After almost missing our connection in Lima to Arequipa late on Monday, Sept 9th, we arrive around 10pm in our cute little hotel (Casona de Asia) in the heart of the city. We skip dinner and quickly crawl into bed. At 5:30am we suddenly hear – right in front of our window – a loud, metallic version of Lambada, followed by someone speaking into a loudspeaker “Muchas gracias! Asta mañana!”. It was so bizarre! That was a daily ritual for the three nights we were there, only with a different song each time. Turns out that that is the town’s friendly garbage collection. Fortunately that is not the most interesting thing to say about this beautiful, vibrant city, just one of the funny, random things that make travel memories.
Arequipa is Peru’s second most important city, roughly a tenth the size of Lima with 900k inhabitants. It is in the South and a popular gateway to both Cusco and Lake Titicaca. A student town and full of proud Inca and pre-Incan heritage, it is a lively, fun place to spend a few days. The architecture is beautiful with lots of pretty courtyards mixing colonial and pre-colonial elements, cafés and restaurants abound and ladies selling Arequipa’s legendary “queso helado” (a creamy ice cream sometimes mixed with cinnamon or other spices) on every corner. We enjoyed the city’s vibe from the onset and would have loved to hang around a couple days more but we were keen on doing the Colca Canyon (see separate post) and our tickets for Machu Picchu on the 17th were not changeable so only 2 days it was. On Tuesday we just gamble around town, enjoying the streets and stopping for a Coca infusion overlooking the pretty Plaza de Armas where the kids play catch.
Picanteria food roasted cuy 
Equipped for altitude temps 
Veggie restaurants abound! 
That evening we have our much anticipated reservation at Gaston Acurio’s Chicha (he is the chef who put Peru on the culinary map a good 10 years ago) which also marks the 2 month anniversary of our departure (already!). We had asked the kids to think about what they would like to do differently for the next few months of our trip and they would share it with us that evening. Nilay complained of a belly ache most of the day, and on the way to the restaurant he gets sick. He insists that he was well enough to keep us company at the restaurant, though, where the server is someone taken aback when Nilay gets sick again upon arriving at the table. But he still insists and so Vyas and Anjali get to share their very first tasting menu, keeping Thierry and I company. They’re so excited and spirits are high that we do not mind that the food is overall disappointing. During the dinner, the kids present us their ideas and we love (most of 😉 ) them. We vote for: setting up museum “treasure hunts” (Anjali’s mission which she as of yet still has to put into action 😆), seeing more animals and a “crazy picture” competition à la Amélie Poulain’s travelling dwarf (somehow I am more into this than the kids 🤔!).
That evening Nilay’s weak stomach turns into a full on stomach bug, and thus a sleepless (and messy) night for him and I. With our plan to leave for a pretty touch 3 day hike in the Colca Canyon 24h later, I’m worried whether that is even doable. We decide to still maintain our plans and worst case I will just stay put in the canyon while Thierry walked with Vyas and Anjali. Is it thanks to the homeopathy from Narmada’s lucky Bhutan pouch or all the new fruits we ate or just good fortune, we don’t know, but the next day the worst is already over and Nilay in better spirits. After a leisurely morning stroll we take part in the city walking tour which turns out fun. We also buy our alpaca wool hats and bonnets, after all we’re going to be heading pretty high up the next few days. I want to stock up on healthy provisions for our trek so the boys and I take off to the lovely Mercado San Camilo, a local food hall bustling with locals negotiating their produce, bags of toasted corn, butchered guinea pigs and mountains and mountains of colourful fruit and vegetables. Needless to say that I am in heaven. Also needless to say that I am incapable of moderation in this environment and so stock up on what turns into about 6kg of guanabana, guavas, grenadillas, chirimoya and more. We lug it all back across town to our hotel, quickly pack our bags and then Thierry and I pioneer a new concept which will become a regular, I believe: Anjali the babysitter and movie night while Thierry and I enjoy a quiet dinner just the two of us, in this case at Maido’s Sushipop. Tomorrow morning 6am wake up: we’re sad to leave this pretty town and its musically happy garbage trucks, but excited to discover the much raved about Colca Canyon. Considering how much is left to be seen in Peru, we’re not worried: this is just an au revoir, we will be back!
