2008.11.01 – Iquique, Chile
Running on Z’s tight-knit schedule we had to get up early in order to get a bus from Arequipa to Tacna, Peru to cross the border from Peru to Chile. Our goal for the day was to get to the beach town of Iquique, Chile where Z’s friend lived and was teaching English. The recommended easiest way to get across the border is to hire a cab in Tacna and have them drive you to customs and over the border to Arica, Chile. We got up around 7 AM in Arequipa and I was half asleep or at least not in a sharp mental state after my Halloween night out in Arequipa, Peru. We scrambled out of the hostel, paid the guy for our room and somehow made the first bus to Tacna. I can’t remember any of the bus ride from Arequipa to Tacna so I must have been dead asleep for the entire time.
We got to Tacna, Peru and quickly figured out what we had to do to get to Chile. Hiring a cab to get us to Chile was actually pretty easy thanks to good old supply and demand. Like most places in South America cab drivers are in abundant supply. We negotiated the cheap rate and me, Z and this couple from Spain hopped in a beat-up old Chevy and hauled ass across the desert highway toward Chile. The landscape of southern Peru and northern Chile is some of the driest, most desolate on earth. The area of Southern Peru begins what is the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth and the complete opposite from the lushness of Machu Picchu and Cuzco. Cruising through the desert at 90 MPH in the middle of South America gave me this crazy buzzed feeling, like a natural travel high because I knew in the moment that what we were doing was something special. It was like the when you get past all the logistics and worrying about where you are going and what you are doing and just enjoy the moment to the fullest. That’s what I was feeling and I think Z was feeling the same. We didn’t speak much in the cab but I remember him saying that being in that Chevy reminded him of the video for Scar Tissue from Red Hot Chili Peppers. I think the magnitude of our trip finally hit us and we realized that this is some crazy shit we were doing and not many people get this chance.
We crossed the border with ease, but like any foreign border crossing, not without the usual nervous feelings that accompany talking to the border patrol. Not that I had anything to worry about, but border crossings always put me on edge. Not that I’m stupid enough to say anything dumb at the border but you never know what might slip out.
After crossing the border our cab took us the rest of the way to the nearest big town of Arica, Chile. We still had another 6 hour bus ride to Iquique and some time to kill so we walked the beaches of Arica. It was nice to be by the ocean after being cramped up in vehicles all day. I wanted to swim but like most of the water off the coast of Chile it’s pretty cold. To help with my hangover I opted to eat some greasy rotisserie chicken and papas fritas (French fries). This would be the norm for my diet in Chile. Chile is one of my favorite countries on earth but as far as food goes they are light-years behind. The Chilean diet usually consists of chicken or some kind of meat and French fries or empanadas as a carbohydrate. Good fruits and vegetables are hard to find. It’s strange because although they eat like crap but I can’t say that I see a lot of overweight Chileans. Maybe they just have fast metabolism by way of genetics because if I ate the way they do I would probably be huge. I think it may be that they walk compared to most Americans so maybe that is a contributing factor. Anyway, we killed some time and mentally prepared for our next bus ride. We got to Iquique around 10 PM that night and caught another cab to Z’s friend’s apartment which looked right out on the ocean. It was good to finally stay somewhere else besides a hostel.
At night we headed out to this club on the other end of town. I was already running on empty as far as sleep goes from the night before in Arequipa but I ended up staying out until 5 AM. There have been many nights in my journeys to South America where my intentions were to get back early but it didn’t always end up like this. I needed sleep badly. I can hardly ever sleep in too late or nap during the day so another all nighter was going to do some serious damage to my health and mental psyche. I weighed my options of sleep vs. having fun in a foreign country where I may never be again and opted to stay out.
2008.11.02 – Iquique, Chile
We woke up in Iquique and actually had a FULL day without travel penciled into Z’s schedule instead of a bus or plane. We took it pretty easy just walking the beach, relaxing, drinking beers and eating, typical stuff for a day in a beach town. It was so nice to be stationary and without plans for a day. In the afternoon we stopped in this bar to watch a little bit of the Universidad de Chile game and have some drinks. Like any futbol game in South America, the bar was pretty rowdy.
After some rest and a shower we headed back out for the night. I mean who wants to sit home and watch movies when you are in the craziest continent on earth? The plan again was to take it easy because we were leaving tomorrow to Santiago, Chile by bus which was a 30+ hour bus ride. Like true loyal tourists we went back down the street to the bar we watched the game earlier. Our waitress was still there but off the clock and drinking with friends so she invited us to her table. We had a good time drinking beer and trying to communicate. I always bring my Spanish dictionary and a notepad out every time I am in Latin America so I can write crap down when I am out. I was taking notes and trying to keep up with all the Chilean slang. Chilean Spanish has to be the hardest Spanish to understand on earth. They don’t fully pronounce anything but after some beers I understood it a little more. Some gringos make fun of me for taking notes when I am out but I have found it so helpful in my quest to learn Spanish. First of all, nobody in South America gives a crap if you are in a bar taking writing things down and secondly how the hell do you remember all the intricacies without jotting down some notes. I met a lot of people that like to go to a foreign country and pay a couple hundred bucks or more to take language classes but language is everywhere and there is nothing like learning it straight from the locals instead of a classroom.
Z crashed out early and I stayed out with the Chileanos. The night went on and on until we all went to the beach to hang out after the bar closed. The sun came up and put an end to another all-nighter in South America. Finally it all hit me and I woke up the next morning feeling awful, the South American flu bug had finally come for me…
2008.11.03/04 – Bus to Santiago, Chile
November 4, 2008 has got to be one of the worst days of my life. I was staying up all night with the locals and eating shitty Chilean food without thought of any repercussions when all the sudden my body decided enough is enough. I woke up the morning of with a horrible stomach flu and to compound matters, it was hot as hell outside. We had to pack up from our friends apartment and catch a 30+ hour bus from Iquique to Santiago, Chile through the Atacama Desert. Being sick is bad enough but sick anywhere else but in your own bathroom or on a 30 hour bus ride is a whole different level of misery.
When I got on the bus and settled into my seat I was about to find out that the worst was yet to come. I was sitting up front with this Chilean kid and Z was in the back. After about three hours into the ride, Rambo 2 dubbed over into Spanish was playing on the TV with the volume unnecessarily high and I was feeling like total crap. I couldn’t sleep and all the sudden my stomach flu came back in full force. I will save the details but I made it through the night and into the next day when we arrived in Santiago around 7 PM. It was a 30 hour mental and physical marathon. That night we got our own hotel room instead of another crappy hostel and watched the Obama election live on TV. I was just happy to be off that bus.