Arequipa and Yura Termas, Peru

Arequipa slideshow

I knew Arequipa was a sophisticated colonial city with interesting architecture, lots of museums , monasteries, nightlife, good restaurants, fast Internet and a land of active volcanoes, thermal springs and the world's deepest canyons.

But during my first days here I dragged as I walked around town and visited Monasterio Santa Catalina. This is a citadel within a city, occupying a whole block, founded in 1579, less than 40 years after the Spanish arrived. The place housed cloistered nuns. Visiting their living quarters reminded me of Zen practice. Constructed from sillar, a white volcanic stone quarried locally. I am sure the bright colors painted over the stone are recent. The living quarters of the nuns were stark and practical, with many of them having a stove with burning wood to make bread. The monastery is so big that it contains streets, fruit filled plazas, courtyards, visiting rooms, a cemetery and chapels. The place was founded by a wealthy widow, Mary of Gussman and at one point, even Flora Tristan, Paul Gaugin's grandmother lived at the monastery for some time. But it is my understanding that the nuns had servants, so there is a little difference from Zen Buddhist practice, where work is part of the practice. And although frequent meditation cloister practitioners for days, Zen practice is more life positive.


Maybe I was feeling so tired because of the drop in altitude of over 4,500 feet in a day, as Arequipa is a lot lower than Copacabana. Or it could be that the unmineralized bottled water I have been drinking was finally catching up with me. To be on the safe side, I took one whole day to do nothing but surf, eat and sleep. The next day I bought six packets of minerals that I added to my bottled water. And, although harder to find, a couple of brands of real mineral water exists here, so I hoarded a few bottles when I found them.

Even though I was tired, Paul, a Couchsurfing member,who I have been corresponding with, was able to drag me out of my hotel one evening, for a couple of rounds of pisco sour, a drink of grape spirits, egg white, lime, sugar, crashed ice and cinnamon. It is more delicious than it sounds and it does taste a lot like caipirinha. The ingredients are more or less the same minus the egg white and cinnamon. And for caipirinha, cachaca, made of sugar cane is used, instead of pisco. Paul and I walked around town, sat a local bar and had conversations about volcanoes, hot springs and our personal lives. He showed me San Francisco church with its unique bare brick arches and we strolled around stately Plaza de Armas' distinctive volcanic stonework buildings.

On my fourth day here I hit Yura Termas, a hot springs an hour from Arequipa. The water was so bubbly it felt like I was bathing in champagne. There is a hotel with a restaurant at the springs so I had a nice lunch and then headed back to Arequipa.