After two and a half weeks throughout various locations in Chile it feels refreshing to be back in Peru mainly because the prices for everything are substantially cheaper. The vast majority of products ranging from groceries to bus fairs average nearly the half price in Peru compared to Chile thus after only a brief period of time it became financially evident to keep this particular chapter of the journey brief. The experience in Chile was short lived yet fantastic because the people are very kind and the plethora of landscapes provide travelers with constant satisfaction.
From Santiago the plan was to visit San Pedro de Atacama, a dusty Chilean desert village that hovers along the Bolivian/Argentinian borders which also is well-known for being one of the driest locations on Earth. San Pedro is a popular (and pricy) destination for travelers because it has a wide selection in unreal desert landscapes such as rock walls at Valle De La Luna, a national Flamenco preserve, and photogenic salt flats that span entire horizons. Two really good friends and I made plans to meet at this isolated traveler oasis but before doing so I had a four day gap of free-time without any official plans.
During my final day in Santiago and after discovering that Argentina was now charging Americans $160 to cross over into boundaries I made an impulsive decision to visit La Serena, a sunburned vacation destination for many Chileans that sits halfway to San Pedro. A severe lack of planning made the arrival into the laid-back coastal city little stressful because the entire list of hostels for La Serena was booked solid. After asking around and scouring various websites in a cafe near the bus terminal a last minute find at a hostel named El Arbol was booked thus providing a breath of relief. By complete coincidence a really good friend named Julio who I met in Viña Del Mar was staying in Coquimba, a neighboring town, during the same stretch of time and we met back up at a beer festival in La Serena to sample a wide variety of Chilean micro brews. The festival combined with large quantities sun soaking along the beach and another language exchange to practice Spanish made La Serena a surprisingly nice three day stopover.
After relaxing along the umbrella and ocean swell infused shore during my final afternoon in La Serena a nightbus sent me to Antofagasta then a second connecting trip helped me arrive to arid San Pedro de Atacama. Two days were dedicated towards exploring Valle De La Luna, Valle De La Muerte, and various lagoons throughout the vibrantly tinted deserts of northern Chile. When not on a tour a great deal of time was spent with some really nice friends from Denmark named Lonnie and Mia who also were originally met in Viña Del Mar and another cool girl named Maria from Germany. We stayed at the same hostel, La Kañas, and played a great deal of card games while for some reason listening to a lot of Swedish music. Our last day together was dedicated towards wandering around a neighboring sleepy city called Calama before we said our final goodbyes. They headed to Pan de Azucar and I darted for Arequipa in another nightbus. Hopefully we will meet again because they were some truly great people!
Before arriving in Arequipa I managed to arrange a free place to stay at what turned out to be a family owned hospedaje with the help of Couchsurfing.org. The family has been very welcoming and Barbara, the person with whom I organized the meeting, took me to Camana a very popular beach town that was booming with music-thumping nightlife. We also rode horses in a neighboring town, tried Recotto Relleno at a traditional Peruvian restaurant and explored some interesting sections of Arequipa. Thanks to the help Barbara and her family Arequipa has been a memorable experience for which I will forever be grateful.
More updates will be on the way soon and I hope everyone is having a great day! Take care and thank you for reading this blog :)
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