Saturday 4th October 2014
Arequipa’s house volcano Misti wears a snow cap this morning.
We enjoy another of the most delicious breakfasts of our journey
Then we leave our lovely hostal and head to the tour agency on the Plaza de Armas where our journey to Chile will hopefully start.
Iglesia y Convento San Francisco
The police mainly use motos to enforce law and order
Our lift to the bus terminal
Bye bye, beautiful Arequipa…
Not sure if we will miss the Peruvian traffic chaos though…
We’ve heard a lot of stories about Arequipean travel agencies and not all of them were raving reviews. So I’m a bit concerned if our all-inclusive tour package will actually materialize…
Stage 1, the transfer from the city centre to the terminal, has worked and stage 2, the coach trip from Arequipa to Tacna, doesn’t look too bad either.
Well, the bus leaves half an hour later than confirmed, the first six kilometres take over an hour and the driver stops three times during the journey to check potentially broken bits on the underside – but hey-ho, we arrive in one piece and with a delay of 90 minutes only at our destination…
A few snaps from the road –
Sophisticated air-con
This looks a bit menacing…
Fortunately it’s only fog and clouds
Amazing how many shapes and shades of sand there are…
Double solid lines? Recommendations…
When we arrive in Tacna, we can’t see anyone holding a sign with our names, as we were assured by the agent in Arequipa. I make enquiries with the bus company that brought us here and Johannes walks the length of the terminal hoping he will find someone looking for us. Ok, we’re one and a half hours late but that’s not our fault and most probably the normal estimated time of arrival on a distance of 379 kilometres. The search is not helped by the fact that there are two terminals; one for national and the other for international connections.
While we are already thinking about plan B, a young señor approaches me – Pablo, our middleman, who’s just been for a coffee after his long wait for us. He’s not cross at all, very friendly and extremely helpful.
Pablo passes us into the hands of another previous Formula 1 driver…
While overtaking one car after the other, our chofer forewarns us that Chile is not only two hours ahead of Peru but the waiting time at the Peruvian-Chilean border can be another two hours on a Saturday. However, with his help and that of a Chilean family sharing our taxi, the formalities are surprisingly quickly dealt with and we arrive in Arica effectively only one hour later than anticipated.
We find accommodation in the Hostal Colonial where I’ve stayed before (the owners even remember the German motorcyclist on the English bike!) and still have time to go out for dinner.
What a long and eventful day… But never mind, we are now in Chile!
Pumpernickel on Tour 
Ela,
Thanks for the frequent and regular updates to your blog, it’s great to see these places though your eyes.
From the look of your meals, SA has re-awakened the carnivore in you…
All the best to you both,
Chris
Muchas gracias Chris, I’m glad that I can help to bring back great memories. Eating meat makes things so much easier in terms of finding and sharing food – although Chile is not too bad for veggies. 🙂
Glad its going, well enjoying reading the updates, stay safe Bill
Thanks Bill. We’ll try our best while having a fantastic time. 😉 Hope all is going well with Oxford TRF and life in the UK in general. You have my vote – in case you’re standing as chairman again.