Arequipa

It’s time for a map, yes? This is the map of the stops made by the bus company Cruz del Sur. We had used this company to get our butts from Lima to Paracas, and then on Monday night we took an overnight bus with them from Ica to Arequipa.

So we arrived in Arequipa a little bit groggy. We stashed our luggage at our hostel, and hit the town. Alan had read about and was interested in La Recoleta Convent Museum on the other side of the river, so we made that our first destination after breakfast. It was a very odd place. The tour started out with the old living quarters of aspiring priests, and wound its way through exhibits of animals made out of recycled materials, real taxidermied animals, and artifacts from indigenous Peruvian people (including mummies and erotic drinking vessels).

Modified scull from one of the pre-Inca civilizations in the random Indigenous Societies exhibit

Snowman in the random Recycled Materials exhibit

Beautiful, old books in the (not-so-random) library

In any case, it was a pretty place, made of white and pink volcanic rock like the rest of Arequipa.

La Recoleta Convent Museum

La Recoleta Convent Museum, as seen from the roof of our hostel 

Another feature that makes Arequipa the second most-visited city in Peru (after Cusco) is the view of the volcano Misti.

Misti

Other than the view and the volcanic rock architecture, I couldn’t figure out what all the hype was about. To me, Arequipa was a crowded, smoggy city. BUT THEN, we went to the city’s plaza, and that was very nice.

Arequipa's plaza 

We finished up our day at the market, checking out fabric (for my aunt Annette – we found some!), coca leaves, and new fruits and grains. Alan and Dad ate some street food for the first time on this trip. No problems!