Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Arica
Time to head over the border into Chile! We got a bus from Arequipa to Tacna in Peru, then a taxi from Tacna over the border to Arica, Chile. At the Arequipa bus station an eager guy came over to us, warning us about Peru and and raving about Chile. Hmmm, slightly bias I think... it seems they don´t really like each other that much. Also we have found that the locals like to exagerate the danger that travellers face (thinking that they are a bit ghetto).
We didn´t have a clue where to go at the bus station but met up with a New Yorker (who just got her 1st passport at the age of 22) on the same bus as us. The bus ride was fine, but they are very strict about transporting fruit, searching our bags before allowing us onto the bus. The taxi ride over the border from Tacna was in a huge American style car, fitting 3 people in the front and back. We weren´t with any convicts or drug smugglers, so we got accross fine! We arrived in Arica at 9ish and eventually found our hostel after the taxi driver dropped us off in a differnt area saying that it didn´t exist!!
The next morning we walked up the Almorro, which is a hill leading up to a cliff top in Arica. At the top was the Pacific War Museum which was interesting (Peru vs Chile), although quite alot of it was in Spanish (as expected!). We also chilled out in the main square, which is near the cathedral. The main squares in Chile are not nearly as well kept or well designed as in Peru... in Peru there is always green grass and atleast 6 ground keepers!
Later that day we went to the beach, but (accidentaly) decided to go the non-tourist route, around the rocky coast full of washed up litter. When we eventually got there though the beach was really nice, and so were the ice creams.Apart from this there was not a great deal to see in Arica, so we headed to Iquique on the 2nd February.
Iquique
After the long bus journey we stretched our legs by walking the entire coast line. It was very nice with lots of rock pools, but there were no bars, restaurants, shops or anything useful along the coast. This made it a bit hard to go to the beach as it was very hot and there were no umbrellas, water etc. So we didn´t really stay at the beach for any length of time...
We also went on a boat trip to see the Sealions. It was a bit of a mission to find the trip, and when we did we didnt really know what we were getting into. No one seems to speak English at all here, so there has been many cases of us speaking slow English to them and them speak slow Spanish to us, with no one actually having a clue what is going on!!! Anyhow the trip was really good and we saw the sealions!
Matt was very excited when we found that there was a beach-side gym! So he had to hit some weights while we were there. The gym was pretty basic and rusty, but had everything that was needed. For lunch we went to a restaurant called ´Club de la Union´ on the 3rd floor overlooking the main square of Iquique. This was gave a great view of the square, but was not ideal when an earthquake decides to hit!!!
YES WE FELT AN EARTHQUAKE!!!!
Just as we were tucking into our lunch it happened... the room started to move and shake. Matt absolutely shat himself and ran into the middle of the room, while Emily stayed at the table (for some reason??). In the end we followed the locals and waited under pillars until it stopped. It probably only lasted for about 1 minute, but we both didn´t stop shaking for at least 15 minutes after it happened. Nightmare...
The next day we went on a trip to see the disused mine and mining town of Humberstone and Santa Laura. The trip started off on a bad note as the tour guide did not speak a word of English (we were told that he would). There was nothing that we could do about it so we carried on with the trip as best we could... We headed to Santa Laura first, where we walked round the old mining machines, guessing what they were used for. It was really strange to see the buildings still there 40 years on from them being used. From here we went to Humberstone, where we got an English print out with explainations!! Great... better than nothing though. The town still had the theatre, social club, shops and an old swimming pool that the miners and their families used to use.
It was really frustrating that the guide and the group we were with did not speak English and we both felt a sense of relief when we got back to the hotel. In general we have found that there is less to do in Chile compared with Peru....with the towns being a tacky version of some of the USA towns with Malls & McDonalds etc...
Next stop Antofagasta and the Atacama Desert from the 6th February.
- comments