Scenes from a cultural walking tour around Arequipa, Peru [November 2025}

After my morning walkabout it was time for a more comprehensive walking tour of Arequipa. I think we did it in about 3 hours, which was a comfortable amount of time. The tour broke down into a few main parts / themes:

* The central 'white city'

* The most central part of the Yanahuara district

* A delicious traditional meal at La Cau Cau 2 Picantería

* An educational visit with Sr. Carlos Rivas Sastre, at Acolpacha Tambo Boutique

We started with the center, which is laid out in a pattern common across many cities with connections back to Spanish colonialism. And while perhaps the primary reason Arequipa is known as Ciudad Blanca is due to the volcanic sillar stone used to construct most of its buildings, my guide suggested there is another reason: the central area of Arequipa was reserved for wealthy and noble Spanish families, who were white.

Today many of the buildings that were properties of the nobles have been redone as banks, cultural centers, small commercial outlets, and stylish restaurants with rooftop dining that affords views of the famous volcanoes not too far off in the distance. We ducked into a couple and if I had more time I would have checked out many more. If you like wandering, exploring, and window shopping with the occasional coffee / snack break, central Arequipa will keep you entertained.

We made our way over to Yanahuara via a series of smaller, semi-winding streets. As we walked I was reminded of Lecce, Coyoacán, Morelia, some parts of Spain of course. It all felt like a lovely place to go about daily life. Wish I could have seen the interiors of some of the houses we passed.

We continued the walk and I continued to take pictures, fascinated and charmed.

My guide picked up on my fascination and indulged me the detour in to see Tio Dario. Looks cute, modest from the outside. Step inside and it's terraces, gardens, volcano views. Decent place to have in the neighborhood I suppose.

Onward we went to Yanahuara Plaza, which was a peaceful delight on this sunny Tuesday morning. One note about the weather: Arequipa is at an altitude of ~2300m above sea level, which is roughly the same as la CDMX. So the temperatures are moderate. Unlike CDMX, there is no prolonged rainy season. Looks like February. Maybe Jan - March, and usually in the mornings and evenings. Quite possibly the perfect climate.

Here we also stopped for a traditional queso helado. It was like 11:30am, but a lil' taste can't hurt. I made the mistake of commenting that it was like a Peruvian gelato and my guide corrected me saying it was Arequipeño, not Peruvian. I got that feedback a couple of times. Clear regional / local pride in Arequipa. Seems some definitely feel they are Arequipeños first, Peruvians second.

Refreshed, we continued the walk out of the center of Yanahuara and headed in a southwesterly direction to a more modern section of the neighborhood. This area also could have doubled for a variety of residential parts of Mexico City.

Our destination was La Cau Cau II Picanteria. Homey feel and some hallmarks of a place that just might be a local institution. Prepping volumes of food. And an experienced team executing that prep choreography.

We spent a moment to order our food and then headed out back to the on-site Chicheria.

Coincidentally we were there when Mama Laurita herself was filming a bit of a promo with her own production crew. She welcomed us despite the intrusion and it was immediately evident that Mama Laurita had some personality and sass to her. During her demo she dropped a few suggestive / ribald comments. I think I got credit with my guide for picking up on the double entendre when she hit us with a 'concho de su madre' reference. It was literally accurate phrasing, as it has to do with the fermentation process (I think). She said it with a bit of a wink and a pause, maybe waiting to see it I'd catch it. But I've seen enough Argentinian shows and movies on Netflix to know she was hinting at a vulgar reference/insult/threat. Clip below is of a different part of her demo.



After the friendly demo we found a spot within the picnic table seating in a lovely garden setting and went about chowing down some simple, traditional, and delicious food.

Along with the meal I got some history and context regarding the picanteria tradition. From what I recall, their history interwines with the history of trading routes through the region, dating back to the 1500s - 1600s. Commonly (maybe exclusively?) run by women, they got their start serving the chicha de jora to the menfolk who were traveling and working long days heading in whichever direction the commerce was flowing. The saucy personality of the hostess was a feature, not a bug, with the theory being that flirty behavior worked to keep patrons seated (and paying for drink) longer. So in that regard Mama Laurita was honoring a centuries old tradition with her bawdy banter. I also learned that the simple tomato and potato dish -- el Escribano -- was developed in response to impatient lawyer types who didn't like waiting for the main dish. I'm paraprhasing here, but per my guide it was something designed to get on the table quickly to shut up the pain in the ass lawyers.

My final surprising (to me, anyway) factoid about picanterias is that they maintain daytime hours, closing at like 5 or 6pm. On the one hand I guess that makes them pretty neighborhood friendly. Things can only get so scandalous before 6pm, right? But then, who is patronizing them? How do you get enough business going via a neighborhood lunch-only spot? Unclear. But I certainly enjoyed my short time passing through, making a brief cameo in the centuries-long story of picanterias in Arequipa.

Intentional or not, the next stop in our walking tour complemented the picanteria visit very well. The place is called ACOLPACHA Tambo Boutique. I did not snap a picture of the exterior because it really wasn't anything special. You can check the street view at the google maps link above. Its story, however, is very cool. If I understood everything well (and remember it properly), the grounds and structures that they have renovated were one of the original tambos in Arequipa dating back to the 1500s or 1600s. We were led to a terrace for some views while someone prepared us a lemonade.

I won't go on at length about how tambos worked and their role in the history of Arequipa. You can google that. But what this gentleman and his partners are doing to develop/restore this property into a living cultural center / hotel / restaurant is admirable and impressive.

Very cool place, with some special views. If you are in Arequipa and want to hear the whole story, here is Carlos' contact info. We were there for at least an hour and it was clear he could have spent the entire afternoon talking about this passion project. Fwiw, it was all in español.

Tour continued for a bit back to the main plaza. I took a few more pictures of things that caught my eye. Will punctuate this post with this one.