Having traveled north to south on the Pacific coast of the continent, we begin a mad dash back North to catch our flight home from Bogota. Our first step was exiting Chile which means we must say goodbye to toilet seats, soap in bathrooms, printing our own produce labels, and high cost of living.
We flew back from Puente Arenas to Santiago after searching the city for a car wash that was open on a rainy day. Why you ask? After the long trip to the national park we'd caked on some crazy mud and we needed to get rid of the evidence that we'd probably not been their ideal customers. Plus, the rental company has a 45 dollar cleaning fee that also applies to getting the car washed.
We only had about ten hours in Santiago before we were again headed north. Courtesy of my former position the Holiday Inn Airport hotel was affordable and extremely convenient because it's right in front of the terminal.
Once again Sky airlines came through with an amazing deal. A bus to the Peru boarder from Santiago takes approximately thirty straight hours and runs about 45 dollars. Our flight took two and a half hours and cost 30 bucks plus tax. Clearly it was worth every dollar to spring for the flight to Arica and the bus across the boarder back to Tacna and onward to Ariquipa. Yes, to a certain extent we're being guided by our stomachs. That Ricotto Relleno at La Mundial is so good that we've based our entire journey back north around a pit stop in Arequipa 😎.
Mondays mean chacque in the restaurants. This weird soup consists of a huge hunk of lamb, entrails, pumpkin and potatoes. Remarkably the resulting mixture was delicious, once you get over the chewy texture of the intestines. The bowls are brimming with a bountiful array of spices and just the perfect level of spicy. Rob made the mistake of taking a bite out of one of the chilis, and he quickly downed the rest of the chicha to put out the fire.
Back to the market we went for our nightly meals and even braved eating at one of the local restaurant stalls in the midst of all the bustling. These ladies mean business and they are quite cut throat with how they pull in new business. The server is tasked with herding business onto the sushi bar style stools in front of the chef. Rarely do you see a menu and often just point to what you want. You cant go wrong, they all have the same food.
