20th September - Arequipa bus tour

Last night we had been given a present by Luz´s parents of a bus tour around Arequipa which was due to set of from the main square, the Plaza de Armas, at around 9:15. We took a minibus at 8:15 which we hoped would give us enough time to reach the square but due to frequent stops and heavy traffic we were in danger of being too late and so had to switch to a taxi. This went much quicker and we were able to get there with 15 minutes to spare which gave us time for a quick look around the Plaza de Armas. It's a very beautiful square, considered to be one of the most beautiful in the whole of South America, with the large cathedral on its northern side and attractive terraces (now housing many bars and restaurants), built by the Spanish, on the other three sides. These buildings, like many in Arequipa, are built from the white volcanic sillar rock which led to the city getting its nickname, Ciudad Blanca (White City).

The bus passengers comprised mostly of Spanish speakers, both from various other South American countries and also from Spain, as well as a young French couple and a German couple and one English guy (me!). This meant the tour guide had to give her talk in both Spanish and English although the English section was noticeably shorter than the Spanish one.

The tour started with a trip around the Plaza giving us a better look at the terraces and a quick glimpse of the very decorated façade of the La Compañia church just off the SE corner of the Plaza. We then left the Plaza and drove around the small streets of the Historical Centre of Arequipa, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000, seeing various colonial and historical buildings such as the Santa Catalina Monastery, Casa Ricketts, the Casa del Moral (named after the Blackberry tree – “moral” in Spanish – which grows in its courtyard) and the San Francisco church.

The two volcanoes, Chachani and El Misti, dominate the northern horizon of the city and the tour included a number of miradors, of viewpoints, which gave very nice views of both of them. The first stop, in the most northerly district of Cayma was the Mirador La Rinconada in Carmen Alto, a very beautiful spot which looked over the Rio Chili valley up towards Chachani to the north and also with spectacular views towards El Misti to the northeast. A small café housed a few llamas and also sold some traditional Arequipeñan and Peruvian foodstuffs such as a liqueur made from the medicinal local herb maca which is thought to be a natural type of Viagra. Luz bought a bottle of it for some reason!

The narrow streets of Cayma caused some problems for our bus but after some tight squeezes due to building work being carried on in the main plaza we managed to reach our second stop, the San Miguel Archangel church. The church was built in 1730 and has a beautifully carved façade. Inside there was a mass being carried out but we were still able to have a quiet look around at it´s collection of religious icons and artifacts.

Next we visited the district of Yanahuara where another mirador can be found, this one very popular and famous in Arequipa for its spectacular views of El Misti which can be found on hundreds of postcards and paintings. This mirador frames El Misti between large sillar arches and colourful bunches of flowers (2). Carved on the arches are pieces of writing by famous Arequipeñan such as José Luis Bustamante y Ribero, President of Peru between 1948 and 1948 (and who also has a district of Arequipa named after him), the poets Percy Gibson, César Atahualpa Rodríguez, Belisario Calle and Albert Hidalgo and the educator and philosopher Jorge Polar. Close by is the beautiful Church of San Juan Bautista with a finely carved facade like many of the buildings in Arequipa but due to a wedding taking place while we were there we were unable to see much of the inside. Just before getting back on the bus we were able to try a local speciality, queso helado (cheese ice-cream). Despite the name it´s not actually made from cheese but from milk, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and is very tasty.

The next destination was the Incalpaca clothing factory in the district of Sachaca which, as well as supplying scarves, coats, jumpers and gloves made from the fur of various camelids such as llamas, vicunas, guanacos and alpacas, actually houses a few samples of each animal in enclosures behind the main shop.

Also located in Sachaca was another mirador, this time located at the top of a high tower which itself is located on a high hill. The result is splendid views over the whole of Arequipa and its surrounding countryside, including the three volcanoes Chachanci, Misti and Pichu Pichu. The tower also houses a large white statue of Christ halfway up. Down at the bottom of the hill it was possible to get your photo taken with a woman dressed in the local custom as well as with her hawk Pepe, which both myself and Luz did actually.

We then passed through the relatively new district of Hunter which was formed in 1948 and named after the Scottish doctor and philanthropist Jacobo Dickson Hunter who did much fine work in Arequipa in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is separated from the main part of Arequipa with scenic countryside which means it is a constantly expanding district whose population is growing rapidly.

The next stop was supposed to be the Mansion del Fundador, close to the small village of Huasacache in the south of Arequipa. This is the former home of Garci Manuel de Carbajal the Spanish conquistador who founded the city of Arequipa on August 15, 1540. It was restored about 30 years ago and turned into a museum which also holds private events such as weddings. In fact this was exactly what was taking place at that moment so we were unable to visit the building unfortunately.

The penultimate location on the tour was the Molino de Sabandia, a water mill that was built in around 1785 and is still working today. The choice here was either to visit the mill itself or to participate in a 15 minute horse ride through the countryside surrounding the mill. We choose the latter which was a lot of fun although my horse behaved a lot better than Luz´s which seemed to have a mind of its own and kept stopped to eat or going the wrong way!
We will be returning to the mill later on with Luz´s family so I will be able to give more information on the building itself then. The final stop on the tour was at Paucarpata, famous for its pre-inca terraces which also give very nice views of El Misti.

The bus then started to make its way back to the Plaza de Armas but before that it was possible to get off at the Tradición Arequipeña restaurant for lunch which is what we did. This restaurant serves traditional Peruvian and Arequipa food and is extremely popular with locals as well as tourists. We choose the Piqueo Tradición which was a mixture of various local dishes such as Rocoto Relleno (spicy peppers stuffed with mincemeat, cheese and potato), zarza de patitas (lambs trotters seasoned with onions), papa a la huancaína (potatoes covered in a spicy sauce) and chicharrón de chancho (deep-fried pork served with an onion and tomato salad). We washed all of this down with two large bottles of the local beer Arequipeña. The most popular drink in the restaurant seemed to be Inca Kola, the bright yellow soft drink which isn´t really a cola at all. It is far more popular in Peru than Coca Cola with Pepsi Cola being virtually non-existent. All in all, it was a very nice meal and we left the restaurant very full.