Arequipa, Peru

After a couple of relaxing days in San Pedro I set off on the final marathon bus journey of my South American odyssey to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. The journey consisted of a nine hour bus from San Pedro to Arica on the Chile/ Peru border. In order to cross the border into Tacna it was necessary to take a colectivo (shared taxi) with four other random people. Finally a six hour bus brought me from Tacna to Arequipa. During the final part of the journey I noticed something unusual. Every time the bus stopped for a short break the sound of numerous women screaming at the top of their voices reverberated around the inside of the vehicle. Curious as to what all the fuss was about I ventured downstairs to the main door of the bus and there was about a dozen women tripping over each other trying to sell Coca-Cola and Sandwiches (probably of the jamon and queso variety) to the passengers. This is something I hadn't witnessed so far during my travels and is a stark reminder of how much more difficult life must be for the Peruvian people than in the comparatively rich nations of Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

While not in the same league as Paraty, Colonia and Valparaiso, Arequipa is nonetheless quite a picturesque city with numerous old buildings (mainly churches) and cobblestoned streets decorating the historical centre with numerous volcanoes such as El Misti towering above it. The Plaza de Armas, the city's main square is surrounded by buildings made of sillar, a white volcanic stone and is without doubt the most beautiful plaza I have seen to date in South America. Another interesting attraction Arequipa has to offer is the Museo Santuarios Andinos, the home of Juanita, the frozen body of an Inca girl, discovered in 1995 high in the nearby Andes. She lived to be approximately 11–15 years old, and is estimated to have died sometime between 1450 and 1480. The body is remarkably well preserved after 500 years and this discovery was chosen by Time Magazine in 1995, as one of the world's top ten discoveries. Juanita was sacrificed by the Incas to please their gods, something which was considered an honour, not a punishment. Strange times those folk lived in!

Another place of interest is the Convento de Santa Catalina, a place where women from diverse social backgrounds entered to serve as cloistered nuns, never again to return to their homes and families. This large establishment has the feel of a small city within a city with its many brightly coloured colonial buildings, flowers and narrow streets giving one the sense of being back in time.

Over the last couple of days I have discovered some unique Peruvian traits:

1) The amount of people trying to sell you useless irrelevant goods is far higher here than in other countries I have visited. While I was relaxing at the main square an old woman, probably in her 70's, approached me and tried to sell me a variety of goods. After I showed my disinterest in one of her products she would attempt to sell me something else. Still not getting the hint, she continued to try persuade me to change my mind, getting more desperate by the second. While I understand how poor some people are in Peru, at the very least these people should try to sell something of value, then maybe tourists like myself can help. A fake beeny baby is really of no use to me!

2) Peruvians don't understand the concept of a meal it seems. Today for lunch in a nice restaurant I ordered fried eggs and chips (with the chips being of huge importance as they are needed to dip into the yolk obviously!). Now in most countries this would mean that both the eggs and the chips are presented to you together at the same time. Not in Peru. No, here as soon as an element of your meal is cooked it is handed to you immediately. Words can't describe the shock I felt as I waited ten minutes for my chips to arrive while my fried eggs sat in front of me getting colder and colder by the minute.

3) In a restaurant it is very important to clarify the price of something BEFORE you have ordered it. Yesterday I paid 5 sol for a delicious freshly made lemon and orange juice. Today I come back and I am charged 7 sol for the exact same drink. To be honest I didn't really care as the difference is about 50 cent in the Euro currency, but an elderly Peruvian woman with broken English who was sitting at my table refused to let them get away with ripping me off and proceeded to order me to put my wallet back in my pocket and not pay any more than 5 sol. Eventually a compromise was reached between the lady and the waiter and 6 sol was handed over by myself. Supposedly those sort of price hikes are rampant throughout the country as local businesses try to make a fast buck off vulnerable tourists and the nice woman urged me to be "vehhhry careful" for the rest of my time in Peru.

4) During heavy traffic around the main square in Arequipa the vast majority of drivers feel the need to beep the horn in a hopeless attempt to speed things up. I'm sorry lads but making that annoying racket is not going to make the traffic go away. Live with it!

Tomorrow morning I board a flight to Cusco at the ungodly hour of 6.15 am where I will take a few days to enjoy the capital of the ancient Inca empire.

Later