Day 432 – Arequipa
Ruta del Sillar
Today we woke up early to have breakfast at Holidays Backpackers Hostel. Then we had to go on a tour we had booked a few days ago from the hostel. Since I was unwell, they had rescheduled the tour for today at no additional cost. The tour cost us 50 PEN ($24.43 AUD) per person (p/p).
Personally, with all the various medications I was taking, I felt good enough to go on the tour.
We were picked up at 8am by the tour guide in a quarter filled van. Unfortunately we spent the next 45 minutes driving around town picking up more tourists. After all the tourists were picked up, the guide started giving us an introduction into the city of Arequipa and the Ruta del Sillar tour.
I always thought that Arequipa was called the “White City” due to the white buildings. However, the guide told us, it got its name as only the Spanish could live inside the city. The local Peruvians had to live outside the city.
Zamacola Viewpoint
Our first stop was Mirador de Zamacola, which was only a 30 minute drive from the city. The gates were closed when we arrived, but after some phone calls someone came to open the gate. At the viewpoint, we could see a few sillar statues and nice views of volcanoes and the surrounding city.
Sillar Quarry
Our next stop was the quarry called Canteras de Sillar Añashuayco. It is an active quarry, where they extract the white rock known as Sillar. It’s apparently only called Sillar once it’s a brick. The 5 PEN ($2.44 AUD) entrance fee p/p isn’t included in the tour.
There isn’t too much to see here, but the few attractions are nice. In one rock face, a Petra type facade has been carved. Also there are a few cravings of vases and donkeys. We spent some time here taking photos and relaxing.
Once everyone was back, we went to talk to a worker who gave us a demonstration on how the Sillar bricks are made. The rock is super soft (relatively for a rock) and all the work is carried out by hand. It was impressive how easily the bricks can be made, but it looks like hard work to do it day in, day out.
Quebrada de Culebrillas
Our final destination was Quebrada de Culebrillas. This is a valley that we can walk in. It was created by a different type of rock. However the most interesting thing here is the ancient carvings on the rock face. It was really cool to see. However, not much is known about the carvings.
Back in Arequipa
We were dropped back at the Arequipa Central Plaza (Plaza de Armas de Arequipa) before lunch time. After saying goodbye to the other tourists, we went back to our hostel.
We had planned to make lunch here, but the staff were cooking and using up the kitchen. We had to wait several hours before we could cook for ourselves.
Later that night, we ventured out to the pharmacy to buy more medication for me. The meds helped me get through the day, which was a blessing. But during the tour, I did not eat or drink anything. I kept smashing down bottles of electrolytes as the doctor had ordered.