Both Jean and I have managed to catch colds … drats!!! Neither of us will stop though, just pass the kleenex and lets get on the bus or plane or whatever. Actually the flight to Arequipa is pleasant and my ears don’t object to the descent at all. Our guesthouse is only a very few streets from the centre of this city. It is very sunny and warm too. Very unlike Lima that was always overcast and grey. I’ve read that Arequipa is sunny 360 days a year so I’ll be surprised to see rain here.
Back to our guesthouse, La Casa de Melgar is an 18th century building that has no less that four courtyards and a terrace or two. Everything is charming … the staff, the rooms, the gardens, and even the guests. There are three volcanoes near by, namely Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu. A small earthquake happens the first day too, though I am unaware of it. Our tour of the Convento de Santa Catalina is given by a very humourous young lady. If I got a little carried away with picture taking, forgive me, there was a great shot every twenty steps. Other highlights are the visit to see “Juanita the Ice Maiden” and the tour of Michell and Company. Juanita was found on Ampato (a volcanoe behind Cabanaconde) and is a frozen mummy that has survived in very good condition for more than 5 hundred years. Besides a very interesting book written by Johan Reinhard, there are many Internet sites that have good information about Juanita if you are interested in learning more. The tour of Michell was great … I really enjoy seeing how things are made. Half of all the alpaca fibre that is processed in Peru is done by Michell. We had several opportunities at stash enhancement in the following days that came via Michell’s ‘factory outlet’.
I haven’t said a thing about food yet. I can say for sure that I’m not losing any weight and there aren’t as many salads and vegetables as I’m used to. There are many fruits that are totally new to me, some are very wonderful for different reasons. I especially like the slippery sweet Granadilla.
Perhaps there isn’t as much spicing of the food as I would have thought. Someone suggested that many restaurants tone down the spicing, thinking that is what tourists would prefer. Too bad! The coffee is reasonably good, and it is always interesting to see how it will be served. Sometimes it is instant (not awful instant like at home), sometimes there is a very strong espresso that arrives with boiling water so you can mix to your own prefered strength, sometimes it is ready to go. The milk is different too, something like our UHT at home.
To see all the Peru pictures click here.