Santiago and the Journey North
CHILE | Sunday, 27 April 2008 | Views [198]
After our respite in Mendoza, we headed over the border into Chile to spend one day and night in Santiago. Only a day you ask? A few of our close friends who have studied/worked in Santiago aren't huge fans of the city, so we opted to just rest there one night and finally make our way to Peru. From the day and night we spent in Santiago, it actually is quite a nice city and their Plaza de Armas is a great space for people-watching. Alas, the next day we boarded our "business class" bus for the 30 HOUR journey north.
While I'd rather not dwell on our bus experience to get to Peru, that time was pure torture. I suppose it was the lack of road trips from youth that made me such a wimp, but I'd like to think that 30 hours is too long for anyone. Our bus was clean and comfortable, and we had seats that reclined (nearly) all the way back. Our class was located in the bottom half of the double decker bus, and after awhile, the lack of fresh air and cramped space created a sense of major clautrophobia. Combine that with nothing to eat but cold sandwiches, American movies dubbed in Spanish with no subtitles (except for the Jean-Claude Van Damme flick, in English only of course), and the propensity for headaches while reading. Torture. The bus did stop six different times to pick up/drop off passengers, and we were able to stretch our legs every now and then. The trip took us through the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, the driest desert on earth. Apparently, it's hauntingly beautiful, but of course we were asleep during that portion of the trip.
When we finally made it to the Chilean border town of Arica, we hopped a taxi for the 1.5 hour ride into Peru. It was a relief to finally roll into Tacna, Peru. We waited about 3 hours for our bus to our final destination, Arequipa, and tried to decompress from the travel. Little did we know that our bus from Tacna to Arequipa would be the final straw. It was old, the seats were cushioned with plywood, horrible 80s movies dubbed in Spanish were shown (again!) and to top it all off, the six hour ride was through winding, steep hills and mountains.
We rolled into Arequipa late that night but were so grateful to finally arrive at our destination, nearly 40 hours later.
Next: life in Arequipa!
Tags: sightseeing, on the road
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