Arequipa

---

The internet was down in the whole city for a couple of days. But now all is working.

Since there were no more special prices for flights to Arequipa, I opted for the two level bus......a 15 hour ride through the night. Actually is was not as bad as it sounds. My seatmate was a housewife who was convinced that I was Italian (since my Spanish is so so good) who was pretty amusing and then very quiet for most of the trip. We started out at 8:30. After a few minutes of totally unintelligible loud "instructions" which I assumed were recorded, a stewardess arrived and served up a really good chicken-rice dish. And after clearing all that up and then closing the curtains to all the windows, she handed out BINGO CARDS. I could not stop laughing. We played one game with breaks for obsure questions about Peru that the Peruvians could not even answer. Finally all was quiet and everyone settled down for a slumber. I woke up several times and stuck my head through the curtains, saw one person with a parka....the hood pulled tight around his head.......with what looked like large snow boots. Now I assumed that because it was the Pan-American highway, that we were staying close to the coast all the way. But there looked to be huge mounds of snow (it was a moonless night) and just on the shoulder of the road, looked to be snow that had been plowed from the highway. Of course, there was no one to ask anything, so I assumed we were going through a mountain pass (we were travelling very slowly). Even when a truck would pass by and light the mounds for a moment, I was so surprised how much snow there was.

I woke up just as the sun was coming up and once again stuck my head through the curtains. There were still mounds on the side of the road, and plow marks. But it was sand. I have been told there are 20 different names for snow in Inuit. There should be 20 different names for desert. And Peru would use all of them............all the way from nothing but sand to nothing but rock, from not a sprig of grass to wildly green valleys of rice fields and rows of potato plants, from white salt flats to nearly black volcanic ash. The little villages along the way are one street deep, and look like New Mesxico pueblos. It was really amazing to watch, and a good thing it was so interesting. My butt got sore.

Arequipa is a mile high and feels a lot like Albuquerque with the dryness and mountains immediately outside the city limits. However, Misti (as this volcano is called) looms another 10,000 feet over the city. It is really awe inspiring. Looks like there is very little snow on top, and I still may go part way up. Amazing sight.

I signed up for Spanish lessons......4 hours/day. It is intense. Tonight is memorizing the 300 word vocabulary list we got today. Ouch.

I do not remember reading that Arequipa has good food. However, I would highly recommend the cooking here. It is spicy, well prepared, and amazingly delicious. Even if my intestinal tract has not appreciated it all. "La tourista" arrived. And now that I feel better, I will start to move more around the city and be able to say more about it.

---

Comments

[Nomi Tichman]

Wow - an overnight bus ride
I have to commend you, Richard, for signing up for an overnight bus ride. I don't think I could do that. I really am enjoying your blog a great deal. Enjoy yourself. Love, Nomi