Andes Amazon Millennium: Arequipa

Ariving in Arequipa

We arrived in Arequipa at night after a long bus journey from Nazca.

The night view from the hotel

We shacked up at the Hostal del Parque which was pleasant and situated centrally beside a park.

The hotel became one of those points where issues can arise during travel. The previous time I was in Arequipa the train wasn't working so I went to the bus station to try to get a bus. The man at the crowded counter said there were no tickets, but when I went outside disillusioned, an native American woman pointed and said said "Esperea de esquina" which I figured was "wait at the corner". Which I duly did.

The game was this. The bus comapny says only so many passengers, but the driver drives around the corner and picks up everyone else off the street until the bus is full to bursting. This was a night bus so it disappeared into the sunset just as the road wound steeply up into the Andes with sweeping views of the city far bleow so I had resolved to take tha day bus this time and get great vistas. Nevertheless it was a fascinating trip climbing so high there were six inch long hoar frost crystals hanging from the desert bushes and they had to light newspapers in the front of the bus because the windscreen froze up so the driver couldn't see the road. At intervals Indian women sitting in the freezing conditions would alight with their bundles o belongings.

However the hostal proprietress told Adam that the train was much better, and the Lonely Planet said the bus might fall off or be held up by bandits, so I reluctantly agreed to take the train which was a slow and uninteresting journey with no views as it proceeded up a steep sided valley, bucking its way on the barely maintained uneven rail lines bouncing along very slowly stopping for hours in the moonlit night mountains.

The park beside the posada

More of the Andes mountains overlooking Arequipa

Views from the roof over the city

El Misti the volcano overlooking Arequipa

Views from the hostal roof

Another Andean peak overlooking Arequipa

Views of the hotel roof and courtyard

A blind accordionist outside the hotel

The Hostal Posada del Parque

Jane standing. Chris King meets Cristo Rey for the first of many times

Language lessons at the Pizza parlour

We visited the cathedral and another church and the Monastery of Santa Catalina, regarded by the Lonely Planet as the authors top historic building in Peru. The monastery is the subject of the next blog.

Mass in the cathedral

Sound of the Mass being sung in the Cathedral (mp3)

Arequipa main square and gardens

There is also a tourist area of Arequipa where there are a lot of craft shops and cafes, where there was an Andean band playing to encourage us to buy their CDs.