Arequipa

The first stop on our trip was the city of Arequipa. Arequipa is a city in the foothills of the Andes, at 2330m (~7600 feet). It is known for its colonial architecture and its rolling countryside, as well as for some natural wonders we didn't experience due to time and/or weather constraints.

When we arrived, we first explored the Santa Carolina Convent, which is a huge and still operating convent. It's a beautiful colonial structure and basically a city within the walls. It was full of streets like this:

and courtyards like this:

We also saw many tools of past domestic life, such as the laundry:

Our second day in Arequipa we rented bikes and set off on our own to the countryside. Once outside the city traffic, we enjoyed a nice bike ride and visited several small sites, including a still-operating water-powered wheat mill and a colonial country mansion. Along the same lines as the laundry, we saw lots of old kitchens at both the convent and the mansion, and here's one of the best shots:

The countryside of Arequipa is also home to alpacas, which we enjoyed seeing by the side of the road and enjoyed purchasing their wool turned into sweaters, blankets, and scarves!

Our last morning in Arequipa we visited the ice mummy museum (even though the star mummy was in the lab) and another colonial house, finished shopping, and spent some last moments in the town square. Here's the Arequipa Plaza de Armas and Cathedral, on a sunny day:

Overall I liked Arequipa, although since it was the first stop its seems so long ago and distant at the moment. We saw pretty much all of the sites in the city and its immediate vecinity, but we didn't have any grand adventures. Arequipa seems like a nice place to live, especially for the Arequipenos who recoil in horror at the idea of living in Lima.

Anyway, after lunch we headed to the bus station, where after some delay we were on our way to Puno, our next destination...