Arequipa

From Santiago we were able to fly 'direct' to Arequipa, in southern Peru. I say direct as the other option is to go all the way to Lima, spend the night and then fly on, but this was far from direct. We landed in a small town in northern Chile, let some people off and more got on while we stayed on the plane. Then landed again at Arica, where we all had to disembark, go through customs to leave Chile, then re-board. A little slow but the tickets were cheap!

Coming in to land at Arequipa we could see we were back in Peru, back to a stark, arid landscape, full of dramatic mountains.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru, after Lima, but is considerably nicer. It has a lovely historic centre, with many buildings being made of sillar, the white volcanic stone. Of course it's full of honking taxis and noisy collectivos, but it is in South America :-)

The street our hostel was on, with a volcano in the background

Entry to the plaza

The cathedral; the only one in Peru that covers a whole plaza side

Lovely colonades surround the plaza.
Lovely to look at, filled with overpriced restaurants and tour agencies determined to get you to go in.
'No, gracias' is a frequent phrase for us.

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina is one of the main attractions of the city. Even though we're not really into touring churches we thought we had better make an exception for the monastery. Started in 1580, the high stone walls enclose a whole city block. Inside is a bewildering array of streets, courtyards, cells and gardens. It is truly beautiful, especially at night when the open rooms are lit by candle light and lanterns. It is a world away from the busy city outside.

The nearly empty streets of the monastary were filled with flowers

It was so peaceful . . .

. . . and beautiful

The dining room was lined with religious art, much painted in the style of the Cusco School

Beautiful planting made the architecture even more interesting

We were fortunate that there was an important football match on (Peru vs Argentina) because we were there late and stayed well past closing time.  We watched Peru score a goal with the guards and then headed off.