Hi Casa De Huespedes Arica

... us a little while, but we finally figured out that "Residentials" are pretty much the same as hospedajes. Evan had a good feeling about one so we stayed and after seeing a bunch of others it seems we made the right choice.<br><br>There are an abundance of cake, roasted chicken, and sandwich shops. We took full advantage of the sandwich and cake shops. Evan had cake everyday! The 2nd night our hunt for cake started after most shops had ...

... a 50yr old Australian hippies to share a few cheeky maragritas on the beach.<br><br>I also plucked up the courage to have a surf lesson (more difficult than it sounds when its in rapid fire, Chilean accented, technical Spanish!). The instructor first of all made me EXERCISE (that dreaded 'E' word again) on the beach - I must admit to feeling a bit stupid doing side steps up and down the sand in a wetsuit. Then we eventually got in the water where I was pounded ...

... in for the night, its very tiring traveling, our journey from Arequipa to Arica took us over 8 hours, so we went to our leaba.<br>The next day there was no availability for us to stay in that hostel so we wandered around looking for a good alternative and found one around the corner.<br>One thing we quickly realized even though we had been told by everyone that has been to Chile before that it is very expensive, well they were right, it ...

... overlooking the town and the ocean. Soldiers were practicing for some kind of performance about the War of the Pacific, in which Arica wa taken from Perú. There is a military museum and a huge Chilean flag just in case anyone wonders who this place belongs to. I climbed down at sunset and am now eating and Restaurant Tortas y Tartas. It´s pricey but the salad is good and the fresh squeezed maracuya juice did not disappoint.<br><br>

... picture perfect cone shape volcano capped in snow you´ll ever see. Another mammoth salt lake, more getting used to the altitude and panting for breath even though you´re sitting still and hundreds of llama´s, alpaca´s and vicuna´s. Oh and getting into your swimming trunks to go into a hot thermal spring at 4500m and then getting out wet into a biting, bitterly cold wind is another take your breath away moment but for different reasons, I´ve never got ...

... hard rule to follow in Peru because it seemed restaurants only catered to tourists and most locals either ate from the street vendors in town (especially Cuzco), or at home. The one exception was the Chifa place I mentioned in Arequipa where we were the only non-locals partaking in what may have been the best meal of the trip to date. We found a little hole-in-the-wall place off of Calle 18 de Septiembre which was so packed with locals, we had to wait a staggering five ...

... lucky tourists that we are... we only ended up paying for 2 nights instead of 3... i just nodded and agreed... yes 2 nights oh and then i had the cheek to demand some more money off as the shower was cold on the third morning.... i dont feel a bit guilty as they dont have a clue how to keep records... So we went to eat some more dinner to celebrate... Oh of course we have no pictures to upload of Arica as we were too busy sleeping and eating... sorry.

I SPOILED myself and took the premium class seat for my long journey to Arica. It´s basically going first class with a fully reclining comfy seat and a continual supply of films and food to keep you going. it´s the bottom deck of the bus and this time there was just me and one young guy who slept or laughed through the journey, the other chairs were empty. We passed through endless deserts of white, yellow and red sand. In the middle of the desert, seven hours from ...

... us up and take us over the border into Chili and then onto Arica. No one was waiting for us when we arrived. We went to speak to the people in Tacna but they claimed that they had no knowledge of this and that the company does not organise taxis to Arica. So not only did we pay more money than we should have, we also had to pay another taxi to get us to Arica. Finally we arrived in Arica and got into our hostel room and showered. We were ...

... understand... I arrived in Lima and could feel the energy of the city straight away, its rushed, chaotic, vibrant, dirty, rich, seaside vibe; it was liking coming home. I met my friends, mainly Katherine and Carolina and did the same as last time I was in Lima, that is not a lot, just enjoying the city, going for coffees and drinks in the night, lazy mornings and cooking food like I´d make at home. I went out with Katherine and her friends one night and saw maybe The Worst Cover ...