Chile -- Part 1 (Arica, El Morro)

We left Lima at noon on Friday. Our flight arrived to Tacna, Peru at about 3pm. The airport in Tacna was....small to say the least. It had 2 gates total. From the airport we took a taxi to the International Bus Terminal which turned out to be the sketchiest bus station I have EVER seen. We were the ONLY foreigners there  and everyone was staring at us (the fact that both of us were fair and light-haired did not help). There was trash piled up everywhere and there were no signs telling us what to do or where to go. We hurridly bought tickets and walked out the doors into a parking lot where men swarmed us yelling "taxi" "Arica" "La Paz", trying to get us to get into their cars. We were wary...how did we know whether these people were licensed and whether they would not just rob us when we got into their car? We walked up to a nice older man who was over by the tour buses and asked him for help. He assured us that any of the cars were safe and helped us find one. 

The process of getting across the border took about 2.5 hours. We drive down the highway out of Tacna and into the desert. Being outside of Lima I could definitely feel a difference. Tacna itself was visibly poorer and more run-down than any places I have seen, and outside of it it was much worse. Out in the desert there were tons of tiny make-shift houses made out of concrete blocks or even just flimsy sheets of woven-together plants. They were tiny and clearly they had no access to running water, electricity, or services of any kind. It is easy in Lima to forget that Peru is indeed a developing country, but once you travel outside of it you see the reality.

When we reached the border crossing we had to get out of the car, go into the building on the Peruvian side, and show our passports and Peruvian Immigration Card. Then we went into another building right on the border and were issued our Chilean visas. Then we got back into the car and the driver took us to Arica. On the Chilean side of the border there were no cinder-block houses dotting the desert. I wonder why...I know Chile is much more developed but there is still poverty. But maybe just not as extreme as Peru? 

When we arrived to the bus station in Arica, our driver took pity on us foreigners and drive me and Ane Kine to a cheap hostel in the center of the city that he knew of. It was not the nicest place ever but it did the job:

Our room in the hostel

Our one main concern with it was that our door was only locked with a padlock when we left, and when we were sleeping it was only locked with a flimsy bolt. Also we had an open skylight in our room with no glass....just air. But we had no problems during our stay and the street we were on was pretty safe so it all turned out fine. We just told ourselves that it was all part of the experience.

obviously highly secure...

 The next morning we ventured out and attempted to figure out the money system. In Chile, the money is called pesos and it is VERY CONFUSING. To give you an idea: $10 US Dollars = 4,992.51 Chilean Pesos (which is equal to 27.74 Peruvian Soles). So when you buy things in Chile, you feel like you are spending a lot of money because the prices in stores and restaurants are in the thousands. For example, a sandwich would cost 2,500 Chilean Pesos. Our hostel cost 6,000 pesos per person a night. IT WAS VERY CONFUSING.

After a trip to the grocery store to buy yogurt and bread for breakfast, we headed down to the plaza to eat breakfast. The weather was so nice...sunny, 60's, slight breeze. Such a nice change from the cold, wet, and cloudy weather in Lima!

Downtown Arica - some kids were performing traditional dances in the square

After eating, we decided to explore the city a little, and decided to start with a walk down to the oceanfront and towards the conspicuous rock that loomed over the city, called "El Morro". Arica actually used to be a part of Peru, until Chile tool it from Peru in the War of the Pacific in 1880. El Morro was the last bulwark of the Peruvian troops until it was captured in 1880 by the Chileans.

"El Morro" - a hill that overlooks Arica and the ocean

"El Morro"

Then we walked down to the waterfront to see the ocean. There were concrete breakers all along the coast to help keep the waves back. Some of them had cool art painted on them!

Me down on the waterfront

 After the beach we decided to try and find a way up to the top El Morro. After a bit of wandering we found a street that led right up to the back of it where the path up was. It was a surprise to have a hill in a city after Lima, which is completely flat.

Street that went up to the path to climb "El Morro"

We found the old Peruvian consulate on the road up to El Morro. It was painted a beautiful light blue (CAROLINA BLUE!) and had a big Peruvian flag on top.

Historic Peruvian consulate

 There were a lot of buildings on this street (and in Arica in general) that clearly used to be very nice but that have fallen into disrepair. For example the one below had beautiful balconies and a wooden door:

Look at the cool balconies and the wooden door! This is on the street up to El Morro.

At the base of El Morro just before the path up there was a shrine dedicated to the "Heroes of El Morro" that had been created in 1947....I think it was for the Chilean soldiers that captured the hill from Peru?

A shrine at the base of El Morro on the path up the hill dedicated to the "heroes of El Morro".  

The path up El Morro was VERY steep and covered in sand which made it VERY slippery... But the views were worth it.

the path up El Morro...it was very steep and very slippery with sand.

Halfway up the hill! view of Arica and another hill with a giant statue of Jesus.

View of Arica from the top of El Morro

 Finally at the top! Beautiful views of the city and ocean!!

View of Arica from the top of El Morro

Me and Ane Kine on top of El Morro...we asked the guy to take a picture of us AND the background but it seems we just got a close up of just us haha. Notice the matching sunglasses...totally unintentional. We both brought them independently to Peru....weird.

Me at the top of El Morro overlooking Arica....don't fall!


There was a HUGE Chilean flag at the top and a museum dedicated to the War (that we didn't go in because it was not free). Clearly this is a nationalistic symbol for Chile.

HUGE Chilean flag on top of El Morro and some old cannons. 

We had great views of the Pacific Ocean and the coast:

View of the Pacific Ocean from on top of El Morro! So beautiful!

It was very windy...clearly

There was also a HUGE statue of Jesus on the top. He was posed in a way that made it look like he was dancing and I had to stop myself from taking a matching dancing picture:

There was also a GIANT statue of Jesus on top of El Morro...it kind of looks like he is dancing

Look who we found on the way back down:

There was a cute cat sitting in the window staring at us as we walked by!

Weird drug-store find of the day: "Beauty Drink" that supposedly helps your skin or your silhouette...but we looked at the ingredients and it was basically just flavored water.

"Guapa Beauty Drink" for skin and silhouette -- found in a drug store in Arica. It was just water. 

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and tried a Chilean soda, Kem. It was delicious and they even made us vegetarian food specially (it was not on the menu).

Kem and Chifa (Chinese)