After the stomach churning joys of Nasca we reached Arequipa via an overnight bus journey through the desert which proved interesting in its own right. Its pretty scary being woken at 4am in the morning by the long steady angry drone of a bus horn, not just a quick toot but the constant agressive whine that can only signal danger...a quick swerve later and we continue without further incident, most people didnt even wake for this as its pretty normal. Im just thankful everytime I make it to a destination in one piece.

Arequipa is one of those cities you instantly warm to. Feels friendly, small, bright and airy. The weather is clement, with an always blue sky and distant snow capped mountains to give you something to look at over the buildings and remind you that nature still exists, just incase you forgot. Oh and has a great multiscreen cinema complex that shows films in English...Will and I probably now own shares in it as we spent so much money there! Chicha and Manis rock!

Choose a quiet little hostal called Colonial Inn with Will and Jo an English girl we met at the bus stop out of Nasca. Seems to be the in way to meet people these days, go to your local bus stop and just start talking to people, they won´t think you are crazy at all! After the excesses of Hostal Loki the quiet easy going atmosphere of Colonial is just what is called for. The roof top terrace and great fruit salad breakfasts also make it a place to remember!

Distant mountains as viewed from the rooftop terrace


First stop in Arequipa is the Convento de Santa Catalina, a beautiful colonial era walled nunnery that takes up an entire city block and is really a self contained city meaning the nuns could go about their business without the temptations of the real world causing problems. Wouldn´t be a problem now as the biggest temptation in Arequipa now is the amazing cake and icecream shops! Try the Helado Queso (Cheese icecream) if you ever go...tastes much better than it sounds! Anyway I digress, the nunnery feels more like a labyrinthine film set than anything else.



Next stop is the Andian Museum and a date with Juanita...only she stood us up and sent her mate instead. Juanita and her buddy (her name escapes me!) are young girls who were sacrificed by the Incas to appease the mountain gods. Frozen in ice for hundreds of years until they were discovered and put in a deep freeze for us to gawp at. The museum is nice and compact and you get an english speaking guide so you dont need to do any of that pesky reading.

Market is also fab (full of potatoes and lots of crazy fruits!) and has gourmet market food at rock bottom prices! Best roast chicken I have ever eaten (thank you Pollo Real!) and amazing cake shops. Arequipa has everything you could possibly want and more, definitely my favorite city in South America so far.