Arequipa Peru Travel

Bars, clubs and discos For a large city, Arequipa does not have a very active night scene. However, things have picked up in recent years, and there are now a number of good bars and clubs open most days of the week. However, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays still tend to be the most popular days with locals, with places filling up around midnight. Nightlife is concentrated in two main areas. In the centre there are a number of smart bars as well as some good clubs and discos. This tends to be where most tourists go in the evening. However, many young Arequipeños head for Avenida Dolores, where there are many discos and bars. Read the rest of this entry »

Jan 6 Los Reyes de Tiabaya, where families visit the district of Tiabaya to shake the pear trees.

Feb 3 Festival of Virgen de la Candelaria in Cayma and Characato, where fireworks are set off the night before.

Feb (second half) Carnaval Arequipeño, where a carnival queen is chosen, and there are parades and folkloric dance competitions. Water (and sometimes other things) is thrown on passers by to celebrate.

Mar/Apr The Semana Santa (holy week) celebrations in Arequipa take the form of massive processions in the centre of town, with participants dressed in mourning clothes, in the style of Seville in Spain. On the morning of Easter Sunday, effigies of Judas are burnt in different locations of the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Alpaca Possibly the world capital for alpaca production, Arequipa is an excellent place to buy alpaca clothing. Good quality items are available cheaper than in Cusco or Lima, as most of the firms are based in Arequipa. Bear in mind that even for the best items, the quality is not usually up to the standards of clothing in the west (Alpaca 111 is an exception), and all alpaca items must be hand washed and carefully cared for. Cheaper items are much the same as elsewhere in Peru, and are not usually 100% alpaca.

Alpaca is a soft, warm wool, not unlike cashmere. Better than alpaca is baby alpaca, the first shearing of a baby’s wool, and is softer and warmer than alpaca, but is more expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

The Colca Canyon is a beautiful part of Peru offering stunning scenery and one of the best opportunities to see condors in the wild. Originally, the area was inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas, and the Incas also occupied the area for a short time. The Collaguas were an industrious and prosperous people, and the terraces throughout the canyon indicate their agricultural and architectural skills. When the Spanish occupied the valley in 1540, Viceroy Toledo ordered that the population, which had been dispersed throughout the valley, be gathered into fourteen villages, which survive today. This made it easier to control and tax the inhabitants. Read the rest of this entry »