Arequipa
Andes Mountains, Peru

Halfway up Peru's Andes mountains at 2,400m (7,800 ft) is the dazzling, colonial 'White City' (La Ciudad Blanca) of Arequipa where festivities are frequent, as are sightings of tourists (this is the third most popular urban destination in Peru) and high plains drifters - or more correctly, people of the Altiplano - among the grand structures. Be aware that there also lurk plenty of rateros, petty thieves cruising for tourist pockets. The bugcrew experienced two unsuccessful attempts in Arequipa.

Arequipa makes a terrific transit point on the way to Peru's greatest attraction (Machu Picchu of course), because:

- It is home to some magnificent Spanish colonial architecture - that is, incidentally, cut out of solidified, white, pyroclastic ash from the nearby volcano El Misti - and as such the historic centre of the city has UNESCO World Heritage status, but with no Inca remnants at all.

- Arequipa is conveniently situated in the Tourist Corridor running from Nazca (low altitude)-Arequipa (mid-altitude)-Puno (high)-Cuzco (high), so it's the perfect place for altitude acclimatisation on the way up from Nazca.

A few days allows the blood to thin out and avoids the unpleasantness of altitude sickness when arriving suddenly in a high altitude destination (e.g. travelling directly by plane Lima-Cuzco) whether it's just a thumping headache or full-on pulmonary edema, trust me, with all this amazing culture and environment around travellers need to be in peak condition, not sick and sleepless.

- Arequipa is a city that loves festivals, be they formal such as Independence Day (July 28, upper right), or touristy but wonderful such as La Tuna Spanish Music Festival (photo at bottom).

- Outside Arequipa lies El Misti volcano that may be of interest to a few masochistic climbers but the biggest draw is a day trip out to beautiful Colca Canyon and the massive condors that cruise there. Yes, the birthplace of El Condor Pasa!