On the way back to Arequipa from the Colca Canyon, we had asked our guide if he knew of any ophthalmologists in Arequipa. He told us about his eye doctor, Juan Corrales Aragon, who had an office near our hotel on Calle Peral. At our hotel, we asked about him at the front desk and got a specific street address. After breakfast, we found the doctor's office, which was only 1/2 block from our hotel. The office door was locked but at an adjacent store we discovered that it would be open by 10 am.
Back at our hotel, Anita killed time by catching up on our laundry, while I hung a clothesline from the TV stand to the closet door handle. Not great but it worked.
At 9:45 we were back at the doctor's office on the 2nd floor of an old building. There was an elderly couple there ahead of us and we stood out in the dark hallway until 10:15, waiting for the office to open. If the other couple hadn't been there, we might have started to wonder if the office would open at all. Eventually, the receptionist let us in. When it was our turn, we explained Anita's symptoms in Spanglish, paid 80 soles ($32 CA) and were told to come back at noon.
When we returned at 11:45, the little waiting room with 18 rickety chairs was full and there were people waiting in the hall. The big screen TV over the receptionist's desk was blaring news about the election the previous day and the guerrilla attack at a remote village where 8 or 10 soldiers had been killed while trying to provide election security. Apparently a few "Shining Path" rebels are still active. Politics in Peru is very controversial. After waiting for an hour, we were called in to see the doctor. We were really glad we had initially gotten there early because there didn't seem to be any system of scheduled appointments.
After seeing the waiting room, we were prepared for an examining room out of the Dark Ages but the doctor had lots of modern equipment and seemed very knowledgeable. He spoke some English and conducted what seemed to be a fairly thorough eye examination. He explained that Anita's problem was due to ageing of the vitreous part of the eye and was not a serious concern. We were very happy to be able to continue our trip but Anita will still get a thorough check-up when we get home.
It was 2pm and since we were starving by this point, we stopped for a celebratory lunch at a tiny vegetarian cafeteria right beside our hotel. For 11 soles each ($4.50 CA) we were allowed to choose 4 dishes, plus rice along with soup, salad and the juice and dessert of our choice. We chose the quinoa juice and a flan for dessert that tasted like creme brûlée. Excellent meal. While we ate we chatted with a young couple from Texas at the next table who were the only other gringos there. They had quit their jobs to travel the world for the last 7 months and were on their way back to Texas that day.
After lunch, we walked around the old part of Arequipa. Just outside our hotel, we took a picture of a particularly crash damaged taxi, although many of them have dents and scrapes.
The weather here seems to be almost always sunny and 20C. Arequipa is about a 2 hour flight south of the equator and at 7,000 feet elevation. The general rule is that if you're looking for a pleasant climate, look for a place near the equator at around 5,000 feet elevation. Arequipa and Cuenca, Ecuador are 2 places we've found that prove that theory.
Happy hour at the Inkara pub behind the Cathedral runs from 4pm to 8pm so we were there at 4pm to try our first pisco sour, the national drink of Peru. Very tasty.
Eventually we wandered back to our room. We were still too full from our late lunch to even think about dinner, so we called it a day, very happy that our trip could continue.
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