To Speak of Rockfall and Arequipa

If things went according to plan, then this wouldn’t be Latin America.

My 15 and a half hour bus from Lima to Arequipa passed rather uneventfully, reminding me of why i like bus rides so much… it’s nice to be able to turn off the brain and rest every once in a while.

Upon arriving in Arequipa, i hauled my bags to the booth of the carrier offering service to Aplao—Transportes del Carpio. After buying my very reasonable priced fare, i kicked back in a chair to restfully pass the thirty minutes separating me from another three mindless hours before arriving in Aplao. Perhaps five or six minutes had passed when the man behind the counter motioned for me to come over to him.

“I’m sorry” he said—in Spanish, of course. “Rockfall has blocked the road to Aplao, and so there will be no buses to Aplao today. Perhaps it will be opened again tomorrow, but Friday is the safest guess.”

So lacking other options, i started trying to find a reasonably priced hotel, which brings me to my current residence, a reasonably priced single room about four blocks from the Plaza de Armas.

Even as much as i hate cities (of which Arequipa is the second largest in Peru), Arequipa feels much more like home than Lima did. i’m going to try to get out and take some pictures around town today, and perhaps will have one or two to put up tonight.

i guess getting there is half the fun, eh?