la ciudad blanca (sabado, 11 septiembre)

After lunch we headed back to the bus station, where I met a couple from Argentina and this guy from Scotland. I felt pretty useful because I was able to help translate for the Scotsman. The bus ride took longer than expected, but it wasn´t awful because at least I was able to read on the bus.

Finally we arrived in Arequipa around 8pm. I took a cab to the Plaza de Armas, and after walking just a little bit found a pretty nice hostel called Le Foyer. The rooms are arranged over a second-story courtyard type of place with plants. For dinner I ate at this place overlooking the Plaza de Armas, but after that felt pretty tired so I went to bed.

Today I woke up, showered, got dressed, and went to a cafe where I drank maté de coca. Then I walked to el Museo Santuario which focuses on Incan rituals regarding human sacrifice and death. Juanita, the Incan ice princess, was on display there. It was interesting learning about how the Incans believed it was an honor to be the ´chosen one´to be sacrificed to communicate with the gods. I learned about their rituals and traditions, and enjoyed the visit.

Then we walked around the markets. I saw a sign advertising for ´jugo de rana´and blurted out, `I wonder what that is,´thinking that it couldn´t possibly be what it translated to...frog juice. Unfortunately, the co-worker I´d been traveling with decided to order some. I was so upset when I saw the lady behind the counter pull a live frog out of a container, whack it to death on the counter, and drop it into the blender. At that point I had to walk away because I felt completely angry and sickened by the treatment of that poor frog. My co-worker didn´t seem to think it was a big deal, but all I could remember was that frog´s beady little eyes and how I wished I could have rescued him before such a brutal death. It made me miss Louie and all the other amphibians I´ve had as pets. It also made me miss Kyle because I know he´d never order frog juice in front of me.

After the markets I ate lunch at a place called Fez near the Plaza de Armas where I ordered falafel and a coca sour. It was amazing, but it made me remember the awesome falafel I bought from a street vendor in Prague (which to this day is still the best falafel I´ve ever had). We got on the bus to Chivay. The bus ride itself wasn´t bad, and the altitude didn´t really bother me. I read for a while but mostly watched the scenery of the Colca Valley. When we got off the bus I was annoyed because people were knocking into me and not even apologizing. Sometimes I get claustrophobic in small spaces with lots of people and noise. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were bothered by pesky vendors trying to make us buy different things and tell us about their hostel. The place we ended up finding was called Hospedaje Rumi Wasi and they had a pet alpaca living in the courtyard. I walked around the streets for a while and bought some potato kebabs from a street vendor, which were really good, especially since they came with ají salsa. We played pool at this place, which was fun because I hadn´t played pool in a while. It definitely made me miss all the times Mike and I used to play pool, but hopefully there will be more of those times at some point. We ended up eating dinner at this Irish pub where I ordered vegan pizza.

The plan is to head to Cabanaconde tomorrow to see the condors. I´m anxious to get to Cusco though. I can´t wait for my Sacred Valley / Machu Picchu trip! Chivay is nice, but a bit too small for my taste. I appreciate the beauty of this place, but I´m definitely a big city person at heart.

written by  Sara Florecita on September 11, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru
from the travel blog: año de dos inviernos (Chile 2010)
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