Our alarm wasn´t even set for Sunday as we had no rush, our bus wasn´t leaving until 3 p.m. We ate one breakfast, the usual bread, butter and jam and tea and then headed out to the Plaza des Armas. At the cathedral we could see chairs set up outside for dignitaries and lots of army guys and police all around. Inside the church the whole left side was filled with soldiers. Mass was going on. In came about 20 guys in army fatigues with instruments and stood in the back. We left when the sermon came on and went for another breakfast on the square.
This one had fresh squeezed orange juice!!! and an omelet with ham! There was a woman in there who spoke English and told us what was going on. Every Sunday, in all cities, villages, towns in Peru, at the Plaza Des Armas, there is a military gathering to promote patriotism. She said most of the time the mayor will show up or send a representative. Each week there are different squads represented so they get practice playing and marching. Townspeople were gathering to watch as it was free entertainment. We watched the puna and then Peruvian flags being raised, and a lot of marching around. One squad was all women!
This woman said there used to be mandatory military obligation but now it´s volunteer. Poor people especially send their sons for a job. We walked back and picked up some things to snack on for the bus ride.
Our taxi took us to the Estacion Terreste, very nice bus station by the port. We checked our luggage and then waited. The tour agency had made an error on Betty´s passport number so she had to wait to get that changed by the manager when he came in.
We got the reclining seats, rather than the laydown ones (more expensive) on the lower level. They were pretty comfortable. There was like a stewardess on board who brought us a sandwich and drinks. We were told we could use the bathroom on board if we had to pee but otherwise we should stop the bus!!! Weird!!! This was a 7 hour trip!
A guy came on board and took movies of each pair of seats! And then of the bus leaving! That also was weird. Three movies played during the trip - in Spanish of course but American movies so one of them we could follow. We crossed a very bleak Andean plain and could see a couple of lakes in the distance before it got dark. We got a taxi to our hostel, it was a huge room and we had a great night´s sleep!
Again same ole breakfast! So we later stopped for OJ!! We were going to check into a bus to Tacna (we´re taking it at 10 p.m. tonight, getting the sleeper seats) so we headed downtown. It was a beautiful sunny day and there is a lovely park across the street. Things look more tropical here and I´m not noticing any altitude problems, although we are still up high, and surrounded by glacier/snow topped peaks and a large volcano! By afternoon they were lost in the clouds. The manager stored our bags for the day while we did a city bus tour. There seemed to be 3 companies doing these tours and ours wasn´t very good. They said they had English guides but she could hardly speak any English. There were supposed to be about 8 stops and many were skipped. One museum we think she said they were shooting a movie there. One of the stops was a ranch so people could do a trot around on a horse. I passed on that! Horses don´t like me!!
There were a couple of hilltop view stops, and one hacienda that had been rebuilt to replicate the colonial era. They hold weddings, events, etc. there now. It was pretty nice!
The Plaza Des Armas here in Arequipa is said to be one of the most beautiful in SA. I believe it!! It´s pretty amazing and was crowded all day. There was a lovely pedestrian walk up to it with lots of nice shops and restaurants. I frustratingly tried to upload pictures at an internet cafe but no one spoke English and after 2 hours it said it failed. Turns out about 26 of the picts I uploaded worked! I tried here again at the hostel and it´s not working! Got to find an easier way to do this before I travel again! If anyone knows, send me an email! I´m trying to use Shutterfly.
Off to our third country tomorrow! We will not see much of Chile. We are crossing the border by land because we are cheap and we think it avoids the $140-$160 reciprocity fee that Americans must pay if you fly into Santiago from out of country. We will fly from Arica to Santiago and on to Puerto Montt in the south. Only 2 or 3 days total for Chile! Not fair but what can we do? We´re booked to sail March 8th from Puno Arena in southern Chile for 4 days to Ushuaia in Argentina.
Hasta luega!
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