Final days in Arequipa

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Last few days in Arequipa have been really nice and relaxed....did some walking round the various parts of the city and spent some quality time sitting on park benches and people watching.

The weather has continued to be sunny and hot during the day, so have made the most of basking in the sunshine!

There have been a couple more demonstrations in Arequipa over the past few days (I am going to miss all this passion), as well as Arequipa's answer to Kurt Cobain making a public appearance and there was a music video being shot near the tennis courts a couple of days ago (unfortunately I didn't have my camera for that one).

With sadness I will be saying farewell to my hostel drinking buddies....however my liver is looking forward to the no alcohol for a wee while so it can recover from the huge measures. I have finally had a Pisco Sour worth drinking however the mojitos (now they have mint!) and rum & cokes have been excellent, as well as the Bothy specials and Blood bombs!!!!

To keep the true spirit of Scotland alive, the English bartender has been having his face painted almost daily in true William Wallace style to make me feel at home (I never thought to get a picture of him in blue)....how very thoughtful of him! The irony is that "Breaveheart" is the one film I have not seen (mainly because of all the hype at the time, but now it is on my list of things to do when I get back!).

After more than 4 weeks of cinema withdrawal I eventually went and saw a few nights ago "Snow White and the Huntsman" glad to say it was not dubted, I just had to ignore the subtitles. It was an enjoyable film and it kept me away from the bar for a few hours!

This trip has definitely lived up to the high expectations I had, met some really great people and it has given me some food for thought in terms of further visits to South America....if I can survive in Peru with no Spannish the rest of South America will be a breeze!

Well after almost 3 weeks in Peru (I head back to Cusco tonight with Cruz del sur and then fly to Lima and Armsterdam and arrive back in Edinburgh on Sat 16th June), I am finally looking forward to returning to Scotland and catching up with you all over the coming months and planning the next adventure of course :-)

Thanks for your comments and reading my ramblings!

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Photos

Arequipa's answer to Kurt Cobain
made a public appearance in the town square and there were lots of screaming girls about

Pay phones
in Peru they still use pay phones but for security reasons they are chained to the wall with a padlock!

second demonstration
this time in Arequipa on Wed 13th June, they actually had a car with a megaphone and a lady sitting in the back seat, shouting the chants!!!

local parks only open to public on Sat & Sun
this was very bizzare, in Arequipa there are 2 parks that are only open to the public on Sunday's however one of them is also open on a Saturday.

the Chachanti mountain range
plus some local housing

Bothy hostel drinking buddies
guess which one is the English guy? He was supporting Ireland today in the European cup!

third demonstration
I am really going to miss the passion of the Peruvians...fighting for their cause!

there was press at today's demonstration
tv crews, cameras and reports were all at today's demonstration

Comments

[mum]

safe journey home hope the flights are smooth, hope to see you on Sunday,take care love mumx