Arequipa

We weren't in Arequipa very long, just two nights to give us time for errands and recovery from colds, but what a cool city! Peru's second largest, so it's very sprawling, but the downtown area is manageable. Hip, European, and relatively wealthy. The volcano El Misti towers over the city, while other volcanoes and mountains seem to watch from the distance in case El Misti needs backup.

We spent a day wandering past white stone façades of the historic buildings, visiting the market, and seeing a museum dedicated to Incan mummies found on the volcano summits. The Incas worshipped the volcanoes as gods, and made child sacrifices to appease them. The volcanoes are so tall that the mummies weren't found until the 90's, some of them perfectly preserved depending on how active the volcanoes were.

We're on a bus to Tacna now, for the land border crossing with Chile. Will be in Arica tonight!