Discovering the World Sans Valise: Arequipa, a pleasant and clean city with baroque buildings made of white volcanic stone

Our next stop after Lake Titicaca was Arequipa, a colonial city located southwest of Puno. We took a night bus to get there. We arrived in Arequipa at....4 am! What do you do when you arrive in a town at 4 am? You could not check in our hotel, the entire city was asleep. We decided to sit on a bench in Plaza de Armas (the main square) near the cathedral and wait until the city would come to life. It was a little cold but we were all good sports and no one complained :))
At 6:30 am, a man walked towards us to ask us if we were interested in a desayuno/breakfast in his restaurant across the street. At this point, we were very cold. We followed him. The place was rather run down but we were happy to find a place to eat. A couple of hours later, we checked into our hotel, a few blocks from Plaza de Armas.
Arequipa is a charming city. There are open squares, markets, shops and restaurants.The buildings made of white volcanic stone are quite nice. The 17th century cathedral is monumental. A must to visit is the "Monasterio de Santa Catalina" - absolutely beautiful. We walked a lot through the streets that were very clean. We had excellent (and affordable) food here.

This plaza looks great at 4 am!

The cathedral

Beautiful Jesuite church and courtyard: the Iglesia de la Compania de jesus has an impressive facade and interiors. The courtyard also has a beautiful colonial architecture. The original church was built in 1573 and destroyed by an earthquake a decade later. The structure as it stands dates from 1650. It is interesting to see native Inca symbolism incorporated into the facades of the church. Like many other buildings in the city, it was constructed with white volcanic stones.

The church

The courtyard

Walking tour of the city - really fun and informative

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina - a gem with three different cloisters
The monastery was built in the 16th century and housed Dominican nuns. Several earthquakes damaged the monastery and therefore several parts of it have been rebuilt at different times.