Arequipa, Peru: Does It Smell Like Christmas?

Home Sweet Home - Rivero 506 y Ayacucho
20 soles (shared bathroom, breakfast including yummy crepes)

Arequipa is called the "White City" because of the off-white volcanic rock used in most of the architecture. There isn't too much happening in the White City, although it is very beautiful. The ride to Arequipa wasn't exactly beautiful however...(why haven`t we left the desert yet?)


The highlight of our 3 day stay in Arequipa was Museo Santury where "Juanita, the Ice Princess" can be seen. Juanita was a 14 year old girl from the Inca period (around 1400-1500 AD), most likely royalty. She was sacrificed at the top of Nevado Ampato Mountain, after having walked for 3 months to get there. Her death was meant to calm the angry gods who "punished" the Incas with natural disasters. (Well, Arequipa is at the base of several active volcanoes!!!) Her body was almost perfectly preserved in the snow, until she was discovered by a German some years ago. Although Laura expected the site to be creepy, it was actually a very fascinating, but equally sad, window into the past.

While in Arequipa, we thought we should try the traditional food. The lunch was good (except the pigs feet!), but not worth the 700 soles that they waiter tried to charge us! (Just as we were thinking... "we have to wash dishes," the waiter brought us the correct bill, oops!!!) We particularly liked the "rocoto relleno" (stuffed pepper). The folkloric music in the background was...nice, although the musicians appeared lost at times. We ended up with so much food that we had to eat it for two days!

On the last day we met 2 guys from Sweden, Dan and Peter. We had a good feeling about them when Dan asked Peter if his Mexican food smelled like Christmas. (Do they eat refried beans for Christmas in Sweden?) Little did we know, this was only the beginning of an entertaining week and two, great, new friendships...