Lima

Got here to Lima a couple days ago. Not sure how I feel about being in another big city. Suppose there's lot to do and see but I tend to like the more quiet environments these days.

Transportation in the city is mostly done by cabs. Small buses exist but are apparently not really very useful...or maybe they're just too hard to figure out so foreigners don't bother. The cabs are pretty cheap though...my 45 minute ride to my hostel from the airport only ran me $7. There are no meters in the taxis so you have to bargain for every ride, which is something I enjoy. The first cabbie at the airport wanted $20 for my ride...what a negotiator I am!...well, at least I think I'm getting roughly the same rates the locals do. Gives me an opportunity to practice my spanish if nothing else...though it does get expensive having to cab it everywhere...miss the subway system in BA. Noticed a lot of the cabs here have the turn signal on the right side of the wheel...I haven't driven in awhile but I think it goes on the left. Can't figure that one out as the cars are all manual so their right hands are busy enough. Reckon the Japanese just didn't bother to change it for this country.

One thing I like is the expenses. Things are indeed cheaper here. I'm paying $15 a night to stay in a really nice place, with AC, internet, phone, and breakfast. Although, when a place/country is really cheap you have to ask why...and the why is probably because it's some kind of undeveloped or underdeveloped nation. Which can mean lots of things you might want to be aware of like more crime, etc. but for me so far has meant I'm accompanied by a little stomachache (that's a strange word to type and seems misspelled) many hours of the day. Haven't figured out what's giving it to me yet but I reckon it'll go away sooner or later...or else I'll have to change to a diet of bananas and soda. The stomach issues began the day I crossed into Peru and I'm only drinking bottled water. Thankfully, it's not that bad.

Tacna

Have to say I like this little town Tacna. And Peru is definitely a bit cheaper than where I´ve been. Got myself a decent hotel room since I arrived at 6 this morning. Figured it´d be worth it with all the time I was-am spending here. Yes, I arrived at the bus station in Chile at 7 and got to my hotel in Peru at 6...two hour time difference exists between the countries right now...first time I´ve ever had jet lag without flying.

Tacna is actually pretty clean. Don´t find much of that down here. When people open a pack of smokes or whatever they simply drop the garbage on the ground...but don´t really see much refuse all over the place here. Another bonus: I can understand the people pretty well again...this wasn´t always the case in BA or Chile, especially Chile, but here the accent is fairly neutral like in Ecuador. Should makes things easier and more enjoyable for me.

Given that Tacna is right on the border you might expect the town denizens to be less patriotic as the proximity of another country with a slightly different culture leads to a meshing of cultures and attitudes. Not so - the people were quite patriotic. Lots of Peruvian flags flying about. And there was a large flag removal ceremony in the town center at sunset. Thinking about it though, not a surprise, as Tacna was actually taken from Peru by Chile (along with another 100 miles or so of coastline to the south) after a war over minerals at the end of the 19th century. Tacna was returned to Peru by Chile at some point afterwards (obviously).

Chile-Peru border

Ok, where did I leave off? Yes, another overnight bus trip. Had to get out of that town Calama...being there was reminding me that I had no reason to be there, lol.

Slept much better on this particular trip...probably because I was so damn tired...oh, and the Ambien too, or maybe I´m just getting accustomed to sleeping on bumpy roads.

So got up to the border with Peru about 7 AM today. Wasn´t totally sure how I was going to cross the border when I got to the train station...but never fear...services usually exist. Guy flagged me down to be the final passenger in his beat-up Chevy Impala. He´d already gotten 4 other locals to pile in, so I gave him his $4 and hopped in. Guy drove us about 40 miles or so and helped with the border formalities. What a deal!

So yay! Peru at last.

Santiago northbound

21 hours on the bus. I decided to take the economy bus...probably not the best decision I´ve made...but then it really wasn´t that bad. What was bad about the bus trip was the fact that I sat right next to the bathroom. A crowded bus, 21 hours, very few rest stops - it was pretty bad back there by the end of the trip...and it wasn´t very fresh when we left.

One highlight was the guy I sat next to - at first I thought it might be a painful time with him as he´d taken my window seat and had his elbow all over the ´neutral armrest´ in the middle when I got there. I had a hard time understanding him at first but he turned out to be pretty cool. He was a miner working 20 days in Calama and then 10 days at home with his family. Tough way to earn a living but gotta do it...his words. He ended up giving me a bunch of the food his wife packed him.

Quite impressive scenery up the Chilean coast on Route 5...like California in more ways than one. Kind of surprised how quickly it turned to desert though. I´m here in the middle of the Atacama desert, which is known as the driest place on earth, and I can believe it...this place makes Tucson look like a rain forest. Haven´t seen anything growing in the countryside in this area. I´m not going to see the more interesting ´salt flat´areas near here...I believe I´ve seen quite enough of those.

I´d planned on seeing the world´s largest copper mine today, but due to my inattention to my tourbook I´ll have to skip...not open on weekends...when I found that out today I was really, really unhappy with myself, but I´m over it now. I´m going to go ahead and bolt out of here tonight on another night bus which will get me to the Peruvian border by morning. From there, I went ahead and picked up a cheap flight for Monday into Lima. Enough with these bus trips.

New Year

Can´t say I´m really looking forward to leaving Valdivia after having had such a nice time here with this family, but after 4 days of being one of the family I´m probably starting to wear out my welcome.... Catching the night bus to Santiago in a couple hours.

Celebrated the New Year here with these guys. The people here tend to celebrate the new year at home with their families...and then go out with their friends after midnight. I was a little worn out and stayed in.

During the day I went for a cruise around the rivers surrounding Valdivia. At my table was a couple and their 18 month old child from Australia. Actually, the guy was Kiwi and the his wife orignally from New Guinea. They were in the midst of a worldwide year long tour. I cannot imagine traveling for a year with a 18 month old, but they said they didn´t want to let his arrival on the scene deter them and so they decided to do the trip anyway. They looked pretty worn out 8 months into the trip but were interesting people to talk to. Never mind the child, the woman was still using her New Guinea passport and needed a visa for practically every country...what a pain that has to be. Anyway, the tour was good but I´m a little worn out on sightseeing. They did have some interesting information about the 1960 earthquake that hit Valdivia...was the most powerful ever recorded...9.5 on the Richter scale. It submerged the city in 10 feet of water and altered the landscape considerably.