Enjoying Arequipa
We took the Ormeño bus line from Lima to Arequipa. The bus was supposed to leave at 4pm, but there was some mechanical problems and we had to sit in the most boring bus terminal for 3.5 hours. Luckily, there was a TV and we got to watch Seinfeld and that 70s Show so the time passed well. The bus was pretty comfortable (NO babies or crazy women) and I slept well. There was even a meal on the bus (chicken, rice and mashed potatoes). I’m glad we packed our own food.
Anyways, after about 14 hours we arrived in Arequipa, a city with the same population as Trujillo but with a coolness factor of x10. The city is quieter, cleaner and feels more efficient. The plaza de armas is beautiful (fountain, palm trees, well-lit, great architecture). It’s a touristy town but it’s not that expensive if you look around. We found a veg restaurant and had a sl. 3.50 menu lunch today that filled us up (apple juice, vegetable stew, locro de soya de carne with rice, salad and arroz con leche). We know we’ve hit the gringo circuit because there’s alpaca everything, everywhere, but the vendors aren’t pushy and it’s pleasant to walk around the city. Our hostal is full of friendly tourists and we’re really enjoying this city.
Have I mentioned that we like it here? Good food, good weather (in the 60s during the day, 50s at night), volcanos on the horizon (we haven’t seen it yet) and cool buildings. Everything here is built with white volcanic rock and it’s called the White City. It’s really unique and the whole place has character. The restaurants have personality (not someone’s living room like most of the restaurants we’ve been to).
We visited the Santa Catalina Monastery today, which was intense (it’s a nun city within the city). We were shocked at the entrance cost ($10 each! We’re used to maybe $1 if not less). But it is highly recommended in the guidebook so we checked it out. It was interesting. I think I’m still digesting it. It’s basically a nun fortress built of the volcanic rock and every nun has her own apartment within nun city complete with a kitchen, a bedroom, a prayer room, a potty room, and a room for her servent. The current 40 nuns live in a newer, closed off section of the abbey. The section we were looking at was inhabited from the 1500′s to the 1800′s. Most of it has been restored and there’s gardens and streets with names (I said it’s BIG). I was pretty impressed how much individual space the nuns had, it must have been a good option back in the day: a roof, food, safety, and barbed wire underwear….well maybe not the best option….but it was pretty neat.