We have decided to take the night bus to Arequipa, and we therefore have one more afternoon to spend in Nazca. We are lucky enough to get into a bar which is showing Chelsea-Barca! Ten minutes before the end of the match we take a minibus to see Chauchilla cemetery which is in the middle of the desert. The place has a many original tombs with mummies and artifacts, all well preserved. Time for a very light dinner and we head to the bus terminal for the 22.30 bus. After 11 hours of smooth ride we get into the amazing town of Arequipa at 2400m of altitude. It finally feels really great to be able to put on some long trousers and stop sweating! The maximum temperature of the city is between 21 and 23 degrees all year, so during the day the comfort is at top level. The mountains at the back of the city are amazing, in particular the perfectly conical vulcano El Misti.

The city of Arequipa keeps his colonial history very visible in the buildings and in a lot of small details. We take a first look around to appreciate the cathedral before and after sunset. The interior is rather discrete compared to the richly decorated facade. The white volcanic rock, used in all the main buildings in this city, gives it a real splendor. It is very easy to appreciate the details of the decorations, and contrast between the white of the rocks and the iron gates you find in many streets.

For dinner we settle for some soup and the town’s specialty: alpaca steaks, which are tender and delicious. Following the interest for the local food we search for cooking classes and we happily subscribe to one which has causa and lomo saltado on the menu for our day. The class is very good! Andreas manages to cut his fingers after 2 minutes into the class, just chopping some carrots! What a shame! But we make it through and we are able to serve a fantastic appetizer and a spicy main.

One last thing we visit before leaving Arequipa is the Museum Santury, which even being small is definitely very interesting. They have inside frozen mummies which have been found accidentally during an expedition on top of the mountains around the city. The bodies of these children and young arequipeños were sacrificed to the gods of the mountains to avoid earthquakes and eruptions, to get more/less rain and all sort of natural things. They obviously didn’t have a clue about natural phenomena…but that’s how it was.

After three days in this beautiful and lively town we are moving 1500m higher towards Puno and the Lake Titicaca. The 7.30am bus will take a bit more than 6 hours to get there. Leaving the low mountains…