After a long, but relatively carefree overnight bus journey we were awoken by a breakfast box being thrust into our hands, but hardly had time to open it before pulling into the bus station at 6.30 am - we'd arrived! An easy short walk from the bus terminal we found our excellent accommodation for the next few days - Sunny Days Hostel (www.sunny-days-arica.cl) - run by Kiwi Ross and his Chilean wife Beatrix. Even at this early hour Ross made us very welcome, let us into our very comfy bedroom and gave us a full breakfast - what a good start. Once rested and refreshed we set off on the walk into town, first via the nearby beach then through the streets to the town centre, where we had our obligatory daily cafe cortado before popping in to the Iglesia de San Marcos (which was designed by Gustave Eiffel and built entirely of iron). A great way to see the area is from the top of El Morro (which is the end of the mountain range as it drops into the Pacific). We climbed the dusty track to the top and in the hot sunshine enjoyed the views across Arica towards the barren desert landscape to the north and the rugged cliffs to the south. We noticed a small beach to the south of town that we were to visit for the next couple of days. After an early evening beer we caught the local bus back to the hostel which is very conveniently located across the street from an extensive fresh vegetable market which also has some eateries and other food stalls. Tonight's meal cooked in the quiet and excellent hostel kitchen (the first one in Chile we've been able to cook in) was courtesy of the market. Arica is generally seen as a stopping off place for travelling between Chile and Peru, and as a base for trips to Parque Nacional Lauca. It also has good beaches and is a popular summer resort for Chileans and for Bolivians who come here in their droves, Bolivia having lost its access to the sea following the War of the Pacific in 1883. We, however, found it to be the sort of ordinary place with its people going about their day to day business that we like from time to time - it's cheaper here than in the other parts of Chile we've been to, has good fresh food markets, has beaches that we can relax on and has some interesting outlying sights. Our days were spent wandering into town with its attractive narrow lanes and squares then heading to the beach for a hour or so. Our hostel became much less quiet but more lively on our second day when who should appear but Ainsley and Lucy from San Pedro. They had been held up in San Pedro because of the internet problem and had met up with a group of girls and lads from the UK in the 'charge' of Anne, a teacher from Brighton. They certainly were a lively lot and the kitchen that night reverberated with a real party atmosphere. We'd arranged a trip to NP Lauca with Oscar (Vientos del Norte Adventure) and as we were getting ready to set off on Saturday morning the 'UK party' party set off for the train to Peru.E & M xxx