Wednesday morning we took a plane from Lima to Arequipa, a short flight of 1,5 hours ... here our first views of the Andes ...
After arrival in Arequipa we checked in our hotel and had a first tour around ... here some volcano in the background. Arequipa is around 2,300 metres above sea level and this wasn't a problem for us ...
Here the two of us at this viewpoint with the "Misti" volcano in the background ...
We went on towards the city centre ... nice, well-kept parks like in Lima ...
... and further on to the central "Plaza de Armas", just beautiful old buildings everywhere ...
... some scene from that plaza ... shoe shining ...
We visited the "iglesia y claustros de la compania de Jesus" ... here something for Cynthia to paint ... inside photography wasn't allowed ...
Next we had a private tour inside the "Monasterio de Santa Catalina", a huge complex which is still "in operation", but the bigger part is a museum now ...
It's basically a collection of houses for the nuns, prayer rooms etc etc ... here with our tour guide Veronica ..
This is a system to filter water; it's of porous vulcano stone and slowly the water drips through ... amazing!
We couldn't believe how big it was ...
This is the "washing station", very similar to the old watering systems on the fields ...
So after the tour it got dark and we had that view of the central plaza ...
... where we headed to our recommended restaurant "Zig Zag" ... really good! We had three meats on a sizzling stone, beef, lamb and alpaka ... a great way to compare. Alpaka is a really good meat and we had it in different versions throughout the trip ...
Next day we headed with our tour guide and the driver towards Colca Canyon ... but first it took us hours to climb up the mountains (we started at 2,300 metres!) ...
We saw the "Vicunias", the most expensive wool you can get ... a pullover can easily cost 1.500 USD ...
Here's Diana, our fantastic tour guide and our driver who got us safely to Colca and Puno in hour-long trips ...
Here we had a stop at a crossroads to get something to drink ...
... and other tourists had the same idea as well ;-) ...
Nicely decorated Llamas or Alpakas (we still cannot remember the differences) ... the coloured threads identify them for the owners ...
... and more long and windy roads ... amazing driving through those landscapes in the Andes ...
The long straight streches reminded us of Australia ...
Finally we climbed the pass at 4,910 metres ... and we got the first idea about height problems, slightly dizzy and just not enough oxygen ... more still to come ...
So we went down the other side and had a first view of the Colca Canyon ...
Wednesday morning we took a plane from Lima to Arequipa, a short flight of 1,5 hours ... here our first views of the Andes ...
After arrival in Arequipa we checked in our hotel and had a first tour around ... here some volcano in the background. Arequipa is around 2,300 metres above sea level and this wasn't a problem for us ...
Here the two of us at this viewpoint with the "Misti" volcano in the background ...
We went on towards the city centre ... nice, well-kept parks like in Lima ...
... and further on to the central "Plaza de Armas", just beautiful old buildings everywhere ...
... some scene from that plaza ... shoe shining ...
We visited the "iglesia y claustros de la compania de Jesus" ... here something for Cynthia to paint ... inside photography wasn't allowed ...
Next we had a private tour inside the "Monasterio de Santa Catalina", a huge complex which is still "in operation", but the bigger part is a museum now ...
It's basically a collection of houses for the nuns, prayer rooms etc etc ... here with our tour guide Veronica ..
This is a system to filter water; it's of porous vulcano stone and slowly the water drips through ... amazing!
We couldn't believe how big it was ...
This is the "washing station", very similar to the old watering systems on the fields ...
So after the tour it got dark and we had that view of the central plaza ...
... where we headed to our recommended restaurant "Zig Zag" ... really good! We had three meats on a sizzling stone, beef, lamb and alpaka ... a great way to compare. Alpaka is a really good meat and we had it in different versions throughout the trip ...
Next day we headed with our tour guide and the driver towards Colca Canyon ... but first it took us hours to climb up the mountains (we started at 2,300 metres!) ...
We saw the "Vicunias", the most expensive wool you can get ... a pullover can easily cost 1.500 USD ...
Here's Diana, our fantastic tour guide and our driver who got us safely to Colca and Puno in hour-long trips ...
Here we had a stop at a crossroads to get something to drink ...
... and other tourists had the same idea as well ;-) ...
Nicely decorated Llamas or Alpakas (we still cannot remember the differences) ... the coloured threads identify them for the owners ...
... and more long and windy roads ... amazing driving through those landscapes in the Andes ...
The long straight streches reminded us of Australia ...
Finally we climbed the pass at 4,910 metres ... and we got the first idea about height problems, slightly dizzy and just not enough oxygen ... more still to come ...
So we went down the other side and had a first view of the Colca Canyon ...