Marek Another beautiful place and another one where it is better not to photograph llamas grazing on the streets. On average, there are 8 owners for each of them and each of them demands a dollar for photographing their animal. A few such photos and there will not be enough for a hotel. Especially since the crowd seems to thicken at the sight of tourists with cameras. A moment more and they will start bringing all the animals found in the area.
A completely different thing in Arequipa is the hotel base. If you are booking a hotel, first make sure that you will have access to water. In our hotel, the only water in the area was the tide in a bucket placed under the gutter (apparently it was raining). The receptionist, with disarming honesty, replied that there is none in the whole city. Without thinking too much, we left our luggage in the room and went downstairs to the pub, naively thinking that it was possible to cook something without water. And yes. It turned out that you can, and even more, wash your hands in the bathroom. In addition, when people are asked when they will turn on the water in the city, they look at us strangely and probably try to move away to a safe distance as quickly as possible.
And so, we arranged the first escape from a South American hotel. Fortunately, we did not have to provide payment card details. The hotel owner probably won’t make this oversight again. As you can probably guess, it is difficult to find a free room in the evening. We took the easy way out and went to the most expensive hotel in town. It was very cheap by Polish standards, so the choice went perfectly.
After an exceptionally good night’s sleep, in the morning we set off for breakfast, to the market square. I ordered an omelette and Marek was persuaded to buy a regional set. After a long wait, my curiosity was finally satisfied. First my omelette arrived on the table, and then Marek’s breakfast. On the plate, apart from the salad and one giant potato (by the way, no one thought that it could be peeled before serving) there was a roasted animal, a rat in beauty, run over by a car. Marek was not scared at all. And rightly so. The local specialty turned out to be a roasted guinea pig (sorry all children, ask your parents to buy a dog). When it turned out that Marek was fine, I tried it myself. I don’t know what they see in these guinea pigs, since there is nothing there except skin and bones. Poor Marek struggled and tormented the rodent, and consequently got up from the table hungry. It was worth trying the regional cuisine, but next time there will be a hamburger with fries.
After the morning adventure, we went to visit the nearby monastery. A place closed to the world. The monastic community has created a kind of city within a city. Isolation was intended to serve a higher purpose. Whatever was behind it, the idea was probably lofty. Now, for a change, the monastery is open to visitors, because no one is eager to play the role of a monk cut off from the world, focused on prayer and meditation.
After leaving the monastery, I have some thoughts. In every community there is a specific class division, even if the original idea did not provide for it. Sooner or later, people make divisions themselves. I looked at the cells of ordinary nuns and the apartments of high-ranking nuns. I wonder how much shock the girls must have experienced when they locked themselves in the convent in the name of ideals, but in fact became servants of incumbent superiors.
But enough of these sad considerations. I’ll tell you about the second part of the day. We went to the museum. As always, in such a place, apart from kilograms of accumulated dust, you can find something interesting. I was impressed by the library of old prints, maps and sheet music. The whole room was teeming with the atmosphere of old fairy tales. Unfortunately, this time the librarian turned out to be the “master of books”. He did not take a suspicious look off us. Like a basilisk, he guarded his treasures, making sure that we did not take a single photo. It’s a pity, I’ve never seen such a library, but I hope that I will have a chance to see a similar one again…