Chile!

Over the weekend, JP and I took a day trip to Arica, Chile, a town just over the border with Peru. We did this primarily because we had to leave and re-enter Peru to keep our visa paperwork up to date, but also had a nice time and I got to visit my second country in South America.  When we entered the country in August, we were given a 90-day tourist visa. When we exited for Chile and then returned later that afternoon, we were able to get a new 90-day tourist visa with no problems, which is plenty of time since we will return to the States in late December. 

To get to Arica, we went up to town near the bus station to the Arica part of the main terminal.  According to JP, previously when you arrived at the terminal you would be surrounded by drivers trying to get you to take their car, and a bidding war ensued. This time, we got to the terminal and no one came to bid for us, so we were a little confused. We eventually figured out what to do, and later found out that the drivers had unionized, and decided on a set price for everyone who takes the trip.  We were led to a parking lot full of old American cars, like the big old Buicks and Chevys from the early 80s that can fit 3 people up front.  If you were wondering where all those cars went, they have migrated to Peru and are shuttling people across the border.  We were set up in a fairly comfortable big old car, and set off.  We drove for about 30 to 40 minutes until we reached the border:

The photo is from the Peru side, and the border crossing is really quite nice. We exited through the Peru building and then drove a tiny bit down the road to the Chile border post, where we had our passports stamped, got x-rayed, and got back in the car. After that, it was only about another 20 minutes to Arica.

We arrived a little after noon Peru time, or 2 pm Chile time, and made our way down to the main pedestrian area.  From there, we could see the large cliff that looms on the southern part of the square:

Plus, beyond the palm trees we could see the water! One of the nicest parts of Arica is that it is right on the Pacific Ocean!

 

We enjoyed the fountains and the square before deciding we were hungry and finding some sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch we decided to climb to the top of the cliff in the photo above.  We found the trail without too much trouble, and made our way up.

JP likes to stop and enjoy the view:

 

We made it to the top without much trouble and got to check out the view of the town and the port.

 

We even saw some more flying birds, just like at the Cruz del Condor on our Colca Hike, but I am afraid that these were vultures and not condors:

 

The cliff was the site of an important battle during the War of the Pacific, when Chile took parts of Peru, including Tacna.  (The eventual return of Tacna was the occasion for Día de Tacna in August.) To honor this historic site, we got JP to pretend to be fighting:

With our military history covered, we returned to the city center and had some ice cream to reward ourselves for our hike.  We then wandered over to the lovely beach:

 

Even though it was maybe 80 or 85 degrees, the Chileans were perfectly happy to go swimming in the cold water.  We kept our walking shoes on and just enjoyed the view:

After a little while relaxing on the beach, we returned to the terminal to get another old American car ride back to Tacna.  We were surprised to find that the newly-unionized drivers had decided to charge 50% to go to Tacna on Saturdays than it cost to come down, and that the rates reversed on Sundays. Their rationale is that many Aricans go to Tacna to go shopping (things are a lot cheaper in Peru) over the weekends, and they can get away with charging more due to the higher demand. However, there are also a lot of Peruvians who work in Arica, legally or illegally, who try to come home some weekends to see their families, so it hurts these poorer workers as well as the rich Chileans who go bargain shopping in Tacna.  JP tried his Peruvian best to wheedle the price down, but to no avail.  We enjoyed a smooth, quiet ride home and were back home by dinner time, safe to stay for another 90 days here in Peru.