Arequipa

This was by far my favorite city in Peru. All the buildings are complete and painted beautifully on a regular basis. The majority of the buildings are made of a white volcanic rock called Sillar. The city is up at 2400m in a desert area so it's quite warm during the day but not intolerable. Three massive volcanoes dominate the view from the city. One of them is a beautiful 5800m perfectly shaped active volcano called El Misti, which gives off steam and shakes the area every so often. The other is a bigger snow peaked volcano with multiple peaks, the highest of which is 6050m. One of the most accessible 6000m peaks in the world and many attempt it only to say they have climbed to above 6000m (the climb starts at 5000m so for an acclimatized person with an ice axe and some crampons it's an easy 1000m gain and can be done in a day). Another slightly more distant volcano is Picchu Picchu that stands at 5600m.

Arequipa is the second biggest in Peru, but nowhere near as massive as Lima. It is just as polluted, if not more. The dry heat, lack of precipitation and virtually no wind just accumulates the pollution from the many cabs that drive aimlessly and continuously around the city. It's a shame that in such an amazingly beautiful city you can barely see to the mountains due to the ever-present smog.

The restaurants in Arequipa are unequaled. They still have the crappy touristy ones in the Plaza de Armas but on Calle San Francisco there's a ton of excellent ones. We tried a bunch of different ones every day and were rarely disappointed. Since the city isn't dependent solely on tourism it is also much more pleasant. You don't get harassed on the streets by people trying to sell you crap, as is the case in Cusco and to a lesser degree in Puno. We also thought it was a lot quieter on the streets, with not too many cars honking at every chance they get. As it turned out it was just a temporary slow down as we arrived the day after the strike and most cabs were still too nervous to drive around town for fear their car will be trashed.

The cab ride from the terminal terrestre (bus terminal) was uneventful and cheap. For once we got an honest cab driver that charged us very little (4 soles) for a more lengthy (20 minute) trip. At Hostal Nunez we asked to see their rooms and were offered a big luxurious one with an in suite shower, bathroom and sink.

We first went and had lunch at an East Indian restaurant and then spent the rest of the day at tour agencies trying to find a decent trek to keep us busy for the rest of the week. The cold I caught on Lake Titicaca was starting to affect me so I wasn't so keen on walking around trying to plan the next week. Sophie however felt that we better do that or we'll be stuck in a city again and then I'll start complaining that I want to be out of the city like I did in Puno. After visiting about five different agencies all we could find was just treks to the Colca Canyon for 3 days. Seemed too short and we hoped to find something to keep us busy for the rest of the week but with the strike, tourism was at an all time low and so all the agencies only offered their most popular trek.

We walked back to our hotel undecided as to what to do and to our surprise we ran into a couple of friends from Switzerland that we met on the Lake Titicaca Island tour. We chatted briefly and as they had done the Colca Trek already they had a lot of information for us. We then decided to meet a little later at the Plaza Zale. Once we got together again they told us how much fun the trip was but how they ran into a few problems. They were saying the early morning hike on the third day was really painful. They also said that they weren't able to catch a bus to go see the Condors because all the buses were full. They also said another of the buses they took broke down so the guide managed to get them a ride in some collectivo back to Arequipa…an adventure in itself. We really liked our new found friends so we ended up meeting again the next day for dinner. As for the guiding company, ended up booking the Colca Trek and a city bike tour with the company called Colca Treks. The same company our Swiss friends used.

The next day we spent visiting Arequipa and some of its sights. We went to The Santa Catalina Monestary. Sophie was really interested to see it while I was indifferent. Sophie really loved everything about it and was amazed at how those nuns used to live there isolated from the city yet right in the middle of it. The architecture of the place was of a moor design and was supposed to be quite unique and unusual outside of Spain. We spent a few hours there walking from claustrophobic room to claustrophobic room. I was bored out of my mind and I think I spoiled some of the enjoyment Sophie got out of the place. I felt quite guilty for being such a kid. While we were in the monastery we could hear a large demonstration outside. It made it quite interesting as we could hear it just fine but could not see it. It was just as the nuns would have felt, trapped inside there. I overheard one of the guides saying the demonstration was a demonstration for peace. It was against the strike rather then for it. After the monastery we went to check it out in the Plaza De Armas but didn't see anything too exciting other than a few people speaking on loud speakers and a couple of lines of crowd control police standing guard.

The next day our biking guide to the city was to meet us at the door of the trekking company with bikes and helmets. We met our biking guide Aldo and he went over what we were going to do before we set off. We had decided to go in the country side rather than the city and Aldo was happy about this as he likes the area better. The first challenge was to bike down the streets in the city center. Arequipa is not bike friendly in the least. A bike path is unheard of. Traffic is barely controlled in the city and all of the cars (99% of which are taxis) drive like mad, completely indifferent of how close they get to you. It was quite frightening to bike there. Luckily Aldo was able to navigate us through the chaos with great skill. Sophie had the harder job as she was behind us and by the time we were through a safe zone, the traffic was no longer that clear for her to pass. After about half an hour of driving through this madness we got out on the outskirts of the city and traffic was reduced to nearly zero.

I was really struggling. My cold had gotten to its worst point and every breath I took felt like agony and I could barely get enough oxygen. The polluted air didn't help either. I didn't really want to show it though so I was pushing myself. Worse part was that my voice was completely gone and I could barely speak to Aldo. We eventually got to this slightly steeper section. Aldo stopped and told us we'll need to walk our bikes up. Sophie and I looked at each other wondering why we would want to do that when we can bike it so we told him we'll try and bike it if he doesn't mind. He then said that there's still a lot to go so we shouldn't exhaust ourselves on this so we should walk it up if we feel the need. We biked it up. I didn't have too many problems other than what I described above about my cold. Sophie walked the bike up for the last section, not because she couldn't but because Aldo got her wondering about what's ahead that we need to save our energy for. Aldo congratulated me for making it up the hill…I felt a bit confused as to why though…a standard little hill that you have to do if you bike anywhere in Vancouver. I guess he was used to guiding people who don't bike too much…

Shortly after the big hill we reached an old mill. We didn't see much of it as we just past by there. We were in the farmlands now and it was quite a bit more pleasurable to bike. Nothing to worry about except for the occasional cows or chickens getting in the way. At one point a dog rushed towards me and caused me to veer quickly to avoid him. Dogs like chasing me when I'm biking for some reason… We had eventually reached the end of our route and had two options for the way back. We could either return the same way with a slight variation or go a totally different longer and harder route. I was secretly wanting to go the easier route just because my throat was really bothering me and every time I had to push myself uphill I was making it worse. I asked Sophie to decide for us and she could obviously tell how much I was struggling so she asked Aldo to go back the easier way.

On the way back my throat was feeling a lot better as it was mostly downhill so I was able to chat with Aldo more. He was telling us how the city has a very serious pollution problem. The only way people can afford to drive is if they double as a taxi so the city is full of these little Daewoo Ticos that just drive continuously all over polluting the city. And as the city barely ever gets any rain and the winds are almost always calm, it just accumulates more and more. The smog was constant and the mountains barely visible because of it. He was also describing how it is illegal to build over green areas but the richer folk can always circumvent the system and build and destroy them. The city is growing fast and as it borders are on the desert there is nowhere else to expand and the farms that sit on the outskirts are at risk. He also described the farmers that lived there that live the same way they did for hundreds of years, living off the land. He seemed very concerned that their way of life was being threatened. I really liked Aldo. He seemed very honest and caring. He turned out to be the Peruvian national champion in Cross-country Mountain biking. I asked him how he used to train and if he used the elevation to his advantage at all. He said he used to bike from the coast of Peru all the way to Arequipa for his training runs…which seemed incredible considering that there are some passes on the way above 4000 meters. I had also asked him about El Misti and Chachani and he said he used to be a guide for both and had done them dozens of times. He much prefers the biking however as on those treks he used to get lots of tourists without any acclimatization wanting to get up high quickly and it always turned ugly.

We eventually got back to where we started, three hours later. The way back turned out to be even scarier on the streets than the way out. We somehow made it without getting run over, although with many many close calls.

We spent the rest relaxing and preparing for our trek the next day. We woke up at 5am and I went to take a shower. As was becoming usual, the shower had no hot water despite the fact that we were told they have hot water 24 hours a day. Fearing another cold shower, I went without and we left the hotel with the taxi that was waiting for us.

After the trek we returned to the same hostel. We had left our luggage with them so we asked for it back. They said they just left it in the same room that we reserved. It turned out to be someone else's luggage but luckily they didn't lose it like I had feared and they just put it in the wrong room. They offered us that other room instead and after a quick look in there we jumped at the opportunity. An even more luxurious room than the one we had. High ceilings, a bigger and more comfortable bed and a beautiful bathroom. Ah…the luxury of a toilet seat, a real shower and even warm water in the sink…

Coming back from the Colca trek we still had about 3 days to spend so we were looking for things to do. We weren't going to climb Chachani or El Misti as we've had enough elevation effects when we were at 4000m without going up to 6000m. Another option was to bike down from Chachani from 4800m down to about 2400m. The only problem was that it cost too much for just the two of us so we couldn't decide on it.

Later that day we met up with our new friends from the Colca Trek and had dinner together at one of the crappy touristy restaurants in the Plaza de Armas. We really liked them all so we had a good time. After the restaurant the girls decided to retire to bed while us the guys and Sophie went to a nice pub for some happy hour drinks. We drank and joked around until we could stay awake and we all parted. The Quebeckers were leaving the next day so we bid them farewell and exchanged emails while the Germans we told we'd meet the next day. We had arranged with the Germans to go to the tour agency to see if we can find cheaper stuff to do in 4. We couldn't agree on anything fun enough that's cheap enough so the last days in Arequipa were spent shopping, drinking and eating. Quite a relaxing time. We were sad to leave when we did. Our German friends turned out to be great company and we hung out until they left for Nazca.

The shopping in Arequipa was enjoyable too. I hate shopping but there I had a challenge every time. Get something that's insanely cheap for way cheaper by haggling. After seeing our Swiss friend's mastery at haggling I wanted to see how I fared. I bought a whole bunch of stuff from clothing to souvenirs and was always able to drop the price. The haggling was always started with a shocked face when the price was quoted, followed by an expression of "Es mucho!". Then I would say a price that's about 2/3 of what was offered and they would say no and drop it by a little bit. I then waited, discussed a bit with Sophie, then kept looking disappointed until they dropped the price some more. If they didn't I offered a slightly higher price. They then dropped it a little more. After I offered a slightly higher price than the one I said previously and they would always say no. Then knowing we can get the same thing somewhere else, we start leaving at which point the salesperson thinks they lost a customer so they'd chase you accepting your last offer. Wasn't always like that but a variation of the above. The prices were incredibly cheap anyways so I mostly haggled for the fun of it than anything else. I'm sure the prices we bought things at were outrageously high for what the locals get them at but it didn't matter.

And so our trip ended. We got a ride to the airport from our hotel owner and home we flew.

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