October 16th, 2005
Fly to Arequipa - 7:30 wake up call this morning and most of us ate breakfast at the hotel, $5.00 U.S. dollars ($6 CDN). We boarded our bus at 8:45 a.m. with our entire luggage for a short trip to the Airport. We are headed for Arequipa on an 11:05 a.m. Flight. We have a small delay before take off but things go relatively smoothly for our one hour flight and we received a good meal along the way.
Arequipa Peru
The altitude in Arequipa is over 12,000 feet and we'll be experiencing some high altitude for the first time; I was in for a surprise!
Arequipa Hostel
Another short bus ride over to our hostel. Hostel El Conquistador will be our home for the next three nights. It's a relatively quiet hostel with no T.V. or telephone.
Arequipa – Walk to Town Square
Once we're all checked in we took a short walk to the town square.
Arequipa Town Square
Some of us stopped for tea and pie that cost us close to nothing. So many restaurants try to get your business with many of them having people standing outside handing out flyers and desperately try to lure you in. It makes you wonder how they can make any money, but this is a different country and a little money goes a long ways for these people. They don’t have the same expectations as some of us. It sounds like the average income in Peru is around $140.00 U.S. a month and the people we will be dealing with probably make less than that.
Town Square in Arequipa
The Town Square is near the city centre.
Town Square
A view from the Town Square. Many people gather here during the day to meet and mingle.
Town Square
A view as we walk around the Town Square.
Town Square
The area is in good condition.
Town Square
The birds look quite healthy.
Town Square
A view from a little higher up.
Arequipa
A view from a restaurant we stop at.
Town Square going out for dinner
We went back to the hostel for a few hours rest before meeting for lunch. 6 of us met up for dinner a little later where we found a nice restaurant near the Town Square. We were back early in order to get some sleep for our early start tomorrow.