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And our journey takes us on from Arica towards Arequipa in Peru for our first South American border crossing. To start with, a note for any other travellers doing the same route, you have three choices as to transport. First off is the train at a cost of 1500 pesos, second is a collectivo taxi for 3000 and lastly there is the bus for 1500. As always, saving money where possible, we chose the bus and carried our backpacks to the international bus terminal, walking straight in and bypassing all the collectivo drivers trying to get us into taxis.
We'd been warned that there was a departure tax so bought a ticket from a little booth for a small sum and headed for the nearest bus, handing the driver our passports when getting on. Now, even after travelling for nine months we still never like letting our passports get out of sight but thankfully we were forewarned by the guy in our hostel that this would happen as the bus companies are obliged to keep records of their passengers (presumably in case any bandits decide to hijack the bus or the driver has too much whiskey for breakfast and accidentally
drives over a cliff).
It was a short stretch to the border where we got our Chilean exit stamps and went to stand in line on the Peruvian side for entry stamps. There was a big queue and of course we had to wait, carrying our big backpacks as they needed to be x-rayed. Thankfully it was all pretty smooth as we just about worked out that the officials were asking how many days we were staying in Peru etc.
Another stamp in the passport and we were on our way to the dusty border town of Tacna. At the bus station we changed our remaining pesos into Nuevo Sols and bought a bus ticket from the Flores counter on their 'economico' service to Arequipa. The best bit was that when we were buying the ticket, the lady at the counter phoned the bus driver and told him to wait as the bus was just about to depart- that's service! The bus wasn't as comfortable as the Chilean one from a few days ago but for 20 sols each (£5), we weren't complaining and settled in for the 5 hour journey through what seemed like endless desert.
We were stopped a couple of times along the way at police checkpoints for the baggage hold to be searched and were once again forced to hand over our passports...sigh... but eventually the bus reached Arequipa ahead of schedule. We were grateful that it was still light as bus stations can be full of thieves, so jumped in a taxi (an official one as some have been known to 'express kidnap' tourists, extorting pin number for ATM cards and clearing out their bank accounts) and set off for 'Los Andes B&B' through the crazy rush hour traffic.
At the hotel, the whole affair of getting a room was fairly straightforward and conducted entirely by Stacey in her best Spanish- I was impressed! As we'd been travelling all day, we decided to buy a few supplies from the supermarket across the road and has an early night.
Our first full day there was spent mostly relaxing on the fantastic rooftop terrace looking out at the old buildings throughout the city and the huge, imposing mountains in the backdrop. It wasn't so much out of lethargy but I'd caught a pretty nasty cold the previous day (new country, new germs-
always a pleasure!) and the day's travel really took its toll. It wasn't until the following day that we had a chance to wander around the beautiful city centre and marvel at all the old Spanish churches and colonial buildings. Not very much of Inca architecture has survived here in Arequipa but the Spanish stuff is really impressive, most of all the Plaza de Armas with its huge cathedral and surrounding buildings. We found the central market place which was a huge building filled with tonnes of fresh produce from bread to baked goats heads. We bought some fresh fruit and veg from one of the stalls, delighted and how friendly the people were and also that they weren't trying to rip us off- we got the locals price which is something that never happened in places like Vietnam and Indonesia.
The next day we headed straight for the Monasterio Santa Catalina which is decried as a city within a city and is effectively a huge nunnery/convent where nuns went to train and spend their lives. The site occupies an entire city block and is a maze of gardens, cells for nuns, kitchens and plazas all connected by winding
streets within a set of huge outer walls- very impressive to see and wander around (worth the large entrance fee). That afternoon we treated ourselves to lunch in a little place overlooking the Plaza de Armas and enjoyed our first taste of Pisco Sour- the locally produced spirit. Tangy!
Having spent a fair while in the city enjoying the ambiance of the Spanish architecture and the looming mountains in the backdrop, we reluctantly decided that it was time to move on. We caught the local bus to the big bus terminal on the outskirts for less than 20p each and went to buy some tickets for the trip to Cusco. As it was 10 hours away, we opted for an overnight bus and decided to splash out an extra £1.25 each for better seats- extravagant for us!
Catching the local bus back to the city centre, we returned to the hotel to make lunch which proved to be quite confrontational. An American lady had wanted to use a frying pan that Stacey had picked up to cook our lunch in order to cover her own saucepan as a lid! The woman picked it up from the hob we
were using and nicked it right in front of Stacey. When Stacey politely asked what the hell she was doing, the woman had a rant that 'she needed it' and then started to chant to herself 'I don't know what to do!' repeatedly and rocking back & forwards. It was obvious that she probably looked into the sun too long or something and she had a crazed look about her. Stacey offered her a metal tray as an alternative and got another mouthful. I came in and told her to stop being so rude (risky with all the sharp objects around :-) and she went off to sulk somewhere- you meet all sorts of 'interesting' people while backpacking!
The next day we had a bit of time to kill before our 8pm bus departure and didn't want to wander around the city carrying bags full of valuables so decided to hang around on the roof terrace. Around 6pm when we were about to venture out into the darkness, another tourist came upstairs and was telling someone else how he'd just been mugged. Just when we were starting to feel safe walking around in South America, we hear this not
10 minutes before we had to leave for the bus station in the dark: brilliant! As it happens, we caught an official taxi to the bus station and there were no problems, aside from a bit of nerves when the driver turned off the main road away from the bus station into a dark street (express kidnapping!) but thankfully he was just taking a shortcut.
At the terminal, we hung around for a while before checking our luggage in (almost like at an airport, very impressed!) and boarded the 'Super Dorado' double decker bus. We were amazed when we saw our seats- full leather comfy reclining ones, only three in a row instead of the usual four, so were extra wide. There were nine of them in a little compartment at the back on the lower floor, sectioned off from everyone else. As we settled in and the bus headed out of the city, we relaxed with our complimentary meal in the comfy chairs deciding that it was £1.25 well spent.
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