March 3rd and 4th 2015
Post Colca Canyon Elin Olivia and I spend one more day wandering around Arequipa hectic but lovely center. It’s know to many as the white city though as one Bolivian taxi driver puts it, it should be called the grey city, as all of the white rock has long since turned to a dark grey, less pretty perhaps, but the countless colonial buildings and other interesting architectural decisions make our wander quite enjoyable, even if I still can’t eat much.
We end up eating (read: they end up eating) in a combination of burger and Starbucks of all things. I used to judge travellers for doing this, going to a varied and different culture and pretending you’re in the western world, but now, after long term travel realities set in, a meal in a fast food place goes a long way to reminding you of home, and every now and then it’s a pleasant treat. In fact just the smell of burger king was pretty damned enjoyable.
From there we head to the market and find me a shoe repair place before heading back to the hostel and playing pool until the time comes to say goodbye. I head to the bus Station with Elin and Olivia and get a parting gift from them of this braid in my hair, which has tragically just fallen out, before saying goodbye and watching them climb on their 11 hour bus to Cusco with Flores bus company, which I can highly recommend on their behalf. The cost is about 50 Soles if my memory serves me.
It’s sad to say goodbye to both of them, they are both awesome people and I know will do wonderful things in their lives, but it’s a reality of long time travel. It’s damn hard to find someone travelling as long as I am, and hello’s and goodbye’s are an integral part of my life these days. Still I traveled with these two longer than anyone else so far, and climbing into a cab back to Arequipay backpackers alone feels strange.
I spend the evening blogging before waking up the next morning and heading to the central Flores terminal (just across from the main terminal where some Flores buses leave from) and manage to get one of the last seats on the 10:30 am bus to Tacna for 25 soles. Lucky me, as the bus is spacious and makes the 6.5 hour journey to Peru’s Desert border town a simple thing to sit through until we’re all pulled out of the bus to have our bags searched about two hours from Tacna. Their looking for fruit and their serious about it, as supposedly fruit fly’s have caused serious problems before. So don’t bring any fruit on this journey that you don’t plan to eat in the first 4 hours of the bus ride.
Arriving in Tacna you’re left with a few options to cross into Chile (a wondrous if much more expensive country so far). You can take a bus to Arica (Tacna’s Chilean counterpart though on he coast so more pleasant) which should cost about 12 soles and let you off at the border to handle stuff yourself and then pick you up on the other side and bring you to the terminal of Arica. The only problem here is you might be waiting half an hour or an hour at the border and another half hour or hour for the bus to leave Tacna.
The option I took was to walk across the street from the bus terminal where I was left to a collective Terminal and go from there. The cost is a little more at 20 soles (about 6.50 USD) but I only waited only about 5 minutes both at the border and for the comfortable and modern car to leave. Plus the collectivo driver removed any possible confusion at the border herding us through and making sure we get stamped out of Peru and into chile before zooming off again towards Arica and hostel Sunny Days, a brief stopover for the night before the real long journey. As we speed into Arica the sun puts on a dazzling show setting over the Ocean, but my camera is regrettably tucked away.
The collectivo drops me off at the end of the street I needed and I walk about five minutes to sunny Days hostel where I’m warmly welcomed by the New Zealand man who runs the place and shown to a comfortable non bunk bed, a pleasant rarity for a dorm dweller. Sadly, I can’t relax quite yet, and I’m off again with the sun already setting towards the bus terminal. It’s a strange thing, despite almost no longitudinal change when you enter chile you lose two hours from Peru, so even though it’s almost 8 pm the sun is still lighting the sky.
At the hectic and crowded bus terminal I search for the best deal for a bus to Santiago, a journey that takes between 28-31 hours. Anything for Dad. I find a fare with Pullman for 35 thousand Chilean Pesos (About 70 CAD) but it leaves too late and gets me into Santiago at about 11:30 pm on the 5th and since I’m meeting my father in the morning on the 6th I pay the 44,000 (88 CAD) fare with Tur-Bus Semi Cama which will get me there mid-afternoon on the 5th. For those unfamiliar with the bus terminology of southern South America Semi Cama is a normal bus chair with a little more leg room than we’re used to in Canada, Cama class is for those in search of true comfort though at a price providing much wider chairs, pillows blankets and all the other trimmings.)
I make some friends at Sunny Days hostel but go to sleep fairly early preparing for hell. My appetite has returned but I’m trying to transform the sickness into a diet. I wake up and head to the bus station boarding easily with just a few crackers and a big bottle of water for the journey, which winds through beautiful coastal desert sprawled out across chile’s north. Really, it’s too long to be in a bus, but they make several stops to pick up passengers where I make sure to get up and stretch (beware of blood clots) and we arrive in Santiago more or less on time. 30 hours after leaving Arica.
For those looking to complete this journey it may be worth looking at flying with Sky Airline which will cost only a small amount more if booked enough in advance. Alternatively if you’re sure of the day you will travel try to book in advance for the bus. Chile is the first country in South America where you save a lot of money booking in advance, though this can be difficult to do if you don’t have a Chilean Credit card. Still check out Cruzdelsur in Peru which also operates in Chile if you’re looking to save money. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for all my Chilean adventures coming soon on this blog, trust me when I say I’ve been doing amazing things.
