Arequipa(Peru)

January 2016       Itinerary Link

Known as the White City, Arequipa is the second most populous city in Peru with 860,000 people living there. They got the nickname because the old city core is filled with baroque buildings constructed from sillar, a white volcanic stone. The downtown area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We got to Arequipa by bus from Tacna, a southern border town north of Chile. The 6-hour drive was not particularly scenic but saw some animals lazing about from time to time.

We loved just walking around downtown. There was no shortage of interesting little stores selling handicrafts, and the number of great restaurants offering top-notch food at reasonable prices surprised us.

We took a free walking tour(unfortunately, this company no longer operates in Arequipa, but there must be others), and our guide who knew the city so well and was very proud of his town took us to this beer joint called Chelawasi Public House.

Among the restaurants we tried and liked were: Zig Zag(our steaks in the photo below) and Chicha, the renowned chef Gaston Acurio’s creative restaurant in a fun setting. We splurged & spent not quite $20 per person for a nice meal at these places – granted we are not big eaters. Considering the fact that you’d easily have to spend $100pp to eat at one of Acurio’s restaurants in the U.S., we thought this would be a good chance to try his food. We were glad we did.

We(5 of us) stayed at a 3-bedroom house we found on Aibnb south of downtown. It was  a big house with comfortable rooms and three bathrooms. $90/night.

Another place our walking tour guide took us to was a little zoo where alpacas and vicunas were idling. These two animals are known for the wool they produce, and vicuna wool is the finest and the most expensive in the world.

More things to do & see: click!