46 Hours to Disaster.

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Well, I left the hostal in Arequipa at about 7am on Feb. 26, headed to the bus station, and rode for 7 hours to Tacna, the Peruvian Border town.

I found three British girls who looked more lost than I was. I dont know how that worked out, but I congregated with them and we found a guy who could drive us over the border in a collectivo, or shared taxi. We walked across the street to the International Bus station and sat around for a few minutes, filling out forms and wondering if we were actually going to make it. Eventually, another guy came and led us outside to a cab, where another girl was waiting. So, 6 people in a taxi, that seems safe. Not to mention the cab was actually a beat up Ford Tarus. Must have been early 90's. Oh great, Ive been there before.

Our luggage wouldnt actually fit into the trunk, so we watched the driver struggle for a while, then he gave up and used a frayed rope to tie the thing shut. It was about a 30 minute drive to the Chilean border. We had to get out once to get our Passports stamped as leaving Peru, then we drove onto Chilean customs. I went up to the window crossing my fingers that I would not be charged the $130 reprocity fee that they normally charge Americans. Somehow, it was not brought up. YAY!!!! After putting my bags through an ex-ray machine, we were off to Arica, Chile.

We were dropped off at another bus station, which was very great for me. I went around asking for tickets to Santiago, and found that the next bus did not leave for 5 hours. I sat around the bus station chatting with the group of British girls, who left on a separate bus to San Pedro de Atacama at the same time.

The bus ride was LOOoOONG! 11 Hours to Antofagasta. A one hour layover and then 18 more to Santiago. In total I would be travelling for 46 hours. Not to mention, bus food is horrible. Good thing I had snacks because all they served for lunch AND dinner was half of a ham and cheese sandwhich. It looked discusting.

Northern Chile is not really that spectacular. The entire top half consists of the Atacama desert, which is the driest in the world. Sand dunes for miles is all I got to enjoy out of my window.

During my stop over in Antofagasta I heard of the Earthquake, which had happened just hours before. People in the bus station were devastated. Frantically making phone calls and gasping out loud at the tv screen. I had to ask a person where the Earthquake was, and when I heard, I thought, oh no, I am going to be stuck somewhere.

North of Santiago was fine, so we made it though on time. I arrived at the bus station around 5 am, everything was closed, there were no taxi drivers, and no one was answering at a hostal. So, I rolled out my sleeping mat on the floor and slept on the floor at the bus station for a couple hours, just like a real homeless person! Got to make my parents proud. Finally around 730, I gave up on calling hostals and found a taxi driver who took me to a hostal in the district I was hoping to get to, Barrio Brasil. The hostal was full, go figure, so I walked several blocks to another one.

My family and friends were worried about me, thanks guys. I didnt feel anything, but I did get a good aftershock the morning I arrived.

Gas had been shut off throughout the city, so I took a freezing cold shower to wash off my bus grime, and then had breakfast. We have also been cooking everything on the bar-b-que. One of the girls who worked at the hostal told me about the Earthquake. She was out dancing with some friends when all of a sudden things shook. She dismissed it, as they get many earthquakes in Chile, but it got increasingly violent. She became worried and her and her friends used the super effective, hide under a table trick for safety. Then... Darkness. All the power went off in Santiago.

Another Couple that I met was flying into Santiago from Australia. They were 4 hours away when the Quake hit, and all of a sudden they said the screen showing time and direction switched to two hours and the were heading north and then back east. They landed on Easter Island, which would have normally been a really cool situation, but many other planes were stuck there and there were no accomadations. Apparently the airport there is not set up for the type of traffic they were getting. Local people were lined up at the fences watching the airport become packed with re-routed planes. All they were told is, there has been an earthquake and we have lost all communication with Santiago. 24 hours later, they re-boarded, and landed at the closed Santiago Airport. The buildings there were destroyed, so they got a ladder and the luggage was strewn out on the tarmac. No body had to go through customs, but they did bring a dog out to sniff the bags. They eventually made it into town. I thought wow, what a way to start off a vacation.

She took me on a walk to look at the damage that had been done. It is devastating here. The most beautiful old churches have entire walls torn. Concrete and glass is littered in the streets and on the sidewalks, although on all the main routes, it has already been pushed into piles. We found one lady cleaning out here house, although you could only walk maybe 5 feet into the door because the whole second floor was fallen into the first. We asked her if she would like some help. She was the happiest post-disaster victim I have ever seen. She had a big smile on her face and was coverd in dust. She looked at us and said we were too beautiful to do this type of work. I dont know how she was in such good spirits. There was nothing in that house that could have been saved.

I ended up walking to downtown by myself, and most of the city is unaffected, with the occasional crack up the side of a building, windows blown out or missing porch. The School of fine Arts was destroyed, the entire front entrance of the building in cobbles at the base of its steps.

Chile is a very wealthy county by S. American standards, so they seem to have the situation well under control. Clean up crews are everywhere, and communication seems to be at 100%.

After doing my Santiago-post earthquake tour. I returned to the hostal. Meet some fun girls from Mexico and Brazil who decided to show me brazillian dances. They are all very much the same. Shake your ass. Next, put your hands on one knee and shake your ass. Then do a circle and, guess what, shake your ass. We did so much shaking I worked up a huge sweat! I then showed them a line dance, which we did to some brazillian country music, which was super entertaining.

Today was another relaxed day, just wandered around taking in the sites, got my laundry done, made some reservations to get to Mendoza. I had tried to contact a few organizations about volunteering here for clean-up, but nobody has gotten back to me. My original plan was to head South into the Lakes district of Chile, but the roads and the airport are currently closed, so Into Argentina I go in the morning. Sad to be leaving this country so soon, but I may be able to cross back over futher south in Patagonia if my travels dont take me elsewhere. One plus, the gas did just get turned on, so hot showers are back!!!

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