May 12, 2026
Today has been a travel heavy day. It’s also the day I expected to linguistically fail. But, I didn’t! Hizzaw! Probably helped that I’ve taken colectivos and inter regional buses in Peru before, so I already had some idea of what to expect and could ask targeted questions at appropriate points to fill in blanks.
Anywho. Woke up this morning at my hostel in Arica, managed to condense everything into one pack, which I figured would make it easier for me to transit and also make Peruvian customs less likely to search my stuff.
30 minute walk from my hostel to the international bus station. Nabbed myself a passenger car colectivo. My previous experiences with them in Peru taught me to avoid them, but I figured I’d have a faster time getting across the border with 3 other people than 12.
That’s the port of Arica, as I walked by. Also walked by the train station just to make sure the train I had originally planned to cross the border on wasn’t running. It wasn’t. So, good call, me, on changing my plans.
Border crossing went smoothly. There is some level of international cooperation at that crossing, so rather than formally leaving one country and walking across a no man’s land before formally entering the next it’s all consolidated into buildings in the receiving country. Which is to say, if you’re heading from Peru to Chile you handle everything on the Chilean side, and if you’re heading to Peru you handle everything on the Peruvian side. Formally exiting Chile was easy. Entering Peru was a little more complicated at immigration than it was flying in – I got finger printed this time – but wasn’t difficult. When the guy was putting a Peru stamp in my passport I noticed that Chile HAD stamped my passport. They did it so sly I didn’t even notice.
From immigration it was off to customs. I got waved through. I’m still carrying the Easter island honey, which definitely wasn’t supposed to cross the border. Hell, they didn’t even ask if I had anything to declare. So, I’m officially an international honey smuggler. Hopefully I can figure out how to get that stuff back to the US from Peru. Project for tomorrow.
From the border crossing the colectivo dropped us at the international bus terminal in Tacna, Peru. A quick walk across the street to the domestic bus terminal, and got myself a seat on the next bus to Arequipa, which was departing in 15 minutes.
This time I knew I’d have to get a tax stamp to be able to board. “Ticket de Embarque” is the spot, and it’s 2 soles. No panicked gringo this time!
The bus from tacna to Arequipa takes 7 hours. Thankfully Perus busses are pretty cushy. I had a lie flat seat on the bus. Could’ve napped if I wanted. But honestly, I enjoyed just watching the scenery. It’s mostly desert, but it does have a beauty to it. Eventually you can start to see the Misti volcano, which towers over Arequipa, and I took it as a sign we were almost there.
It’s the one on the right. Turns out it’s a really big damn volcano that you can see from incredibly far away. Still 2.5 hours from Arequipa when I took that picture.
But, eventually we get there!
Arequipa is known as the white city. Everything is built from plaster white volcanic stone in beautiful baroque style, absolutely gorgeous when lit up at night.
As for what I’m doing here? Honestly I have nothing planned. Tomorrow I head down to the hospital and get a yellow fever vaccine. If I can’t pull that off I’ll be denied entry into Bolivia. Waited until Peru to do it because it’s free here, vs $350 back in the states, no insurance accepted. I have three options over two days to get it done here, so I’m pretty confident I’ll make it happen. I guess I’m also figuring out how to get honey to the US tomorrow too. Beyond that? I dunno. We’ll see!
