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The bus ride was awful. We were in the very front seats upstairs where it is impossible to recline with legs stretched. I ended up trying to sleep in the upright position and Graeme had even less success than did I. Arequipa is an enormous, dusty and dirty city and did not impress us as we entered from the outskirts. Our couch surfing hostess, Alexia, was late in fetching us, but very friendly and warm in her welcome. We arrived at her home and hit the shower within minutes. Nothing like a shower to make one able to face life after a lousy bus ride!!!!
We chilled for the morning, Graeme trying to sort out all sorts what with the disappearance of his phone and I caught up with WhatsApp and other odds and sods, i.e. sewing up the pockets of my rucksack that were falling apart and repacking my bag, etc, etc. After lunch Alexia took us into the down town centre where we were pleasantly surprised to find a really beautiful plaza. There is no in your face tourist tat. Everything is very discreetly displayed inside the shops and nothing is sold from the pavements. The one tourism street in the city is organised into blocks. One for nightclubs and discos, one for restaurants and eateries, one for tourist souvenir shops, etc. And so it goes until you reach the plaza which of course is filled with all the tour operators and agents. On the outskirts of the plaza one finds all the hostels and hotels. Three casinos can be found in the confines of that square. The most pleasant of all is the cleanliness of the streets, unlike those that welcomed us as we entered the city that morning.
We popped into tourist info to find out how to visit the Colca Canyon without spending a fortune. Again, our lack of Spanish was a huge disadvantage and we ended up booking a tour to the canyon after all. We were then taken to the market and goodies were purchased for Alexia to cook us a typical Peruvian home meal. Home again on the local bus. I then had a lesson in cooking Peru style and together we produced a really delicious chicken dish that cannot be reproduced at home due to the main herbal ingredient being unavailable anywhere else in the world. Went to bed early since we had to meet the tour bus on the square at 3h00 which meant catching a taxi at about 2h30.
So, I woke at midnight and could not get back to sleep. The taxi was called and arrived at 2h30. We caught the tour bus and our journey to the canyon started at 3h00. We all slept all the way there. The trip through the canyon was lovely. Not as breathtakingly beautiful as other parts, but still stunning within its dessert type character. It was very long and dusty day and the highlight for most people on the bus was seeing the condor vulture in flight. For the two South Africans who are spoilt for wild life exposure it was nothing particularly remarkable, but certainly something awesome to watch as the creature swept the sky on the wings of the wind. The day was once again drawn out unnecessarily, and we all slept on the way home again, waking up to the city sounds and smells once again. Alexia was meant to meet us at the agency office upon our return, since we have been here for too short a time to find our way to her home.
We were an hour early so took ourselves off to McDonalds for coffee and wifi. We got the coffee. No wifi. Went back to the agency and after half an hour of waiting realised that Alexia had forgotten the arrangement. Again our lack of Spanish made it difficult to get help to contact her. However, it all worked out in the end, with a good shower and the prospect of a good night's sleep without having to get up for anything specific at any specific time.
Cheers for now as we make our way to Chile.
Until next time.
Blessings to you all
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