Blogs from Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 11

Our first encounter with motion sickness was flying over the Nazca lines in a tiny aeroplane. Luckily, neither of us was actually sick, although I managed to miss half the lines preventing this! They´re on an epic scale, and the people who decided to draw them did a pretty good job considering they didn´t have an aeroplane to see how they actually looked! From Nazca, we went straight to Chivay, over a pass of 4800 m, slightly stupid, and consequently we´ve both felt the altitude. Going to stock up on the old coca leaves before we get to Cusco and La Paz so that we´ll be acclimatised! Chivay was this brilliant little town near the Colca Canyon which had very clean air and pimped auto-rickshaws. We spent a few days chilling there and going to the ... read more

Monday 5th September After another delicious breakfast of cereal and bread rolls, we set off in to town, not to do anything special, but just to have a look around. We ended up climbing to the top of the Morro where Arica flies their flag and also has their Christ the Redeemer Statue. It provides a magnificent view of the city and the ocean. The climb down is harder than the climb up, as it is so steep. You feel as though you could topple over at any second. Tuesday 6th Sept Arrived in Ariquipa this afternoon after an 8 hr bus ride that should have taken 6. We had a car take us to the border of Peru to do our paperwork, and then it dropped us at the bus station Tacna, where a very ... read more

Von Nazca nach Arequipa ueberdauerten wir eine endlose Busfahrt die uns um 2ºº morgens am Ziel ankommen lies. Nach einem Hotelwechsel auf meinen Wunsch begannen wir mit dem Sightseeing in der kulturellen Hauptstadt Perus. Wir waren aber sehr erschoepft und schafften es nur die Kathedrale anzusehen, welche die einzige in Peru ist die eine ganze Seite des Hauptplatzes ausmacht. Am Abend ging es dann ins Zig Zag wo Alex ein saftiges argentinisches Rind- und ich ein Alpaca Steak verdrueckten. Alpaca ist eine von 4 Lama Arten und schmeckt sehr gut. Der Geschmack liegt zwischen einem sehr delikaten Kalb und Schwein. Am naechsten Tag besuchten wir frisch und munter ein Museum wo Juanita aufbewahrt wird. Juanita ist ein 500 Jahre altes, 12-jaehriges Maedchen welches erst vor wenigen Jahren auf einem Vulkan entdeckt wurde. Sie war ein Geschenk ... read more

Ah...civilisation! Still enjoying the novelty of it! We headed out last night to Zig Zag....reputedly the best restaurant in Southern Peru. So the glad rags went on (well...the nearest that we have to them) and we headed out for dinner. Their speciality is Peruvian Alpine and sizzling cuts on volcanic rock mmmm. For starters we learnt that Peru should not be famed for its cheese - their attempt at Roquefort was admirable, but the pale generic cheese was not worth it! As the mains approached we were donned with a bib...seriously. This appeared to be regardless of what you ordered and I´m not sure entirely necessary! For mains we had sizzling meat and fish on the volcanic stone. I finally caved and tried the alpaca...oh my goodness it was sensational! Think I´m a convert from now! ... read more

Friday 20th May - Thursday 26th May We didn’t hang around long in the hustle and bustle of the big city La Paz, heading to the shores of Lake Titicaca (the largest high altitude lake in the world) and a small friendly town called Copacabana, our final stop in Bolivia before crossing into Peru. The sun was shining and the town instantly felt like a local beachside holiday destination, albeit a little rough around the edges. The main street was buzzing with people wandering around, browsing the tourist markets for jewellery, llama fleeces and other nic nacs or sitting at one of the many outdoor cafés. We checked into a terrific wooden cabana overlooking the inland sea, which gave us a great place to relax, and at Bolivian prices it was considerably affordable. Lying in the ... read more