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Hi all,
Sorry it's been so long. To make up for it we'll make this a long one. So we managed to escape Cuzco with 5 days to make our way down nearly half of South America to reach Santiago and our flight to New Zealand. After 3 days of trying to get our bus to Arequipa in the south of Peru we were told that all the road blocks and strikes had been called off for the time being! We jumped at the chance and brought two tickets for 7pm that night. We were a bit edgy about the journey as the road to Arequipa is notorious for it's armed robberies and hold-ups at night. Turned out the only thing we had to worry about was how cold the ride was. The air-con and the ice that formed on the inside of the windows meant that we didn't get much sleep and it was an uncomfortable 10 hour ride. As we didn't have long to get to Santiago and didn't want to run the risk of missing our next flight, the plan was to jump on another bus as soon as we arrived in Arequipa. We hit Arequipa at 5am and searched bleary eyed for a bus company to take us to Tacna, the main boarder town between Peru and Chile.We found one no problem. It left at 6am so after a short walk to a different terminal across the world and a coffee we jumped on our second bus. This journey was 7 hours long so after a quick flick through the guide book (rock on 'FootPrint') to see how we cross the boarder we put our heads down to get some shut eye.
After a few Zzzzz's we watched some films and were at Tacna before we knew it. The guide book said we'd be able to get a shared taxi across the boarder once we get to Tacna. This was no lie because as soon as we got off we had about 10 touts trying to take our bags off us and put them in there cars. We told them to 'sling their hooks' and waited for things to clear before we approached the least shifty looking person. The man took us to a depot where we filled out some immigration forms and jumped in the taxi with a little old lady who was on her way to Chile as well. The guys in the taxi were really good as they guided us through both checkpoints and then dropped us off at the bus station in Arica, Chile. We walked 5 minutes to the long distance bus terminal as we were planning to jump on another bus (our 4th journey in less than 24 hours) for a 28 hour bus ride to Santiago! As we walked to the other bus terminal we spied the sea for the first time since Brazil (2 months) so we decided to stay and break the journey up. We checked into a really cool hostel called 'Sunny Days' and hit the beach for a walk. It was really cold but nice to be beside the sea again. After the beach we walked into the town centre. It was a bit of a dive but it was nice to see something different after spending so long travelling on buses.
The next day we jumped on our bus ride to Santiago. We're not sure how far away it is from Arica but it took 28 hours to get there and we only stopped about 6 times. 3 of those time was check points were we had to get off the bus with all our bags and have them searched for Cocaine. Being searched for drugs looses it's novelty when it's the 3rd time and its 4.00am! During the 28 hours we amused ourselves by sleeping, eating our rations, reading, watching crap TV and more sleeping. Surprisingly it flew by and we arrived in Santiago at 6pm.
As it's winter it's dark by then so we jumped straight into a taxi and ask to go to the 'Casa Roja' (the Red House) which is a cool hostel we'd heard about. As they usually do the taxi driver told us in Spanish that this hostel was full and that he knows a good one he will take us to. He told him in English that he was the only thing full (of s***) and that we had 'reservationo'! We arrived at a really old (but renovated) mansion and managed to get the last 2 of the 240 beds. Jackpot! The place was so popular as the building had character galore, massive corridors, high ceilings, cool chill out rooms and a massive kitchen. Everything you'd expect from an old stately home. One of the best bits about it was the bathrooms. Not only because they had hot showers (something we'd not had in 10 weeks!!) but the girls and boys toilets was in the same big room but split by a fake wall. The wall didn't reach the ceiling so hearing girls doing number 2's was a regular occurrence!!! Hearing the fairer sex in that manner is rare so it is a memory I will always treasure!
Whilst we were having dinner one night at the hostel, Lee and me saw a couple that we recognized. We racked our brains over the last few months but we hadn't seen them in South America. Anyway we got talking to them and they were from Leicester. After a number of questions it turned out that we were all at the same little crappy gig during the Leicester comedy festival last year. The guy (Dennis) had got up to tell a joke and that's how we recognized them.Really weird as there was only 10 people in the audience of this gig!
Unfortunately as it was raining for the 2 days we had in Santiago we didn't have time to look around the city.What we did see of it was beautiful with really old buildings and half the city surrounded by snow capped mountains. Anyway, the sad time had come and we had to say goodbye to South America and catch our plane to New Zealand. Our flight was at 10:40 on the 22nd July and we were due to arrive in auckland at 03:20am on the 24th July.Work that one out!
We won't leave it as long next time so check back soon. Miss and love you all xxx Rob & Lee
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