Afredo Rodríguez Ballón International Airport is the airport for Arequipa city, standing at the base of Misti, the volcano that dominates the horizon.

According to the Peruvian government’s records nearly 600,000 passengers pass through this airport each year.

Bienvenidos a Mi Tierra - Welcome to my Land! A statue welcome visitors as they step off their plane in Arequipa's ariport.

Arequipa Airport is served by several daily flight from Lima, which is less than 1 hour 30 minutes by air.

Arriving at Arequipa Airport with Misti in the background

It is only a short drive by taxi to the city centre, where you can find many hotels, backpacking hostels, shops and restaurants, Arequipa has much to offer but it is a great stopping off point if you want to head further south to Puno, or Arica, just over the border in Chile.

Volcano Misti, seen from Arequipa Airport runway.

Tourists arriving for the first time can’t resist taking a photo of Misti, the volcano that can be seen from almost everywhere in Arequipa, seen here from the runway of the airport.

Rocoto para relleno - Rocotos for stuffing! For sale in 'El Super', Arequipa

Rocoto chilis are something of a favourite in the  kitchens of Arequipa in Peru.  These fat bulbous peppers look a little like sweet bell peppers but they are firey hot.

Rocotos Grande and Rocotos Enteros

Although Rocotos come in many colours, red ones do look great! In the photo above above you can see two types, the large Rocotos are used for a popular traditional dish called Rocoto Relleno (Stuffed Rocoto), and the smaller variety is just used as an ingredient. If you slice a small rocoto you can just rub it on your food, meat, vegetables and they will be spicy. You don’t have to eat the chili itself.

Here you can see the distinctive black seeds of the Rocoto

If you go to Peru and buy some rocotos, you can slice and dry them. The air in Arequipa is usually quite dry and warm, and if you leave them in the sun after a couple of days they will be dried out.  Cut them horizontally into rings as this allows the water to escape faster.

You could try taking some seeds home (which is illegal in some countries so check first!) but you are probably wasting your time because Rocoto chilis are very hard to grow in other climates. They need to grow in hot places like Arequipa where the climate is quite stable. If you can get some seeds to grow in places like England, they will grow slowly and can easily die in the winter.

]]> http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/rocoto-chili-peppers-in-arequipa-peru/feed/ 0 http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/sillar-the-volcanic-rock-of-arequipa/ http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/sillar-the-volcanic-rock-of-arequipa/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:37:16 +0000 Ana http://www.anaperuana.com/?p=2097

La Iglesia de la Compañía, just off the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru. It is often called ‘The White City’ because many of it’s building are made using a local volcanic rock know as Sillar.

If you look at a satellite image of Arequipa or even while you are walking around the city, one thing you will notice is that it is surrounded by large volcanos. One volcano, called Chachani produced all ths white rock during eruptions in the past. No-one is sure exactly when it last erupted but it is thought it was during the ‘Pleistocene’ era, but that is between 2.5 million to 12,000 years ago!

Sillar has historically been used in almost every type of construction in Arequipa, from simple walls around fields to houses and the city’s cathedral. You can see it everywhere and it gives Arequipa a distinct character, a bit like how Bath in England has a special character from its local stone.

Because it can be carved easily, many building have elaborate decorations all over them. You can see some excellent examples of this in the churches in Arequipa.

Banco International del Peru, with traditional Sillar carvings.

It is not just the traditional buildings that have this white stone. Many newer building have kept with the tradition and use Sillar which helps to keep the special character of Arequipa.

]]> http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/sillar-the-volcanic-rock-of-arequipa/feed/ 0 http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/tico-taxis-in-arequipa/ http://www.anaperuana.com/2010/06/27/tico-taxis-in-arequipa/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:35:21 +0000 Ana http://www.anaperuana.com/?p=2108

Ticos are everywhere in Arequipa - but for how long?

There are officially more that 10,000 Ticos in Arequipa city, but according to one driver I spoke to there are maybe 16,000.

It sounds like an incredible number, but Arequipa is a large city and many people use the cheap taxis instead of having their own car. Everywhere you go you can see and hear the Ticos.

Ticos are small cars made by Daewoo in Korea. They were particularly popular in Peru as they were cheap to buy and run, as well as small and efficient, which is great for a city like Arequipa with many old, narrow streets.

Ticos with their company names on top!

Most of the Ticos you can see in Arequipa are working as taxis and are often painted yellow to identify that they are taxis. As you can see in these photos, they usually have big signs on top with their company name and lots of red and white tape!

Many Ticos have been customised by their drivers with stickers, slogans or even modifications to the bodywork to make them more cool!

But times are changing in Peru, more people have their own car and people expect better and safer cars. Many of these Ticos are quite old, and driving up and down the streets of Arequipa has shaken them to bits! So these old Ticos are gradually being replaced with other models like the Daewoo Matiz and other larger saloon cars.

Newer cars are replacing the Ticos.

Although newer and more comfortable models are replacing the Ticos, the Taxis will still have lots of character with the drivers customising them with stickers, sirens and installing shrines with the ‘Taxi drivers prayer’ on the dashboards!

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daewoo_Tico

Statue of bulls fighting in Cayma district of Arequipa in Peru

Being an ex Spanish colony means that Peru has many traditions that come from Spanish culture. Bullfighting is one of them, but in Arequipa it is with a difference.

In Arequipa the tradition of bullfighting has been adapted so that two bulls fight each other, so it is more like bull wrestling.

Arequipa is surrounded by rich farmland and this became a popular event for country people and those from the town too.

The fight has many people placing bets on the outcome and cheering their favourite. It is popular enough to be broadcast on local TV channels.

The rules are simple the bull that runs away loses. The bulls lock horns, snort and push as hard as they can, twisting and trying to push the other aside. Eventually one will either become tired or give up and the other will chase him away.

The bulls are treated with care because they are not killed like in Spanish bullfights – instead they win trophies and become champions and are treated well by their owners. If the fight becomes too aggressive the bulls are separated before they really hurt each other. If the bull that wins keeps trying to attack the bull that is running away they have to lasso him and pull him away to end the fight.

The bulls can be very aggressive animals, a fighting bull with many trophies decided one day to attack a horse on my uncle’s farm. When he tried to stop the bull it attacked him too! The horse sadly did not survive. This is normal behaviour for bulls, it is in their nature to fight…  you can see sometimes in a field they will just decide they don’t like the look of another bull and start a fight – these bulls can be selected for fights because they are naturally aggressive.

But also sometimes, the bulls when they come together just decide not to fight – and nothing that the farmers can do will make them fight! I have sometimes seen this on television.

In Arequipa, there are sometimes fights with matadors, but the bulls are not killed.

Here is a bullfight in Arequipa:

And another – no so good quality:

Here is a fight from Urabamba, Peru:

Colonnades in the Plaze de Armas, Arequipa, Peru

Arequipa is where I was born. A city located in Southern Peru, with a population of almost a million people. Its cathedral and many of its buildings are built from Sillar, the local volcanic rock. This is why Arequipa is known as Cuidad Blanca – the White City.

It’s very easy to get to by plane or by road. You can fly from Lima to Arequipa in 1 hour 35 minutes. LAN Peru offers seven to eight flights a day. There are also many bus companies that travel from Lima to Arequipa which takes about 16 hours, usually overnight. Travelling bus bus is quite comfortable and cheap too. Cruz del Sur and Orltursa have a safe and confortable service.  Read: Bus Travel in Peru >>

The climate is  dry and sunny almost all year long with the exception of the summer months, from January to March that is the rainy season, but after the rain there is plenty of sunshine. The temperatures are very mild,  generally between 10 and 25 C. In the winter it can be a bit chilly in the mornings.

Arequipa is called the White City because of the traditional buildings made with volcanic rock, the architecture is very interesting. In the historical centre thare are many buildings of the colonial era all made in volcanic rock and they are a mixture of  European and native building techniques.

The Monastery of Santa Catalina it’s very interesting and peaceful, it was built in in 1580 and it has an area of 20 000 square meters. It is like a walled village with its own streets where once women who became Nuns entered and remained inside – but life was not so bad, only the wealthiest women were accepted and they had a very comfortable life with servants looking after them. For the visitor today, it is a fascinating place with many attractive features to photograph.

Outside Arequipa, but still in the Arequipa region the main tourist attraction is the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world, it takes 4 hours by car and there are many travel agencies that arrange mini tours according what the tourist want, some people want to do some trekking and another people just want to admire the canyon with the condors flying around.

There is another canyon called Cotahuasi that some people say is the deepest in the world , it’s a long way from Arequipa City but the views are very interesting for the most adventurous people.

Night life in Arequipa is very lively there are lost of bars and night clubs not far from the mainsquare, many tourists go there.

Links:
http://www.santacatalina.org.pe/