We got up early yesterday in Arica, Chile for the long trip to Arequipa, Peru which is also called the 'White City' (Cuididad de Blanco) - 500 km, two border checkpoints and 7,800 ft of altitude in 12 hours. We cabbed it to the bus terminal, then spent a bunch of time sorting out the bus system with our limited spanish and finally got into the right line for collectivos heading to Tacna, Peru. As we neared the front of the line a very short and very wide, Inca woman walked into the bus terminal and then pushed into line right in front of us without so much as a bat of an eye. A few of the Chileans and Peruvians started to grumble a bit but 'Pachemama' (as I nicknamed her) just turned and gave the whole line of 50 odd people the 'evil eye' and they all fell silent immediately - this was one badass Chica, 300 lbs of don't-mess-with-me and they didn't .
Collectivo Taxis are just big old American cars that seat 5 passengers and make the 100km run across the Chilean/Peruvian border from Arica to Tacna and back - everybody piles into the car with their luggage stuffed into the trunk or the luggage rack and off you go like a bunch of gypsies. The next collectivo taxi was ours and who did we get to ride with but Pachemama and a nice young Chilean couple headed to Machu Picchu, it was really cramped with 5 passengers, a driver and a pile of luggage.
We get to the first border crossing and we all have to get out of the car and go stand in a huge line that is waiting to cross the border at Chilean Immigration, there is no drive-thru here because everything must be done on foot and your driver picks you up on the other side of the checkpoint. 'Pachemama' bolts ahead of us and pulls the same trick that she used to get ahead in the line back at the bus terminal, she spots a gap halfway up the line of around 200 people and using here sizeable bulk she just pushes into the line and then glares at the people around her. The problem with this is that we have to pass through immigration together with the passengers we are sharing the collectivo ride with, so Pachemama starts flagging us forward with her arm and hissing at us to hurry up. The young Chilean couple explain that we have to butt in with her or we won't get through immigration so we walk past the 100 people who are rightfully ahead of us and slip in beside Pachemama. Talk about embarrassing for two Canadians who wouldn't think of butting into a line, very unCanadian.
Through Chilean Immigration in half the normal time we pile back into the old Caprice Classic that is our collectivo taxi and head 5 miles down the road to Peruvian Immigration and Customs. This time 'Pachemama' is out of the car before it is even parked and repeats the same measure she applied before, jumping the queue. We straggle along behind her because we have to bring all of our luggage with us and pass it through Peruvian Customs, now we have to butt into line with 4 large bags of luggage; more grumbling but once again Pachemama is there with the 'evil eye' and all is well.
We make it into Tacna, Peru in record time thanks to 'Pachemama' who gives us a hug goodbye and is gone in the blink of an eye - how a woman who is 5 foot tall and 4 feet wide can move so fast is a mystery to me.
Tacna is a seedy border town and the bus terminal is a new low for us in South American transit, the whole place stinks of urine and sweat but we book our tickets for the journey north to Arequipa and we now have an hour and a half to kill before the bus leaves. Our young Chilean couple (Gabriel and Alanda) from the collectivo taxi ride have also decided that they are better off getting out of stinky Tacna and heading on to Arequipa with us - the sooner the better - so they book tickets on the same bus as us. As we are waiting for Gabriel and Alanda a couple of French Canadians come into the ticket office and ask to borrow the phone to call the police - they've just been robbed. I forgot to mention that petty theft is a national pastime in Peru, pickpockets and pursesnatchers are everywhere but especially around the bus stations; another popular trick is for fake taxis to take tourists into bad areas and rob them or kidnap them until the funds in their bank account have been depleted through an ATM. You really have to watch yourself in this country where there is a lot of poverty and this can lead to desperate people taking desperate measure to make a living.
The manager of the bus ticket office not only lends the French Canadians his phone he offers to drive them to their hotel in his private vehicle, not all Peruvians are bad most are very nice but crime is a factor to always bear in mind. As the manager is leaving with the French Canadians he asks us if we are hungry and the 4 of us agree that we are starving "Well then, come with me and I will take you to a nice restaurant where you can get some good food and I will pick you up on my way back from dropping off the French Canadians'. Sometimes you just have to trust people, so we stash our bags at the ticket office and 6 of us pile into the manager's car; we go to a terrific little restaurant for Ceviche and Pisco Sours that are delicious. Then our Peruvian good samaritan picks us up in his car, takes us back to the stinky bus terminal and personally escorts us to the bus which is located in another terminal a few blocks away, he rearranges our seating and upgrades us to premium seats at no charge. Adios Chile and Bienvenido Peru!
Our luggage is X-rayed and everyone is wanded with a metal detector by the police before we get on the bus, then everyone gets their picture taken by the police before the bus leaves the terminal. This is done because there have been a rash of armed robberies on this bus route lately, especially at night. Now we begin the long climb through the mountains back up onto the Alto Plano and Arequipa.
We watch movies and are served a meal but there is no bar service because we are climbing 7,800 ft and alcohol helps to bring on Soroche or Altitude Sickness. Halfway through the trip the stewardess breaks out bingo cards and everyone plays bingo on the bus - our new friend Gabriel wins and the prize is a free return ticket which he is thrilled to have as he will be returning on this route in a few weeks. Susan asks me to close the curtains as there are some dizzying drops to be seen out the window as we climb into the mountains and it is making her nervous, even if the views are spectacular.
[attachment 186744 IMG_2170.JPG]
We finally pull into Arequipa, Peru 12 hours after we left Arica, Chile and by the time we finish getting our luggage in what is close to a rugby scrum with your luggage as the ball; we are exhausted. Exitting the bus terminal in the pitch dark we bid our friends Gabriel and Alanda farewell and then we are greeted by Carlos, the driver of the hotel we are staying at, he has been sent to pick us up and he has brought us bottles of water - Perfecto! Mucho Gusto!
The hotel staff are really friendly and we check in without any hitches, they even speak English such a nice change from Chile where nobody speaks English and they tend to be cooler towards Gringos. We drop our bags in our room for the next 4 nights and then we walk around the corner to the Plaza del Armas which is lit up like a Christmas tree, beautiful architecture all carved in the local white stone, it is surreal. A quick bite to eat and we are ready for bed, it's been a long day and we both have headaches from the altitude change. Fortunately, the hotel manager brings us some Coca leaves and more water, a big wad of Coca stuck in the cheek like chewing tobacco and soon our headaches are gone.
[attachment 186745 IMG_2174.JPG]
So far we are really liking Peru and really not missing Chile that much. In Chile the people can be chilly but in Peru the people are warm and friendly and the chiles are to be found in the food.
Collectivo Taxis are just big old American cars that seat 5 passengers and make the 100km run across the Chilean/Peruvian border from Arica to Tacna and back - everybody piles into the car with their luggage stuffed into the trunk or the luggage rack and off you go like a bunch of gypsies. The next collectivo taxi was ours and who did we get to ride with but Pachemama and a nice young Chilean couple headed to Machu Picchu, it was really cramped with 5 passengers, a driver and a pile of luggage.
We get to the first border crossing and we all have to get out of the car and go stand in a huge line that is waiting to cross the border at Chilean Immigration, there is no drive-thru here because everything must be done on foot and your driver picks you up on the other side of the checkpoint. 'Pachemama' bolts ahead of us and pulls the same trick that she used to get ahead in the line back at the bus terminal, she spots a gap halfway up the line of around 200 people and using here sizeable bulk she just pushes into the line and then glares at the people around her. The problem with this is that we have to pass through immigration together with the passengers we are sharing the collectivo ride with, so Pachemama starts flagging us forward with her arm and hissing at us to hurry up. The young Chilean couple explain that we have to butt in with her or we won't get through immigration so we walk past the 100 people who are rightfully ahead of us and slip in beside Pachemama. Talk about embarrassing for two Canadians who wouldn't think of butting into a line, very unCanadian.
Through Chilean Immigration in half the normal time we pile back into the old Caprice Classic that is our collectivo taxi and head 5 miles down the road to Peruvian Immigration and Customs. This time 'Pachemama' is out of the car before it is even parked and repeats the same measure she applied before, jumping the queue. We straggle along behind her because we have to bring all of our luggage with us and pass it through Peruvian Customs, now we have to butt into line with 4 large bags of luggage; more grumbling but once again Pachemama is there with the 'evil eye' and all is well.
We make it into Tacna, Peru in record time thanks to 'Pachemama' who gives us a hug goodbye and is gone in the blink of an eye - how a woman who is 5 foot tall and 4 feet wide can move so fast is a mystery to me.
Tacna is a seedy border town and the bus terminal is a new low for us in South American transit, the whole place stinks of urine and sweat but we book our tickets for the journey north to Arequipa and we now have an hour and a half to kill before the bus leaves. Our young Chilean couple (Gabriel and Alanda) from the collectivo taxi ride have also decided that they are better off getting out of stinky Tacna and heading on to Arequipa with us - the sooner the better - so they book tickets on the same bus as us. As we are waiting for Gabriel and Alanda a couple of French Canadians come into the ticket office and ask to borrow the phone to call the police - they've just been robbed. I forgot to mention that petty theft is a national pastime in Peru, pickpockets and pursesnatchers are everywhere but especially around the bus stations; another popular trick is for fake taxis to take tourists into bad areas and rob them or kidnap them until the funds in their bank account have been depleted through an ATM. You really have to watch yourself in this country where there is a lot of poverty and this can lead to desperate people taking desperate measure to make a living.
The manager of the bus ticket office not only lends the French Canadians his phone he offers to drive them to their hotel in his private vehicle, not all Peruvians are bad most are very nice but crime is a factor to always bear in mind. As the manager is leaving with the French Canadians he asks us if we are hungry and the 4 of us agree that we are starving "Well then, come with me and I will take you to a nice restaurant where you can get some good food and I will pick you up on my way back from dropping off the French Canadians'. Sometimes you just have to trust people, so we stash our bags at the ticket office and 6 of us pile into the manager's car; we go to a terrific little restaurant for Ceviche and Pisco Sours that are delicious. Then our Peruvian good samaritan picks us up in his car, takes us back to the stinky bus terminal and personally escorts us to the bus which is located in another terminal a few blocks away, he rearranges our seating and upgrades us to premium seats at no charge. Adios Chile and Bienvenido Peru!
Our luggage is X-rayed and everyone is wanded with a metal detector by the police before we get on the bus, then everyone gets their picture taken by the police before the bus leaves the terminal. This is done because there have been a rash of armed robberies on this bus route lately, especially at night. Now we begin the long climb through the mountains back up onto the Alto Plano and Arequipa.
We watch movies and are served a meal but there is no bar service because we are climbing 7,800 ft and alcohol helps to bring on Soroche or Altitude Sickness. Halfway through the trip the stewardess breaks out bingo cards and everyone plays bingo on the bus - our new friend Gabriel wins and the prize is a free return ticket which he is thrilled to have as he will be returning on this route in a few weeks. Susan asks me to close the curtains as there are some dizzying drops to be seen out the window as we climb into the mountains and it is making her nervous, even if the views are spectacular.
[attachment 186744 IMG_2170.JPG]
We finally pull into Arequipa, Peru 12 hours after we left Arica, Chile and by the time we finish getting our luggage in what is close to a rugby scrum with your luggage as the ball; we are exhausted. Exitting the bus terminal in the pitch dark we bid our friends Gabriel and Alanda farewell and then we are greeted by Carlos, the driver of the hotel we are staying at, he has been sent to pick us up and he has brought us bottles of water - Perfecto! Mucho Gusto!
The hotel staff are really friendly and we check in without any hitches, they even speak English such a nice change from Chile where nobody speaks English and they tend to be cooler towards Gringos. We drop our bags in our room for the next 4 nights and then we walk around the corner to the Plaza del Armas which is lit up like a Christmas tree, beautiful architecture all carved in the local white stone, it is surreal. A quick bite to eat and we are ready for bed, it's been a long day and we both have headaches from the altitude change. Fortunately, the hotel manager brings us some Coca leaves and more water, a big wad of Coca stuck in the cheek like chewing tobacco and soon our headaches are gone.
[attachment 186745 IMG_2174.JPG]
So far we are really liking Peru and really not missing Chile that much. In Chile the people can be chilly but in Peru the people are warm and friendly and the chiles are to be found in the food.
We were constantly corrected on our spanish by Chileans and on several ocassions we were corrected for using spanish terms that we had already been corrected on by another Chilean and we were now using the new term.
Well they're going to have to work a little harder at it if they are going to make any withdrawls from this Gringo.
