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Arequipa We left Paracas in style - x-country in a dune buggy to the bus station.
Arequipa at dawn was a lovely city to arrive in - the beautiful old buildings built with white ignimbrite (silla in local terms), surrounded by volcanoes and, at this time of year, clear cloudless skies.
Had read good things about Inca Roots Hostel (aka Posada de Sancho) and so headed straight there from the Bus Station by taxi (4 Soles). Was only a minute or so from the Plaza de Arms and had a nice rooftop for breakfast outdoors or a beer whilst watching the sun go down (also had washing lines). It cost $20 USD for an enormous double room with private bathroom and breakfast.
I put together a short walking tour around the sights near the main centre and then we signed up for a city and countryside tour in an open top bus (4 hours, 35 Soles). Was an excellent tour and covered far more than we could ever have seen by ourselves. Was disappointed in not being able to catch on film the Llama spitting at everyone who came too close to him at the fabric factory.
Interesting to see on the tour that the city (1 million plus) is built on both lahar, lavaflows and ashfall deposits. Misti volcano is still active and looms ominously over the city.
A number of shops/stalls in the city have minerals for sale, but again most are in poor condition but I did acquire a couple of small specimens including a nice Peruvian silver - allegedly from the local copper/silver mine 20 or 30 kms away.
Whilst looking for a place to have dinner on Sat night we saw a group of younger tourists heading purposely up a side street so we decided to follow them. They went into a Mexican Cafe that was cheap and looked good. we took a seat upstairs just as 3 drunken Arequipians grabbed a guitar off the wall and started singing. The owners kept the beer flowing for them and ended up as a very enjoyable night.
All in all we loved Arequipa but all too soon we had to leave for the condors of Colca Canyon
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