Day 82 30.09.15
After our late night, we got to sleep in. Well, theoretically, but by the time it was 6 am, the light coming from the milk glass top window (the others were tightly shut) was so bright, that we both couldn’t sleep another minute. Instead we relaxed on our beds, eventually headed out for breakfast and then were ready to start our day.
We first went on a little stroll through the city. To be fair, as Arequipa is really large (the second largest city of Peru after Lima – 10 million inhabitants in Lima to 1 million inhabitants in Arequipa) we were only taking a stroll around the old main plaza of Arequipa.
We passed the central square and then moved on to one of the churches. (I think it is a Jesuit church).
We headed on to a little courtyard where different clothes were sold all made from Alpaca. We really loved the columns!
Here is a little overview of the different camels in Peru. There is the llama, the alpaca, the vicuña and the guanaco. But more about them later on.
We moved on towards the market. I just love markets!
Here is a little “washing line” from which frogs are hanging. I haven’t properly seen them like this outside of Europe!
Check out the great variety of potatoes! Unfortunately I cannot take back potatoes, otherwise I would take back some interesting different types!
At this market they stocked up the fruits very high, leaving a little staircase in the middle to reach the higher fruits.
This is the yellow cucumber. It tastes sweet but still distantly of cucumber…
We got to try all different types of fruit, such as the passion fruit; the prickly pear (cactus fruit) and I bought a Chirimoya, which unfortunately wasn’t quite up my alley.
Here is some alpaca meat. I will have to see how it tastes at some point.
Here is a large pumpkin. (Have a look at the saw underneath the pumpkin to cut it…)
Different medicinal plants and herbs.
Llama foetuses that are used as sacrifices for a good harvest. They are burnt and if the ashes are completely white, then there will be a good harvest in the next year. But if there are bones left over, then they will have a hard time and will need to try their hardest to get obtain what they need from the earth.
After the market we headed out back to the main square, and walked passed an old Spanish lookalike street, very narrow and very colonial.
After going ahead and booking our bus tour for later that day we decided that lunch was a good idea. We found a little restaurant at the square overlooking it from a wide roof top terrace.
The main church at the square is currently being restored, which messes a little with the perfect tourist picture but you get the gist.
We could see the snow covered volcanoes in the distance, even though it was a little hazy.
For lunch I decided to tick off another item from my “you have got to try this when you’re there” list: Rocoto relleno.
Rocoto relleno is pretty much a stuffed bell pepper. The only difference is that the meat inside is beef ragout, topped with cheese inside a very very spicy relative of the bell pepper. We were both feeling the heat and we could have probably spit fire. The potato gratin tasted strangely of cheesecake; it was that sweet. I let it be and devoured the meat inside the pepper. Only when we had ordered some creamy guacamole were we able to eat parts of the bell pepper too.
After lunch it was time for our bus ride.
First we did a little round through the city passing the main square, some houses with typical balconies, some convents and churches ending up back at the main square.
From here we drove onwards over a small bridge to another district of Arequipa.
It was a double decker bus so we could clearly see the volcano on the other side. The roof of this bus was quite practical; it could move and become lower in order to miss any electricity lines or tunnels.
We passed some churches on the way to a look out point.
Here is a cute little church that is not open to the public, but used instead for weddings, baptisms and other festivities.
From the lookout point we had a great view of the volcano Misti. At the foot of the mountain you could clearly see the many little small settlements and shanti houses.
The lookout point consisted of different pillars with inscriptions on them, wishing you well and giving you advice, for being a healthy and happy little Christian.
Here we found another little cute Spanish street, with flowerpots on the wall, and in the distance you could see the volcano Chachani.
Here once more the two volcanoes Misti and Chachani (the one covered in snow). There is a cute little story behind the two.
In Quecha, the indigenous language, the word Misti means “Sir”, and the word Chachani means “Mrs”. The locals therefore call the two “esposos” – married people. We joked a little, as Chachani is the older of the two volcanoes; she is a bit of a cougar…
We passed more rural or agricultural areas, where they were planting vegetables on the Pre-Incan terraces.
Here a better view of the terraces with Misti in the background.
At the next lookout point we tried something that is called cheese ice cream – helado de queso. It is not actually ice cream made of cheese, but the colour and its shape when sold makes it look like cheese. It is actually vanilla ice cream with coconut and cinnamon – really delicious!
Here’s a little Christian sanctuary or holiday retreat, right behind the vegetable terraces.
Chachani.
After that lookout point, we headed towards the small zoo. Here we got to see the differences in the South American camels first hand.
First of all an alpaca:
Alpacas can come in all types of colours:
Here a Llama:
Here a guanaco (careful these spit!). And boy did this vicuña! One of the people from the bus got too close to him and he showed off his long distance spitting.
Here's a vicuña:
At this little zoo we could have bought different garments from the different animals, all with different types of thread, making the clothing either softer or rougher. The softest is vicuña, then comes guanaco, then alpaca and then llama. Vicuñas roam the highlands wildly as well as the guanacos. They produce the least amount of fur in the longest amount of time, which is why they sometimes are referred to as the Andean gold. If you accidentally hit a vicuña on the road, you might get fined or even have to go to prison as the vicuñas and the guanacos are protected by the state. The other two camel types are used more domestically either for their wool or for transportation of goods.
From this zoo we moved on through Arequipa. Here the population adapted to the different terrain, and for example built their houses straight into the rock.
We headed out to a summer residence of a wealthy man back in the days, who due to his son being insane, he wanted to hide him away from the city and built this summerhouse.
After the summerhouse we headed towards an old water mill. Here there were two options; 1. Visit the mills or 2. Ride around the mills on horseback. We chose the latter. I am sorry for the blurry photos!
The actual ride was uneventful, however we did ride in long skirts and flip flops – a new experience for me.
After we returned from the ride, the sun was setting and throwing some great light onto the landscape.
We got off the horses in the middle of the herd and also got to see a really cute little foal.
We eventually returned to Arequipa and as we were walking back to the hotel found this lovely lady weaving away in front of a shop selling her works.
We were tired so after returned to the hotel we relaxed, skipped dinner and went to sleep.
