All the things I heard about Chile prior to arriving are true. The landscape is beautiful, the beaches are beautiful, the weather is beautiful but it is also a bit expensive and the people speak another language! I arrived to San Pedro from Bolivia and felt as if I had stepped back to the Wild West somewhere near El Paso, Texas. Dirt streets and adobe with dry desert-like landscapes. My Chilean friends on the tour from Uyuni had warned me that Chile is the most expensive country in South America so I was only a bit surprised to find out that a dorm bed cost about $20 bones a night. I found a spot and dropped my bag then decided on the fly to not actually even stay the night and just catch a night bus to Iquique. I spent the day walking through the plazas and streets, checking out the churches, people and food. That night I grabbed the bus and after a 3 hour layover in Calama we arrived to Iquique at about 4:30AM. It was early and I hadn´t slept much so I was a bit delirious. The cool part was that my friends here in Iquique booked a hostel for me so I already knew where I was going. I grabbed a cab and made my way to Uma Jaqi. I arrived in the dark and had hardly an idea where I was in the city so after a nap, I headed out. This place is beautiful!!
Uma Jaqi is at the far end of Playa Cavancha which is the main tourist beach and also has a beautiful break. Our hostel happens to be the most popular surf hostel in town and the owner and staff are super cool. During my first day I strolled down the beach to the opposite end then had a delish lunch of shrimp with cheese empanada and the most fresh ceviche I have ever had. I guess there is a constant debate between Peruvians and Chileans as to who has the best Pisco and Ceviche. I have to say that the ceviche here is by far the best I have had in the world. I bought it at a fish market right on the water where they were cutting the fish and mixing it directly in front of me. Amazing. Later on in the afternoon I finally got ahold of Milton and he said he would be picking me up at 4 in front of my hostel. So the adventure began. Milton is one of the dudes I met in Cuzco and we had a blast there so that is the only reason I decided to come to Iquique. He swooped me up then we grabbed 3 more of his friends (one of which had a 4 month old English Bulldog named Maximo), a few beers and headed to a beach a little outside of town to chill and watch the sunset. All of his friends are super nice and cool and very friendly. We decided to try our luck at a club that night but first I said that I wanted to try my luck at the casino! I had noticed it earlier in the day and decided to give it a whirl. The guys were super funny. A few had never been to the casino and wanted to come watch me play so in the evening we went for some fun. I started with 85US and doubled in a little over an hour. They had told me that people who usually play there have no clue about the strategy so I took up the last seat in order to have a little more control on the dealer. At first it was just me and I was killing then a few people showed up and through off my game so I took it to the roulette table...and hit a few birthdays!! Back to blackjack and when I had doubled, I walked. That is the hardest part because when you are winning then you want to keep the streak going and when you are losing you want to earn your money back so walking away is virtually impossible.
That night at the club was hilarious. It was packed and I think I was the only gringo in there. Super hot on the dance floor with barely any room to move and it didn´t really get going until 2AM. Needless to say it was a long night but Mattias (one of Milton´s homies) said he was going to pick me up the following morning at 11 for some fun. I didn´t really know what we had planned but he showed at exactly 11 and we headed back to his place. His cousins were coming to town and we were going to the beach. His whole family and me. It was so fun. His mother was so nice and they were all very friendly. She paid for us to go on the Banano and Cama which are floaties pulled behind a jetski. We were all screaming and flying all over the place. She also bought us some snacks (Churros that are hollow and filled with nutella....yum). After the beach we stopped by the market for some chicken and such then headed back to Mattias´ house for a dip in the pool and lunch! It was such a great day but I needed a siesta before heading out that night.
The siesta didn´t happen as I met some friends on the way back to my hostel and wound up back on the beach. You know that part I said earlier about how backpackers are always on the go and never relaxing...well that is not all true I guess. Iquique has been all about lounging in the sun and walking on the beach. Good exercise and beautiful but not exactly crazy engaging. That night we went to Diego aka Peen´s club called Murano. They have a great promotion there that if you show up early (before 1AM), you can buy a bottle of booze for less than it costs in the store and they give you mixers. So we sat and drank a bottle of rum then a bottle of pisco then hit the dancefloor. It was such a fun night and I made so many new friends. Near the end of the night I wound up in the VIP room on the top floor which was pretty sweet. The following day when I was talking to Ramon about it he said that he had been going to the club for 5 years and never been able to get into that VIP room! HA!! That night didn´t end until the sun came up so I spent the early part of the following day sleeping.
By that time Milton had left to go on a little trip but I was now friends with his friends and we were hanging on the regular. Ramon had a tennis tournament that day so I headed down to watch him play. He won!! Again, that evening I went back to my hostel for a siesta but was caught by friends prior to entering and taken to another beach at the North end of town to watch some surf and the sunset. Another beautiful sunset. Before heading back to the club that night I decided to try my luck at the casino again. I was channeling a good friend of mine who happens to have excellent luck at blackjack so I sat and started playing two hands at once. This time I started with 160US and doubled it!! OH SNAP!! This town is expensive but at this rate I was making money!!
The walk from my hostel to the other end of the beach (where the casino is) is amazing. There is a walking path and a biking path and tons of people are always out. During the night many artists set up their stands to sell trinkets and performers are out attracting crowds. We saw some great marionettes, break dancers and singers/bands. Also the street food is delish. I was having empanadas on the regular and also a refreshing drink called mote con huisillo which is a sweet drink with barley and a peach type fruit. Soooo good!! Also, the town has tons of great graffiti. You know you are in a cool town when there is lots of art and Iquique has it. Some great work all over the place. Also, on the other side of playa cavancha is another beach which has a huge skate park then a huge BMX park then a huge playground. Since the mountains come straight down to the ocean there isn´t much room for the town. Iquique is stretched along the beach with the mountains on one side and the water on the other. All 3 of the houses I went to had ocean views. The other wierd thing is that there are no trees. The mountains are sand and rocks making for excellent sandboarding and one of the best places to paraglide in the world...so obviously I signed up for that.
Also the language is interesting. I kept having to say to people that I speak and understand Spanish but not Chileano. They speak so fast and use so much slang that it doesn´t even sound like Spanish sometimes. I am always asking people to speak slower and without slang but am also learning some new words. Bakan Pro means really cool and people say Bakan aka cool all the time.
I was scheduled to paraglide in the morning but the wind was too strong so we changed it till the afternoon. I went back to the beach to watch a cool surf competition then had another shrimp n cheese empanada and some ceviche. SOOO GOOD!! I also finally got a siesta in! That evening we headed outside of town to float about. The place was packed with paragliders and we quickly geared up then had to hike up the mountain. I had imagined paragliding being very easy work but climbing a sand dune is exhausting and I was sweating my ass off by the time we reached the mid part. I strapped in and we took off only to find that there was not enough énergy´ in the wind and we basically just glided back down to the bottom of the hill. Óne more time´ my instructor said so again we hiked up the hill only to have the same issue. So I did paraglide for a second or two but not what we had planned which was a half hour ride around. Oh well, can´t have it all ya know! The evening was mellow and I went for sushi since all the seafood here has been amazing. Sushi, good! So good in fact that I ate and was ready for bed. Since it was my last night, I went to the beach one more time to chill with my new friends. This place is sooo nice and I really don´t want to leave. I have a strong feeling that if I ever come back to South America, I will be making a stop here. The good news is that I just found out a friend I met in SE Asia will be in Patagonia the same time I will so we are planning the W hike in Torres del Paine together which will be awesome.
I am now ready for my flight to Santiago where I plan to spend a week between there and Valpairso and Pina....so stay tuned!!
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