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Published: November 15th 2009
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Posada Sol de Oro is where I decided to stay in Arequipa, found it in Hostelworld, just picked it at random and turned out pretty good, the receptionist, Maria Elena and her brother Ricardo runs the show at the moment, they are so nice and go out of their way to help out, am happy I chose the place to stay for a week in Arequipa and chill. Met my roommate, Broad, an American from New Mexico, a retiree, he talks a lot but meant well, quite friendly and a bit weird at the same time, he makes his own sandals, does not do the touristy bits here as its too expensive for his budget and he calls the hostel home for now. he gave me good tips on where to go etc.
Walked the town on a Sunday looking for some cheap food, found chifas(chinese food) everywhere and super cheap for a set meal its 5 soles($2), who can beat that?! The main drag is busy of course first impression, the plaza is a bit bland, not as nice as Cuenca! but its huge. I noticed one way flights back to Lima is on sale at $65 so I
inquired, not wanting to do another 17 hour bus ride. Not a bad price. Went back to the hostel and chill. that evening I cooked quinoa soup for dinner and offered the left overs to Broad and the hostel staff, they finished the soup in no time. bed was very inviting, been a long bus ride to get here.
Woke up to a sunny day and got ready to be a tourist again. breakfast was meager bread and butter and jam. I walked around town to look for an optician as I need new prescription glasses and here its much cheaper than the States. Took awhile as they were trying to figure out if they can make it before I leave end of the week, we finally came to an arrangement I will pick it up in Lima by Friday or Saturday for $131, bargain. That task done I walked the town and then went for a walk to the local market, where I had ceviche for lunch, delicious! Then did my food shopping veggies for all the amount I bought only totalled $7 barely. Saw crawfish and was salivating for it but already bought stuff for dinner, I
shall come back tomorrow! Soon as I dropped off my groceries in the hostel I gave my shie to Maria Elena to have it repaired, she took care of it for me, so kind.
Then time to visit Santa Catalina monastery, this huge complex is a small city within a city, their own version of perhaps the Vatican. lots of nooks and crannies to inspect the colors of the wall, reds, and blues makes it more worthwhile to take fotos and I took heaps! The rooms where the nuns live have altars, cooking areas, etc. I did not really followed the brochures given to me at the gate I just purposedly got lost and explored the place, oh you have to pay 30 soles to visit. After about an hour I left the place exhausted. Then walked around to window shop, I saw my favorite hat! the bucket felt hat,yay!
I lost my one and only in Georgetown, Guyana, I waited to get here to buy a new one, am a very happy shopper.
Am starving by now late afternoon and so went back to the hostel and cooked my dinner which i again shared with the hostel
staff, i tend to make so much anyway so its good it does not go to waste. Woke up early and cooked breakfast and decided i want to visit Juanita the mummy today at the Museo Sanctuario Andinos. I got there in the hopes i can do the tour myself but i was told otherwise, I have to go with a group so have to wait 40 minutes, meanwhile i inspected the exhibit on volcanoes to kill time.
The tour started with a 15 minutes or so of Natl geograhic movie about how they discovered Juanita on top of Ampato volcano. She is dubbed as the ice maiden, sacrificed 500 years ago to appease the gods.
Such an interesting story and the tour was quite interesting they showed us around the museum where they have all the things retrieved or found in the mountains where Juanita was, and they also found some other bodies sacrificed in the mountain but only Juanita was on exhibit. Was a disappointment the state they are showcasing her, the room was dark to begin with and cold but not enough lighting to fully glance the mummy. The one in Salta, Argentina I thought was way
better. You have to strain and peek at the glass to see her to inspect details.
From the museo i hurried to the market to buy my lunch and dinner. I am craving for crayfish and so i bought a kilo of it worth 23 soles($8). Got back to the hostel and cooked it, Ricardo the guy who works in the hostel and I ate together while i teach him some English. Then we sunned ourselves in the open porch, washed the sweet fresas i bought for dessert and shared it with Ricardo and my roommate Brad from Holland. in the afternoon i walked around town and did some shopping and visit some more churches. That night while in our dorm room, Broad and I felt a tremor, an earthquake is happening, my bed was shaking and it lasted for awhile, I got worried when it didnt stop right away and kept getting stronger, finally it was over and we went to bed, scared!
Last couple days was just bumming around the hostel not doing much aside from daily trips to the local mercado to buy food, loved the strawberries, so cheap and sweet for just barely a
dollar you get a kilo of this delicious fruit! Then Broad my roommie had me try the fruit pepino, a round variety that tastes like melon, delicious! Figured I will fly to Lima not so keen on another 17 hours on the bus! Been sunny here last couple days until now, the day before I leave, overcast and a bit cool. Still lots of tourists around, decided to skip the Colca Canyon excursion, not the season for condors right now, you will see them but not much and you'd have to have luck on your side and besides I have done tons of hiking lately, I needed a break, last few days in Sud America feeling ready to conquer Asia!
Last night in Arequipa, Doug,a cool Canadian dude checked in we have a lot of things in common, we both quit our jobs, both avid photographer and we are both headed to Asia! We hope to meet somewhere and take some extensive cooking lessons at a proper school. Cooked my last meal in the hostel, quinoa soup, everybody's favorite. Then got up early to get dropped off at the airport for my flight to Lima.
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