So I feel like I cannot really say that I visited Chile. Yes I have the stamp in my passport but I only had time to visit one spot really. I booked a flight out of Lima the following week so didn't have much time and a long way of transportation to go in order to be there on time without worry of delays, etc.
The border crossing from Bolivia to Chile was quite strict and took a long time. I got a direct bus o I wouldn't have to change at the border. The bus attendant helped us through everything. After getting my passport stamped, you had a complete search of your luggage. I mean, take out everything in your bag, drug sniffing dog walking around, and when I crossed the line to go to the bathroom I was asked to step back! It was really strange though because this border was in the middle of absolutely no where besides a volcano to our right. The buildings were just little shacks.
On the bus route I made friends with a kiwi/korean girl who was also heading to San Pedro. We didn't realize the time change when we arrived so wanted the very next bus but everyone kept saying 430... all the bus stations were all around the city and people always had different directions for us how to get to places. And it was really hot and we had come from the cold so had pants and shoes on. After lots of steps and sweat, we finally figured out that the time changed and really 430 was in only 20 minutes. Hence why all the people gave us strange looks when we asked for a sooner bus.
This bus was sooo nice but of course for a price, like everything in Chile. Not to mention the currency conversion is a bit tricky to do on the spot. It's not like dividing by 1000 or 5 or even 7, but 550.. anyways the bus had wonderful AC and huge sleeping chairs like big lazy boys. I didn't sleep super well the night before because wasworried about making the bus and crashed out immediately.
When we arrived in SPDA a super friendly guy was at the bus station and asked if we needed a place to stay. We said yes and I negociated that he lower the price since there were three of us.. We met another American on the bus. This hostel, which was the guys house that he had converted was absolutely amazing compared to everywhere I had stayed in the past... long time.
It had a wonderful kitchen fully stocked with all sorts of beautiful pots and pans and then spices and even fltered water. Buying bottles of water since leaving my homestay is really a pain. Sometimes you buy a huge bottle and have to lug it around because its cheaper than the small ones, and when you do buy the small ones I always just think about where they are going and lots of times probably on the street or in the wrong places since there are generally not great recycling or trash systems.
The next day of biking we headed to Valley de la Luna which was much more of a trek then we thought again but did make it. We met more bikers, this time from Chile for the race. There were supposed to be cool little stops along the way but they were marked on the wrong side of the road so we thought we had gotten no where in the 12km journey and turns out we were at the end. Again we should have left earlier but had such a nice night of sleep in the hostel and weren't exactly sure what we would do earlier in the morning. We were also very sad to hear that the star gazing tour which is one of the most popular things to do there and the best place in the world to see stars wasn't good at that time of the month because the brightness of the moon I believe. BUmmer.
The little town of San Pedro de Atacama in the worlds driest desert is very very touristy! However... absolutely adorable. The buildings were generally made of adobe and very deserty which again I loved. That night I took a night bus back to Calama, then onto Arica, Chile which is on the border.
From what I saw of Chile it was like I was in shock for a day because its completely opposite of Bolivia. Cars drive civily and obey the rules, pedestrians and bikes have the right of way again, houses and in very good shape for the most part. People looked much healthier and cleaner. Their spanish is a little bit of a challenge because of they abbreviate words sometimes and use different slang than other countries. But people were very friendly and hepful. I absolutely have to return to other rest of Chile.
When I arrived in the morning in Arica, I figured it would be a nice break up of bus rides to go on a walk and then take the bus back into Peru. So I left my stuff at the bus station, ate a delicious empanada for breakfast with some hot chocolate then to he beach. Ohh and the best empanada in my travels. They are in every country but a lot of the ones in Costa Rica were fried , some had a boiled egg in them, or other strange things or surprises. This emp had some sort of sauce, almost similar to like a teriyaki with onions, and chicken. The beach was pretty unremarkable. Apparently there are better ones but they are much further away and I didn't feel completely safe walking along the road to get there. It seemed mainly like a big port town. I went back to the bus terminal and hopped on a bus to cross the border into Peru again.
When I arrived at the bus terminal in Peru I bought my ticket for the bus later that day and again had some time for exploring the city. It was very cute and a little bit French in some ways. The plaza was adorable and the market was so busy with tons of people eating on their lunch break. It was so nice to be back in Peru and have a delicious meal cooked for you really cheaply! Then I headed back for the bus which said included dinner and breakfast. The bus was terrible and the seat that I had picked the lady didn't give me afterall. This bus was supposed to take 24 hours but took much longer and I slept terribly. Ohh... before it was even night time there was some sort of a border patrol tax check point. Apparently there is a city in chile that is tax free so peruvians go and buy tons of stuff that they can't get in peru and sell it.. However in this stop they have to go through evrything and pay taxes to peru. since nearly everyone except five backpackers on the bus was doing this it took a long time. Then there was a second check point but this time the bus just stopped for a long period of time. The breakfast was a little bun. Dinner was a tiny portion of chicken and rice. Both meals I was still very hungry after eating them. When we finally arrived in Lima after 27 hours I couldn't be more excited to stretch my legs and eat. Two of the Chilean backpackers and I went to go get some lunch before heading to a hostel in the same taxi. the hostel I stayed in last time in Lima was full but luckily there was a nicer clone of the hostel right next store with a bed for me. Since I had been sitting so long I decided to head out to the boardwalk for run. It was beautiful, families, friends, dates, are out on the beautiful stretch of Mraflores enjoying the perfect seabreeze weather and amazing sunset. I ran to Larcomar which is the most beautiful mall I've ever seen and then back to the hostel. when I got back and showered and passed out to catch up on some much needed sleep. I realized in that hostel a guy I had met in Cali, Colombia, in Galapagos, and again here was there. It was actually really crazy because we had both taken a really long time to get where we were but I had looped around Bolivia and he hadn't. He was playing guitar and singing in restaurants and buses to earn travel money and really staying in places for a while. Such a small world to see him in all those places.
The next day was my flight and I mostly just used the computer to book more th ingsand look up as much information as I could and prepare.
My flight that from Lima to fort Lauderdale was pretty terrible, I couldn't sleep because I was in the middle and a baby throwing up behind me and crying the whole night. I hopped on the train to get to a station next to nichole's house. I borrowed a phone from a sweet old guy who lives in Northern Florida but goes to Panama once a month to be on his farm he bought there. Nichole was ready and waiting when I got there. There is nothing like hopping off the train after being away from the states for so long and your bestie is there with a huge hug for ya! We headed straight for some good old american breakfast then to Target to get the list of things I needed. Back to her place to do laundry, chat about everything and then headed to the state park next to her house to go kayaking after a dip in her pool. We bbqed some chicken and asparagus and then It was time to catch the train back to the airport sadly. The time with her went way too fast! But 12 hours is always better than nothing. So lucky to have an amazing friend like her!
Made it no problem to the airport and was so exhausted slept nearly all my flight to Honduras which was only a few hours. Then planned to sleep in the airport instead of spending a lot of money on a hostel and leaving again the first thing in the morning. I didn't realize that the city San Pedro De Sula... is the worlds most dangerous city in the world based on homicides per capita... Soo figured it was safer to sleep in the airport and then head straight to the bus terminal and bolt out of there. There were other people doing the same thing as myself. So we all shared a taxi to the bus terminal and immediately hopped on a bus for the coast.
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