The White City

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 – Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I’m currently in Peru’s second largest city, Arequipa (population less than 1 million), also known as the “White City” because of the many buildings constructed using sillar, a pearly white volcanic material.  Yesterday morning I woke up in Lima at 8 to prepare for the airport.  I’d packed the night before but wanted to give myself plenty of time before my flight.  I enjoyed a fabulous bowl of fruit with yogurt, paid my bill and hailed a cab.  When we arrived at the airport 45 minutes later, there was a bit of traffic but we took the coastal road for a bit, the cop at the gate asked to see the driver’s license.  He was missing some type of paperwork and was in trouble, but I requested that they settle things later because I was dying for the loo.  So he dropped me off, I strapped on my backpack and hurried inside.

I found the Peruvian airlines counter and was checking in for my flight when I noticed the attendant had put a yellow luggage tag on my bag.  A couple guys came to put my luggage on the belt and I said to the attendant, “Arequipa?”, because I’d noticed that the tags in the basket for Arequipa were blue.  His response, “Oh, oops.”  By that point my bag had already gone to wherever it goes behind the check-in desks.  He radioed someone to locate my bag and handed a different person the blue luggage tag.  I leaned against the counter shaking my head.  I couldn’t fathom the idea of my bag not showing up in Arequipa due to the error of the desk attendant.  Unable to express all my frustration in Spanish, an English-speaking woman approached me to inform me that the luggage tag had been changed.  I insisted on seeing my bag, but of course, it wasn’t possible.  So I asked her if she was 100% sure and she called again to reconfirm.  All I could do was go to the gate and hope for the best.

Given the eateries in the Lima airport, one would think they were in the States – Starbucks, McDonalds, Papa Johns, Dunkin Donuts and Subway.  I ended up getting a personal pizza at Papa Johns and going through security.  I had more than an hour to spare before my midday flight and sat down to eat my pizza and wait.  As we took off I glanced down at the Pacific realizing that the next time I would see that ocean would be when I returned to California in three months.  It was a clear day, so I looked out the window hoping to get a glimpse of the Nazca lines but just saw the dry desert-like landscape.  There was very little life on the ground until we approached Arequipa.

At the luggage carousel, I stood around hoping that I’d see my bag.  In the third batch of bags, my bag appeared.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief and left the small terminal to find my airport transfer for Los Andes B&B, both which Miriam (my tour guide in Ecuador) had kindly arranged for me.  For the second largest city in Peru, the airport was quite close to town and I was at my hotel in less than 15 minutes.  Still feeling a bit sick, I took a two hour nap on the double bed in my spacious room.

It was a quarter to five by the time I ventured outside in the cold to look around.  I checked out the Plaza de Armas, less than a block from my hostel with a massive Cathedral (founded in 1612 and rebuilt in the 19^th century), La Compañia (a church with an amazing façade of the florid Andean mestizo style), a pleasant courtyard from the 1600s that I stumbled upon and San Agustin church (which I’d gotten a glimpse of on the drive into town).  I was quite keen to see Santa Catalina Convent and decided that I’d visit in the evening since the Convent is only open Tuesday and Thursday nights.  With this in mind, I returned to my hotel to warm up.

Plaza de Armas

Courtyard

San Agustin

At 6:45 I bundled up, it had really cooled off now that the sun had set, and strolled to the convent.  Santa Catalina Convent was opened in 1970 after four centuries of mystery having been founded in 1580 by a wealthy widow who chose her nuns from the richest Spanish families.  A complete miniature walled colonial town, about 450 nuns lived there in total seclusion with their women servants.  I entered the convent on my own at 7pm.  It was solely lit by torches, candles and fireplaces.  Luckily there was an English tour (a mission group from a hospital in Colorado in Peru for two weeks) which I was able to join otherwise I would have been lost in the maze of narrow cobbled streets.  The nun’s apartments were surprisingly large with a bedroom, kitchen and servant room.  The seemed to be living in luxury, part of the reason there was such curiosity surrounding the place.  Even in the dim light, I could see the brightly colored buildings (mostly orange, red and blue) and numerous flowers which decorated the streets and plazas (a few nuns still live there).

Cathedral in Plaza de Armas 

Santa Catalina Convent

When the tour finished at 8pm I was craving a hot bowl of chicken soup (the cure for the common cold) and went to a restaurant on the plaza recommended at my B&B.  On the menu was chicken soup, score!  I didn’t know exactly what I’d be getting but it turned out to be chicken noodle soup, just like that I’d get back home.  It hit the spot (that expression always makes me laugh mom and Shell).  As soon as I finished my soup I retreated to the hotel for a warm shower and my bed.

I set my alarm for 8am this morning because I was supposed to meet Tucan group that I travelled with in Ecuador around 9.  Let’s just say things didn’t work out exactly as I’d expected.  I woke up naturally but when I checked my email Dave had written to tell me he thought it’d be more like 9:30.  I accepted this, and started downloading the latest episode of Glee while I got ready.  I was waiting in the lobby at 9:30 and got an email at 9:45 to tell me they wouldn’t be arriving until 10:30.  So I went to get a coffee at Cusco Coffee Company then went back upstairs to my room to watch the episode of Glee.  At 10:40 just before I was headed downstairs, I got a phone call from Miriam telling me they would be at least another 30 minutes.  In the end, they didn’t show up until noon; a bit annoying considering I’d been waiting for about three hours and could have done more with my morning if I’d known they would have been so late.

In addition to Dave, Lyle and Marie-Ann, there were three more travelers, Wesley (31, Lyle and Marie-Ann’s son), Thomas (29, Warsaw), Kym (32, Melbourne).  The age of the tour has greatly decreased in Peru.  Miriam told us about the Museo Sanctuarios Andinos and I talked to her about my options for Colca Canyon before she took us to a restaurant for lunch.  Marie-Ann was feeling ill, so she and Miriam returned to the hotel while the rest of us had lunch.  The service at the restaurant was a bit slow, so we ended up there for two hours and it was 3pm by the time we left. 

Lunch: Thomas, Dave, Lyle, Wes, me and Kym

Dave, Wes and I returned to the Museo Sanctuarios Andinos, famous for ‘Juanita, the Ice Princess,’ a frozen Inca maiden sacrificed on the summit of Ampato over 500 years ago (who sadly is not on display from January through April).  A different child (one of 18 in total found on mountain peaks in the Inca territory) was on display and after a 20 minute movie about the discovery of Juanita, a guide showed us around the museum.  Fascinating to learn about an aspect of the Inca culture which is not well-known.

After leaving the museum, the three of us went for a drink at On the Top with views overlooking the Plaza de Armas and city.  The restaurant provided ponchos to keep us warm and I ordered a hot chocolate since I couldn’t fathom drinking something cold.  Unfortunately it was one of the bitterest hot chocolates I have ever tried; I required a lot of sugar before I was able to drink the liquid.  We sat enjoying the plaza and chatting for almost an hour and a half before splitting.  I returned to the hotel to relax and was told they’d be by at 7:30 for dinner.  Wanting to be on time I was sitting in the lobby at 7:30 but they didn’t turn up until 8pm.  I should have known better.

View of the Plaza de Armas from On the Top

The group ate at Patio del Ekeko, but Lyle and Marie-Ann were absent.  The restaurant had a wide variety of meat (including alpaca) but since I wasn’t that hungry I simply ordered a beef skewer.  I had a great time getting to know Kym, the young woman on the trip, and she mentioned she was thrilled I was joining their Colca Canyon trip.  We didn’t finish at the restaurant until 10:30pm at which point I was more than ready to go back to the hotel.  I just had a shower and video skyped with my parents and am ready for bed.  Early start tomorrow for Colca Canyon.  

Dinner: Dave, Kym, Miriam, me, Thomas and Wes