The main reason I ventured to Arequipa was to experience the Colca Canyon, touted as the worlds deepest canyon and home of the Andean condor. It isn’t close, but the journey is well worth the reward. Most people choose to spend two days or more hiking into the canyon and […]
Monthly Archives: March 2017
32 posts
Get up close and personal with llama and alpaca at this fun and free attraction! Mundo Alpaca is set away from the historic district in Arequipa, but it’s worth the walk if you’re an animal lover. In the front is a store where you can buy high quality alpaca clothing, […]
Set in a beautiful courtyard La Despensa is a lovely little café to grab a sweet treat – quite close to the Santa Catalina Monastery. Sure, they have tempting pastries from all different places of origin…but I love to eat the local delicacies. When I saw suspiro de limeña on […]
This is my childhood fantasy: a restaurant based on potatoes. The motif doesn’t come out of nowhere, Peruvians have cultivated thousands of potato variations. I was the pickiest eater as a kid, but I would eat anything potato with gusto. Who knows, Peru might have been my favorite place to […]
Yanahuara is quiet neighborhood a short walk from the historic district in Arequipa. Up the gentle hill and under the arch is a special square that feels so far from the city. Try your luck at catching a glimpse of El Misti, but remember you can learn a lot from […]
Lunch at a picanteria is a true Arequipan tradition. They’re only open during the day and have a set menu including a daily soup and an entrée. Picantería La Dorita sits at the base of the hill on your way to the Yanahuara neighborhood, stop in for a bite. Unassuming […]
Wander from the historic center of Arequipa for a bit of daily local life. Behind the bright blue walls is a two level market with endless rows, seemingly bigger on the inside! The metallic smell of blood from a freshly butchered carcass, a slippery red stained floor. Bowls of chicken […]
A photographers dream. A city within a city. A slice of history. Santa Catalina Monastery is another world you would never know exists, hiding in plain sight beside the bustling streets of Arequipa. The ticket price was so steep I almost passed it up, but we had the time and […]
A young girl who made an epic journey, her story was frozen in time until a volcanic explosion uncovered her naturally mummified body 500 years later. Juanita is the one history lesson you must learn while in Arequipa. The story unfolds at the Museo Santuarios Andinos, it is told though […]
High in the desert filled with mountains sits Arequipa, different from any other city in Peru. It’s name comes from the indigenous people who inhabited the land before the Spanish conquest. Ari means peak and Quipa means behind, this is the city that lies behind El Misti – a massive […]
Arequipa is a stunning colonial city, the second most populous in Peru, and it is surrounded by towering volcanoes. It is the jump off point to visit the Colca Canyon, said to be the deepest in the world. I knew I wanted to see the city, but I was nervous […]
Every day spent traveling through Peru was magical. However, hiking Ausangate, the Rainbow Mountain was by far my most treasured memory. It was a challenging hike, and I genuinely feared for my life at times when I saw lightening crash right above my head and rain soaked me to the […]
Tickets To assure you will get into Machu Picchu, order your tickets online. You will have a few options available – a simple ticket to enter the ruins, or you can pick from two hikes, and the time slot for the hikes. How to get there The easiest way to […]
The town of Ollantaytambo is the last stop, where you catch the train to Machu Picchu town, or it is the first stop for some who plan on taking the Inca trail hike. Whatever your agenda is, make sure you get out and explore this amazing place. There are two […]
While I didn’t have time to fully explore the city of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, I did get to snag a lunch break. Descending into the valley town was a beautiful ride and there was a lot of action compared to the rural villages I had just visited. I […]