Arequipa and Lima update

I went on a brief sojourn to Arequipa, which lies approximately 15 hours south of Lima. I took a nightbus on Wednesday evening, arrived Thursday morning, and returned back to Lima Friday night, eventually arriving back here in the morning to move to my new apartment.Arequipa nestles between a few huge mountains like the Colca Canyon, and some volcanoes like Misti, Sabancaya, and Ubinas. Some people have problems with altitude sickness when they arrive, but luckily I didn't feel anything. The city is absolutely beautiful: much cleaner, safer, and more welcoming than Lima in many ways, this place prides itself on being nicer than most of the rest of the country. This feeling culminated a few years ago, when some really passionate "Arequipeños" decided they should cease from the nation and become its own state. Today you can even purchase an Arequipa passport as a souvenir. From what I hear, the whole town is very active when it comes to politics in general; thanks to a huge amount of the citizens going out into the streets to protest, Arequipa is one of the few places in Peru, where water and electricity have not been privatized. I stayed with a couchsurfing host outside of the city center, in a historical district that is riddled with small alleys and ancient cobble stone streets. There I tried the arequipan dish rocoto relleno, which is a very spicy type of pepper, that's been boiled and gutted to relieve some of the spice, and then stuffed with meat and cheese. I must say it was all right, but I prefer the food in Lima.

After lunch we went to the Mirador (overlook):

The arches made out of sillar (volcanic stone) nicely frame the view of the old city and the mountains behind it. You can see the snow-capped Misti volcano in the picture. Sillar is used for most of the buildings in Arequipa and its therefore nicknamed the White City. On the arches you can see declarations of love for the mountains that surround this place. Incas believed the mountains to be gods and thus made some sacrifices (see later picture).

The downtown area of Arequipa houses the plaza de armas (like every city) and a huge cathedral. It's bigger than the one in Lima, and its architecture--and that of the rest of the city for that matter--is influenced only by Spain. Most buildings in Lima, on the other hand have strong french, moroccan, and even, tudor period influences.

Random: In stead of having specific days for trash pick up, the trash truck just drives through the streets playing Beethoven's "Für Elise" to tell people to bring out their trash. It seems to work pretty well

Plaza de Armas:

Cathedral at night. I obviously didn't take that picture, but I swear it really looks like this!
Misti during the winter months. The city's climate right now is just pure heat. Usually it's sunny and dry and therefore much more bearable than Lima, which is just hot and humid, without any sun. Looking up to the mountains and seeing snow while I applied sun block in the heat was a bit surreal.
Arequipa is home to the Santa Catalina Cloister, which takes up several blocks and is almost its own city. You can go inside, walk around the humble streets, beautifully colored alleys and even get an idea of the everyday life of the nuns that live there. Several "cells" (tiny frugal apartments) are open for visitors.
Arequipa is also home to the famous ice mummies like Juanita. Over 500 years ago she was sacrificed to the mountain gods on top of Mt. Apato. She was between 12 and 14 years of age when the Inca priest killed her with a blow to the skull, and then left her body in a grave with various sacrificial artifacts. Because of the freezing temperatures atop the mountain, Juanita and other children mummies are extremely well preserved and are still being researched by international anthropological teams.

I'm back in Lima where I enjoy going to the Spanish Cultural Center and other places to see free exhibits and performances, while exploring new places with my favorite mode of transportation:

The combi/micro :)