Photo: Peru Coast
February 13, 2007 I arrived at the Lima airport at midnight, Tuesday morning. It was very easy getting through immigration and customs. Reluctant to find a hotel/hostal room in the middle of the night, I waited at the airport until 6:30 AM, then took a Supershuttle van to the Explorers House in Miraflores.
Photo: Arica, Chile beach
The next day I took a taxi to the Cruz del Sur bus station and booked the 2 PM bus to Tacna, on the border with Chile. The comfortable 18 hour bus ride featured 3 recent American movies and a game of bingo. After the bus arrived in Tacna at 8:30 AM, I took a collective taxi with 4 others to Arica, Chile. I found that all the buses from Arica to Santiago were sold out for the day, and I bought the last seat leaving the next day, Friday. It was a very busy time because of all the students traveling at the end of summer, just before school was to start.
From the Arica bus station, I was able to walk the few blocks to the Sunny Days hostal, managed by a New Zealander. It was a very pleasant and safe place to stay at the popular Chilean beach town.
Photo: La Casa Roja
My Friday bus left at 3:30 PM. The scenery was mostly very dry desert or a barren rocky landscape. In the middle of the 29 hour bus ride, all the passengers had to collect their luggage while a Chilean fruit inspector performed a cursory review of our packs.
We arrived in Santiago, Chile at 8:30 PM on Saturday. As the light was beginning to fade into night, I took the metro subway to the downtown area, and then walked the last few blocks to La Casa Rojo. The large, clean hostal had a very friendly gringo staff and cheap beer. The cost of a shared room was about $11, but included breakfast, cable TV, and free internet.
Photo: La Casa Roja room
Photo: La Casa Roja hallway
Map of South America trip
