Chilling in Chili

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ATM’s: Again Trouble Makers

After crossing the border with Chili I took the bus to San Pedro de Atacama. It is a small town and very touristy. While I was sitting at a terras in front of the restaurant having a coffee I started talking with people who were sitting on the next table. They were very friendly people from Santiago and nice to have a chat with. To escape Santiago city life and to relax they decided to stay for a week in San Pedro. Suddenly there was a girl standing next to my table. She appeared from nowhere and I was surprised. Like an angel. She was from Holland as well and later we had something to eat in a restaurant. She lived until she was eight in Columbia and then moved to Holland. Now she was travelling through Chili. Nice to meet people like that completely unsuspected.

We planned to have breakfast the next day and before we went to eat something she had to go to the ATM to withdraw some money. It wasn’t her lucky day, because the screen on the ATM went blank and the machine didn’t return her card. This was the first time I have seen an Microsoft Windows screen on an ATM. Is this an ATM or a PC? Well it turns out to be both. Maybe next time bring a keyboard and you can check your email while withdrawing money? We tried to call the phone number that was written on the machine but it is quite hard to explain in Spanish that your card didn’t return from the machine. Luckily there was a lady from the shop next door to help us. But there was nothing we could do. After this happened we decided to first have some breakfast and than block her card by calling to the bank home.

The beauty just outside of San Pedro

After blocking the card we went for a walk around town. It is funny that when you walk for five minutes you are in a completely different world. The mountains and the desert terrain. It makes it even more special with the light from the sun going under. In the evening I met the German lady I had met before in La Paz and with the three of us we had a drink somewhere. That is the nice thing to meet people again who you have met before and hear their experiences of their travel and compare it with your own. She didn’t have such a nice memories about Bolivia, while mine were completely the opposite. I loved Bolivia and the people. Well, everyone makes his or her own travel.

From the lady of the shop we heard they emptied the machine and took the card to Calama. That is the nearest city. So the next morning we decided to to go to Calama to try to get the card back. After about one and a half hour by bus we arrived and walked towards the city center. At the bank we tried to explain, again in broken Spanish, what happened. It luckily made it easier when she called an English speaking colleague. When I explained the situation, she explained it to the lady in Spanish over the phone. We had to wait and wait and wait….The building of the bank was under renovation. So people in decent suits and people with their working boots both walked around there. I found it funny to see the contrast. We were sitting in front of the stairs and saw everyone who entered the building. Nice to watch people and kill time that way. O, no, I mean studying and learning about the culture ofcourse… We had to return around noon and still there was no card. The card was not at the bank but at a company who empties the ATM machines. And they had to bring it to the bank. But after again waiting the lady suddenly came back smiling with the card in her hand. A small miracle. The card back after one day in another country. So it was time to celebrate with an icecream. Afterwards she went back to San Pedro and I took the bus to Iquique, my next destination.
In Iquique I started to relax and reflect on my adventures in Bolivia. Sometimes that is a good thing to do. I walked a bit around the city, went to a fish market and relaxed a bit more. After Iquique I went to Arica. There I walked along the sea. The streets start to become alive after ten in the evening. Everyone is outside and if you really want to feel the Latin atmosphere you have to be there. There is a nice little church in the middle of town constructed by Eiffel (you know the one of the tower in Paris….). It is almost completely made of steel and prefabricated in France during that time. It was nice to be at cities again near the sea, like Iquique and Arica. I really needed the view of the ocean and the fresh breeze.

Lounging while crossing the border

From Arica I went back to Peru. I shared a taxi with some local people and I have never crossed a border so smooth and fast. The ride was fun because it was in an old American Ford from the 50’s. Two huge benches, one in front and one in the back of the car. When you sit on it you almost disappear, so soft are the seats. In Tacna on the Peruvian side I took the bus and late in the afternoon I arrived in Arequipa. The same evening I met a girl from Israel and I tried to help her finding material she needed for making bracelets. It was fun to walk around the streets and ask at all the shops if they had it, but eventually we couldn’t find it.

After two days in Arequipa I went back to Lima by bus which took me 16 hours. I spend one night in Lima and the next day I flew to Madrid. After spending one afternoon and night in Madrid I took an early flight to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. And from there the train first to Utrecht to have lunch at the home of my brother and then continue to Haren for a surprise visit on my mothers birthday. She was very surprised and didn’t expect me to be there. So now while I am writing this blog I am back home, but not finished travelling. But first it is time to relax and process all the impressions of the last seven months. I will let you know when I am back on the road again…

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Photos

Election time
This was for the local elections. The taxidriver called it misleading propaganda and a waste of money.