The South American Altiplano March 2013 - Crossing Into Peru Via Tacna

***This post is part 15 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

The towns of Arica in Chile and Tacna in Peru are separated by merely 35 miles of land. Crossing the international border between them isn't difficult, but the information on how exactly the process works is a bit scattered online, resulting in confusion and uncertainty among independent travelers. There are currently only two public ways to do this trip: by colectivo or by bus.

Prior to May 2012, there was a historic one-car train that ran the Arica-Tacna route once per day. However, due to lack of maintenance and safety issues, the service has been suspended ever since. According to this article, Peru is in the process of investing $4 million USD to revive the train, and it is expected to be operational again by December 2013.

Even taking the train into account, however, the fastest way to get from Arica to Tacna is by colectivo. Colectivos are essentially shared taxis that run the border route several times per day. The vehicles are typically older Lincoln Town Car or Ford Taurus models, and drivers will wait until there are five passengers to depart. Buses leave from the same terminal in Arica, and the cost may be slightly cheaper than colectivos. However, with room for a lot more passengers, the journey will also take longer.

I was in no rush the morning of departure, since Peru was two hours ahead of Chile, taking into account daylight savings time. I walked from the hostel to the bus terminal, which took about half an hour, and arrived at approximately 8:30 am. Be aware that the large building with the pyramidal roof is the domestic Rodoviario Terminal. Keep walking past this building until you see a sign that says Terminal Internacional. 

Domestic Rodoviario Terminal

International Terminal

Once you enter the gates, the first thing you have to do is pay the international departure tax at the window immediately to your right. This token amount totals 250 CLP, or roughly $0.50 USD. Afterwards, take the slip of paper and continue into the terminal. On your left, through a short alleyway, are the buses waiting for departure to Tacna, and straight ahead are the colectivos.

Paying the departure tax

Buses through the alleyway

The South American Altiplano March 2013 - Exploring Arica

***This post is part 14 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

Hostal Jardín del Sol is located in a quiet neighborhood a few blocks away from central Arica. While they had shared dorm rooms just like typical hostels, I was also happy to see that they had private rooms available for an extremely reasonable price. After reading through the stellar reviews on TripAdvisor, I reserved my one-night stay using Booking.com for only 12,500 CLP, which was an absolute steal.

When I arrived at the hostel, I noticed the front door was locked. After ringing the bell, there was a buzz and the door automatically opened. I walked through two lounge areas before finally locating the reception off to one side of a narrow outdoor hallway. 

The owners were there to greet me and give me a very descriptive rundown of the hostel and the town of Arica. I really appreciated all the information they provided on what to see during my short stay. In fact, they were probably some of the friendliest and most helpful people I came across during this entire trip. I would highly recommend Hostal Jardín del Sol based on that fact alone.

Hostal Jardín del Sol

Lounge #1

Lounge #2

The South American Altiplano March 2013 - Bus To Putre Via Arica

***This post is part 12 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

To be honest, I was a little nervous about this part of my journey through South America. I had been traveling with my two friends the entire way up until now, but our paths were to diverge here in San Pedro de Atacama. My plan was to head up to the northern tip of Chile to see Lauca National Park, near the small town of Putre, while my friends' itinerary took them further south to the Lake District and Puerto Montt.

Since there were no regular flights available between any of these Northern Chilean cities, my only option was to make the nearly 520-mile journey by bus. In San Pedro de Atacama, both Tur Bus and Pullman had offices where we could purchase tickets. Only Tur Bus, however, offered an overnight direct route to Arica. As with all things in Chile, prices weren't cheap. I ended up splurging a little and booked a first class seat for the 10-hour bus ride, thinking I would be able to get better sleep that way.

Bus route from San Pedro de Atacama to Putre via Arica

I later regretted that decision when I realized that there really wasn't a significant difference between the first class and regular coach seats. Both were simple recliners, with the upgraded version slightly wider and more cushioned. I found the first class cabin, located on the lower level, to be small and claustrophobic, and would have much preferred to sit in the larger coach cabin upstairs. Sadly, the ticket cost me 26,000 CLP, which was quite a bit more expensive than the 18,000 CLP for a regular seat. Live and learn I guess.

The departure point for Tur Bus in San Pedro de Atacama is not at the main bus station, but rather around the corner from their office in a large parking lot. I walked there from the hotel and arrived approximately 20 minutes before departure. After confirming my tickets and loading my large backpack, I stepped on board and took my seat in the first row.

Tur Bus to Arica

First class was almost completely full, which made an already small cabin feel even tighter. And unfortunately, the bulkhead seat made it impossible for me to stretch out, despite a decent pitch. I was exhausted though, having woken up before 4:00 am that morning, so I reclined my seat and quickly fell asleep. About an hour and a half later, we made a scheduled stop in the city of Calama, where some passengers disembarked and others got on.

The South American Altiplano March 2013 - Exploring San Pedro De Atacama

***This post is part 11 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

San Pedro de Atacama is one of the most popular destinations to visit in Chile for international and domestic tourists alike. Located in the far north of the country and sitting in the midst of a green oasis along the edge of the South American Altiplano, it is the perfect jump-off point for touring the incredible landscape of the Atacama Desert.

Streets of San Pedro de Atacama

Main square

The first thing we did after arriving in San Pedro de Atacama was to locate our lodging at Hotel Dunas. The town is quite small, and easily walkable to virtually all points of interest. It is also very bike-friendly, and you can find bike rentals around just about every block. Hotel Dunas is a five to ten-minute walk from the center of town, located on a quiet and safe street.

Hotel Dunas

Reception

The South American Altiplano March 2013 - Introduction

***This post is part 1 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

This trip started out with the sole intention of visiting Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world. Located in central Bolivia, it is not an easy place to reach, but that's to be expected when the extraordinary landscape resembles nothing of this world.

Initially, I had planned on flying into and out of La Paz. From there, I would make my way down to Uyuni, the main jump-off point for visiting the Bolivian Altiplano. With most tours lasting only three days, however, I found myself researching additional points of interest around the region. I realized that I had the option of ending the tour in San Pedro de Atacama, so I began looking into additional places to see in Northern Chile. Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia was high on my list as well, having read about its history and beauty all the way back in high school Spanish class, not to mention this little gem from Animaniacs.

I decided on using AAdvantage miles to book my flights since it would be more economical than using Avios. In addition, OneWorld Alliance has access to LAN, the largest airline in South America. After a bit of trial and error, I found out that it cost fewer miles to fly into Peru versus flying into Bolivia since AA categorizes Bolivia as South America Zone 2, while Peru is categorized as South America Zone 1. Oddly enough, AA forbids the transiting of Zone 1 to get to Zone 2 (unless you want to pay for two separate awards), even though it may be the most logical and direct route.

Yes, AA does have a direct flight to La Paz from Miami (via Santa Cruz), but that would still cost more miles than flying into Zone 1. Hence, I decided to start and end my itinerary in Southern Peru, and do the border crossings using local transport. Choosing this option allowed me to book SFO-LIM-JUL on one ticket using LAN. For the return flight, I decided to cross the border from Chile back into Peru, and bus it all the way to Arequipa, a charming city I've wanted to see for some time now. From there, I could do AQP-LIM-SFO also on LAN.

Like virtually all of my award flights, I booked my tickets many months in advance. Unfortunately, booking so early has its drawbacks. Around December of last year, I noticed a modification to my itinerary on AA.com. After calling in, I realized that LAN had changed the departure times on all of its SFO-bound flights from 1:15 am to 9:00 am. Since I didn't want an almost ten-hour overnight layover in LIM, I decided to take the next best option: routing to SFO via DFW on AA.

A lot of research was required for this trip since much of the transportation was by local buses. In addition, I had to find out logistics for crossing the land borders between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. It's always a little stressful finding your way from one town to the next in foreign countries, so I wanted to minimize the chances of getting lost, stranded, or ripped off. Luckily, the Altiplano circuit has gotten more popular within the past few years, and there is quite a bit of information out there as long as you take the time to search for it.

Very few of the places I visited on this trip had large international hotels, so I focused mainly on local hotels, hostels, and backpackers lodges with the best reviews on TripAdvisor. Finding the right tour company for the Salar de Uyuni tour was probably the biggest headache of all, since very little up-to-date and accurate information exists online. Ultimately, we decided to go with Red Planet Expeditions, and I will lay out the detailed reasons why in a subsequent post.

In all, the flights to and from South America cost a total of $79.93 including taxes and fees, plus 35,000 miles. Since I carry the Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage Visa Signature card, I received a 10% mileage rebate on AA award redemptions, bringing the total to 31,500 miles. To get from La Paz to Uyuni, we decided to take the short 45-minute flight on Línea Aérea Amaszonas instead of roughing it on a 12-15-hour overnight bus ride. That was the best $126.68 I'd ever spent. Plus I got to try out a relatively new and seldom-reviewed airline.

I must say, the scenery I witnessed on this trip far surpasses anything I had ever seen before in terms of sheer outlandishness. Your eyes may very well register the landscape, but your mind will not believe what you are seeing. It is all at once fantastic, bizarre, and majestic.

Salar de Uyuni - March 28, 2013

The South American Altiplano March 2013 Trip Report

This trip report is long overdue. I was really excited to write it, however, because it covers one of the most bizarre places in the world. An old friend of mine, who went on a months-long backpacking journey through South America years ago, told me about Salar de Uyuni and showed me his pictures when he returned. I immediately became fascinated with the world's largest salt flat, as well as the colorful lagoons and martian-like scenery of the South American Altiplano. This trip report will cover my two-and-a-half-week trip through Southern Peru, Bolivia, and Northern Chile. Read on for all the details:

• Introduction
• LAN Airlines 2609/2115 Economy Class (SFO → LIM → JUL)
• Exploring Puno
• Crossing Into Bolivia Via Kasani
• Exploring Copacabana And Isla Del Sol
• Strikes In Copacabana And Detour Through Peru
• Radisson Plaza Hotel La Paz
• Exploring La Paz
• Amaszonas Airlines 300 Economy Class (LPB → UYU)
• Salar De Uyuni And The Bolivian Altiplano
• Exploring San Pedro De Atacama
• Bus To Putre Via Arica
• Exploring Lauca National Park And Putre
• Exploring Arica
• Crossing Into Peru Via Tacna
• Exploring Arequipa
• LAN Airlines 2106 Economy Class (AQP → LIM)
• American Airlines 2194/1267 Economy Class (LIM → DFW → SFO)

Easter Island/Santiago November 2012 - Exploring Santiago

***This post is part 8 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

I really liked Santiago de Chile. Perhaps not as famous as Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro, it is nevertheless filled with a myriad of cultural, entertainment, and culinary opportunities. I sort of liked the low-key nature of the city, and was pleasantly surprised at how friendly the people were. The metro system was particularly convenient for getting around, although it does shut down around midnight. Buy a rechargeable Bip! card for easiest access.

Santiago Metro

We arrived late on the first night and asked the hotel concierge for some dining recommendations. After a quick taxi ride, we arrived at Liguria, a noisy, chaotic, bustling bar/restaurant in Providencia filled with locals having a great time on a Thursday night. We definitely went to the right place for an introduction to Santiago! Try their famous Lomo a la Paila, and wash it down a Pisco Sour for safe measure. Sit at the bar is you don't want to wait for a table, and you'll get your food and drinks served quickly by a friendly waiter.

Bar Liguria

The next day, we decided to take a free walking tour of Santiago. I'd actually never done one of these before, so I had no idea what to expect. We opted for the afternoon tour, which met at 3:00 PM in front of the Catedral de Santiago in the Plaza de Armas. Lasting about four hours, we walked to a number of landmarks, including the Palacio de La Moneda, the Pre-Columbian Art Museum, the Supreme Court building, the Old Congress Building, the Santiago Stock Exchange, Cerro Santa Lucía, Barrio Lastarria, Barrio Bellavista, Cerro San Cristóbal, and Pablo Neruda's house (La Chascona).

Streets of Santiago

Plaza de Armas

Easter Island/Santiago November 2012 - Crowne Plaza Santiago

***This post is part 7 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

I selected the Crowne Plaza Santiago primarily because of its excellent central location. The historical neighborhood of Barrio Lastarria, filled with restaurants, theaters, museums, and bars is just a five minute walk from the hotel, while the bohemian enclave of Bellavista is a ten minute stroll in the opposite direction. The convenient Baquedano metro station is only two blocks down the street, and connects to both Line 1 and Line 5. The hotel has good rankings on TripAdvisor (#14 out of 157).

Crowne Plaza Santiago

Lobby area

Reception and concierge

Dining area and lounge

Cool vintage phones

Easter Island/Santiago November 2012 - LAN Airlines 842 Economy Class (IPC-SCL)

***This post is part 6 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

Mataveri International Airport is tiny. With only LAN Airlines servicing the island, there is no need for anything larger than one hall and one departure gate. In fact, with the cancellation of the Lima to Easter Island route starting in March 2013, there will only be two other destinations: Santiago and Papeete. The check-in counters were at the very end of the hall, and had a separate line for Premium Business passengers despite the economy lines being mostly empty.

Once our bags were checked in, we walked over to the other end of the hall, where there were a number of gift shops packed to the brim with tourists looking for last minute souvenirs. About an hour before departure, the doors to the boarding room opened, and passengers were screened via a quick security check before filing into a large waiting area. There were plenty of open seats, as well as more gift shops and a small snack shop. Passengers were welcome to walk outside from here and take pictures of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac, although we were not allowed to walk onto the tarmac until boarding began.

Easter Island/Santiago November 2012 - Introduction

***This post is part 1 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

I never imagined I would ever step foot on Easter Island. It's always been one of those places people read about, but never actually visit. And understandably so - it's billed as the most remote inhabited island in the world (although residents of Tristan da Cunha would probably disagree). Airfare from North America routinely tops $1,500 round-trip for the best routes, and even then, it's difficult to get the exact dates you want due to limited flights.

More than one year ago, British Airways overhauled their entire loyalty program and massively devalued their award chart in the process. Rather than a region-based method of calculating the cost of an award ticket, the new system became distance-based. Many of their most lucrative awards, like North America to Asia or South America, immediately became their most expensive overnight.

Thankfully, they gave us several months of warning, and many people (myself included) were able to burn some of those miles prior to the revamp. One trip I knew I had to book was to Easter Island. Strangely enough, British Airways had categorized Easter Island as South America in its old award chart, and as such, traveling there from North America only cost 40,000 miles round-trip in economy. This was an absolutely fantastic deal. Immediately after the program change, the same itinerary I booked (SFO-LIM-IPC-SCL-LIM-SFO) would have cost 85,000 miles instead. Taxes and fees amounted to a reasonable $185.09, including a $70.00 fee I incurred due to a date change. In all, I estimated a redemption rate >$0.03 per mile, which is as good as it gets for the British Airways program.

Hotels, on the other hand, are notoriously lacking on the island. Unless you are willing to shell out close to $1,000 a night for one of the few all-inclusive luxury resorts, you are pretty much left with older, family-run, hostel-quality, bed and breakfasts. And even those don't come cheap. There are no international brands that I know of on the island, and therefore, no use of points. I settled on Kaimana Inn, which had great reviews on TripAdvisor, although I made sure to temper my expectations to Easter Island standards when booking.

I knew I wanted to include a stopover in Santiago as well since I had never been before. Luckily, Santiago has a much wider selection of hotels, though prices are very high as well. I decided to use a cash and points redemption for the Crowne Plaza Santiago, which is perfectly located within walking distance to many of the city's famous sites as well as the convenient metro system.

Total out-of-pocket cost for airfare and hotels combined amounted to $509.94 (with the hotels divided between two people), plus 40,000 British Airways miles and 30,000 Priority Club points. Without the benefit of miles and points, this trip would definitely not have been financially justifiable. Fortunately, I was able to go and experience some of the most beautiful and sublime scenery I've ever seen.

Sunrise at Tongariki

Easter Island/Santiago November 2012 Trip Report

This will be a quick trip report covering my recent adventure to Easter Island and Santiago, Chile. The whole trip took just over a week, but it definitely required a bit of extra work to reach one of the most remote islands in the world. Sadly, all of my flights were in economy, so they may not be quite as exciting to read about. Although I do believe it's a good thing to have some balance between luxury and frugality while traveling. Read on for all the details:

• Introduction
• LAN Airlines 2609 Economy Class (SFO → LIM)
• LAN Airlines 848 Economy Class (LIM → IPC)
• Kaimana Inn Rapa Nui
• Exploring Easter Island And Hanga Roa
• LAN Airlines 842 Economy Class (IPC → SCL)
• Crowne Plaza Santiago
• Exploring Santiago
• LAN Airlines 600 Economy Class (SCL → LIM)
• LAN Airlines 2608 Economy Class (LIM → SFO)

And I'm Off To Easter Island!

Just about one year ago, I took advantage of British Airways' final days of offering the ridiculously good redemption rate of 40,000 miles for round-trip travel in economy to anywhere in South America, including Easter Island (which technically should be classified as the South Pacific). On November 16, 2011, British Airways completely overhauled their award chart and scrapped their region-based method of calculating miles needed for redemption. In its place came their new currency, Avios, as well as a distance-based award system.

Hence, the routing below (SFO-LIM-IPC-SCL-LIM-SFO), which I redeemed for 40,000 miles round-trip in economy one year ago, would now cost a whopping 85,000 Avios. This is definitely one of those trips where, if it weren't for miles, I would never be able to justify in terms of actual cost. I don't think it has really sunken in yet that I'm headed to Easter Island tomorrow morning, but I'm sure it will once I come face to face with my first Moai. In addition to four days on Easter Island, I will also have a three-day stopover in Santiago, Chile. But for now, it's back to packing!