Getting out of Chile as fast as we could
Chile was breaking our budget. We were not used to paying more for a meal than we do in the US, and I’m not talking McDonald’s, folks. We paid $14 to camp in a dusty, noisy campground in San Pedro de Atacama. We hurried back to Arequipa, Peru, where we had a room with 2 beds and a private bathroom for $8. BIG difference.
We took a night bus to Arica, which was only a Semi-Cama but we slept okay on it (Frontera Del Norte). Once we arrived in Arica at dawn, we hopped in a shared taxi to cross the border and head to Tacna, Peru. The buses weren’t working that early in the morning, so we had no choice but to pay $6 a person instead of $3 a person for the journey. After being in Chile, we didn’t care as much.
Border formalities were pretty quick and efficient, and in Tacna we hopped on the next local Flores bus to Arequipa. This bus wasn’t too noisy, but it was HOT. We were the only tourists on the bus and there were at least 3 aduana stops where officials got on the bus and seized bags of clothing off the bus. We figured there were about 4 women involved, sitting on piles of clothes, stuffed under their seats. A number of people on the bus were sitting on piles of clothes as well. We didn’t understand what the deal was. I asked a guy nearby and he told me that they were carrying used clothes to sell. I don’t see what’s wrong with that, unless the clothes are made of cocaine or something. Maybe there’s a law against ugly secondhand clothes. I estimate at least a pickup bed truckful of clothes was confiscated by customs officials. When we arrived in Arequipa, the women started organizing their hidden stashes of clothes and I don’t understand how they got it all to fit in the first place. They started throwing out 50lb rice bags filled with clothes out the windows. I think they had more luggage than everyone else combined. They must have lost only 1/4 of their inventory, because there was a lot left. I’m still confused, and I don’t care about them carrying clothes on a bus…except that all the aduana stops increased our travel time to Arequipa…I estimate our travel time from San Pedro to Arequipa to be about 20 hours. Time for a day off from buses!