Tacna and Arequipa (Peru Trip Part Two).

We woke up bright and early in Arica in order to catch our cab to Tacna, Peru.  Our cab driver that drove us from the airport to our hostel the evening before offered to take us across the border for a price that could only be explained, in the words of our hostel owner Ross, as "he must have REALLY wanted to go to Tacna."  It worked out well for us as we avoided having to cross the border on a bus, and we were stamped out, then in, and legally in Peru in no time.
It was a Sunday morning in the tiny town of Tacna, Peru, so obviously the only thing open was the bus terminal.  We arrived in Peru earlier than we had departed from Chile (thanks two hour time difference) only to discover that the first bus would could catch from Tacna to Arequipa didn't leave for 3 hours. We decided to explore Tacna, which took about 25 minutes and then we returned to the bus terminal to wait patiently in the shade for our bus to depart.

Mountain Art in Tacna

Photo shoot with my awesome backpack.

We boarded our double decker bus, anxious for the scenic 6 hour trip from Tacna to Arepuipa.  (I should mention that during breakfast in Arica at our hostel, Ross and another guy decided to fill our heads with all of the Peru bus trip horror stories they could think of... robberies, crashes into valleys... thanks guys.  Needless to say, every bus trip came with a slight bit of anxiety--- no worries Mom... we are fine).  Immediately, I realize that the bus ride is going to be less scenic than expected, and actually more terrifying as you peer off the edges of cliffs from the top floor of the bus and hear the honks of cars passing on roads that aren't always built for two cars at once.  Curtains... CLOSED!

It wasn't long before the bus entertainment began in the form of some strange science fiction/alien space-cop bad action movie dubbed in Spanish turned up to level 11.  Of course, every time we hit a bump, the DVD would stop and then start the movie over from the beginning.  Eventually, we made it through the entire movie (I say we, but my time was spent being totally engrossed in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn... if you haven't read it... I'd recommend it). Anyway, we made it through the entire movie only to watch and hear the DVD menu which was about 12 seconds of some power Evanescence song por lo menos 75 TIMES!  The man in the front seat of the top floor began stomping his feet like a child until the bus stopped and the driver came up to the top floor to yell at him.  The driver discovered that the 14 year old kid that was supposed to be the "bus attendant" was sleeping, scolded him, and then we were on our way--- watching the SAME crazy alien dub-fest again.  Once it skipped and started over two more times, the kid changed movies to one with a lot of Asian actors (still some kine of terrible action movie where Jason Statham kills everyone) that were dubbed in Spanish with a Chinese accent....oh Peru... We love you already.

The "scenic" view.  I am confused by the fact that Peru and Chile are fighting over some of this.

As we got closer to Arequipa, it was much prettier.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru.  It is bustling with culture, which was evident immediately upon arrival.  The Plaza de Armas at night was stunning and we spent our evening walking around, eating our first Peruvian dinner and enjoying the cool weather.

We also tried (because you have to) Arequipa's beer.  It was less than stellar.

We were awoken by the sunrise at stupid o'clock the following morning.. AND some kind of cruel joke of a brass band playing in a school?? maybe across the street.  I will admit that my first thought wasn't "Why is there a band playing at 6am?", but was a mix of "Geez that is really out of tune... those folks need some articulation help like crazy bad...lip slurs are your friend... and there is indeed such thing as too much bass drum."  I was mainly disappointed that I couldn't see them, but between muffled announcements they played... for every bit of an hour.  (I was going to upload the video here, but it seems to be rejecting it... probably good for everyone's ears anyway).

Arequipa offers many different adventures that we didn't get to do this time around. In the morning, we strolled through a local market where people were eating breakfast next to the stands where you could buy half of a pig. We took a city tour on one of those obnoxious two story buses that was a great way to see the city quickly since we only had one day.  We watched a huanaco (type of llama) spit at a young man from New Zealand for being too tall, shook hands with a statue that is supposed to fill your pockets with money, ate "cheese icecream-- helado de queso", and saw Arequipa from many different unique and beautiful vantage points.  On our last stop, we rode horses through the countryside for about 25 minutes where my horse both tried to be the winner and stop for food every five seconds--- it made for an interesting ride.  

Plaza de Armas in daylight.

Alpacas in the park.

One of the volcanoes overlooking Arequipa.

We played the slugbug game... or "Poncho" in Peru, which quickly turned into interrupting your conversation every 3 minutes.  Peru is the land of llamas and VWs apparently.

Michael ordered a "Machu Picchu" to drink while people watching on the plaza.  It is terribly manly :).

Cobblestone!  yay!!

I'm still waiting for my pockets to mysteriously fill with money.

Cheese Icecream and more gorgeous scenery.

Texas roots... sure.

Our first impression of Peru was the traffic, and by traffic I mean lack of traffic laws, and by that I obviously mean, lights, signs, lanes are all suggestions that most people choose to just ignore.  The tiny cabs zip in and out of the VWs and old trucks emitting extreme amounts of exhaust.  Women traffic cops (they are all women) stand in skirts and heels blowing whistles, but not really changing the outcome of the flow of traffic.  Crosswalks are death traps and if you are of a heritage other than Peruvian, you will be honked at by every empty cab that drives by.  (Hey! Need a cab? repeat ad nauseum).  

We finished our bus tour, but obviously the bus broke down at the last stop.  The driver and the man in charge of those horses began a strange attempt to revive the bus with some kind of battery and a whole lot of banging that eventually somehow resulted in us being on our way in about 30 minutes.  We took one of those crazy tiny cabs to the bus terminal where we would catch our overnight bus to Cusco.  Before loading we had a Coca Tea and snack from a sweet Peruvian woman and prepared ourselves for the 10 hour bus ride through more crazy valleys still feeling the charm of Arequipa.