It's been a while since I last wrote. We are now in Arequipa, Peru after a few days in the capital, Lima. Lima seemed a lot wealthier and less dangerous than my last visit thirty-five years ago but it still doesn't have a lot going for it as a destination apart from some great murals. That was not a big deal as all we wanted to do was relax after a month working on the boat and we found a lovely hotel to hang out in. The Peruvian people are generally really nice although a little more reserved than the Colombians. This is probably due to the novelty of tourism in Colombia. Peru has had to deal with the descending hoards for ever ...

We are really enjoying Arequipa. It is not wildly touristy so we can see a little more of Peruvian life. One interesting aspect of the town is that, as we saw in Seoul, all the shops selling a particular item congregate in one area. For example, the area around our apartment is entirely shops selling rooftop solar water heaters. Yes, it is that specialized. Around the corner they all sell (BAD) wine, one street over is toys. Even in the huge market it is very clearly divided by commodity. The fruit market area is spectacular.

There are a few travel tribulations. The water supply to most of the city went off this morning. Apparently it 'might be back on tomorrow'. I guess we will all start to pong together so not a huge deal for a day or so. They are organized for this so buckets of water are available for essential services. Unfortunately no one drinks the tap water anyway so that is not impacted.

Arequipa is at nearly 8,000' and surrounded by snow capped volcanoes. They are hard to photograph from the town because the air is very hazy but we are going up through them to Colca Canyon later in the week so I should be able to get some better pics then. Now we are just enjoying the place and adjusting to the altitude before we go much higher. The high point of the Colca trip is over 16,000' which should be interesting. I had no trouble with the altitude on my last visit but I was a LOT younger.

More soon