Arequipa

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We flew into Arequipa after being told that it was a ‘nice’ place to visit, and so it was. It is more than just a place to stopover to acclimatise to the higher altitudes to come, even though it does serve this purpose admirably being 2325 metres above sea level.

We stayed just off the main square which proved a good location. The main square is substantial and very pretty. It is bordered on three sides by double story buildings with large verandas and on the fourth side by a church. We enjoyed walking around the square and observing the ‘goings-on’ each day.

On our first day Eileen was unwell and so I went to lunch alone. I sat on the balcony upstairs overlooking the square and I felt like Ernest Hemmingway. I had a whole trout for lunch which was delicious. "A whole trout?!" Eileen said, but obviously it was much smaller than our trout in New Zealand.

The next morning, when Eileen was feeling much better, we took a city tour which gave us a good overview of the local city sites of significance. At one of the stops, a watermill, we took the chance to go for short horse ride.

We enjoyed lunch together the following day at the same restaurant overlooking the square where I had eaten the trout. I pointed out the dozen or so elderly gentlemen in fishing vests that seemed to be ‘wombling’ about the square. We speculated that they were Japanese or Korean tour group tourists due to the matching ‘vests’ they were wearing and each displaying a camera. After watching them for a while, it dawned on us that they were photographers offering their services to passing tourists!

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