Arequipa - Mountain Country

We´ve been travelling for about 1 week now...which is pretty shocking to me when I think about how much we´ve seen and done so far. When you backpack in a foreign country, figuring out where to eat, sleep and hang out are pretty much your full time job. It feels good to know it´s only been a week, and that I´m still months away from the ´real world´

We will be in Arequipa for a week.

After Punta Hermosa, we came back to Lima for a night, then left the next day for Arequipa, a desert city in the mountains, on the road to Cuzco. The bus trip was about 18 hours overnight, so we just slept most of the time (and saved money on a hotel). When you leave the coast and begin travelling east into the mountains the terrain is desolate, sand and orange rocks, like the surface of the moon. A few rivers run down through small canyons and there plants and animals spring to life. Whole communities live right next to the river, surrounded by nothing but the desert.

Arequipa is a busy city that lies at the base of 3 mountains, the Picchu Picchu, the Misti, and the Chura-something....all dusted with snow at the tops. The air is dry and crisp, and even though we are 7500 feet up in the middle of winter.. it´s hot!
The town itself is made up of old colonial buildings, with high walls and courtyards. A lot of tourists come through here to see the natural wonders that fill this region.

Most of the inhabitants are of Incan descent and there are a lot of Incan crafts and alpaca woven items for tourists to buy. One of the museums here holds the mummified body of an ancient Incan girl who died in the snow.

Typical food of the region includes roasted guinea pig, and alpaca chops!

B and I are really excited to get out of the city, because just beyond Arequipa is one of the deepest canyons in the world, hot springs, a canyon that is home to condors that spread 7 feet across, and rivers and valleys for hiking and biking, but we´ve decided to take a few days in Arequipa to take Spanish classes and relax before we start the journey.

To be continued....