Jordy and Em South America Trip!

On our way from the coast of Peru to Cusco we stopped off for a few days in the beautiful city of Arequipa!

Arequipa initially was simply a necessary stopover to get to Cusco (to acclimatise and break up the long bus travel), but we absolutely loved our time exploring the city! We did a walking tour on our first day to see the highlights, which included beautiful Spanish colonial architecture and lots of different views of the surrounding volcanoes!

On our second day we spent several hours exploring the Santa Catalina monastery. The monastery is huge, more like its own town! There were so many streets/sections to explore, each with unique colours or styles.

The food in Arequipa was some of the best (and most adventurous) of the trip so far! Highlights included trying alpaca for the first time and “queso helado” from the local market. Queso helado literally translates to “cheese ice cream”, but thankfully only because it resembles cheese as they make it!

The last highlight of Arequipa was the amazing sunsets and volcano views! Even our hostel had amazing views of both the largest neighbouring volcanoes from the rooftop.

Our next stop is Cusco!