My visa only lasts 90 days when I go to Peru and I have to leave the country and come back to renew it. The closest border is Chile to the south. So on June 8th we took a trip to Arica, Chile. We took a bus to Tacna, Peru 2 hours away and then a shared taxi to Arica which is only 40 minutes away but takes about 1.5 hours because of the border crossing process. I had a slight issue when I went to leave Peru. I was one day over on my visa and he was not too pleased with me, but the taxi driver helped me and I paid a $2 fine and we were on my way.
We spent 1.5 days in Arica. It was the first time that Richard had left Peru so it was also an experience for him. We didn't know it until we got there that it was Arica's anniversary. It was the celebration of the war with Peru where Chile won a lot of land that was Peru's. In addition it was a tragic way that they won. They trapped the small Peruvian army on this tall bluff and then drove them over it into the ocean. We went to the museum there and it was a very emotional experience for Richard. They are still bitter over losing this territory. But, overall we had a great time. It had been 2 years since Richard had been to the cinema and Arica had one so we saw Indiana Jones. The other thing that was obvious was how much more expensive Chile is than Peru. That was a shocker.
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