There are 3 volcanoes surrounding Arequipa.  The closest one is Misti.  The Inca’s practiced ritual sacrifice of children at the summit of this mountain.  They have recovered a number of frozen mummies from the mountains near here.

 

We arrive in Plaza de Armas this morning and see these headlines on yesterday’s protest.  It translates to “Gay Pride at risk in Plaza de Armas”

 

It isn’t long before the tour sellers are pressing us to purchase a tour from them.  All of the brochures say the price for a 4 hour tour is 45 soles or a 2 hour tour for 35 soles.  The other day when we were looking for a place for lunch one tour seller discounted the 4 hour tour to 20 soles.  We’ll see what they offer today.  3 tour sellers approach us and it isn’t long before the price does drop to 20 soles each.  It is slow season and they are very motivated.

 

 

We have some time so Leslie and I go to find a geocache that we think is in a church yard nearby.  The gates are locked so we go for a walk.  On our way back down this street the aroma of freshly ground coffee grabs us.  Our coffee expericence since we arrived in Peru has not been great.  We search out the source and must stop for a cappuccino.

 

 

 

 

We arrive back in the square and find Stu comparing equipment with one of the “Official Photographers” there.

 

 

 

 

Not long after that we are boarding this bus that is only half full.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One stop we get samples of “Queso Helado” which translates to Frozen Cheese.  It is basically icecream.  The samples are great so we buy the bigger cup 🙂

 

 

 

 

Arequipa is a very large sprawling city we now see from the bus.  There is a lot of agriculture within the city limits.

 

 

There are also a lot of hills and on those hills there are houses of sorts.  These ones have a view of the Chile River that runs through the city.

 

 

On one of the other stops they offered horse back riding and a Peruvian woman with her falcon offered her bird for photographs.

 

 

 

In the river valley it is lush and green.  At this stop we sampled some of the local fruit.

 

 

 

 

This is the way they protect their property.  Broken glass along the top of a wall.

 

 

Another great day capped off with dinner at a tapas restaurant called Verbena.