: El Misti, Pichu Pichu, and Chachani. Though there is often fog covering their peaks, if you get up early, you can catch a glimpse of their snow caps. They are massive and can make you feel small. Curious about this new (very different) Peruvian city, we decided to go on a free walking tour. We chose a random one off Trip Advisor and it was worth the s./15 tip we left at the end. We got to try chocolate samples, learn about history and architecture, and get recommendations from our tour guide. There was an English group and a Spanish group. I always recommend going in the country's native language group if you can speak the language.
After the tour ended, we grabbed food at a traditional Picanteria recommended by our tour guide. There, I tried the traditional drink of Chicha for the first time. For meat-eaters, this place was great with tons of options and huge portions. As a vegetarian, the only thing I could eat was different variations of Yucca. I was okay with that, because the yucca was delicious. The restaurant was very popular as we had to wait for a table, but once inside we realized we were the only foreigners. This made the experience all the better.
After stuffing ourselves for a cheap price, we walked the long way back to the city center. We explored some more and settled on a vegan sushi place (El Buda Profano) for dinner later in the evening. While we're on the topic of food, we also ate tacos at CharaTacos and grabbed great drinks and sandwiches from Banawa during our trip. We also tried "Queso Helado" from a woman on the street, which is a delicious Arequipa speciality . The food in Arequipa didn't disappoint.
The city itself was such a change from Cuzco, La Paz, Uyuni, and San Pedro de Atacama. I would have never guessed that Arequipa would be such a special place, but I highly recommend it to anyone in South America. Outside from our wonderful time in the city, we also got to experience Semana Santa, Colca Canyon, and Mollendo while staying in Arequipa. Check out those posts for more details!
Until next time!
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