Arica

Its probably worth pointing out that everything around Caldera and further north is nothing but desert ... literally miles and miles of desert as far as the eye can see. Nobody lives out here. There are smaller towns on the coast but the distance between major towns could be 4-5 hours driving.

I left Caldera on a bus heading north to Arica at 14:30 on Friday 29th January. Arrived in Arica about 08:30 on Saturday 30th. Another long overnight bus journey where I couldnt get a wink of sleep. Arica is the most northern city in Chile (about 1,200km from Caldera). I could have stopped off in 2 other towns on the way up north ... Antofagasta and Iquique, but instead decided to head north to Arica and see Iquique on my way back south to San Pedro de Atacama.

I checked into Jardin del Sol Hostel in Arica (picked this from the Lonely Planet which said it was the best hostel in town). They weren´t wrong .. the place was really nice and the staff couldnt be better. Another hostal with no lockers in the room but this was the only fault I could find with the place.

http://www.hostaljardindelsol.cl/

Had the 4 bed dorm to myself on the first night which was great. As usual I spent the first day walking around and getting to know the city. Arica is a lovely place so I checked myself in for 3 nights but could easily have spent longer. In the afternoon I walked up to Cerro de Morro which has a giant statute of Jesus overlooking the town. The hill has great views over the town and the bay.

Later that evening I took a walk around the town:

... and took a collectivo out to the Archaelogical museum to look at mummies and other interesting artifacts from 7,000 BC to the Inca Empire.

Got back to the hostel this evening and just chilled out. I would have loved to have gone out on the town (as it was Saturday night) but I had booked a tour for tomorrow to go to Lauca National Park. I definitely did not want to be doing this tour with a hangover. The tour departed at 07:30 on Sunday morning and I took a minibus (with mostly Chilean tourists) up to the national park which is located at heights of 4,500m (hence why I didnt want to go out on the town last night). Its advised to acclimatise yourself to altitude by gradually ascending rather than going from sea level to 4,500m and back in one day. Thankfully .. no altitude sickness but I did take some altitude tablets before I left.

A few pictures of the scenery from the trip to Lauca National Park:

I drank some Mate de Coca (hot water and Coca leaves) which apparantly helps with the altitude:

Also got to see some Llamas:

When I got back to the hostel that evening it was after 20:30. I hadnt met anybody in the hostel since I arrived. There seemed to be very few European backpackers staying here but quite a few elderly Chilean couples. Anyway .. 2 American girls (Julie and Jenny) were sharing my dorm tonight so was chatting to them for a while but they were only staying one night on their way to San Pedro de Atacama.

Monday 31st January

Had planned to get up early and head down to the laundrette but I spent the morning hanging around the hostel. Im running out of clean clothes to wear! Eventually went down but they were charging me a fortune so I just decided to leave it .. hoping it would be cheaper in Iquique. Chile is really expensive ... Im going to miss Chile when I leave it as I have been to some great places but I wont miss the prices .. its alot cheaper in Argentina. Everyone I have met tells me I will save alot of money when I head north to Peru and Bolivia.

In the afternoon I decided to head north on the bus to the Peruvian border (Chp1,500 one way). I went with a local bus (bad idea!) .. it took 3 hours from Arica to Tacna in Peru (the most southern city in Peru). I think I was the only tourist on the bus. Met a very nice Chilean couple on the bus though and was chatting to them for a while.

Border crossings are a nightmare when you are travelling on a bus. If you arrive in a taxi or walking it seems to be no problem. Needless to say I took a collectivo back to Arica that evening for Chp3,000 (one hour trip). I got back about 18:30. Glad I went to see Tacna so I can cross it off my list of places to see .. wont be going back anytime soom. Not much to see or do here. I only spent about 2 hours walking around the town and took a few pictures but I was happy leaving and heading back to Arica.

Another relaxing evening back at the hostel. Packed my backpack (full of dirty laundry) for my departure in the morning and spent a few hours online. This hostel has 4 PC´s which is great .. usually a hostel only has 1 PC (2 if you are lucky) and theres usually a queue of people waiting to use them. Will miss Arica when I leave ... I could easily have stayed another night. Had a busy 3 days here and would have liked to have stayed another day to relax in the town and maybe head out, but I had already bought my onward ticket for Iquique. I hear Iquique is a good spot so hope to meet a few backpackers there and have a night out.

Copiapo, Caldera and Bahia Inglesa

I got into Copiapo on Monday 24th January about 12:30. After trying a few places and not able to get a room I eventually found a place to stay for the night for 10,00 Chp (16 Euro). Had a private room so it wasn´t that bad. Basic enough accomodation in a ´Copiapo Residencial´ on Manuel Rodriquez St. about 2 minutes from the main plaza in Copiapo.

I took a walk around the town (which didnt take too long)

... and then took a minibus to Caldera (2,600 Chp return) to see if I could get some cheap accomodation. I really wanted to go to Bahia Inglesa but heard it was really expensive so figured I would stay in Caldera for a few days and just get a collectivo down to Bahia Inglesa each day (5km trip, 800Chp). Had a chat to the tourist office on the plaza when I arrived and they made a call to a local guy (Juan) who had a residencial (´Taica Residencial´). He arrived a few minutes later in his car and took me to the residencial. It seemed fine so I booked myself in for 3 nights (25,000 Chp private room). Went back downtown and hung out in Caldera centre for a while and took a bus back to Copiapo later in the evening.

Some pictures of Caldera:

Tuesday 25th January

Checked out of ´Copiapo Residencial´, had breakfast in a restuarant on the plaza. Scorching day today and the place was packed with people. Caught an afternoon minibus to Caldera and then met Juan who brought me back to the ´residencial´. The place was a bit outside the center but Juan said he would drive me anywhere I wanted to go. Later that afternoon he drove me down to Bahia Inglesa. I had read in the Lonely Planet that this was the place to go if you were in the area. Wasn´t too impressed at first. Was expecting a big beach with loads of nightlife etc .. but it was a really small place with only a few restaurants and very overpriced accommodation. I was paying about 8,300 Chp per night in Caldera but in Bahia Inglesa (10mins by car) the cost was over 25,000 Chp per night. Another really hot day today so relaxed on the beach for the evening, had dinner and then got a collectivo back home about 21:00. It gets really cold in Bahia Inglesa after the sun goes down.

Some pictures of Bahia Inglesa:

Wednesday 26th & Thursday 27th January

Can´t really say much about these two days except they were very relaxing and I got lots of sun. I spent both days in Bahia Inglesa. When I was in Coquimbo a few days back I pulled a muscle in my leg and I was still limping around when I arrived in Copiapo and Caldera, so I figured a few relaxing days were needed.

Friday 28th January

Last day in Caldera. Will miss this place and Juan, the ´Residencial´ owner who was absolutely sound. Had a good 3 days at the residencial. Juan didnt speak a word of English and my Spanish is pretty lousy, but despite his hospitality was super.

Coquimbo and La Serena

Thursday 20th January

Having left San Juan for La Serena at 20:30 the previous night with an expected arrival time of 12:00 on Thursday, the bus eventually arrived in Coquimbo at 16:30! Shattered tired when I arrived. I´m never travelling with Covalle buses again! I got no sleep whatsoever and some young fella from Argentina kept chatting to me all evening. (I just re-read that sentence and realise how old I sound!) I only decided to go to Coquimbo at the last minute ... I figured it would be easier to get accommodation and for a cheaper price. It´s a twin town with La Serena so you can get a ´collectivo´ (shared taxi) between the 2 towns. I had no accommodation booked and when I arrived the tourist office was closed so I didnt even have a map of the town. I met some security guys who really helped me out and told me where to go and what collectivos to take.

I arrived to ´Hostal Nomade´ about 17:30 with no reservation and was advised they had no free beds in any of the dorms.

http://www.hostalnomade.cl/
 

Melodie, Zorcha & Macarena

I have to say the staff here were very helpful .. I wasnt even staying in the hostel but they still helped me as much as they could and rang around to 4 other hostels and ´residencials´ but either there was no answer or they had no beds free.

Was really getting worried about where I was going to sleep so eventually had to bite the bullet and pay for a private room in the hostel (which was almost 3 times the amount of a dorm room).

Anyway ... I changed room the next day into a dorm and stayed for another 3 nights so I spent 4 nights in total in HI Hostel Nomade in Coquimbo.

Needless to say the first night was relaxing. Just took a walk down to Coquimbo centre (5 mins walk) and went for a bite to eat.

Friday 21st January

Checked out of the private room and into a dorm. I booked myself a tour to the Elqui Valley for tomorrow and decided to spend today getting to know Coquimbo and La Serena. Was about 13:00 by the time I left the hostel. Walked up to the ´Cross of the third millenium´ which towers of the town of Coquimbo. You can take a lift up the cross itself and get fantastic views over the city and port.

After I took a walk down to the port. Coquimbo/La Serena reminds me a lot of Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. Coquimbo (like Valparaiso) is a port town surrounded by steep hills and is alot less attractive (or rather less touristy) than La Serena.

After walking around the port, I took a walk along the beach all the way to La Serena (12kms) and through the town centre.

I had a lovely steak dinner in a restuarant here which I picked out of the lonely planet guide book. By the time I was finished eating it was about 21:00 and I was still walking around in shorts and its bloody cold here after the sun goes down ... I took a local bus back to Coquimbo and got back to the hostel about 22:00. A lot of walking today and I think I pulled a muscle in my leg! Spent the evening chatting with a nice couple from Buenos Aires.

Saturday 22nd January

Did not sleep well at all ... I think I maybe got about 2 hours sleep. Early start today (07:00) to do the tour of the Elqui Valley. There was 8 on the tour ... 2 Americans, 5 Chileanos and myself. The Americans spoke Spanish so again I was completely lost for alot of the tour as it was not in English but the guide translated when he could. Despite the fact that I was so sleepy for the day, it was a good day out. We had a minibus tour of the Elqui Valley stopping in some small towns on the way .. including Vicuna and Pisco Elqui.

We also stopped at vineyards and had tours of ´pisco´ distilleries (´Pisco´is a local Chilean & Peruvian drink) and some papaya farms.

For lunch we visited a solar powered restaurant and drank copao (cactus fruit juice).

I had planned to do a 2nd tour that evening to Mamalluca Observatory but the weather wasn´t suitable so the tour was cancelled. To be honest it was a long enough day and it was 20:00 before I got back to the hostel that evening ... if I had gone to the observatory it would have been 02:00 before getting back! I got chatting to some of the Chileanos during the tour (Carla, Karen and their mother) and they planned to go to the beach tomorrow so I arranged to meet up with them in the afternoon.

Sunday 23rd January

I´m convinced I´ve pulled a muscle in my leg! It was really sore last night and now I´m limping which is not good. I think maybe I just need to rest it for a few days as everyday I seem to be walking around sightseeing or going on tours. This afternoon I took a ´collectivo´out to ´Herradura´ beach on the other side of Coquimbo. I met up with Carla, Karen and their mother and we all spent the day on the beach. Despite the language difficulty it was great to hang out with them and have some company for the day. I was chatting to a few people in the hostel but hadn´t met anyone to go out with.

I met up with them again later that evening in the Casino on the waterfront between Coquimbo and La Serena and it was almost 02:00 before I got back to the hostel. I was dissapointed leaving as I really had a great time with them, but tomorrow I had an early bus to catch to Copiapo and they were all travelling back to Santiago.
I only started packing my backpack when I got back to the hostel. Thankfully all the people in the dorm were out!

Monday 24th January

Another early start ... 08:30 bus to Copiapo (345km). Wanted to get an early start and arrive reasonably early. I hadn´t booked accomodation in Copiapo and did not know how easy or difficult it was to find a room so I thought it better to go early and spend the afternoon looking around for a place to stay.