Back to Peru

Crossed back into Peru today, from Arica in northern Chile; and I must say, it's good to be back! Almost feels like coming home again. The money looks familiar. The food looks familiar. And the people look familiar (and they have that familiar Peruvian friendliness). Got a shared taxi across the border this morning, from Arica to Tacna; and then it was a long evening's bus ride, from Tacna to Arequipa.

Fairly straightforward business of border-crossing and travelling today. The Chile-Peru border crossing went without hitches: got a new 90-day tourist visa upon entering Peru, and then we got dropped off at Tacna, where we grabbed a bite to eat, and bought our bus tickets to Arequipa. It's only one hours from Arica to Tacna, but a further six hours from Tacna to Arequipa. Since I had a really late night last night (up until 4:30am, taking advantage of the 24/7 free Internet at Sunny Days in Arica), I utterly crashed on this bus ride, and was able to sleep through several B-grade movies. We got in to Arequipa at about 9pm this evening, just in time to check in to a basic hostel, and to grab a bite for dinner.