South America, Days 11 to 15 - Stage 2: Peru

Sunrise photo taken through our window of our approach to Lima as the sun rose over an Amazon forest shrouded in cloud. It was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in case you're trying to identify it from the wing shape

Day 11 &12 Saturday & Sunday

A gentle start, though I’d been awake since 03.00 at the beginning of what was going to be a very long day. Pack and out for yummy local tapas lunch. By this time my tummy was misbehaving a bit, again, not what you want before a very long day! Said our fond farewell’s to dad and Elizabeth, who I’m pleased to say was looking so much better than when we arrived. Took the hire car back to the airport and went to check in, as requested 3 hours before departure only to find the desk didn’t open till 2 hours before. Through security for Brian to have a bite of something and on to our first plane, to Madrid. All good, couple of hours wait and on to the 12 hour flight to Lima. It’s past 01.00 in our heads, but they are bringing round dinner so I guess we’d better eat.

Sitting in reception waiting for our room to be prepared after our 24 hours of travelling

We did both manage to sleep, a bit, before breakfast, landing and disembarking. We’d seen our luggage at Alicante getting a tag all the way to Arequipa, but after immigration there was a lady with a sign telling transfer passengers to collect their luggage, and there was Brian’s bag on the belt! Mine wasn’t far behind, but we then found ourselves having to check in again, the old label taken off, and a new one marked Arequipa put on. I don’t mind, and it’s comforting to actually have hands on our bags, I just wish we knew when ever to expect this!

View from the balcony near our room on the 4th floor of Hotel Tierrasur in Arequipa centre.  That's El Misti volcano, one of three surrounding Arequipa. This one is the second highest at 5822m high, last erupted in about 1450 but fairly regularly grumbling and causing earthquakes here, the last notable one in 2001 where it  toppled one of the towers on the Basilica and caused fairly extensive damage

A short and painless flight to Arequipa, out, with bags hoping our taxi driver is there as Brian’s S.American eSIM isn’t working and there is no airport WiFi. He was and what a lovely man. He didn’t speak English, but did speak simple Spanish for us and made us feel very welcome. He obviously does this regularly as despite having had no reply from Brian, he knew the plane had landed, and had driven in, collected us, taken our photo to send to the hotel to say we were on our way, and got out again all in the free 10 minutes parking time!

Walked a couple of blocks to the main square, the Plaza de Armas where a parade was in progress. That's the Basilica there and it was the furthest tower that was toppled in the 2001 earthquake, all repaired now

The hotel wasn’t quite ready for us, it was only 11.30, but they made us welcome, inviting us to have tea and WiFi. Brian got his eSIM working, so he’s happy. We were then sent to our room on the 4th floor, which was, as I requested, a quiet one. Don’t sit down, don’t go to sleep. Shower, shave, (for Brian), teeth, do a bit of washing, and out to lunch, for Brian. Did get distracted by a parade in the main square which was lovely, and filled some time. We managed to fill our time and mill about before an easy (and cheap) Chinese dinner. We’d forgotten how fond the Peruvians are of Chinese food, but chicken fried rice was good for my tummy. We turned the light off at 20.00 feeling we’d done well!

This was a  little further around the square as they danced their way around

Day 13 Monday

Brian managed 10 hours sleep, I managed 6, but felt surprisingly chipper. A good breakfast and we managed to book ourselves onto a free walking tour. Stopped at the tourist information en route and she gave us a map and a list of churches. We asked about going to Colca Canyon and she said big bus not collectivo. Sorting that will be tomorrow’s job then. John was good, a chatty man, and we could also talk to a Moldovan couple who live in London, and a couple from Leeds almost halfway through their 4 month trip. We were taken round many of the places that had been on our map, plus the World of alpacas, for feeding and information. Always happy to have an animal fix. A couple of viewpoints to look at El Misti, Chachani, and Picchu Picchu, daddy volcano, mummy volcano and their baby volcano and we’d comfortably spent 2 1/2 hours. See our short Relive video with photos: click here

In the Plaza de Armas heading to our walking tour start

We walked to another viewpoint, though it was a bit hazy so not really worth the effort, then lunch, and back to the main plaza and up and down the shopping street looking for a long sleeved top for Brian who somehow had paired back his packing too much. No luck but we did find the Banco Nacional which doesn’t charge for withdrawals and gave a sensible exchange rate, unlike the ATM at Lima airport! 7 miles walked, so we can probably go back to the room, but don’t sleep (Relive video: click here). Do a crossword and then out for a beer rather than doze off. Dinner and got back to an email reply to a request for information I’d sent that morning after watching a couple get collected. A 2 day tour of Colca Canyon, more expensive, but much easier than doing it ourselves, with the added benefit of interesting stops en route. They will also take us on to Puno rather than returning to Arequipa and then out to Puno. We’ll investigate in the morning, it’s 21.00 now after all!

Jackie in her element at Alpaca World. It's really meant for kids but, well, enough said

Day 14 Tuesday

I hadn’t had a reply to my email asking questions about the tour so we thought we’d walk to the office and have a conversation. It all sounds good, so we’ve booked it. Doing this means we have more time available and as Brian is not really feeling the effects of altitude, and my tummy is well on the mend we’ve booked an extra night here, and a trip tomorrow. We’ve covered some of the same ground as yesterday, back to the Alpaca, to feed them again and to actually read some of the information, bought a shirt for Brian, been to the local market where we met our second cat, and had lunch. Number one cat was behind reception this morning, where he’s been for the last couple of days I don’t know, though when we got back they said he was outside, and so he was, but where his blanket has gone I don’t know! 5 miles so far today, no wonder I feel tired. I still only got 6 hours sleep last night too!

Sorting the Alpaca wool. It's done by hand and graded to softness and colour. Baby alpaca wool is amazingly soft and so commands a much higher price

Day 15 Wednesday

Our trip this morning was on the Sillar route. Sillar is the white stone that much of Arequipa is built. Giving it its nickname of the White City. It erupted from Chachani volcano as pyroclastic flow in the Pleistocene era, so is readily available. It is quite soft but there is so much of it about that worn blocks can be replaced seemingly easily in local buildings.

Heading up to the top of a building for a viewpoint. Quite why the top of a building is safe in an earthquake I don't know. I suppose nothing can fall on you, but what's to stop the building collapsing under you?

The tour started from just round the corner from the hotel, though by the time we waited and were then brought to our bus it was outside our hotel but hey. There were 9 of us on the tour, the last 4 comprising 2 sisters, one of whom was blind, their 84 year old mother and the non blind one’s American husband. The 3 live together in Minneapolis, but come back to Peru to avoid the cold winters and to celebrate their mother’s birthday. The blind lady sat next to us in the front row and was a game old thing.

Anyway, nice view from the top and there was no earthquake while we were there so all was good

The first stop was at the mirador of Yanahuara, which is where we walked on our first day after our guided walk. Odd to be taken there in a bus, but I think it was to demonstrate the use of the stone in the 17th century church, the late 20th century arch and the modern building just being built. It also gave Mike, our lovely guide, the chance to point out the three volcanoes which were much clearer today and explain how the stone was formed. He was a great guy and having read many trip reviews where the Spanish people got a 5 minute explanation of something followed by a 1 sentence English version we certainly didn’t get that.

View inside the Basilica. Impressive but not that amazing. It's free to go in early morning and evening, but between 10:00am and 5:00pm they charge 10 Sol (£2), for which you get to go round a museum and a walk up to the roof as well as a look in here

The second stop, half an hour away was at a quarry that is still functioning, though we didn’t see much of that, there were however many examples of carvings from huge blocks of Sillar, including the Peruvian Petra (its located here). We had a good walk around, though it was jolly hot, before chatting to an English couple on a year out (though they didn’t look old enough to have started work, let alone taken a year out) who were wearing PeruHop bracelets. We used PeruHop 8 years ago, last time we were here, when it was in its infancy, and are planning on using it from Puno to La Paz so I was keen to see how it was going.

The indoor market at Arequipa. The stalls nearest us are the fish stalls, almost empty now as it was 2:00pm and most business is done early morning

Third stop was at the Culebrillas Canyon, a canyon in the Sillar with pre-Incan petroglyphs belonging to the Wari culture (its located here). The walk through the canyon was interesting enough, we enjoyed it. We were however amazed that 2 of the 4 family also came, not the husband and wife as might be expected, but the 2 sisters. I said the blind one was a game old bird! She did amazingly, though apart from the exercise (and there was some up at the end) to what end I don’t know! A good trip which cost just over £7 each plus entrance fees of £2, not bad going.

We called in to a cafe for some lunch and they kept wheeling round this desert trolley. What a temptation! I succumbed!  

Back for lunch (the first time I’ve been hungry), blog, washing and packing for our 07.15 pickup tomorrow.

Jackie finds the hotel cat in the garden who was very happy to come out to receive a stroke

Seen this before. Our second visit to Yanahuara viewpoint. This was this morning on our tour to the Sillar quarries. Much clearer today and there's El Misti in  all his glory, a beautifully shaped volcano, just like a child would draw

Further round is Picchu Picchu volcano. The cone is on the left but, they say to the right is the sleeping Indian as it looks like a man lying down. You can see his head, nose and chin next to the cone  

The church at the Yanahuara viewpoint has only one tower and, apparently that's because its dedicated to a male saint. Churches for virgin Mary have two towers. This one is to Parroquia San Juan Bautista and was built in the 17th century

Through there, from the viewpoint, is the third and largest volcano, Chachani, standing at 6000m but also much more massive than the others

On to the first of the quarries (there are 18 in all). The thick layer of  Sillar, the solidified gas and igneous rock from a massive volcanic pyroclastic flow explosion millions of years ago, makes ideal building blocks as its readily available nearby and is easily worked

As you can see, easily worked to make any shape you want

Any shape

Some blocks for a building carved and ready to go

Father Christmas

Arequipa's answer to Jordan's Petra! Not as deeply carved as those in Petra and the reason, I think, is that the rock is so soft and it would simply collapse 

A nativity scene, but someone's nicked baby Jesus!

You can see, there's a lot to take photos of

Including this stone carved camera (that someone decided to use as a table)

This was an interesting bit, I thought. Its a later lava flow, extruding through the earlier sillar rock. Anyway, I could go on as there's lots more stuff, but now we'll go on the the last stop of the day, Cullebrias Canyon...

Here we are walking down into it

We walked along about 500m of it, all we were allowed, but it went on for a considerable distance. It was used, they told us, but pre-Inka tribes to escape the sun and avoid wild animals that used to prowl these parts

The nearly blind lady in our group did very well to get through this lot. It slowed us all down, but we were quite happy about that as we could linger

Mike, our guide, telling us about the ancient petroglyphs up there on the walls. He spoke in very good English and then Spanish, which was very useful for us as we could listen to his Spanish and help to understand some of the words, knowing what it was about

A snake carving up there on the wall. The sign says 'We care for our heritage' 

The final section up out of the canyon

Sillar carved rocks spelling out Cullibrias with Chachani and El Misti volcanoes behind

There are small mines around here. This one says it's a concession mine to Brian II. Must be a nice bloke!

One for our friend Tim (he likes trains!). I couldn't get a good picture as we were in the bus, but its a Peruvian train trundling along next to the road towing a large number of containers

A very nice pint of locally brewed beer. There are several microbreweries here and they are very, very good! 

That's all from Arequipa, we're leaving here with good memories. It's all uphill from hereon, going to Colca Canyon tomorrow for a night at 3600m then on to Puno, on Lake Titicaca at 3830m. Pain relief and altitude sickness pills at the ready!