La ciudad blanca - Day 1 in Arequipa

Last week, I took a trip through the southern Andes of Peru with two friends.

Our tour started in Arequipa, after nearly 18 hours of exhausting bus ride! Arequipa is a very small and quiet city compared to Lima, where you can reach all the main buildings and places on foot.

                                                                    

After a delicious German-Peruvian breakfast in the garden of a charming café, we visited a large market in Arequipa. They sell fruits and vegetables that I have hardly seen in Lima before.

                                        

                                                

From there, we continued to the heart of the city, the Plaza de Armas. There is also a museum where you can see Juanita. Juanita is the equivalent of Ötzi, a mummy found in the ice. Many hundreds of years ago, she was sacrificed as a religious offering during the Inca era.

                                              

In the afternoon, we visited the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a large and well-known monastery in Arequipa. This monastery has been around for many years, and even today, nuns live in a part of the property.

                                          

Another part of the monastery has been preserved as it was used centuries ago to show visitors the life back then.

                                         

With its colorful buildings and narrow streets, the monastery still has its charm and invites you to take a peaceful stroll.

                                            

                                                                      

In the evening, we continued to our next destination, so we could unfortunately only see the district of Arequipa.

My conclusion about Arequipa is: I definitely want to come back here someday!