Arequipa

From MaxTravelz

Arequipa is a fairly large, but still beautiful, city located just below the edge of the Peruvian Altiplano.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By bus 2.3 By train 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Eat 7 Drink 8 Sleep 8.1 Budget 9 Stay safe 10 Get out

Understand

It's nicknamed the 'white city', because many of the buildings in the area are built using sillar, a rock coming from some of the many volcanoes that surround the city including the towering El Misti. Ask for local help to identify the three volcanoes surrounding the city.

Get in

By plane

By far the easiest way to get in to / out of Arequipa is by plane. Lan flys twice daily from around $70.

By bus

Several buses a day do the long trips to Cuzco (10 hours, 20 soles), Puno, Camana (3 or 4 hours, 10 soles), Nazca, Lima (cheap bus for 30 soles, takes 15 hours, more expensive buses are cheaper) and Tacna (near the border with Chile).

By train

Daily (cold) trains travel up to Juliaca and Puno.

Get around

The best way to get around is by taxi. The attractions around Plaza des armas can be reached by foot. You can hail taxis just from the sidewalk. Taxis have a meter but they don't use it. Make sure you bargain a bit. The target price for city rides should be around 3-4 soles depending on distance. Some cab drivers try to rip you off by saying prices are per head but price is always per ride for all passengers. Allow a minor extra for luggage.

See

• Visit some of the many markets in the centre of Arequipa.

• Close to the main square you'll find the Museum of the Catholic University, with an interesting exhibition of frozen bodies of sacrificial victims found in the neighbouring volcanoes. From May to November the main exhibit is the Dama de Ampato, also known as Juanita.

• There are some interesting shops geared towards tourists, including Patio del Ekeko, free WiFi included. The old Jesuit convent, half a block from the Plaza de Armas, is free to enter and has very good shops for fine Alpaca garments and local products. The place itself is very nice.

• Visit the catholic colonial-era Convento de Santa Catalina. It is quite close to the Plaza de Armas.

• One of the newest attractions is the Convento de Santa Teresa, a little off the usual tourist areas in downtown Arequipa. Not as interesting architectonically as Santa Catalina, some of the paintings and artifacts are stunning.

• Nearby, in the old countryside, is the Molino de Sabandía (Sabandía Mill), a three centuries old water mill, set in the old Arequipa countryside.

• A visit to the Colca Canyon is recommended. It's at least four uncomfortable hours' drive from Arequipa, including a rather long stretch over 4,800 meters high, so take care with the altitude. You'll have to pay an entrance fee when arriving to Chivay, a nice and very friendly town at the beginning of the canyon, with good hotels and hostals. Once thought to be the deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon (nearby Cotohuasi Canyon is actually deeper at 11,488 ft (3501m)). Here you can do a spot of walking, or else go up to the "Cruz del Condor", where you can normally see the magnificent sight of many condors soaring around you. Look around for the towns with a lot of local colour, and very cheap handicrafts and garments. If travelling during the southern summer, the views are stunning thanks to the abundance of greenery; there is a significant risk of rain though.

Do

Eat

Around Plaza des Armas you will find a lot of people approaching you with menu cards and offer you a free drink etc. Check prices and haggle a bit for an extra free drink. Food in general is good but not outstanding.

You should definitely eat Rocoto relleno con pastel de papa, a stuffed, quite large pepper with potato pie, in the Lucila in Sachaca, or in many other fine restaurants around. Ask beforehand if it has been made for "tourists" or if it is the original, quite hot, style; if the last one, be careful, it can be extremely hot!

Try Alpaca steaks!

As with all Peruvian food: local delicacies are heavy and sometimes very hot. Try them with care, especially since the height of the city (around 2,600 meters) makes digestion slow. Take a mate de coca, coca-leaf tea, after meals: it does help digestion and makes the altitude more bearable.

• Restaurant Vegariano Su-hua Wang, Calle Moral 205, has excellent vegetarian Chinese food for good prices. Closed on Sundays.

Drink

The local booze is Anis Najar, or aniseed liquor. Chicha is normally a fermented, corn-based drink, that can be around 8 degrees alcohol.

The local beer is called Arequipeña. It's good compared to other South American beer.

The local soft drink is Kola Escocesa, not as sweet as Inca Kola. There is abundance of diet and water drinks in the city and even in smaller towns around.

Sleep

Budget

Close to Plaza de Armas.

• The Arequipa Youth Hostel, at Zela 313, is 13 soles per person per night, run by a really friendly rasta guy.
• La Reyna, Zela 209, is a nice place, has double rooms for 30 soles. (On the rooftop you might be able to use a wireless internet connection - not from the hotel.)

Stay safe

All the usual advice given for Peru applies really. Arequipa feels like a very safe city, and like in most of the other major Peruvian cities there was always a fairly large police presence. That said, don't unnecessarily flaunt your valuables or your money. Despite of this, there have been several robberies reported.

In the downtown area, there is a fairly large presence of tourist police, wearing white shirts. Ask them for help.

The most common form is when a foreigner takes a no-name cab and some corners later other people are picked up to rob the tourist. Always take branded taxis (of which you can see plenty). The best you can do is to call one. This holds for the rest of Peru as well.

Get out

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