Arequipa, Huacachina & Lima

Huacachina, Peru 

Although arriving in a new city at 5 am is never ideal, it gives us time to wander the streets of Arequipa before the city had truly woken up. It felt like the kind of place where the skies were always blue and this proved to be true for our time there. 

Near empty streets alongside our favourite plaza in South America so far

The second biggest city in Peru, Arequipa's colonial centre is built almost singularly from sillar - a white volcanic rock found in the area. With a few days to take in the sights we potter through the endless courtyards tucked away all over the city. 

George became quite besotted with the architecture of Arequipa. I had to agree, it was a truly beautiful city. Above left is part of a university, to the right, another cafe-lined laneway.

First signs that Christmas is sometime soon

More courtyard goodness

A great spot to spend the evening - Mt Chachani in the background

At the end of our third day we arrive at the bus station in Arequipa to find it packed with people, but very few buses to be seen. It transpires there are protests near Lima and none of the buses have been able to make the trip down the coast. This is slightly problematic, only for the reason that we have booked a bus out of Lima for a few days time and had planned to stop along the way up there. We manage to secure a spot on the bus for the following night and decide there are far worse places you could be stranded.

Arches. Arches and taxis.

The delay allows us to see more of the city - George has read there is an iron bridge designed by Eiffel in town and a walk along the river and through some plush suburbs brings us there.

10,000km from Paris, Eiffel's contribution to Arequipa. Not so much the icon as the tower.

The following day our bus has made the trip from Lima and we depart for Ica on time. We had planned to spend a night in Huacachina, an oasis town about 15 minutes from Ica, but the delays have ruined that idea. Our hostel with whom we had our reservation invites us to come and spend the day by their pool and we make the most. Four o'clock rolls around all to quickly and we are off in dune buggies to see the surrounding area and give sand boarding a try.

Dune buggy

Endless sand

George makes his way down

Lima is only a few hours up the road from Huachachina so it's back on the bus for a quick stopover. With about 6 hours to explore Lima, we keep it to a minimum.

A walk along the coast (El Parque de Amor)

And eating

Having heard that Lima is the has the best food in the world (from an Argentinian, no less) we decide a meal of Peruvian-Japanese fusion will be our last before the 28 hour bus journey that lies ahead of us...

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