Family Bonding Time

It took us 4 buses to arrive to Arequipa, Peru. The buys made questionable food choices the whole way. Garrett bought this seafood torta from a lady who came on the bus.

After spending less than 24 hours in Chile, and all the hours logged in on bus, we were excited to arrive in a hostel. Our taxi driver helped us find a nice one. Although it was a little more expensive, we got a 4 person private room with a bathroom. It felt like a mansion compared to our small hostels and buses before. 

Garrett was downstairs paying the cab driver. When he came up to the room he told us that the cab driver was coming back in an hour because he didn’t have change. He then proceeded to tell us that he may or may not have said that he would pay him 25 soles (the taxi cost 8 soles). We immediately started giving him a hard time and he was like, “I know, I panicked, he was so nice!” He further explained that he almost lied and told us a lower amount (a cost that we would split) and then he would cover the rest because he was so embarrassed. The rest of the trip we joked about him and Peter, the cab driver, who also left Garrett his number for further cab needs.

We all took turns showering and finally feeling clean before heading out to eat. The restaurant we went to had a beautiful view of the church on the main square. We got there around 8:45 and the waiter told us they were closing at 9. We were extremely shocked because in Uruguay, most families don’t go out to eat until 9. Luckily, they let us eat anyways.

After dinner, we walked around the main square for a bit and then headed back to the room and crashed.

The next morning, we got a lazy start. Around 12, we headed over to the main square again where we were meeting up for our city tour. 

Why you shouldn't drink Mate in the bus

The tour took us to this beautiful outlook spot.

The rest of the tour went downhill from there but it was still fun. We stopped at a makeshift zoo with alpacas, vacunas, and llamas which actually just turned out to a clothing store gimmick.

We had the option to ride horses or 4 wheelers at the last stop. We were going to pick 4 wheeling but found out that wasn’t an option anymore because 2 people had fractured bones in the last tours. We opted to not do anything because we didn’t want to pay for a horse ride but Garrett decided to do it. It turned out to be a ride on a dirt road to a tree 300 yards away and back. It seemed exhilarating.

After the tour, we went back to the main square where it happened to Arequipa day. There was live music and everyone was laying out listening to music. We all went our separate ways to wonder around and met up around sunset at the church. The church was absolutely gorgeous. We ended up standing, watching the sunset and talking about life for hours.

When we decided it was time to eat, we headed to out to find a restaurant that fit our requirements, cheap and good. We passed a lot of places before finally choosing what looked like a Chinese restaurant. We got in and ordered our waters (with gas for safety sakes). Another waiter came by and we found out they didn’t have water with gas, even though we specifically asked our first waiter.

We ordered our food, super excited to eat and then one by one our plates come out and we realized what a mistake we had made.

This is a candid shot of how unhappy the boys were.

After dinner, we couldn’t stop laughing at how cheap we were, for literally 3 more dollars we could have a really fancy meal but we were so concerned about saving money that we bought this disaster of a dinner.

In consolation, we went to McDonald’s and got a McFlurry. We also checked out the casino right across the street. Davis was really excited that he was able to smoke inside and lit up as soon as we got inside. We just did a lap and then headed out, where we read the sign that no smoking was allowed inside.

We headed back to the hostel and once again just had a chill night tonight, laughing and goofing around. We also skyped MELI!!!!!

The next morning, we packed up all of our stuff (we had thoroughly taken advantage of having our own space). Then we separated, the guys went out to go to the bus terminal and buy tickets and Maya and I went to wander around.

We found really good and cheap chocolate (we have refined this skill over the past 6 months), and just window shopped. We went to the plaza when it was time to meet up and waited for the guys to get back. We had set up a meeting time but weren’t surprised they were running late because they had to go all the way to the terminal.

Maya and I didn’t mind because we got to chatting and there were still festivities going on for Arequipa day. 20 minutes later, the boys got back. 

When we asked if they were ready to go find lunch, with sly grins on their faces they said they already ate. Turns out they found a ticket office 2 blocks away and then went to a Chinese place for lunch. (We later found out that they paid more for our tickets because they went to the office instead of the terminal just so they could eat Chinese food. That’s when Maya and learned that there was no more leaving chores to the boys ;)

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Arequipa. There was a local market that we went to and loved.

All too soon it was time to board the bus again and head to Cusco. It was the worst bus ride we had had yet.  

Although our time in Arequipa wasn’t adventure filled, it was great to just spend time together. I’m going to miss these people so much when I’m home that spending time doing nothing together is still one of the most amazing things we can do.