Last Day in Peru. Tacna, Peru and Crossing the Chilean Border Under the Cover of Night

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So the bus for Tacna left at 7am. Only one small problem, Brett and I were not on it. Hahaha. Brett left his shoes on the tour bus we took from the Colca Canyon and he really wanted them back so after about five drinks around midnight we decided that we weren’t going to be on the bus so he could get his shoes, and of course because the Peru Libres were going down extremely smoothly and quickly. We met up with Carlos and Inma and Rocio and we all went to a Mexican restaurant, the same one Brett and I dined at two nights before. We all enjoyed some food and some beers and then we were met up by Pepe, a friend of Carlos’ who was 29 and a pretty fun and crazy guy. After dinner we went to a Peruvian bar where they had live blues music and it was a really fun place. We had a few drinks there and then made our way down the street to the discoteca. They were playing techno upstairs and downstairs was some bumping reggeton. We danced for a while and had some more beverages, it was a great place and very fun, however Carlos hated it because well, he’s old, so he left us there to our own devices. We were getting so many looks from all the local women in the club, we were some of the only white guys there and let’s be honest we’re lookers so I can’t blame them. Much to my chagrin though, I went home and passed out with Brett and we woke up around 9 feeling just about as hungover and awful as a man can feel. We went to the travel office to try and get Brett’s shoes and it was closed! So we decided to go to the bus ticket office and try to reschedule the ticket we had, they wouldn’t let us recoup the lost ticket and the next bus left the following morning and we needed to get out of Arequipa. We found another office for bus tickets and booked a noon bus that day through another company. In the meanwhile we ate some breakfast, well I had a burger and Brett had eggs, and then we went back to the travel office which was now open and Brett got his shoes. All was well. We said goodbye to our hostel, the San Lazaro Lodge, which was by now home sweet home since there was no one else in the place, only us. It was a great place and minus the craziness of the traffic outside I would for sure go back there whenever I go back to Arequipa. We arrived at the bus station and it was pretty much like every other bus station here, dirty, crowded, and gives you a feeling like your wallet is going to get stolen any moment! Haha. We went out to the ramp where our bus was parked and noticed that one of the luggage doors was open so we figured we’d go toss our stuff in there and get on the bus. Well the problem occurred when we realized that this was no luggage compartment, the driver had a bed in there and some other clothes and he was just assed out sleeping. We waited for almost an hour for this man to wake up and we finally boarded the bus and set off for Tacna. The terrain for most of the ride was just sandy huge dune-like mountains as far as the eye could see. The bus played movies along the way and the sound was soooo loud it was obnoxious. There was nothing we could do about it, however at the time, hungover and exhausted it was like Chinese water torture having to listen to it. I slept for a few hours of our 6 hour ride and when I woke up I got into one of the movies and the time passed alright. We stopped in a few small dodgy towns on this trip and as night fell we pulled out of the final town and back into the desert. It was a pretty eerie feeling that dusk brought with it, alone with Brett and a bunch of Peruvians heading for the Chilean border I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the bus broke down in the middle of this unforgiving place. Thankfully nothing happened like that and we arrived in Tacna a little early actually. The bus station in Tacna was BY FAR THE WORST WE HAVE BEEN AT THUS FAR. I mean there was just garbage all over the floor; people looked at you with an interested malice that I couldn’t shake. I saw one cop and even he looked like he wanted to steal our shit. We got out of there quickly and were immediately accosted by a half drunk crazy guy who started yelling “hey you! Hey you!” at us as we walked out of the terminal. I didn’t want anything to do with this guy, but the fact was that we were looking for the place where you catch the collective taxi’s that take you across the Chilean border and this guy seemed to know the way. I told him I wasn’t paying anything for his help right off the bat and he still insisted on walking with us, we kept our distance and he indeed took us to the right place but then at the other terminal where we catch the taxi and asked me to change some money for him and then he put his hand on me and I wasn’t having any of that and I yelled at him not to touch me. He left at that point and we were both relieved. The process of the collective taxi is basically a carpool across the border that is standard practice. It cost 18 soles to get across the border and the taxi driver handles all the paperwork for you. We found this taxi driver amidst the craziness and he asked for our passports so he could get the paperwork in order and we gave them to him reluctantly and he took off with them up into the terminal. We were concerned at first but he returned and we got into the cab and there was also a Chilean family in the cab with two little daughters, we asked the father if this was all good and he said yes and they were very nice and put us at ease. We talked with them for a long time about Chile and our travels and we finally took off for the border between Peru and Chile. No questions were asked at either border and we went through with absolutely no problems. Welcome to Chile. We dropped the family off at their car and we were dropped off at the bus station by the taxi driver. We found another taxi to take us to the center of town, since we didn’t have a place to stay reserved. This guy didn’t know shit, we showed him a map and he didn’t know where anything was and then he took us to some hotel that wanted a ton of money per night and we just told him to drop us off and we’d find ourselves a place. Then he didn’t give me enough change and thought I wouldn’t notice so I bitched at him and he coughed it up. We asked a cop for some help with the map and we got our bearings and walked to the place where we are currently residing. This place is nice, it’s a small hotel with an open air courtyard and wifi as well as hot water and we have a private room for about as much as we’re paying for our hostel in Santiago so I have no complaints. Last night after we checked in we went to the main tourist drag and had some dinner and a beer. The time difference here was two hours ahead of Peru so by the time we finished dinner it was 1am! We came back here and crashed; we were exhausted and slept great for the first time in a few days. We woke up today and had to get ourselves a bus ticket out of here and so we walked around the city for a while and found the beach, which since this is the off season was under a lot of construction but it was still pretty nice and I can see how it would be pretty cool in the high tourist season. After we explored a little and sat on the beach (or what we thought was the beach) we went to the bus station to get a ticket to San Pedro de Atacama. We got a “completo” for lunch which is a Chilean favorite, a hot dog with mayo, guacamole, and tomatoes. It was pretty damn good and definitely the cheapest thing around. The bus for tonight was full so we had to book one for tomorrow night which gives us a little time to hang out here in Arica. We came back to the hotel and I did some writing and picture uploading when Brett and I decided to go for a run. I haven’t done much in a while (except for hike the Inca trail and climb in and out of the deepest canyon in the world) so I felt like I should do some exercising. We ran the opposite direction of where we explored earlier today and low and behold there was a proper beach!! It was really nice and had cabanas and restaurants and pretty much everything you’d expect out of a beach. We walked out onto the pier which had a lot of holes in it and shaky boards so we couldn’t go out very far but it reminded me that even though we are in Chile and things are a little more developed and civilized that Peru, it’s still South America. On the way back to the hotel we randomly saw Joey, a guy we met in Cusco who is here and is heading tonight to Atacama, we are kind of following the same path. We talked with him for a while, we all plan on being together for Lollapalooza in Santiago next weekend so we bullshitted about that for a while and then we said goodbye and went on our run. At the end of our run, we finished in a little square with an amphitheater, there was some music playing so we walked over to check out what it was. It was a bunch of people juggling and dancing and hanging out! It was pretty cool we just sat there and watched for about 40 minutes and there were girls and guys juggling, some with flags, some with balls and sticks. We met a guy and his girlfriend, named Michael and Caroline and talked with them for a while, they are from Arica and were very interested to know about Chicago and that we were American. We walked back here to the hotel after the juggle fest and we’re about to take some showers and then have some dinner and probably some drinks. Tomorrow the agenda is going to the beach and kicking it until our bus leaves at 21.30. Then it’s overnight to San Pedro de Atacama and after that Santiago! Take care everyone. Peace out from northern Chile where the weather is lovely and the people are welcoming. Love you all.

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