Arequipa

We opted to fly to Arequipa as the bus suggested it would take several hours, whilst a flight would get us there in around 65 mins. As flying goes it was also a relatively cheap flight. It was also the most unusual flight, it was quite an odd feeling seeing mountains out of both windows and quite close by, immediately prior to landing. We had been very much looking forward to this town as it is quoted as being a beautiful place and one of Peru`s safest places. Odd when we have felt perfectly safe no matter where we have been in Peru. Arequipa, in this bunnies mind, Arequipa was a quaint small town, with old colonial buildings, narrow streets, small markets etc , oops my mistake, turns out that Arequipa is quite the city! As per all our accommodations, we were placed in very close proximity to the city square, which as per all city squares is named Plaza de Armas. ( turns out this actually translates to parade square, now the name makes sense, so the sheer size of Arequipa was lost on us until the day we departed. Our room in Arequipa was by far the best we have had so far. It was a room that had all the things we had been missing to date. You would think that the owner, Marlon, had listened to all the whinges of travellers, and put in situ all the things you need. A bathroom shelf, so simple, yet it takes not having one and the wandering about with toiletry bag in hand, wondering where to put it, and settling for the floor, makes you realise just how much you miss a bathroom shelf. A towel hook, bathmat. A bath!!! a real bath. We have got used to the description of `bath` to mean the 3" of raised tiles surrounding the shower, but here we had a real chunky dunky bunny bath. Little miss bunny took advantage of said bath, whilst Mr and Mrs Bunny applied sunscreen and watched the mountains/volcanoes from the hostel roof, under a cloudless blue sky. In our room we also had shelves, we could actually unpack our bags for the duration of our stay. A lamp, a coat stand, big chunky pillows and extra blankets for the finishing touches. Add in lovely staff and the tiniest but perfect little kitchen, ascended to via cute little spiral staircase, we were just so suited. Marlons House.

Arequipa had always been on our radar as a place to stop, to do nothing, to rest and recoup, to address the contents of our bags, and generally do not very much. We made a pretty good job of this. The town square was a very short walk away, and reaching it meant we had to pass our favourite restaurant of Peru, Tanta. Needless to say we spent a pleasant six days, ambling aimlessly from hostel to local shop, to the supermarket in the main plaza, back via Tanta, and back to our hostel rooftop. Arequipa is also the town if you wish to, to purchase silver jewellery. I have never seen as much silver jewellery, a lovely lady on the artisan market told us that around Arequipa there were ( please don`t quote me) 27 silver mines. Of the 757 silver mines around the world, 126 are in Peru. Lady bunnies, if you fancy a little silver treat, this is the place to make those big bunny eyes flutter at your probably reluctant, but resigned Mr bunny. This bunny managed to squeeze a silver bracelet out of her Mr Bunny. Even little bunny treated herself to a tiny little humming bird ring.