Arequipa

When it came to crossing the Chilean-Peruvian border, we had done a lot of googling beforehand, but didn't find much up-to-date information. In the end, it was as simple as always, and that's how we did it: First, we took a night bus to the Chilean border town of Arica. There, we had to switch from the national to the adjacent international terminal and took one of the buses from "Aritac" that left every 15 minutes. For only 5 euros, we crossed the border into Peru. At the border crossing, we all had to get off the bus with our luggage and enter the official building of the border police. At the counter on the right side, we received the exit stamp from Chile, and at the counter just a meter away on the left side, we received the entry stamp from Peru - super easy. After that, our luggage was quickly scanned and except for one small thing, there were no problems... I wasn't allowed to bring in an onion that was left over from cooking in Antofagasta - much to Philip's delight, as he had been annoyed by it for a while now 😄. After removing the highly dangerous goods, we got back on the bus behind the border and drove to Tacna, the Peruvian border town. And so, our last bus ride in Chile became our first in Peru. In Tacna, we switched back from the international to the national terminal, where we then boarded the third and final bus to Arequipa.

16 years ago, Philip participated in a student exchange program with the German school in Arequipa. After his exchange partner Mauricio, aka Mau, had lived in Groß-Zimmern for 3 months, Philip went to Arequipa for 3 months. We were very excited that we were allowed to stay with his former host family again after such a long time and were received so warmly. We actually slept in Philip's old room and were taken care of, cooked for, and driven around. It was really great! On the day after our arrival, we went to watch a soccer game together with Gonzalo, the host father, and Pepito, who is actually called José-Carlos and is Mau's little brother. Both of them are enthusiastic fans and so we had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing a game of the "Copa Perú". What was even more fascinating for us than the game itself was the beautiful view of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa. At noon, Mau, his wife Ale, and their two adorable 6-month-old twins, Julian and Ezequiel, came over for lunch and we had a great reunion. In the afternoon, we went to a nice place with Elena, the host mother, Pepito, and his girlfriend Giane, where we tried our first "Queso helado". The name sounds strange, it would be translated as "cheese ice cream", but it is called that simply because it looks similar to cream cheese. It consists of cow's milk, condensed milk, and coconut milk, along with a kind of potato starch and cinnamon on top, and it tasted really good.

For the next day, Gonzalo organized a bus tour for us to the quarry of the so-called "Sillar". This light-colored volcanic stone was used to build many buildings in Arequipa, which is why it is also called the "white city". In general, Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and its city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although we're not big fans of such big bus tours, we saw beautiful sculptures that were carved from Sillar in recent years, and a stone wall reminded Jana a bit of Petra in Jordan. After that, we walked through a canyon that looked really beautiful in the evening sunlight. In the evening, we met up with Yusara, a friend of Philip from the time of the student exchange program, for a beer and chatted for a long time.

The next morning, we set off early for the Colca Valley. With a small group and a great tour guide, we first visited various viewpoints, saw many wild Vicuñas and some Llamas and Alpacas that we were allowed to pet. For the Peruvians, Alpacas are like sheep to us, very fluffy and very tame. Gradually, the bus drove along the mountain pass, because the Colca Valley is located quite high up, contrary to what the name suggests. Our highest viewpoint was supposed to be at almost 5000m, the "Mirador de los volcanes", from where you can see all the surrounding volcanoes. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of the view because we had our first medical mission of the trip. Just as we had gotten off the bus, we saw a 13-year-old girl faint in front of us. We quickly ran over to help - not our best idea at that altitude in hindsight - and took care of the girl. Philip secured her breathing and inspected the quite deep cut on her chin, while Jana held the girl's legs up. After a short time, she regained consciousness and we treated the cut with Steri-Strips. After the second attempt to stand up, she was able to get back on the bus and was quickly taken to the lower town of Chivay for further treatment. Unfortunately, the altitude combined with the effort really got to Philip, and his face turned the color of Queso helado. Once back on the bus, he also had to put his legs up, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that his face regained some color. After this exciting adventure, we had our well-deserved lunch, and we made friends with a Swiss couple, Joshua, who works as an elementary school teacher, and Madlaina, who is also a doctor. Our hotel in Chivay was really cute, we even had a small tower. In the afternoon, we went on a trip to a thermal bath, which had pools of varying temperatures, some with suspiciously colored water but very pleasantly warm. In the evening, we spent time in a really touristy restaurant where traditional music and dances from the region were performed. At the end, all the tourists danced in a circle, culminating in a fast round of the Macarena, which was quite exhausting at an altitude of 3600m 😄

The next morning, we drove through a few cute villages to our actual destination of the excursion, the "Cruz del Condor". This is a spot at an altitude of 3800m, with a view into a very deep canyon, from which you can see the majestic Condors rising on the warm air currents. For the Incas, there were three sacred animals: first, the Condor, which stands for the realm of the gods and the heavens, second, the Puma, which stands for the earth, and third, the Snake, which stands for the underworld. And we were lucky! In addition to the many tourists, we were able to see numerous young and old Condors soaring through the air. Sometimes they even flew really close to us and over our heads. The young ones are brown, the adults are black and white with a white collar. Their wingspan is an impressive 3.10m and the Condors can fly at altitudes of 6000-7000m! After this spectacle, we stopped at two viewpoints from where we could see many terraces that were built for agriculture even before the time of the Incas. The nature was simply beautiful! Afterwards, we returned to Arequipa, where we watched the new "Transformer" movie in the evening with Pepito, Giane, and their daughter Mia. Prices here in Peru are generally much cheaper than in Chile or Germany, but the cinema really only cost next to nothing. Thanks to a discount promotion, we paid only 11 euros for 5 movie tickets! We surprisingly understood a lot of the film, even though there were no subtitles, and funny enough, a large part of it took place in Cusco and Machu Picchu, where we will soon be going. As a "snack", we had two incredibly large bags of popcorn, which is usually eaten salty here, but for us, it was half-sweet and half-salty.

We took the next day easy, driving with Gonzalo and Elena to Philip's former school and to the university where Gonzalo works. Afterwards, the two of them took us to the city center, where Philip showed Jana his highly coveted shopping paradise "Siglo 20". There, you can find all sorts of fake brands from Adidas to Louis Vuitton at a low price, which Philip loved when he was 15 😄. In the evening, we met up with Yusara again for a Pisco Sour and strolled through the bar and disco district where the German and Peruvian students used to dance. After a small dinner, we drove back home. Unfortunately, Jana had eaten something that didn't agree with her and had to vomit in the night 🤢.

A bit weakened from the night and still feeling queasy in Jana's stomach, we didn't plan much for the next day. We visited the monastery "Monasterio de Santa Catalina", which is located in the city center, is huge, and has been beautifully restored. In the evening, we all met at Mau's place, had dinner together, and looked at old pictures that brought back many beautiful memories.

On Saturday, we drove to Mau's place again together with Pepito and Giane. This time, a legendary table tennis match was on the agenda. We learned that Mau had been a national champion at the age of 12, but Philip and Pepito each managed to beat him once 💪🏼. We cuddled a lot with the cute twins and had a nice afternoon overall before it was time to say goodbye. After that, we went to Yusara's place again to say "Adiós y hasta luego!" to her as well. Then we quickly went home to pack our backpacks because our next night bus was already waiting. Philip managed to get the ailing Jana, pumped full of all the nausea medication that our travel pharmacy had to offer, onto the bus to endure the journey well. The bus was even better than in Chile, it almost felt like being on an airplane.

So now we're heading to Cusco, the most important city of the former Inca Empire, for 12 hours overnight.