Arica to Arequipa, Peru

Tickets or no tickets, that is the question? Feeling like í´d been ripped off for the first time and holding tickets which were possibly non-tickets we arrived at Arica bus terminal. In order to get to Arequipa you have to get a collectivo from Arica to Tacna in Peru with all the border-bolleaux to go through...there you catch your bus to your chosen port of call. Our miserable nail-filer of the morning looked at us as if i had smudged her freshly painted nails with a egg flipper... begrudgingly she accompanied us to the collectivo park. On the way we met Rodrigo who had accosted me the day before for a fare to Tacna...this was fate. He had a ´88 Chevvy...Classic with big bench seat and he was going to get his alloted 5 personas in the car and all the luggage come hell or...Fo and I were on the front bench snuggled up with rodrigo. He was thirty, had three children and was charming company to the border. The other people were all Peruvians who worked in Arica for Chilean Pesos which was considerably more than they would get in a similar job in Peru. His dad had the next collectivo to us in the lot at the border. Formalities were quick..we were in Peru! He dropped us off in Tacna and we hopped on a Economico bus to Arequipa. The first police checkpoint in Peru, a small distance out of Tacna we were all unloaded with all our goods. Extranjeros were left alone but all the other rice sacks, cases, boxes and chickens were thoroughly checked. There were tears, shouting, flailing limbs and retribution. Good idea not to try and sneak your favorite cheese back home where transport of dairy and vegetable goods is forbidden.
We moved on. The scenery was desert all the way with small oasis in the valleys.
In front of me was a charming Indian fellow and his family who had been subject to most of the searches. He had a beautiful ´Inca konk´ and looked all the way an Inca prince although he was dressed in civvies. His wife was still tearful, all their possessions were in 4 rice sacks and a case and they were returning home to a village in the Vilcabamba valley just north of Cusco after four years of working in Arica. He was charnming and gave us a running commentary of the areas as we ran through them. He was very proud of his country and this enthusiasm hadn´t been dampened by harsh treatment at the hands of the checkpoint `bastardos´. All the villages we went through were now thoroughly peruvian with wonderful Indios in traditional dress offering all manner of fayre to eat on the bus. Lomo saltado, Chiclos con Queso y pollo any way you like...fabulous. Bus journeys in Peru are very special and you can start a journey in Peru and end up ten pounds heavier if you take all the food options. Refusing most on offer we eventually arrived in the Arequipa Valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides with the Misti volcano dominating the town..is this the ´Led Zep..misty mountain hop´? nobody seemed to know. Ola! Arequipa, the ´white city´ never disappoints. I said goodbye to our Inca prince and his lovely family, he had three more bus stations before he returned to the bosom.