When it was time to leave Peru, we had two options of paths that we could take which would lead us to Argentina – through Bolivia or through Chile. After researching both, we quickly decided upon Chile since Bolivia costs more for Americans to enter their country (Chile is free!). That decision being made, we then had to figure out how to get from Arequipa into Chile. After doing some research, we found out that there is not a straightforward way and that we would need to take a couple of different buses in order to get there.

We woke up shortly after 7:00am in order to get ready and finish packing our bags. We left the apartment, said goodbye to the doorman (who had become Jon’s friend and would chat every time he would take out the trash or go to the store), and got in a taxi to take us to the bus station. Since we were unable to purchase bus tickets ahead of time, we found the counter for Flores and bought tickets for the next bus, which would be leaving at 10:00am.

We purchased tickets on the Flores bus from Arequipa to Tacna.

The bus we were on was the type that would stop frequently, either to pick up or drop off passengers or to allow vendors on and off the bus. Around lunchtime, a vendor came on selling food so we bought two items to split and try: a papa relleno (like a friend mashed potato) and a shrimp tortilla (whole shrimp, which didn’t make it very easy to eat!). Around 1:45pm, we stopped at a control stand and exited the bus, placing all of our bags and belongings on a conveyor belt. The purpose of this stop was to scan for fruits and vegetables, as those are not allowed into Chile. We boarded the bus again and continued the drive, finally arriving in Tacna just after 4:00pm.

This is the shrimp tortilla we got on the bus – yes those are whole shrimp!

When we got our bags out of the storage hold on the bus in Tacna, we discovered that something wet (not from our bags, but from the bus) had leaked and gotten spots wet and sticky on both of our bags. While there was nothing we could do about it just then, we knew we would need to do some laundry soon after our arrival in Chile to make sure our clothes would be clean. We walked around the block to the international bus station (we had arrived at the domestic bus station) and found the counter with information on buses going into Chile. They told us to get on any bus, as they leave every 10-15 minutes. We gave our passports to the conductor and took our seats about halfway back on the bus. As we were pulling out of the bus station a few minutes later, the conductor came around to collect our departure tickets (a ticket that you must purchase at some of the bus stations in Peru in order to leave, usually for $0.50 or $1.00 USD). Since we had forgotten to ask if we needed these, Jon got off the bus and ran inside to quickly purchase these tickets, then ran back to the bus just in time for us to leave again.

This is the crowd that was waiting to get luggage off the bus in Tacna.

At 4:50pm, the bus officially left the bus station and started driving toward the boarder. About 45 minutes later, we were at the first of our stops – exiting Peru. We got our passports stamped and handed in our immigration cards, then got back on the bus to the next station – entering Chile. Here, we discovered that Chile is two hours ahead of Peru, so we lost two hours and it turned into 8:00pm instead of 6:00pm. We had about 20 more minutes on the bus before pulling into Arica, Chile – the border town where the bus would leave us.

The sunset over the Pacific as we arrived in Chile!

We exited and walked to the domestic bus terminal to inquire about an overnight bus to our next destination. However, they didn’t have any of the full cama seats available (the seats that lean back almost all the way and make for easier sleeping on the overnight buses) so we decided to spend the night in Arica and take a bus leaving the next day. We took a short taxi ride to a nearby hostel and were able to get a private room with a double bed. By now, it was around 9:30pm and all we had eaten were the snacks purchased on the bus back in Peru. We walked about 10 minutes to a grocery store and purchased a couple of empanadas and some snacks for dinner, which we ate sitting on our bed before collapsing into sleep.

We found some cheeseburger flavored Doritos in Chile… they tasted like pickles!

This was a fairly typical travel day for us, and even though we spent most of the day sitting on various buses, we were still exhausted when we finally got to our room at the hostel. Travel days are usually tiring and can be tough, so we have to mentally prepare ourselves ahead of time for it. We do as much research ahead of time as we can whenever we need to cross borders, but there is always something that sneaks up on us as a surprise! However, we’ve always made it through without any major problems (knock on wood!) so we hope that streak will continue as we venture forth on the rest of our journey!

When Jon takes a nap and I get bored…