Today was a short run of 372km to Arequipa, also known as the white city of the Andes because so much of the city is constructed from Silar, a rock that is made as a result of the volcanic eruptions from the neighbouring volcano, El Misti.
The city is old and beautiful. Founded in 1540 by the Spanish it has magnificent architecture and lies in beautiful surroundings in the Andes.
Our days ride…
Again, the ride there was through more desert which seems to run quite a long way north into Peru and what started soon after we left Santiago in Chile, however, because it was a short run it wasn’t a problem, we were able to do the ride quite quickly and got to our destination just after lunch.
The desert continues to deliver beautiful, if stark vistas but the climate and surrounds as we started to climb to Arequipa that sits at an altitude of 2300m has started to change and become a little more green.
It has occurred to me that I have done almost as many kilometres thus far as I did on my total ride from Cape Town to Cairo as we have completed nearly 14,000km since the 9th of January. Long daily rides that are peppered with difficult terrain over a prolonged period and limited rest is resulting in that “bone tiredness” that I remember well from C to C and so on arrival in Arequipa, whilst I wanted to get out and explore, my body decided that sleep was more important and we promptly passed out for a few hours and woke up in time for dinner.
What we got to see of Arequipa tonight was limited however we are staying at a great hotel called Sonesta Posadas Del Inca which is in a historical building right on the main square facing the church and dinner was had on the patio overlooking the vibrant nightlife of this beautiful town.
The beautiful church of Arequipa overlooking the main square.
We are planning to spend the morning here tomorrow to explore a little before heading on to Puno.
