A Day In Arequipa

The historical center of Arequipa reminds you a lot of a European city with all the Spanish style buildings. The city also has a magnificent backdrop with mount Chachani, one of the worlds “easiest” 6000m climbs in the world and Mount Misti an active volcano almost 5900m high. The Spanish style buildings also get their white colour to the volcanic rock it is made of.

The Market

We spend a day exploring the city center. First we went and checked out the local market just a block from our hostel. The smells and energy is something to expierence. Selling anything from meats to fruits you can get anything here and at a CRAZY cheap price. You can also get some really good street food for 3 soles or less. We ended up buying most of our food for our stay in the city here. 

 

Basilica Cathedral

This huge catholic cathedral definitely shows the wealth of the Catholic Church with gold, silver, and precious gemstones inside. It is across from the city plaza where you can see people feeding pigeons and just relaxing. If you want to enter the Church you need to pay a small amount and have a guided tour with the tip being up to you. The tour takes you through the main hall where you can see the saints and apostils lining the sides of the hall with the organ at the back and a side room with a black Jesus on the cross. Then you are taken to see all the artifacts from gold chalices to the robes the priests wore. The tour seemed a bit rushed though. You are then taken to the roof where you can see most of Arequipa and the bells they used.

Juanita the Ice Maiden

This was definitely something we were all very excited to see. None of us has ever experienced anything like this before. Who is the Ice Maiden? To keep it short without going in to much detail a girl was found at the peak of a sacred mountain in Peru. Frozen for hundreds of years in perfect condition. Who was she? She was a human sacrifice given to the gods (the mountains) by the Incas. On the same mountain other children were found lower down. You can go and see her in the state she has been for hundreds of years. When you arrive you check all your stuff at the counter for there are no cameras allowed at all. Then you watch a short very interesting film on the history of the Ice Maiden after which you are taken on a guided tour to see all the artifacts found with her and the others. The tour ends with seeing her frozen in a glass box right in front of you. It is a very surreal experience

Santa Catalina Monastery

 This monastery was built in 1579 the monastery accepted only women from upper class Spanish families. Each family paid 2,400 silver coins, equivalent to about 150,000 dollars today. The monastery is huge spreading over a whole block. It has very colorful walls and you can get lost inside for hours. When you enter you are asked if you would like a guided tour. This takes about an hour and I am sure is very interesting but I decided to do it on my own. It took me about an hour and a half but I would suggest 2 – 3 hours. There is so much to see. The entrance is 35 Soles which is a bit steep but definitely worth it.