The main square in Arequipa has become the assembly point for us in the coming days. We left a message to each other’s phone before we headed out without wifi — “I’m in yellow and at the right side of the square”, “coming to the left side of the square” or “at the stairs of the square”. After getting rid of the insecurity from no access to wifi and instant messaging, it felt interesting to resume to an old pattern when we went out to meet playing buddies as a kid.
Theo was the youngest one in the group but it took no time for him to emerge as the one to take care of everyone and everything. For the first time in this trip, I can do nothing while all the things were meticulously planned.
Unlike Cusco, Arequipa was not a major city for Incas. There weren’t much Inca civilization left. Yet for its close proximity to the sea and the low altitude, the early Spanish who arrived in Peru chose to build their city here and it eventually became the second largest city in Peru. There were a lot of cathedrals, monasteries, squares and museums worth visiting. Two of the places we visited were about the glorified suffering of women and girls. One was the beautiful Santa Catalina Monastery and one was Juanita Museum. The former one imprisoned the young girls for life to serve the Christian god and the latter exhibited the chosen girls who were buried in the sacred mountains to serve the Inca god. Chris didn’t see it as a particular misfortune for women. He asked me, “What do you think what happened to the men at the same time? Most of them were butchered at the battlefield. The girls here had a sheltered life.” I can’t pick one from these two equally horrible choices. I felt grad that I didn’t live in that time.
Besides exploring the city, the first major task for the group was to get the transport done for Colca Canyon. From what we (Theo, to be more accurate) researched, there was only one bus company covering route between Arequipa and Colca Canyon. But the amazing thing about their website was that you can find no online ticketing, no office address nor phone numbers. The existence of that website seemed to remind you there were still some out-of-date things hanging out there, miraculously. We can only go into each shop along the street to ask for information. It was greatly helpful that Theo was originally from Basque Country and he can speak pretty decent Spanish. Theo stepped in to take the lead and me, fighting for my identity as a Spanish speaker too, would repeat and empathize the questions after Theo finished, yet usually messing the tense and conjugation. Chris just happily stood in the back and smiled. When we left, he would manage a “Gracias” with a strong British accent. After a few rounds, we found out we can only reserve the tickets at the bus station outside the city centre. It’s like you need to go to the airport to book your flight. This bus company never ceased to amaze us.
Having no other options, we decided to take a ride to the bus station. Before we jumped in a taxi, Theo found a policeman around the corner and walked up to him to ask for help to get a taxi. Like I explained earlier, it was not safe in Arequipa to get in a random taxi from the street. It turned out we not only got a reliable driver but also a good deal. The driver only charged us 6 sols under the supervision of the police while the usual price for tourists was 10 sols one-way. And Chris and me paid 25 sols for the same distance when we arrived in the first day. Chris suddenly shouted out, “Mama Theo!” Yes, we felt so safe and carefree with Mama Theo.
The bus left the next day. It’s a long ride of 8 hours. Yet the changing views of the canyon and the villages gave us such an entertaining journey. Groups of llamas and alpacas were found near the wetlands when we climbed up to the canyon. On top of that, I saw wild vicuñas for the first time in this trip. Llamas and alpacas were domesticated animals which can be bred in large quantities for their meat and wool. Vicuñas provided much better quality of wool yet can’t be domesticated. They were rare in Peru. A sweater made by vicuña wool was very expensive and actually costed more than that of cashmere here. As much as vicuña wool was of top quality, it’s not necessarily of better quality than cashmere. I was not surprised that cashmere was more popular around the world. Why would anybody pay for a premium just for the scarcity?
The usual tour van would carry the tourists point to point for this Colca Canyon trip. It would only take 5-6 hours from Arequita to Cabanaconde in the canyon. Since we were taking a bus, it will get in and out all the small towns and villages along the route. I felt quite excited to see the local people and houses. Another interesting find in the ride was the political campaign. The coming October was the national election. All the different political parties were putting up big signs and billboards along the street. There seemed always another new party popped up in the next village. Besides such a diversified pool of political parties, their logos shattered all our existing images of a political party. One party’s logo, in particular, was a chicken playing football. We guessed another party showing 5 trees in the logo could advocate for green and sustainable growth, but for this one we were completely clueless for its message.
Around 6 pm, we arrived at Cabanaconde. We will stay there overnight and started the trekking the next morning.
Theo took us to a lovely guesthouse recommended by a tour guide book. While waiting for the check-in, I noticed a lot of French there, “Theo, so many of your countrymen today.” “Of course. That guide book is popular among French. I think we all read the same thing.” Theo replied.
Not just that. That guesthouse was operated by a French too. Theo got three of us a sweet deal for a shared room.
“Still stay in a shared room at your late 20s? Such a loser.” Chris looked at me.
“You are worse. You already turned 30.” I pushed back.
“Leave me along. I’m just 25.” Theo tried to clarify.
“Let’s just have a sense of team spirit. We are equally losers.” Chris and I were finally on the same page.