We gathered at 9am to meet our guide who would take us on a city tour and be with us for the following two days in the Colca Canyon.
It was soon clear that some ailing - the two women from Wiltshire bailed out due to an emerging cold and stomach problems - Dan from Derby was also ailing with his stomach but valiantly soldiered on bailing out at the Santa Catalina convent along with the Norwegian couple and us - we bailed out for different reasons - hot, hungry and you can only manage so many religious venues - albeit we later found out that the 90 minute tour was one of the better ones.
The tour started with going to a viewpoint where we overlooked the fertile river valley and could see the 3 volcanos that overlook the city - the most active being Misti - but although they get minor earthquakes daily the volcano last erupted a couple of hundred years ago. We also got to sample juice from the Arequipa papaya - much smaller than normal papaya - but the juice was sweeter and delicious.
(Today's photo is a man I saw reading his newspaper under the cool of a tree totally unperturbed by the throng of tourists above him!)
Next stop was a church alongside which were arches looking out over the valley and the Pichu Pichu volcano - but first we were introduced to a local speciality - Arequipa icecream - creamy with a hint of coconut and topped with cinnamon - so good we had to buy one and succumbed again when we were shopping in the afternoon. Next stop was the traffic congested centre of Arequipa - even more so today because of celebrations for Arequipa day - on 15th August - the square and surrounding streets were full of bands and marching groups all smartly dressed in different uniforms. We got off the bus and walked the short distance to the Jesuit church and cloisters, now full of quality cafés and shops selling Peruvian woollens followed on the other side of the square by the cathedral and it's museum - where we ventured onto the roof to see the bells and the views of the volcanos and the square. Interestingly we have now seen how smart the Catholics were in trying to make the religion pertinent to the Peruvians - the last supper had a roasted guinea pig on the plate in front of Jesus and the disciples; there was also a dark brown Jesus in one if the chapels!
We walked from here to the convent and this is where we bailed out - we quickly went back to the hotel and I put on my shorts as I was sweltering in the hot dry atmosphere ( Arequipa is in a corner of the Atacama desert ). We then went off looking for lunch and found quite quickly, in a nice colonial stone (made from the white volcanic stone of which all downtown is created) built square, a restaurant serving an array of Peruvian dishes - I went for the inca dish of potato with a lightly spiced sauce and corn in different light sauce with fried cheese - vegetarian heaven - John had a big bowl of squash soup. Refreshed we went for a walk around the shops and enroute back I finally found the baby alpaca jacket for me ( ingeniously made so you can wear it short with a big collar or long with a minimal collar!) and a fluffy alpaca hat to wear in the cold of the High Andes.
Back at the hotel everyone met at 6pm for a briefing re the next few days and left for a meal - we were still full from lunch so went with Dan and Alex for crepe and coffee or in my case a really nice tea infusion- Dan didn't eat but on my recommendation had a brandy for his stomach - hopefully it works.
A short walk around the block to buy some water - the desert climate demands copious amounts and we will need to drink even more to avoid the altitude sickness tomorrow and beyond.