Travel Errands in Arequipa and the Night Before

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Last night was really fun. Much more low key and very chill. We went to Riala’s hostel and met up with her at the bar there, we had a beer and talked with her roommate from Spain, a guy’s name I don’t quite remember but he was very cool and we talked for about a half an hour. After that we all weren’t super hungry so we went to a restaurant where you could sit on the roof, it was adjacent to the placa and it was a very nice place. We had ham and pepperoni pizza and we shared it, it was a nice meal. Riala told us some of her crazy travel stories and we told some also, she said how glad she was to meet us on this trip and we also said that it was great to keep seeing her as we travelled along because it makes you feel a little less like a stranger in a new place when you have some familiar faces along the way. She brought a few joints she smuggled back here from Bolivia and we found a little street by our hostel that was vacant and dimly lit and we enjoyed ourselves some of Bolivia’s finest last night. It was very relaxing. We all took some photos on this street which was pretty funny considering we were three white people on this Peruvian street doing a photo shoot, if anyone were to have seen us they would have thought we were crazy! We walked Riala back to her hostel and decided to have a drink at the corner bar before we said goodbye. We were all just chatting and having a great time for about an hour and then we said our goodbyes and sent her on her way! Hopefully we’ll see her again someday. Brett and I felt like having another drink so we went back to the bar Split that we were at the night before for dinner. We had ourselves a Pisco Sour, actually two, and talked for about an hour about movies and girls, just some random BS. I was hungry by this time because the pizza wasn’t much and on the corner by our hostel, the crazy corner as I have been calling it because of the sheer madness that is buses and cabs and people at all hours of the day and night, there was a lady selling some street food. I got myself a hamburger and it was delicious!!! We watched a little TV before bed, oh ya that’s right, the TV in our room has 120 channels! We watched some Point Break last night, Johnny Utah. As I write currently its 11am and Brett just got himself a Peruvian bank account so he can pay me this money he owes me and start living his life again. We’re about to go get some lunch so I’ll be back in a bit. After a delicious and cheap lunch of Chifa we ran some errands, I had to go to Scotiabank which is a partner with Bank of America and because of that I won’t get charged these outrageous fees I had been getting charged. I got some money out and we walked around the city for a while looking for the market where I saw some sandals that I wanted to buy since mine are just beat in and falling apart. There was some kind of huge demonstration all over the city today; it was a movement to save some valley nearby from companies that wanted to mine the minerals out of it. There were probably thousands of people in the street and there were trucks with speakers blaring some music and chants, it was pretty wild considering we kind of had to march with these people in order to get where we were going. Some of the pictures you can see this craziness. Another little thing of note, the stray dogs here are pretty crazy, they are often on the roofs of homes and buildings as you walk by on the sidewalk, yes that’s right, on the roof! We walked around for a while and this market kept eluding us! We found a market but it was full of food and fruit and meat and fish, the smells were pretty overwhelming and we didn’t stay long, only long enough to buy some bananas and some peaches for our excursion tomorrow. After the food market I finally found a place where I could get some sandals and picked up a new pair for 5 soles or around 3 bucks or so. Not a bad deal if I do say so myself. After the sandal adventure we secured our bus ticket to Tacna, the border town between Peru and Chile, for Saturday morning. We also booked a two day trek into Colca Canyon leaving tomorrow and returning Friday afternoon. It should be a pretty good time and they say that it is a good place to see condors as well as many other beautiful natural wonders. We sleep in some bungalows during our night’s stay and then the second day we ascend up the canyon to get out and return here to Arequipa. We have to wake up at 3.00a tomorrow though so that thought isn’t so much fun but I am going to bed here shortly. After we booked the excursion we came back here and took a nap and then when we woke up we were hungry again. Brett had to make a few phone calls regarding the banking situation so I took some time to call my brother in arms Matthew Steven Cameron and we bullshitted for a while about the goings on back at home and we talked about how pumped we both were for he and Phil to come down here and visit us. We went and found a Mexican place, yes actual burritos, and we got ourselves some chicken burritos and a Cusquena. We were both very pleased with the meals and I found it funny that here the late night food is hamburgers, quintessentially American; while in Chicago we chow on burritos for our late night food! Crazy to me. We came back to the hostel, paid Nacho the proprietor and packed our small bags for the next two days. Oh by the way I threw in a picture of our room in the hostel, it’s just like home now since we’re still the only ones here! We’re keeping our big bags here as we’ll spend the night again on Friday before we leave on Saturday. Wish us luck down in the canyon; it should be a great time! Peace out everyone and take care of yourselves.

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