Down to Temuco

From Arequipa to the border with Chile we had 6 hours of easy driving. The border crossing was a little bit longer because of delays on the Peruvian side, but we got to Arica, on Norther Chile early enough to look for an hotel.

Arica is a nice little city, so far away from the nearest Chilean city that they end up dealing more with its counterpart Tacna on the Peruvian side. In fact, Arica used to belong to Peru until the 1880's, when Chile defeated Peru in the Pacific war. Chilean people is great and we had a good time there.

 

In Arica we learned about the problem they now have with antipersonnel landmines. Pinochet, the last dictator, was so imbecile that he ordered to put landmines in the mountain passes with Peru and Argentina. The global weather change now produced big rains that cleared the mines and dragged them down the rivers, close to the international routes joining Chile with Peru. According to what they told us, some of these mines already exploded and people is affraid of working in the affected areas. As a consequence, they had to close the border for some days and work on clearing the mines. We saw some of the special landmine cleaning equipments by the roadside.

 

The following morning we went to the Anthropology Museum of the University of Tarapaca, near the city of Arica. This museum has an outstanding collection of organic material from thousands of years ago, including mummies, clothes, baskets, and grains. The weather in this part of the world is extremely dry, therefore organic material does not corrupt and keeps preserved through the years. This is one of the best museums so far. We liked not only the type of material they have to show, but also the organization of the museum and the explanations next to each exhibit.

 

The Atacama desert starts in Peru and extends well past Antofagasta. Around Arica it is composed of plateaus some 15 to 20 miles long, followed by a long descent into a valley usually fed by a river, and then climb again into the next plateau. The lanscape is great, and makes driving very exiting. This continues almost until Iquique, the next city South of Arica.

 

We didn't expect Iquique to be such a big city, but it certainly deserved more time than we spent there. We just took a walk on the old center and had a great sea food meal with a couple of pisco sour drinks (something equivalent to a margarita but even better), and then we went to sleep in a happy state of inebriation.

 

From Iquique we had a long drive to Antofagasta, and then to Copiapo. It was almost 12 hours behing the wheel because we choose the longer route through the desert, instead of the coastal road. We expected the desert to be as intesting as the previous day but were disappointed. At these latitudes the Atacama desert runs mostly flat between distant mountains, without much to call our attention.

 

We finally arrived to Copiapo, and you might remember that this city was at center stage a couple of years ago when the Chilean miners got trapped in the mine. In the main avenue there is now a beautiful statue donated by the Chinese people to conmemorate the miner's rescue. At this point we stopped and wonder what are the Chinese doing here? After all, they didn't participate in the rescue, and their mining record is probably worst than the Chileans.

 

We were unable to visit the mine because it is private property and they don't want tourist making stupid questions, so next day we moved South to Valparaiso. This is one of the oldest cities in Chile, with a rich history. We arrived to Valparaiso quite late, driving through the nearby modern city of Viña Del Mar. The hotels that we found at that time were either too old and creepy, or too expensive, so, after some consideration, we decided to drive through the night and move farther South to Temuco. From Temuco we will go to Vilarrica, Pucon, Valdivia, and, finally, Osorno, our last Chilean city before crossing to Argentina.

 

Some samples from the Anthropology Museum of the University of Tarapaca, in Arica. Outstanding pottery from the Aymara culture.

 

 

I liked their collection of hats. Some of them with a simple, rounded top, but many terminated on a 4-cornered flat top.

 

This gentleman went to the other world with a much decorated turban.

 

before developing hats they used plain turbans, as in this picture.

 

This is the statue donated by the chinese to the town of Copiapo.

 

A valley between plateaus, South of Arica.

 

The long road ahead of us.

 

Another valley, With the road by the middle of the mountain on the right side.

 

 

 

A closer look at the mountains.

 

Between Iquique and Copiapo we could see many geogliphs, like the one in this picture.

 

A view of the desert, South of Iquique.

 

Still more of this unending desert.

 

 

Another look...

And, just in case you still like deserts, here is a final picture.