The Epicurious Wanderers!

Today we head to Arequipa,  about an 9 hour drive. The first 3 hours or so carry on where left off yesterday, more desert. Stunning as it is after a while it takes on a sameness.

As we leave the desert though and head along the coast the landscape changes,  it takes on a ruggedness we haven’t seen before. It’s not a flat sandy coast but a rugged series if cliffs that the road winds around and through.  There are constant hairpins and switchbacks, the going becomes slower due to all the heavy vehicles heading south along the Pan-American Highway.

Again the journey is littered with small towns.  We stopped in one,  Yauca, to buy olives and taste the honey from the olive trees.  Wow, sensational honey and the olives, just amazing.  We bought a few jars of olives, not to try to bring home but to eat as we travel. We’ve been told they are the best olives in Peru. The old lady selling them was so friendly,  she kept encouraging us to try more, which we just had to do.

All along the coast are small fishing villages, their boats bobbing in the inlets. As well there isolated shacks made from reed mats that dot the coastline. I almost envy the simplicity of their lives, living along such a beautiful coast.

The coast road now becomes quite interesting,  we’ve moved from travelling a long a coastal plain to edging along on a road cut into the cliffs. It variesfrom maybe a 20m drop, to maybe 200m in some places. All the while there are no real guard rails as we’d have at home, there are occasional sections of barrier but otherwise it’s just the odd white post. Oh and the road seems to have narrowed as well.

Lunch today was a picnic on the beach Peruvian style. We’d picked up packed lunches in Nazca before leaving this morning. Very relaxing sitting on the beach eating great filled rolls and local fruit.

We now leave the coast behind at Camana and head inland towards Arequipa,  we also now begin to climb. Ahead the mountains are visible, Arequipa marks the start of areas we may encounter  altitude sickness. The trick apparently to reduce the effects is to take it easy and drink plenty.  Water that is not alcohol..

As we crest the first climb we enter a plateau know locally as the pampas. Across in the distance get glimpses of the snow covered peaks of the Andes. El Misti the volcano that rises above the town of Arequipa can be seen and to its left the volcano near Colca Canyon with signs of smoke rising from its peak.
As the sun sets you feel the temperature drop quite quickly,  although it’s still not really cold. As darkness falls we crest a ridge a see the lights of Arequipa twinkling below us. The way the road twists and turns we seem to be skirting around the city. When we finally arrive it’s much bigger and busier than we expected.

Tomorrow we get to see the city in daylight but for now after 12 hours on the road it’s time for dinner and some sleep.