Arica17 Jun 2007
|
|
Surfing
Surfing
Surfing
| Sunday 17th June Got the evening bus to Arica with Anita (after she had a lie down because the paragliding gave her airsickness!). Amazing moonlit views on the way. The hostel we had been recommended was pretty wierd. A funny concrete block in the middle of a dusty housing estate in the middle of nowhere. The welcome party also made me feel abit like we were being welcomed into a German cult....oh well sleep required and all will seem well in the morning. Monday 18th June Being woken at 7.30am by the local primary school's loud speaker playing the national anthem which was booming through our semi windowed room didn't improve things. Anita and I went off in search of bus tickets to get out of town but found we were unable to get tickets for any less than a fiver direct to La Paz - seems to be a scam on the tourists as there seemed to be plenty of local chicken buses but no one would sell us a ticket. We gave up and went in search of the beach. You would think it wouldn't be so hard to find but given that half the coast seems to be behind wire because it's all owned by the Chilean Navy we had to ask for directions twice to find a stretch of sand. Finally found the Surfing Champs training for next weeks competition. Hung around to watch for a while but left a little embarrased when a local asked which ones were famous....really I have no clue. Tuesday 19th June Escaped Arica at 10am on the bus to La Paz - a particularly steep road from the coast of Chile all the way up to 4000 metres. I had a headache within the hour and then felt sick but by the time we reached the border to Bolivia the height levelled out and I sat back to enjoy the view to the sound of terrible Steven Siegal movies in Spanish.....painful but at least there were the llamas out the window. Arrived early evening and got a fantastic view of the city below as we came through El Alto on the hilltop. Got a hostel and went out to explore the noisy, smelly chaotic city - so far not my most favourite destination. |
Advertisement 
|
