We were really excited to visit Arequipa. We had always thought we would really enjoy it – not for any particular reason, but “just because”. We were more excited when, during our first week in Quito, we met a couple from Seattle who were on their way back from a 6-month stint in Arequipa.
We had high expectations for this place – after all, we spent about 2-3 months building it up in our minds!
Our arrival, though, was a different story. We got to the bus terminal alright, made reservations (gotta love the cell phone!), and confirmed taxi costs to the center of town. Then we walked outside to find a taxi. Of course one picked us up quickly and agreed to take us to our hotel. As soon as we left the parking lot, he asked us if we really wanted to stay at that hotel.
And that’s where the frustration started. We went to our hotel, found it underwhelming, and then discovered that he had waited outside the hotel for us – probably assuming that we wouldn’t like it (which, unfortunately, we did not). So he took us to 2 or 3 other hotels – all of which were too expensive for us. After a few unsuccessful stops (and gradually tiring with each), we settled on one hotel. We brought our bags in, and out of courtesy, I offered our driver a small extra tip.
Here’s the kicker – he actually made me give him MORE money! The nerve! Not wanting to hurt our travel karma, I paid up.
With the exception of our frustrating arrival, we had some fun in Arequipa. A couple of things that we did:
- Visited a city-block-sized convent built from the 1500′s to the 1800′s. It was really well-financed – every nun basically had their own 4-5 room house! Some great colors there; see all the pics by clicking through here:
- Saw the “Juanita” mummy – a 500-year-old mummy preserved in the ice and snow of Mount Ampato, one of the highest Andean mountains. Really interesting explanation of their culture and of the mummy’s discovery – only made possible by the eruption of nearby Sabancaya (which both caused the archaeologists to climb, wanting to see Sabancaya from above, and enabled them to find her, as the associated earthquakes unearthed the mummy). There is a great National Geographic video about this expedition, too.
- Walked around the Plaza de Armas, and caught a few good sunsets
- Planned and went on a 3-day hike with Colca Trek in the Colca Canyon. Great trip! We’ll post separately about it.
Enjoy the rest of the photos of Arequipa!
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