Lima & Arequipa

I arrived in Lima, my first stop, after after a 12hr flight from Madrid, at 6pm local time (1am CET), and went straight to the 'The Point' hostel.
The taxi drive there, was, shall we say... interesting, and a little hair-raising. The Limans don't seem to think much of traffic rules. Upon arrival, I was quite tired to say the least, so had a few nightcaps in the 'Pointless Bar' and had a goods night sleep.

My first day in Lima I spent exploring the old colonial center with a french couple I had met the previous night. Lima is a sprawling capital, with over half its 8 million citizens living in poverty, which is very noticable. The city is unbelievably polluted, and I hardly ever had a glimpse at blue sky due to a mixture of coastal fog and smog. As to attractions, the city does not have many. Besides having a look at San Fransico Monestary, built in the 16th century with cool catacombs, and walking around the center a little, there isn't all that much of interest to see.

The more affluent suburb, Miraflores, overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and this is where we had lunch. I had Cevice, which is a traditional Peruvian seafood dish, of raw fish marinanded in lime juice and chilli peppers, and is thus 'cookes' by a chemical reaction with the lime juice. Very tasty. And healthy, I hope!

After a hard day of sighseeing, It was party time, and a group of us from the hostel went to a local nightlcub, dancing the night away till 6am. The next day I spent recovering from the previous night, and in the evening took a nightbus to Arequipa, about 1000km south of Lima.

Arquipa is nestled on the edge of the Andes, and the dormant volcano 'El Misti' dominates the town. Other snow peaked mountains also look down upon Arequipa. The city, also known as the white city itself is quite pretty. It has the huge Santa Catalina Monestary located in the city center, which comprises a few city blocks and is referred to as a 'city within a city'. Another interesting thing to See in Arequipa was Juanita, The 'Ice Maiden', a 15th century incan mummy of a yound girl sacrificed to appease the local volcano.

So, after having had enough of sightseeing, I spent the next two days relaxing at the hostel, making use of the hammoks in their big garden, playing Texas Hold'em with some Irish guys (and winning a grand total of 30 Soles), playing Giant Jenga, and relaxing a bit more. Its also supposed to be a holiday after all!

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