Arequipa
Arequipa
Peru
Known as 'The White City' because the city has been constructed with a white volcanic stone called sillar. This pretty city has an airport and is a jumping off base to visit the Colca Caynon.
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Complete photo story below
The Plaza de Armas
"Hey, who you lookin at?!"
We started by checking into our 18th century mansion turned hostel, in the historical sector of Arequipa,
The local white volcanic stone, called sillar, was used to construct many of the buildings in Arequipa.
Starving after our overnight flight, 1st on our agenda was to eat. We tried a restauranct called Zig Zag with interesting dishes such as alpaca carpaccio and alpaca cooked on volcanic stones. Bibs included.
I love how you can spot many VW buses around town.
More hostel grounds pictures.
Silencio! We next entered the Santa Catalina Monastery.
Santa Catalina is a place to get lost in for a few hours.
After pulling an all nighter on the plane, we stayed strong and explored what Arequipa had to offer.
This is what exhaustion looks like.
Besides getting lost, goofing around is another way to pass time.
With its vivid orange and blue washed walls, Santa Catalina is a photographers playground.
This would have been one of the many kitchens in the Monastery
Stairs to nowhere, a labyrinth of rooms, and tight corridors make it easy to get lost and pass time.
I had to capture Christina drinking cocoa tea for the first time.
Potato Chips, olives, eggs, grains, yogurt, coca tea and fresh pressed juice for breakfast
It was nice to get up close and learn about textile making at Mundo Alpaca. It is a eco-tourism complex located in downtown Arequipa which is the world's aplaca capital.
So much personality!
Mundo Alpaca has it all; alpaca and llama feeding, sorting fibre and weaver demonstrations, a textile museum, art gallery, alpaca clothing boutique, and Andean colonial architecture - all free of cost. It was inaugurated to enrich the city's tourist attractions, and you can tell a lot of passion went into this place.
Bragas are thick fibers found on the chest, limbs, and head. Caspa is like dandruff and can give the fiber a grayish appearance when washed.
Christina is checking out the many natural shades the wool can be spun into.
Alpaca and llama feeding was by far the best part.
All the textiles are dyed using natural materials.
Sander is such a romantic, you would think he was offering the alpaca a rose.