Andean Explorations – 6: Arequipa
Previous post: Lima to Arequipa| Next post: Andean Condors in Colca
Arequipa is the capital of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. It is the second most populous city of the country and lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,380 meters, overseen by the snow-capped volcano El Misti. The city has many colonial-era Spanish buildings built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic rock, from which it gets the nickname La Ciudad Blanca (“The White City”). The historic centre of Arequipa was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000, in recognition of its architecture and historic integrity. Arequipa is a city of Artists, and they say that everyone can not only play atleast one musical instrument but also sing well.
Streets in Arequipa downtown are very clean
I dropped my bags at the Point Hostel and took a quick shower and a quick nap. All my dorm roommates were barely legal Australian girls who spoke with thick accents. Some of them had been to India so they were thrilled to see me, but I obviously wasn’t interested to explore the city with them.
Street
The hostel is located about 15 minutes away from the city center and the walk is pleasurable. I guess Arequipa is an old city, judging by the narrowness of the street and the ancient look overall.
Colonial Church. The Spanish built huge churches all over Peru (and South America). These are important landmarks of cities now.
The very noticeable thing is the number of policemen, they are so many. One or two posted on every little street corner. There were also a large number of civic cleaners who dusted the streets clean. I liked the way Arequipa looked. The central square, Plaza de Armas is stunning. There is a huge colonial cathedral on the north side and several colonial structures in the alleys surrounding the Plaza.
Potato soup, a staple diet in Peru
Previous post: Lima to Arequipa| Next post: Andean Condors in Colca
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I like your observation on the so called touristy crowd..haha!
Interesting post on the City of Artists and lovely pictures Priyank. Thank you for sharing.:)
↵im waiting for the condors..and thats a nice bit on the name of the restaurant..I can identify with the pronunciation to a certain extent as people here kill my name with a “X “instead of the “ksh ” .
↵Lakshmi
Peru is considered to such an exotic destination! Someone said you can’t get Veg food there but going by your account doesn’t seem to be true?
↵That potato soup looks really good. mmmm big helping too.
Priyank- I changed my blog around. You need to get rid of the /index.html from the link otherwise it won’t work!
↵Celine: Thanks, I’m sure you share my views to a great extent!
↵Lakshmi: rather, Lak-mee, yes thats more appropriate for Peruvians
↵Mridula: Yes it is exotic. It’s mostly non-veg food (and I had that too) but if you are looking for vegetarian food, there are many options. There is a large scale awareness about this.
↵Matt: Yea it was delicious. Initially I was a bit hesitant though. I have changed your blog url in my list. cheers
↵Hey, Came to your blog after ages and as usual the pics are awesome dude. Drop me a mail before you come to Chicago. Keep smiling
↵Pijush: Nice to see you here after a long time. I am glad to know that you like the pictures.
↵touristy crowd! I know!. Nicely written and the soup is yummy
↵Gauri: hehehe, yes yes.
↵Priyank, excellent pictures of the streets!
↵Shantanu:Glad you liked them!
↵Priyank, I have been going through your posts on the Andes and I must say that you seem to have surpassed yourself. Your work is so good that there is no point posting it on the blog. I would advise you to first take these pictures down, make a manuscript, and try to sell the work in the form of a book. Or at least try and approach a prominent newspaper or magazine in India and get them to publish your work.
↵Nita:
I am both, delighted and worried after reading your comment. Coming from you, this is a HUGE deal for me and I can’t think of enough words to thank you.
Regarding the other thing, I will write you an email. I think this is not publishable content but then, you have a better eye. I really like to blog though…
↵[...] with me as I traveled through Peru. The journey started from Miraflores in Lima, moved south to Arequipa, where we saw the mighty Condors and trekked in Colca canyon – the world’s deepest canyon. [...]
↵Wow! I so loved your posts! I am from Arequipa myself hence I love this beautiful city! I was raised as a Hare Krishna devotee since childhood and have been in India many times plus my husband is Indian. So I can say I know a lot of Indian culture. My husband has been hesitant to visit Peru despite of all the Macchu Picchu advertising but I think after reading your great posts on Peru, he will finally give in!
↵If he does I will thank you with all my heart!
Anandamukhi
Hi Ananadamukhi, Welcome and nice to hear from you. I loved Arequipa a lot. Unfortunately it was the only place where I did not eat at a Hare Krishna restaurant. I tried hard to find one but couldn’t. In rest of the places, it was very good. I hope your husband is motivated by the story of another Indian boy who went to Machu Picchu and he goes there. Peru is a wonderful country, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks again!
↵Hi, They don’t have a restaurant anymore in Arequipa. The Govinda they had long time ago was bought by some people who changed the name to Laksmi Van. They also lost the temple and now they only meet for satsangs in their own houses. It is amazing the way that Krishna came to such remote country! My dad had one of the first encounters with the Krishna devotees in Peru. He was already vegetarian as he had been reading about Gandhi, Geeta and Yoga and then one day on a trip to Cuzco he saw a monk wearing a saffron dhoti that was very strange. My dad went and ask if he was Indian. It turns out he was an American sannyasin that had just arrived to Cuzco to see about opening a temple. He was staying at a hotel. My dad invited him to come to Arequipa and stay at our place. This was 73 or so I wasn’t born yet, they came and stayed with us while they sold books the Hare Krishna way (in the streets). Later they found that Lima was better suitable to open first temple and so they did. I moved there when I was 7 and saw the temple become the largest Krishna temple in South America (until Brazil beat them).
Did you know that in Lima the community of Sindhis owned cinemas and even brought old Bolliwood movies to the public? I remember, in my childhood, I would sneak out of the temple with my friends just to watch bolliwood movies. Tickets were half off on Tuesdays and Thursdays only for the Bolliwood nights. They put very old movies like boot polish, Mother India, Joker in those theaters. Now you can even find the latest pirated movies in all stands over there (or so I am informed). I look back in wonder at how open our little country was and still is to foreign culture.
↵I am glad you enjoyed your trip there,
Anandamukhi
Hi Anandamukhi,
That’s a fascinating story!! I was so surprised at the intensity of Hare Krishna movement there. I did eat at Lakshmivan (the picture of potato soup is from that place).
In Cusco, I encountered a girl who sand Hindi songs and I was shocked. I also found CD’s and DVD’s of movies being sold. And in Lima (where I spent little time), I met a girl who had got everything Indian in her house, I felt quite strange!
Its wonderful that the world is mixing up in mysterious ways.
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