One of the most exciting parts of our recent trip to
Arica was the day that we spent in the Tacna department of
Peru.
Peru was a country I'd wanted to go to for a while, so it was great to finally have the opportunity to explore it a little bit. Before I came to
South America for the first time in 2018,
Chile and
Argentina were the countries that intrigued me the most, because of places like
Patagonia and the
Atacama Desert, and the fact that they had the highest mountains, most dramatic nature, and most varied landscapes in the continent. But interestingly, it was initially Peru that I was planning to spend part of my Year Abroad in four years ago, as I really liked the idea of volunteering in South America, and I had discovered a nice opportunity to volunteer at a dog shelter in the north of the country. However, I later realised that I could spend a semester
studying in Chile, and I jumped at the chance to do this. It was a spontaneous decision, which turned out to be one of the best choices I've ever made, and which led me to where I am now!
Four years later, I've been back to South America a few times as a tourist, and I'm finally living in Chile again with my boyfriend Claudio. I've now seen a lot of Chile and a decent amount of Argentina, so I've been experiencing Wanderlust for other Latin American countries, and Peru is most definitely one of them, because it's a country with such a rich history and cultural heritage.
So when Claudio and I were on holiday in Arica, we knew we had to take a day trip to the Tacna department - even though it's only a small corner of the country, it gave us a great opportunity to discover a little bit of the Peruvian culture.
Getting from Arica to Tacna probably takes less than an hour of driving, but if you add in time spent crossing the border, it makes the overall journey quite a bit longer. For that reason, we decided to take a shared taxi there rather than a bus. On the way there, we had to go through the Santa Rosa border crossing on the Peruvian side, which involved passing through a Covid-related checkpoint, Chilean border control, and Peruvian border control. This border crossing was modern and well-organised with places to queue inside, and it took us probably less than half an hour to cross. (Which was a big contrast to the Chilean border crossing we had to pass through on our way back!)
When we arrived at the bus station in Tacna, we weren't too impressed, as that particular area was a bit run-down. But fortunately the city centre is just a short walk away, and is much more picturesque.
The first part of the historic centre that we saw was the most famous part, Paseo Cívico. This is Tacna's main square, and is very typically Peruvian (at least judging by pictures that I've seen of other cities, like Lima and Cusco) with a Colonial-style cathedral at one end, and lots of green spaces.
Like Arica's cathedral, the cathedral here was also designed by Gustave Eiffel. However, it has been much better preserved and looks good as new. In fact, something in particular that stood out from our day in Peru, was how much better looked after their public spaces and historic monuments are compared to the ones in Chile.
The other famous landmark of Paseo Cívico is Arco Parabólico, an 18-metre-high arch built in honour of the Peruvian heroes of the War of the Pacific. It really is a lot bigger in real life than it looks in photos!
Next we walked round to see the back of the cathedral, which is equally as impressive as the front.
The next place we went to see was Parque de la Locomotura (Locomotive Park). We thought it would be like the train museum in
Parque Quinta Normal in Santiago, which has lots of old trains that you can even go inside, but actually there was only one old train.
Then we went to see somewhere completely different: Bab-ul-Islam mosque. This is the only example of Islamic architecture in the whole country, and it's a very elaborate and beautiful building.
The last attraction we went to see in Tacna was Parque de Topiarios Animales, which is quite a special place. This park is filled with hedges shaped into different animals, and is super photogenic! I'd never been anywhere quite like it, and I'd say it's definitely somewhere you can't miss if you visit Tacna.
Another great thing about Tacna is that all the squares are really pretty and clean with lots of plants and green spaces. Here are a couple of nice examples...
After lunch, we wanted to visit the archaeological complex in the nearby village of Miculla, and we found out from talking to some street vendors that a good way of seeing it is to take a guided tour with World International travel agency. So that's what we decided to do!
I don't remember how much exactly the tour cost in Peruvian soles, but I do know that it was really good value - in fact, it was incredible how far our money went in Peru compared to in Chile, which has really become such an expensive country in recent years.
The tour lasted three hours and started with a quick tour around the city.
Then we stopped off at a bodega for a wine and pisco tasting session! Like in Chile, Pisco is the national drink in Peru, and we tried a few local varieties. There was a peach-flavoured one which was too sweet for my liking, but the rest were really nice, in particular a berry-flavoured one.
Driving through the countryside on our way to the next stop of the tour, we spotted a llama sitting in a field, which made me very happy!
The next stop was at a little place serving pastel de choclo. In Chile, pastel de choclo is a a traditional savoury dish, but in Peru, it's a sweet cake. We got to taste a little piece, and it was really nice. We're planning to have a go at making it sometime soon!
Next to the café, there was one of the biggest cacti I've ever seen. There were quite a few cacti like this throughout Arica and Tacna, and I really liked seeing them.
A short while later, we arrived at Complejo Arqueológico Miculla, which was one of the places we'd most been looking forward to visiting. The actual museum part was closed, but we could look inside it a little bit. It was quite an interestingly-shaped building, with cacti and paintings inside.
We had been hoping to see some ancient petroglyphs at the site, but the guide said that they were in random places that you had to hike to get to, so we didn't get to see them.
What we did see (and also walk across!) was Puente Colgante de Miculla, a rope bridge suspended over an 8-metre drop. Crossing it was slightly scary - it moves around a lot more than you'd expect - but also very fun!
The desert and mountain scenery of this area, which is called Valle Viejo (Old Valley), is really spectacular to look at, and is quite reminiscent of
Valle de la Luna in the Atacama Desert.
Then we drove back to Tacna and finished the tour with a pisco sour in a sort of club in the city centre.
It was getting late and very cold, so we were looking forward to getting back to our cosy hotel room in Arica as soon as possible. However, when we got to the Chilean border, we were were greeted by the sight of long lines of people queuing outside in the cold. To make matters worse, both Claudio and I were chosen to take "random" Covid tests, which were carried out in a rough and painful way, and which meant we had to wait outside even longer. I think these tests are pretty unnecessary at this stage of the pandemic, and it certainly wasn't a nice way to finish the day.
But putting that aside, we had a really nice time exploring this little part of Peru, and we're looking forward to coming back to the country in the near future. I'm hoping we can go to
Cusco and
Machu Picchu for my birthday in October, but we'll have to see how things pan out in terms of work, etc. We're also intrigued by Lima, and want to see how it compares to
Santiago.
Next I'll be writing about some of the other things we discovered around
the Arica area, including the Chinchorro mummies and Anzota caves!
