South America : Peru : Altiplano : Arequipa

Arequipa

Table of Contents:
Culture and History / Travel to Arequipa, visa requirements Flights to Arequipa, airtickets Buses to Arequipa By train / Get around / Arequipa attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Arequipa nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Budget / Stay safe / Get out

Arequipa is a fairly large, but still beautiful, city located just below the edge of the Peruvian Altiplano.

Culture and History

It's nicknamed the 'white city', because many of the buildings in the area are built using sillar, a rock coming from some of the many volcanoes that surround the city including the towering El Misti. Ask for local help to identify the three volcanoes surrounding the city. Also check out the sites.

Travel to Arequipa, visa requirements

Flights to Arequipa, airtickets

By far the easiest way to get in to / out of Arequipa is by plane. Lan flys twice daily from around $37.

Buses to Arequipa

Several buses a day do the long trips to Cuzco (10 hours, 60 soles), Puno, Camana (3 or 4 hours, 10 soles), Pisco (10-12 hours, 30-100 soles), Nazca, Lima (cheap bus for 30 soles, takes 15 hours, more expensive buses are faster) and Tacna (near the border with Chile).

In general, you get what you pay for with buses, but it still doesn´t hurt to ask about the quality of the bus before you buy your ticket. Some of the more reputable companies are Ormeño and Cruz del Sur.

By train

Charter trains to Juliaca and Puno are only available for groups of 40 or more.

Get around

The best way to get around is by taxi. The attractions around Plaza des Armas can be reached by foot. You can hail taxis just from the sidewalk. Taxis have a meter but they don't use it. Make sure you bargain a bit. The target price for city rides should be around 3-4 soles depending on distance. Some cab drivers try to rip you off by saying prices are per head but price is always per ride for all passengers. Allow for a minor extra for luggage.

Arequipa attractions and sightseeing

Visit some of the many markets in the centre of Arequipa.

See Juanita Mummy. From May to November the main exhibit is the Dama de Ampato, also known as Juanita. Found close to the main square is the Museum of the Catholic University, with the interesting exhibition of frozen bodies of sacrificial victims found in the neighbouring volcanoes.

There are some interesting shops geared towards tourists, including Patio del Ekeko, free WiFi included. The old Jesuit convent, half a block from the Plaza de Armas, is free to enter and has very good shops for fine Alpaca garments and local products. The place itself is very nice.

Visit the Catholic colonial-era Convento de Santa Catalina. It is quite close to the Plaza de Armas.

One of the newest attractions is the Convento de Santa Teresa, a little off the usual tourist areas in downtown Arequipa. Not as interesting architectonically as Santa Catalina, some of the paintings and artifacts are stunning.

Nearby, in the old countryside, is the Molino de Sabandía (Sabandía Mill), a three centuries old water mill, set in the old Arequipa countryside.

A visit to the Colca Canyon is recommended. It's at least four uncomfortable hours' drive from Arequipa, including a rather long stretch over 4,800 meters high, so take care with the altitude. You'll have to pay an entrance fee when arriving to Chivay, a nice and very friendly town at the beginning of the canyon, with good hotels and hostals. Once thought to be the deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon (nearby Cotohuasi Canyon is actually deeper at 11,488 ft (3501m)). Here you can do a spot of walking, or else go up to the "Cruz del Condor", where you can normally see the magnificent sight of many condors soaring around you. Look around for the towns with a lot of local colour, and very cheap handicrafts and garments. If travelling during the southern summer, the views are stunning thanks to the abundance of greenery; there is a significant risk of rain though.

City tours

THE COLCA CANYON

The Colca Valley is an area of astounding scenic beauty, with giant Andean terraces and a deep canyon that reach a depth of 3140 metres. A journey to the Colca Valley will take throughout high Andean plateau, reaching at one point a high pass of 4800 metres, which offers fine views of the Volcanoes. Along the way visitors can enjoy unique natural sceneries, as well as animal life; such as herds of Vicuñas (a wild relative of Llamas and Alpacas) and various types of birds, of which stand out the giant hummingbird, eagles, gooses and the mighty Andean Condor. If you like adventure tours, the Canyon also offers wonderful treks down to its button, descending throughout huge mountains, exploring oasis-like valleys, thermal springs, and camping outdoors.

Good restaurants and cheap meals

Around Plaza des Armas you will find a lot of people approaching you with menu cards and offer you a free drink, etc. Check prices and haggle a bit for an extra free drink. Food in general is good but not outstanding.

You should definitely eat Rocoto relleno con pastel de papa, a stuffed, quite large pepper with potato pie, in the Lucila in Sachaca, or in many other fine restaurants around. Ask beforehand if it has been made for "tourists" or if it is the original, quite hot, style; if the last one, be careful, it can be extremely hot!

Try Alpaca steaks!

As with all Peruvian food: local delicacies are heavy and sometimes very hot. Try them with care, especially since the height of the city (around 2,600 meters) makes digestion slow. Take a mate de coca, coca-leaf tea, after meals: it does help digestion and makes the altitude more bearable.

Restaurant Vegariano Su-hua Wang, Calle Moral 205, has excellent vegetarian Chinese food for good prices. Closed on Sundays.

Govinda - Hare Krishna Vegetarian and Pizza, Sometimes they have a buffet, if not get the Menu Turistico, a 4 course meal for 15 soles which includes homemade yogurt, a Peruvian specialty, and your choice of entree among several Indian and Italian options. Everything is fresh and organic or locally grown. Eat outdoors and don´t go if you are in a hurry, expect it to take an hour as one person is preparing each part of your meal from scratch.

Picanteria La Lucila Sachaca, still run by Sra Lucila Salas de Ballon, it's a short taxi ride out of town. Old style kitchen with Cuy (Guinea Pigs) eating scraps in the corner, and Lucila still makes her sauces the old way as she keeps an eye on everything and everyone.

Arequipa nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

The local booze is Anis Najar, or aniseed liquor. Chicha is normally a fermented, corn-based drink, that can be around 8 percent alcohol, but is normally weaker.

The local beer is called Arequipeña. It's good compared to other South American beer.

The local soft drink is Kola Escocesa, not as sweet as Inca Kola. There is abundance of diet and water drinks in the city and even in smaller towns around.

Also try Pisco sour which is a Peruvian cocktail. As well as Inca Kola, which is a Peruvian soft drink.

Hotels, youth hostels, lodging

Budget

Close to Plaza de Armas.

Hotel Viza, calle Peru #202, [1]. Three blocks from the Plaza de Armas, $25 a nice room, includes breakfast and the best thing is that it includes pick up from the airport.
The Arequipa Youth Hostel, at Zela 313, is 13 soles per person per night, run by a really friendly rasta guy.
La Reyna, Zela 209. A nice place, has double rooms for 30 soles. (On the rooftop you might be able to use a wireless internet connection - not from the hotel.)
Colonial House Inn, Calle Puente Grau 114. A huge, beautiful room for $27, the rest are cheaper, and all rooms include the best breakfast you´ve ever eaten, all prepared freashly from scratch by the nice girls who run the place when you ask for it. Taxi drivers in Arequipa seem to have no idea about addresses, so tell them its "arriba de la Plaza."
Bothy Hostel, Calle Puente Grau 109, Telephone +5154 282438. It is a lovely, warm and welcoming hostel with a sunny terrace, kitchen use, DVD room, hammocks and very helpful staff. 20 soles a night (6 $US)
Home Sweet Home, Rivero 509, Telephone +5154 405982. A very nice family run hostel. Friendly staff. Prices are around 20 soles a night per person (6 $US). Great breakfast is freshly prepared and served at the hostel for 2.5 soles.
Hostal Lluvia de Oro, Jerusalen 308, lluvia_de_oro@hotmail.com. About three blocks from the main Plaza, very friendly and a safe location in front of the tourist police station, nice patio and pick up from airport is available as well.

Stay safe

All the usual advice given for Peru applies really. Arequipa feels like a somewhat safe city, and like in most of the other major Peruvian cities there was always a fairly large police presence. That said, don't unnecessarily flaunt your valuables or your money. Despite of this, there have been several robberies reported. DO NOT walk alone after 11pm in the downtown area!

In the downtown area, there is a fairly large presence of tourist police, wearing white shirts. Ask them for help.

The most common form is when a foreigner takes a no-name cab and some corners later other people are picked up to rob the tourist. To be safe, don't just hail any old cab that passes by. Always take branded taxis (of which you can see plenty). Several of these branded taxis are very careful about the owners/drivers they take on. Consequently, they are very reliable. The best of these is the "Turismo Arequipa" company with a green and white logo (watch out for fakes). "Taxitel" is also good.

The safest way to call a taxi is to ask your hotel or hostel to do it for you. Almost all hostels and hotels have a relationship with a taxi company whose drivers are known and trusted. This holds for the rest of Peru as well.

Get out

Chachani 6057 meters above sea level. Arrange transport with one of the adventure tour guides in town and be prepared for a 2-hour bumpy, swerving, scary drive around sharp curves up steep mountain roads. The base camp is over 5000 meters and the views are spectacular. If you are well-acclimated and have gear (ice axes and crampons) you should be able to summit from high camp in just over 8 hours. Otherwise just hike up the switchbacks to high camp (don´t stay there, you can´t sleep well at that altitude. Heed the mountaineer´s motto: "Hike high, Lie low") and then on to the col, from which you can see the beautiful view of Arequipa and surrounding mountains. The trek beyond can be dangerous if you´re not an experienced mountaineer. If you are, be prepared for a tough slog up dangerous scree and a trecherous traverse, and make sure you feel up to the return trip.

El Misti 5822 meters above sea level. Is a 2 day climb there are a lot of agencies in Arequipa offering the climb for around $50 US. First night camps at approx 4600m so it gets very cold. You wake up at 1am to make the summit for sunrise. Not at all a technical climb, you can pretty much walk to the top. It helps to be acclimatised as you can get pretty breathless up there.