3700 miles, an alpaca, and the most epic trip ever

This is going to be one of my longer posts, but I hope that it is worth the read.

I have just finished a 10 day 3700 mile trip across three countries today. If you can't tell from those stats, this was an incredible trip of a lifetime. Since it was such a long trip and I have a lot to say I'm going to try and break it up as best as I can into sections / days.

This whole trip started out by just buying a round trip ticket to the northern Chilean city of Arica. Other than that my friends and I had no other certain plans just a general direction. We set out on Monday the 20th at 4:45 am in order to catch a bus to the airport in Santiago. We landed in Arica at about 12:00 and hit the ground running. We stopped to get something to eat and then immediately left the town. We got a taxi to take us across the border into Peru. It was an interesting experience taking a taxi across a border but our driver was great. He knew everyone at the crossing and we bypassed all the lines which was crazy. We took this taxi straight to the bus station in Tacna Peru. After about 20 min. we were on a bus and heading toward the town of Arequipa. I never imagined I would start the first day of this trip and keep going until we couldn't travel anymore. We got a nice hostal in the town of Arequipa and decided we would at least spend the next day there.

Arequipa is a great city. It is full of colonial architecture and lots of history. It is also known as the alpaca capitol of the world (and yes I did buy some). After walking around the town and seeing some of the old churches we came upon something happening in the town plaza. It turned out to be a big protest about public jobs. Against what the typical advice is for traveling abroad we decided to stay and watch, but mainly listen to what these people had to say. As I'm sure everyone will be glad to hear it was a peaceful protest. However, the police were ready for it to turn into something else it appeared. There were probably hundreds of police in riot gear with shields and tear gas ready. Which created this interesting dynamic that I have never seen. Even with the intimidating police presence, and loud chants from the protesters, everyone was coexisting peacefully and there weren't any problems. No one was even bothered by the  probably hundreds of onlookers taking photos. After this interesting experience we decided to do some more shopping and walking. Once satisfied with this we decided to head back to the plaza and get a beer. The protest was done, but we soon heard a new noise. This time it was the loud chants and music of a school parade! A protest and a parade all in a matter of a few hours, not what I expected during the first days of my trip.

The next day we got up and again headed to the bus station to continue our journey. At the Peruvian bus stations you encounter an interesting dynamic, upon entering you are overwhelmed with people yelling what feels like every city in Peru. Each bus company is yelling what cities they have busses to and trying to get you to use them. After a moment of intimidation we set out to find a bus company to the city we thought we wanted to go to. After buying a ticket we talked with the driver and decided we wanted to go to a city he recommended (he said there was more to do). The bus ride was long and for anyone planing on traveling by bus in Peru, they don't have air conditioning. This bus ride however, did have some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen, and we passed through some extremely small and simple towns. It was also along this bus trip I realized something I had thought when I first entered Peru. I don't want to offended anyone but Peru has a distinct smell. I wouldn't say it is horrible but, for me it was kind of like something burning mixed with the smell of bricks and the smell of dust. Just an interesting observation I had. But, anyways we ended up in Juliaca Peru. And this is the type of culture shock one might imagine when coming to South America. This was not a tourist town nor were there any other americans there. Juliaca is a working class peruvian town and not much more. It had a lot of unfinished buildings, and to be honest was quite intimidating. But to get a true feel for the culture we decided to stay the night. We searched for hostals and eventually found one and we put our things in a room. But me and a friend decided to see if there were any other better ones. We ended up finding one for a better rate and returned to our originally one to see if they would bring their price down. And this is where I had my first spanish argument. The woman wouldn't bring down the price and was mad we were trying to leave after we got a room. However, we had not paid yet and she was texting while talking to me so we got our things and simple stormed out. We stayed the night at the other hostal but it really wasn't that great either.

The next morning we decided that Juliaca didn't have anything else for us and we decided to leave. But this time to get to the bus station we took a three wheeled motor taxi (that were all over) and had some fun with that. But we ended up needing to go to another plaza to catch the bus so to go back we took a rickshaw. Even if there wasn't much in Juliaca we still had fun getting around (even if I dropped our fare during the ride). We made our way next to Puno by bus. And this is the scene where one of my friends began to get sick. I can now say I have seen someone have a conversation with a Peruvian and the pause for a moment to throw up out the bus window. The look on the mans face after was one of the funniest things I saw the whole trip. But over all I think it was a cool thing to say has happened to my friend. It made for an interesting story at least. Once in Puno we went straight to lake titikaka, which is a huge lake. After spending a short time here we got a hostal and walked around the town. It was better than Juliaca, but you could still find some of the poorer working class neighborhoods near by. And yes this city had the same smell as the others. Something that was interesting in every city we went to as well, were the churches. Each city had an immaculate church with gold and all sorts of other additions. Looking at this part of each city you could really get a feeling for the history and culture of the area.        

The next day we made our way to the floating islands of Uros. Which are in the "middle" of lake titikaka and about a 30 min boat ride from Puno. These islands were amazing, they were made of reeds and only a few feet thick. Meaning one could jump up and down and literally shake the whole island. Another amazing fact was that there were 70 of these islands and 2000 inhabitants there. The community had a school, hospital and Internet. However as I'm sure you can imagine for an island community it was a more basic form of these amenities. We then got on one of their barges also made of reeds to go to another island. And here is where I started to get a feel of the more nickel and dimming aspect these cultures. We were told to get on the boat to go to another island but only once the boat was moving we were told we had to pay 10 more Peruvian soles for the ride. It was also on this ride that a little girl sang a song only to then go around with her hat asking for money. And I'm sorry if this offends anyone but she got nothing from me. However over all the islands were an incredible experience and I'm glad I saw them. We ate dinner that night in the plaza and again got to take some of the interesting 3 wheeled motor taxis.

The following morning we got up early and made our way to another "bus station" more like bus meeting place. And got a van to take us to the border of Peru and Bolivia. But only after being harassed by every bus driver there. This ride had some amazing landscape and is also where I encountered probably the weirdest/craziest thing of my whole study abroad trip. I had dozed off for a minute only to awake and look out the window to see a van driving by with 4 sheep tied to the roof of it. Three cars later I saw another van but this time it had an alpaca strapped to the top. The animals all seemed to be enjoying the ride but I still can't understand how they got them up there. Needless to say this was an interesting end to Peru.

The van dropped us off at the border and we walked across. However the bolivian immigration was a process to say the least. We kept walking in the office only to be told to fill out another form or to make a copy of this and that. They also kept asking us about our bus company and where those forms were. Only to be repeatedly told we walking into your country! It was 135$ to enter Bolivia. I gave them 150$ and never got my change which still leaves me slightly bitter. But after the border everything went smoothly. We got a taxi to copacabana and upon arrival found a very nice hostal / hotel. We quickly though made our way to the dock in order to catch the last boat to the isla del sol. Where there are ancient ruins. The boat ride was long (2 hours) and I thought I was going to die. Not from the water or waves but from the engine of the boat. Exhaust fumes were pouring into the boat the whole time and we were getting close to what I felt was carbon monoxide poising. And even with this we then experienced more nickel and dimming. We were told we needed to buy a guide for the island or we could only be there for 20 min. After again arguing in Spanish I got the rate down for the guide so we could enjoy the time we had on the island. However upon arriving on isla del sol we were again told to pay another fee to enter. Fees and boat aside though the island was a lot of fun. And it was great to see ruins older than the incas. After a quicker boat ride back to shore we made our way to a restaurants for dinner where I tried my first piece of lake trout. And I'm happy to say it tasted great. Following dinner we just had a relaxed night back at our hotel.

The next morning we did a short hike to the top of a hill near by where you could see the entire town and get a great view of the lake. But we had to quickly descend as we needed to check out. After this we then made our way to the plaza to get a bus to la Paz. And as expected again we were harassed by every drive there. Once on the bus to la Paz we again saw great scenery until we came to a stop and were told to exit the bus. After some confusion we found out our bus needed to be barged over to the other side of this channel and we had to take a boat to the other side to meet up with the bus. For anyone scared of small boats or who get sea sick find another route to la Paz. The boat we took was a little thing and it just kept rocking with waves. Luckily no one got sick and we made it to the other side. Back on the bus we made our way into la Paz and here you can see the true division between classes in South America. On your way in you pass through el alto the top of la Paz and this area is where you see the poorer classes and the social problems that plague the area. I'm glad I was able to see this but I'm glad I didn't stay long. La Paz itself is also incredible it sits in a valley but extends up the sides creating this dramatic landscape of a city in the hills. It is truly a site to see.  After arriving at the bus station we began our search for hostals where we found many that were sub par. However we came across one that was quite different. The walls were painted with psychedelic colors and there was a "hippie" musician businessman running the place. And we decided to stay. This was one of the best decisions throughout the whole trip. We meet an array of people. Mostly Argentinian and German and had a great time. Also for anyone staying in la Paz hostals, they party! And I'm just going to leave it at that and say the night descriptions are going to be left for me.

The next day though we went to the ruins of Tiwanaku. These were incredible and ill try and post pictures soon. It's hard to believe everything that was constructed so long ago without the wheel. The monuments there are just amazing and again trying to imagine how they were built is difficult when you realize they were made thousands of years ago. After the ruins we went to wait for our bus back to la Paz. However it never came. Leaving us stranded in a town 2 hours from la Paz. We ended up finding a van and literally paying a bolivian family to drive us into la Paz. The drive however insisted on showing us his house where he had an ancient artifact. And artifact is an understatement. He had a full on giant monument that we had see in the ruins in his house. Probably nicer than the other ones in the museum. This was truly amazing and he was incredibly nice, I'm so glad we took a small risk and asked to hire them and to see his home. Once back in la Paz we had dinner and then partied back at the hostal.

Or second to last day in la Paz we went to the witches market where you can buy things you never thought would be for sale, and following this went to the coca museum. Which gave an interesting perspective on the coca plant and on the damaging U.S drug war in Bolivia. It was great to see the other side of this situation and has changed some of my opinions. However after this museum we went to one of the highlights of the trip for me. Seeing one of my favorite high school teachers in la Paz! We got a tour of his school and then had a beer and caught up. We then saw his house (which was very nice) and had dinner with some of his friends. I will never forget this experience and I can't wait to go visit him in Singapore. In the process we also got to see the nicer part of la Paz and the contrast from el alto is unreal. It's hard to imagine these to places co existing in the same city. However after this great experience we made our way back to the hostal for one final night of partying.

Our final leg of our trip was getting back to Arica. We took a bus from la Paz which took 8 hours and then 3 more just to cross the border into chile. This is also the coldest bus I have ever taken, I thought I was going to get frost bite. But eventually we made it to Arica at 1:15 am. And one last adventure ensued. It consisted of us paying for a cab to the airport, but more specifically asking him to drive us to find alcohol. Unfortunately after several stores we found out they were all closed and we had to make our way to the airport "empty handed". We then slept in the air port for an hour until our flight was boarding. And then slept on the flight back. And the bus back to vina. Which brings me to the end of my epic trip.

I can honestly say I'm not sure how we got through it all in one piece with relatively no problems. But I'm so glad we did. I will never forget this trip and I can't wait to take another. If you want any more specifics on things please ask. I know I forgot some details along the way. And there are more stories to write but like I said if you want to know more ask. I'm going to leave it at this due to the length. But look back soon for more posts.

¡Viva Chile!