The White City

WHERE IS RACHAEL NOW: LIMA, PERU

Arequipa, Peru

August 14-17

From Arica, we crossed the border to Peru in a little crowded bus into Tacna, Peru's border town. We transfered there onto a bigger bus headed to our first Peruvian city stop..

We got into Arequipa, The White City,  in the late afternoon to a hostel called "The Point". There are several Points in Peru, located in all the main cities. It is a chill place, more graffiti on the wall, foosball, pool, hammocks, and a hot tub. We had come to Arequipa purposefully on the night before the 15th, since that was the day of the festival of the Arequipenas, the native settlers of the area, and their still thriving culture in the city. However when we got there, we found out that yes, the festival was the next day, but tonight was the night everyone went out to party. What else was there to do but grab a bite to eat, freshen up a bit, and go out! We left for the central plaza, Plaza de Armas, and ran into a huge crowd. Fortunately we made it to a rooftop bar where we had our first drinks of Peru. It was quite a learning experience when I was thinking of having a Piscola, or a pisco with coke, and was told by one of the guys I was with that they Never made those in Peru..it was a travesty to put cola with pisco. Knowing Chile and Peru's long argument over all things pisco, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco I held my tongue and asked them to suggest one. Thus began my trend for Peru's Chilcano (pisco, grenadine, and lime). 
In the morning we headed out to the parade that wound through the city. It featured groups from all different southern and central american indigenous groups. We found ourself a nice window ledge to perch on, but still couldn't see very well. The rest of the day we wandered around and rested in the hostel's bar and hammocks. 

Dancers in costume

The Point hostels are known for being party houses. That night we played their famed "Giant Jenga". The blocks were literally the size of bricks and the tower started around shoulder-height. The rules were as follows:

Too Easy- 1shot Too Long (time)- 1shot Wrong Way- 1shot Two Hands- 1shot Knees- 1shot 

Helping- 1shot  Something Stupid- 1shot Losing- 2shots

You weren't able to get through a turn without having to take at least one shot. Even if you thought you had done well, the "judge" usually gave you a shot for doing something "stupid" or too easy. You only had to pay for the shots if you lost. After about 10 people, during your turn you would have to wear a hardhat in case the tower fell and for most, use a step-stool to reach the top. After jenga, there was limbo, and then some crazy dancing.

Never lost!

After we all got ourselves out of bed the next morning, myself, Ashley, and three others from our room headed out to do some more exploring.  We first went to the Museo Santuarios Andinos where Juanita the Ice Princess is kept. Juanita was about 12 years old in the late 1400's when she was sacrificed on top of Mt. Misti as a sacrifice to the gods from the Incas. At one point, the ice where she had been buried melted and re-froze again, preserving her in ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita  There was a funny moment when the guide asked our group where we were from..After stumbling for a bit, we just replied that we spoke english. Though she looked at us weirdly, it would have taken longer to say "these three from America, she's from England, and he's from Australia."

 It's been great being with people from all other the world and Ashley and I have really enjoyed picking up some non-US english slang too!  

Arequipa and Mt. Misti

We also went to the Convento de La Recoleta which is a Franciscan convent founded in 1848.IT features rooms of art from all decades and to top it all off, a huge library consisting of over 20,000 ancient texts. 

Unfortunately, on our last day here, while packing, I discovered my camera to be missing. It was never found and since Arequipa, I have been traveling camera-less. All the photos form this post and from now on, are all from Ashley's camera. 

After Arequipa, we took a quick and unplanned detour to the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca.