Arequipa - Blogabond

The night bus to Arequipa was surprisingly comfortable and I got decent sleep (only woke up a few times when the bus took particularly sharp turns along the [[United-States/Mountainside]] roads). Martin had joined us in Cuzco and was pretty beat in Arequipa after multiple flights from BA plus the overnight bus. We arrived around 6am and found out that we couldn't check into our hostel until noon. We groggily stumbled around the city for a few hours, got some breakfast and went to a museum where "Juanita" the famous "ice mummy" was housed. The incas occasionally sacrificed children to the Mountain gods, and explorers had uncovered some of the bodies that had been preserved in thick ice up in the Mountains for hundreds of years. Pretty interesting exhibit aside from us being very tired.

We then walked around the main plaza and stopped for a drink by a cafe. We were sitting there enjoying ourselves when a few locals began hassling the waiter for a table, a few minutes passed and next thing we knew Martin's backpack was gone. Stolen right in front of us! I had read about this type of distraction theft but didn't think it would happen at noon in broad daylight. Luckily, Martin had all his important documents and wallet in his pockets so only lost some clothing and a few other things. Some crazy welcome for him to Peru though...

We checked into our hostel and then went out to explore the city again - this time extra careful with our belongings. We visited some markets, got lunch, and planned our excursion to Colca Canyon for the next day. Arequipa celebrates the day it was founded on August 15th every year - perfect timing for us. We hope to catch some of the festivities when we return to the city on the 15th - but we will tomorrow day and night in the canyon.

written by

bhkann on August 14, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru

from the travel blog: Peru 2010

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