After the Salt Flats tour Sophia and I got the bus to San Pedro de Atacama, which is a really small town near the Bolivia/Chile border. We decided not to hang about and get the overnight bus to Iquique which is on the coast of northern Chile. About half way through the journey I had an attack of food poisoning and had me laid up for the few days we had in Iquique. Nice... I´m not sure if I missed much in Iquique though. After 2 days there we set off for Tacna, on the border with Peru and from there to Arica in Chile. It took the full day to reach Arequipa by which stage we were knackered and in need of a few days to chill out...
Arequipa is a really nice city with quite a few colonial-era Spanish buildings built of white volcanic rock which makes it quite picturesque. One of the nicest places that we visited was the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, which is huge and practically a city within a city. Apparently the nuns that lived there partied hard until the end of the 19th century (rock on!) when a Dominican nun arrived on the scene to knock them into shape (booooo!) and they were rarely seen outside the convent again. I´d loved to have been a fly on the wall back then!
In the centre of the city is La Plaza de Armas, which is a real social centre with people of all ages hanging out all day. This is also where all the crazy little yellow taxis congregate. Its so cheap to get around - the standard fare to most destinatons in the city is about 40 pence! I thought there was quite a different vibe in Peru than in Chile, I think the people are more open and although not as well off, generally more friendly. Maybe they´re just mre accustomed to us gringos! More thumbnails ...
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