Into Chile by train

After 8 nights in Arequipa it was time to move on south to Chile by taking the bus to Tacna and then the train across the border to Arica, Chile.

Since reading The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux, I've wanted to travel by train in South America, but never had the chance; until now. This would be a short ride, little more than one hour on an antique train. Not the fastest route either, but I was hoping for a romantic ride on the rails.

The bus ride to Tacna was uneventful. We had 45 minutes to kill before the ticket window opened at the train station, so we headed over to the town square, devoured our packed lunch and admired the fountain and church designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Bought tickets, cleared Peru immigration, snagged snagged some seats, and the single car train - engine and coach all in one - pulled out of the Tacna station just after 4PM Peru time.

The station is in city center and for the first few miles the tracks went right down the city streets;lots of tooting as there are no crossing gates or signals. Then into the desert passing a large land development project; or squatters?; or speculation?

The single coach is crowded with about 80 passengers; a few travelers like us, some Chilean vacationers on outings; and a quite a few day-shoppers from Arica returning to Chile with enormous bundles of toilet paper. Turns out that toilet paper is much cheaper in Peru. Hmm. In the end, not such a romantic trip. ;-)

Pull into Arica just after 7PM. It's a one hour trip but Chile is 2 hours ahead of Peru. Find a hotel and crash. The next day we switch hotels, eat lunch at a vegetarian restaurant run by Taiwanese, check out 2 more buildings designed by Eiffel, and enjoy a walk up to the old fortifications above town with great views of the port and Pacific Ocean.

Here are the photos:

Plaza de Armas in Tacna, Chile with fountain designed by Gustave Eiffel.


Boarding the train in Tacna, Peru.


The train from Tacna, Peru to Arica, Chile.


Train Station - Arica, Chile.


ESCAPE! - Arica, Chile - from tsunamis I'm guessing.


San Marcos Church in Arica, designed by Gustave Eiffel, has metal columns. Unusual.


View to Central Arica.


The Port in Arica - with fishing boats, tugboats, and container ships.

Chifas

Ecuador and Peru have a lot of Chifas, i.e. Chinese restaurants. The term originates from Chinese chifan, let's eat. Until five years ago, most of the Chifas are not run by Chinese people. It is like in the US that one does not need to be Italian to run a pizza joint. However, in the last few years many immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian have joined the ranks. An easy way to tell the difference is that Chinese-run restaurants are open all day and all days of the week - no siesta.

Most of the menu items look familiar, but in Peru, there is a curious entry: aeropuerto (airport). I had to ask someone. It is rice and noodles fried together with bean sprouts and normally has chicken also, so we have not had one. Otherwise, Chifas are safe bets where we can normally fill ourselves up with vegetable fried rice (Chaufan), open vegetable egg omelets over french fried potatoes (tortilla de verduras), and noodles with veggies (tallarines con verduras).

Tallarines con verduras at a restaurant in Otavalo, Ecuador; run by a Chinese family who came to Ecuador 30 years ago


Tortilla de verduras con papas (front) and Chuafan (back) at Casa de Korea, also in Otavalo; run by non-Chinese.


Chifa Hong Kong in Arequipa, Peru.


Chifa Hong Kong in Casma, Peru.

Beautiful Santa Catalina Convent

The Santa Catalina Monastery, a cloistered convent, is the top tourist attraction in Arequipa. We have never been anywhere quite like it. The architecture alone makes it an amazing place, but the preserved, in-place artifacts (furniture, kitchen implements, icons, etc) boost it to the top of our list.

In addition to the standard cloisters, this convent is like a city itself with streets, plazas with fountains, and a cemetery. Besides the austere cells and dormitories as one would expect, there are many whole apartments with luxurious furniture, dressing room, bathroom, maid's room, and laundry machine! We were quite surprised. Now I am looking for a historical fiction or a memoir about nuns and convent life.

The convent opened in 1580 and operated until 1970 when it became a museum.
A few nuns still live in seclusion in a small portion of the original convent.

The convent entrance.


The nuns only contact with the outside world was through these grilled windows.


One of the three courtyards/cloisters.


Another cloister.


A street inside the convent.


Communal Dining Room.


Austere Cell.


A not so austere cell; actually an apartment.


Apartment entrance.


A kitchen attached to an apartment.


Apartment window (from the outside).


Plaza with fountain and the chapel behind.

Christmas in Arequipa

This is the first time we spent Christmas away from home in a predominately Christian country. We have been seeing Christmas paraphernalia in the stores and houses for months now. They don't let Halloween or Thanksgiving (which they don´t do of course) get in the way.

Nativity scenes are really big here and so are Panettones, a traditional bread. The same Chinese made lights, decorations, and stuff are here.

We woke up Christmas morning at 6:00 AM to clear skies so right after breakfast we set off on a short hike to view the snow-capped volcanic peaks that ¨loom over Arequipa¨ as the guides books say. We were rewarded with pretty good views and an invigorating start to the day.

All of the photos below are from Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, unless noted.

Plasz de Armas on Christmas Eve.

Nativity scene in Igelsia La Merced in Lima. The most elaborate I've ever scene. This photo does not do it justice.

Display of Pantonnes.


Christmas Eve Lunch.


Strolling the streets on Christmas Eve doing some last minute shopping perhaps or buying fireworks.


Brass band in Plaza de Armas on Dec 23rd.


Our hotel is about 100 meters down on the right-hand side of the street.


El Misti Volcano on Christmas morning.

Major change of plan/route

During some random web surfing, I came across a great airfare from Lima to Miami. After much deliberation, we decided on a loop from Lima, going down the west coast of Chile to South Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), coming back northeast to Buenos Aires, crossing through the northwest of Argentina into Bolivia, then north through Bolivia back into Peru. This way we are hitting each area in more favorable seasons. My only concern is that good hotel rooms may be hard to come by. We should see.