Day 13, 14, 15: Resting Up and Eating Out

After our epic trek to Machu Picchu we were very tired, sore and looking a little worse for wear. Tim and I had pushed ourselves very hard on the trek and our bodies showed it with blisters, tired muscles and overworked digestive systems. We decided to take a few days and let our bodies and minds rest. 

My idea of restfulness while traveling still involves being out and about in the culture we are in, but just taking it a bit easy by sitting in markets and plazas and people watching. So that is what we did. In our last day in Cusco we took a spin around the San Pedro market, a huge public market selling everything from textiles to testicles (no joke, cow balls were one of the weird meats we saw in the meat vendor section!).  My favorite section of the market was the fresh juice stands where we sat for a while and chatted with the lady who made us papaya, mango, pineapple, passion fruit and orange juice smoothies. Yum! We did a little shopping and then had a goodbye dinner with our friend and generous host, Ronnie. At this point Tim and I said goodbye to our PC friends Megan and Annie and her brother Tim, who had been our traveling companions so far. They were heading directly to Lake Titicaca and we were off to Arequipa, a large city in the south of Peru which is our jumping off point to the Colca Canyon.

The 9-hour, overnight bus ride to Arequipa was pleasant enough. As the sun rose we looked out the window to see expansive plains strewn with cacti and boulders and imposing mountains in the distance. The mountains drew closer as were entered Arequipa and we got our first glimpse of El Misti, the snowcapped mountain that keeps a watchful eye over the city of Arequipa. Arequipa is a busy city of over 1 million people and, since we were still a little pooped, we decided not to try to rush around and see and do everything or get to know the city intimately. Instead we walked around until we found a nice, clean hostel and took our time showering and repacking our packs. The first thing we did when we went out and about was find the local market, a very impressive and expansive scene much larger than San Pedro in Cusco. We ate some “street food”, papas rellenas (mashed potato balls stuffed with meat and olives then deep fried!) that had been recommended by our PCV friends in Peru and loved them! Then, we got more freshly made juice to boost our immune systems. After a stroll around the beautiful Plaza de Armas and a peek at the white stone churches and building facades we booked a 2-day trek to the Colca Canyon to leave on Thursday morning. At night we met up with our new friend Catherine, an Irish girl who we met on our Machu Picchu trek, who happened to be in Arequipa at the same time. We spent a while relaxing on our hostel’s rooftop patio, shared a bottle of wine and headed out to get a taste of Arequipa street food for dinner. Only a few blocks away we found choclo con queso (giant corn on the  cob with fresh cheese) and a hamburger joint that sold us burgers with fries and egg on top, all for only 10 soles (less than $5) for three people! I love street food even though my weak tummy might not! 

"Festi" Burger! So Yummy!

Buying choclo con queso

Today we again adhered to our take it easy philosophy and slept in, did some hand washing since the sun was shining bright and we knew our stinky clothes would finally get a chance to dry. Catherine met up with us for lunch in the public market, where we shared a dish of stuffed bell peppers, potato cheese casserole and fresh ceviche (again for super cheap). We wandered through the potato aisle, marveling at how many varieties of potatoes exist here and teasing Catherine for being so stereotypically Irish when she wanted to take a picture with them. We tasted local varieties of olives; green, black, salty, bitter, briny and all delicious and again got fresh smoothies. With our bellies full and our bodies feeling somewhat better we decided to take a walking tour I found in our guide book to a mirador, or lookout point, to get a nifty view of el Misti. However, when we got there the fog had rolled in and we couldn’t see the mountain at all. So it was back to the plaza for tea and people watching. We said goodbye to Catherine, then went back to our hostel for a nap. 

Right now we are kicked back in the hostel, listening to some popular cumbia music on a CD I bought today and eating avocado and cheese sandwiches (all ingredients purchased in the Mercado today for under 5 soles). Tomorrow we head out to the Colca canyon (a canyon twice as large as the Grand Canyon where the Andean condors fly) on a two day trek. Then we have a brief stop back in Arequipa before we are scheduled to leave on another overnight bus to Lake Titicaca and into Bolivia. 

Feasting in the mercado with our new friend

So many types of fresh cheese. Too good to resist!

Our Irish friend is very excites about potatoes, imagine that.

Tim enjoyed the fresh ceviche with seaweed. Looks goo for street food, no?

Many types of Peruvian olives and olive oils

Anything you can imagine in the Arequipa market

After speaking to other travelers, Tim and I have decided to try to spend some more time in Bolivia instead of just breezing through Copacabana and La Paz. Everyone we talked to said Bolivia is so cheap and the people are super friendly. Since we are already going to be paying for a Bolivian visa we figured we should make the most of it and see and do more there instead of heading to the beach towns in Chile. As much as I love the beach, we live by the freaking beach and I doubt we will ever have the chance to visit the Uyuni salt flats again, so we shifted our itinerary somewhat. Now we will be spending about two week in Bolivia and less time in Chile and Argentina. I wish we had more time and money to see and do more. South America is just such an amazingly diverse place with so much to offer! No matter what we do though, we are so happy to be together on this adventure and, ultimately, on our way home.

Even Mamut found his place in Arequipa: a sandwich shop called "Mamut"!