Hanging Tough in Arequipa

Things have gotten a little easier since that HELLISH ride. We’ve undertaken two bus rides since then and I managed to keep my dinner down. Crossing the border from Chile to Peru was also easier, maybe because we left all fruit behind.

So...Peru. Up until now, we have played it safe on this trip – staying away from shady characters at the bus station, not keeping our hundred dollar bills in our back pockets, and leaving our bling at home. But in Peru, we felt we needed to step it up a notch since it’s reputedly unsafe. So I stopped carrying a purse, Gully hid his watch, and we had lengthy serious discussions about what we would do if we were mugged or taxi-napped (Apparently a common practice in Peru, where a tourist gets into a taxi and the driver takes them hostage until the tourist pays them off). We decided on eye-gouging and crotch-kicking for muggers, or pulling a knife on the malevolent taxi driver. And above all, just generally looking tough. I bet you’re thinking “Way to go guys, those are solid plans”. Well, I can tell you that blending in is not an option – blond hair and even curly brown hair are about as rare as stop signs in Peru. That reference may not mean anything to you, but just believe me when I say that stop signs are rare here. We even had a random woman taking unsolicited photos of us in the town plaza. So we smiled and posed and hoped the picture wouldn’t end up on the internet.

Our first stop in Peru was Arequipa, which is the second biggest city after Lima. We were pleasantly surprised. First, because we weren’t mugged, not even once. Second, the food!!! By sheer variety and freshness, Peru has almost every country we’ve visited so far beat. And the restaurants are fantastic, and so cheap. The grocery store even has an ‘ethnic food’ section, with various Chinese and Mexican staples. We were also stopped in our tracks, jaws dropped open, when we came across something we have been sorely missing since leaving Canada – Kraft Dinner!!! Actually, it was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, which everyone knows is not as good, but sometimes you just gotta take what you can get.

Sorry, no pics at this time due to super-slow internet connection.