Arequipa, Cuzco, Lima

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Although I am now safely and comfortably back in London, writing this from a computer that has an Internet connection not liable to cutting out every two seconds I still feel it is necessary to try and finish the blog I started in South America. I last left you in Bolivia, which as I stated was a brilliant country. Peru had its ups and downs, although there is a lot to do, it is because there is so much to do that it tends to get on your nerves. It’s extremely touristy which is not a bad thing in itself but the repercussions are a people who don’t really like you and just want to rip a quid outta ya.

Crossing the border into Peru was a bit of a challenge, especially as we found out that our bus had been overbooked and for a moment we were almost without a seat or a way out of Copacabana. We managed to get a seat on the gringo packed bus full of eager Israelis heading for Cuzco. Me, Hal, Dom, Esther and Chiara chose to get off at Puno and buy tickets to our respective destinations, us boys were heading to Arequipa in the South of Peru while the girls were off to Cuzco. We would meet again for one last hurrah in about 5 days time.

In my eyes Arequipa remains possibly the most beautiful city we visited in South America. It is described as a country within a country as the people and culture in Arequipa are noticeably different from the rest of Peru. A lot of the city dwellers of Arequipa are of Spanish decent not Indian and they are also generally much richer then the rest of Peruvians. The most outstanding aspect of Arequipa is its cathedral. It is made from stunning white brick, which is extracted from the nearby volcano (as are all the buildings in Arequipa). It is the centrepiece of the Plaza de Armas, which is probably the best plaza in South America (and we saw a shit load of Plazas). The architecture of Arequipa is its highlight and the reason it attracts so many tourists (also its close proximity to Cuzco is a selling point). However the other main attraction of Arequipa is “El Gavilan”. El Gavilan is a chain of Chinese restaurants that we only saw in Arequipa, it is dirt cheap Chinese food and outrageous portions. Me, Hal and Dom would eat there most meals and sadly enough it is one of the best things (apart from the stunning architecture) that I remember about Arequipa (Hal may argue that the hyper market was another attraction). We were in Arequipa over the Easter weekend, which was pretty memorable. Peru (like all of South America) is a Catholic country, so they take the whole Jesus resurrection thing pretty seriously. There was a procession on the Easter Sunday, which personally I found pretty boring. Us boys on the other hand celebrated Easter in a more British way, Easter egg hunts! We took control of our hostel (we were the only guests anyway) and set up clues, it was pretty fun and I am still confident that I had the most imaginative clues. Arequipa also holds fond memories as it is a) where I got my hat fixed (after Hal defaced it with CHUNDER) b) its where I first had Inca Cola (my South America lover).

We moved on from a sobering Arequipa (still traumatised from La Paz) and headed into Cuzco. We stayed away from the Cuzco Loki, we (for now) were sick and tired of the Loki antics (although this didn’t stop us from drinking there). Some people love Cuzco, I didn’t. Despite being one of the most beautiful places in South America I couldn’t help but thinking of The Streets. Cuzco is fit but it knows it. Americans dominate it, which means the place is over hyped and crawling with street vendors trying to hustle up a quid. You couldn’t sit on a bench for more then a minute without someone trying to sell you something and then acting extremely offended if you reject their kind offer of outdated chocolate. We were in Cuzco for quite a while, there before and after the Inka trail. It definitely had some highlights but by day it was a bit of a nuisance. Nevertheless tourism has done one brilliant thing, it made the Plaza de Armas nightlife. You can easily have the best night of South America in Cuzco simply because it is all free. Clubs compete for gringos’ money so much that club entry is all free and you get a free drink upon entry. Now if entry is free…this system is up to abuse. Everyone simply gets his or her free drink, leave, and then go to somewhere else to get another free drink. Dom was smashed! The main club is Mythology which was probably the ultimate gap yah venue. Filled to the brim with England top brass it was a bit overwhelmingly sloaney but nevertheless it was free and we were with some jokes people we had met along our travels. Nevertheless the Cuzco nightlife could be greatly improved if someone took the initiative and opened a cheap fastfood place. So Cuzco really comprised of people trying to rip you off, free drinks and a banging buildings. It is a fantastic place but with noticeable flaws. Nevertheless it will always have a special place in my heart as it is where I met the sacred Condor.

Lima was a bit of a nothing place for us as we were there for two days. Initial impressions where mega-city, fairly European and a massive supermarket. I can remember it well simply because it was where Arsenal (after losing to Tottenham) were embarrassed by Wigan. Our next two stops were the beach towns of Mancora and Montanita. After a brief 2 day detox in Lima we were back on it quickly when we hit up the beach.

Much love
Tom x

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