Last stop in Chile

Trip Start Apr 14, 2006
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Trip End Oct 27, 2006


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Thursday, September 7, 2006

After over a week of various tours around San Pedro and a venture into Bolivia, I was feeling a little ´toured out´, so I headed to Arica´ right in the far north of Chile for some rest and relaxation before heading deeper into Bolivia.

Arica is on the coast, but instead of the golden sands of Australia, it is more dirty grey in colour which gives the town a slightly less unclean feel. Nevertheless it is a very pleasant place and home to a couple of buildings, including a church, designed by Mr Eiffel.

I stayed in one of the nicest hostels I think I have stayed in since being away. Run by a Kiwi and Chilean couple, the house was lovely and spacious, very homely and an all-you can eat breakfast, which I certainly made the most of given that it is my favourite meal of the day!

I tend to find whilst travelling that if I have a fairly inactive couple of days I start to feel guilty and that I should be doing something more productive with my time. So, when a of people at the hostel asked if I wanted to go on a day tour of the nearby National Park, the answer was of course ´yes´. This tour was really only an option if you could tolerate or did not suffer from altitude sickness as it started at sea level and reached a peak of 4620m!! Although it was a bus intensive day the scenery was awesome with blue skies, snow capped peaks and lakes providing reflections of the nearby mountains.

After spending a 4 days in Arica it was quite hard to leave, but move on I must, to a new country and new destination...La Paz, Bolivia...
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