We Left Calama early this morning because we had a long 660km run through the desert plus a border crossing before reaching our destination of Tacna in Peru.
Our Days ride…
The ride through the desert, whilst beautiful because of its ever changing hues, is nothing but straight, hot and monotonous.Needless to say, Jacqui’s picture taking ability from the back of the bike is quite amazing and we managed to capture quite a few shots that convey the beauty of the desert in Northern Chile.
Small communities living in the desert..
The Ever present!!!
The border crossing itself was unremarkable and similar to the argentine and Chilean procedures but for some small nuances and different paperwork, but we were in and out of both sides within an hour and a half. From there it was only another 50kmto Tacna and we arrived at our hotel at sunset.
Goodbye Chile, Hello Peru..
Peru is 7 hours behind South Africa and gaining the additional 2 hours is a bonus. We quickly unpacked, showered and headed out for some dinner in the hope of finding traditional Peruvian cuisine, instead we opted for Peruvian Chinese which is SUPER popular in these parts and called “Chifa” because its blended with Peruvian ingredients..my “Chapsui de Pollo” (Chicken Chopsuey) was fantastic but Jacqui’s Peking duck tasted like it had been boiled in its own juices and served! Yum!
Being Sunday night and still school holidays there were some festivals going on so we walked around the town a little before getting to bed around 10pm. All in all a good day.
Tacna main square, church and festival..
