Jaunted

Southern Peru Field Trip / Peru Travel / Cathedrals / Food Travel / Monasteries / → All Tags

Eat, Pray and Eat Some More in Arequipa

All this week, Nathan Paluck will be filling us in on "The Real Peru" outside the capital city of Lima. Any questions or suggestions, send 'em to us here.

After sandboarding in Huacachina, I head out to Arequipa, a cozy city with an attractive colonial center and views of three nearby active volcanoes.

I arrived at 5 a.m. from an overnight bus ride. At that hour the volcanic stone used in old Arequipa buildings, called sillar, appears cold and gray. In the afternoon the sillar glows white, and at dusk it's golden brown.

Many use Arequipa – itself at 2,300 meters above sea level – as a base for hikes into the surrounding rugged territory. The volcanoes Chachani (6075 meters) and El Misti (5833 meters) beckon climbers.

more ›