Peru’s finest petting zoo. No…wait.
There’s more to getting lunch at Arequipa, Peru‘s largest market than just showing up and finding the most popular and promising food stall. You really need to be careful which route you take through the market’s many aisles.
What you should not do, under any circumstances, is start your visit to Mercado San Camilo by walking up the stairs to the balcony that wraps around the second floor of the market.
Climbing with a heavy burden.
From the balcony, you can get a view of the entire market.
Resting
Including a view of the meat section.
Heaving
The raw meat section.
Tearing
Which is surprisingly clean and organized, considering all the meaty tidbits being flung about.
Sorting
But still an awfully unsettling scene to an empty stomach, especially when viewed from above.
Arequpia’s San Camilo Market is sprawling. But you have to read “sprawling” with a slow southern drawl, dragging out the word so long that it violates the time-space continuum. C’mon, say it with me—
Spprrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwlling.
Hidden in the second floor is a small live meat market where you can buy live guinea pigs to take home for dinner. The cuy were plump and healthy, nibbling and squeaking the last of their days away.
Guinea pigs, it’s what’s for dinner
But, they won’t sell you dogs or cats. Somehow that would be taking things too far.
Prohibido la venta de perros y gatos
Strutting
We never managed to sit down for lunch at San Camilo Market. We’d seen much much too much.
Eating
There was this part of Cuzco market where there are stalls after stalls selling fresh juice. We go there every morning. Unfortunately it borders the meat section. It was such a weird experience sipping our morning juice and seeing a pig carcass being sawed into 2.
Seeing AND hearing and smelling the pig carcass being sawed in two, I bet!
The things you get used to while traveling…
This looks interesting. When I was in Arequipa, I totally missed the market. I must’ve been visiting Colca Canyon at the time. It’s a shame because I was also too late for the animal market part of Otovalo in Ecuador. Looking at some of those photos, perhaps it’s for the best!
I like to imagine being someone who shops at one of the markets I visit when I travel, and think about what they would think of an American mega-grocery store, with our individually shrink-wrapped bananas and heavily processed “food products.”
Now THAT’s weird!