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BASIC
INFO FOR THE (alt)TOURIST
(Sorry for my faults and
my Tarzan-like english, remember that I AM NOT a native english
speaker)
Arica is located in north border of
Chile, in middle of desert of Atacama, the driest place in the world,
as states the Guinnes book of records. Never rains here, however the
city is quite green, because is near to Azapa Valley which cross the
desert from altiplano to the Ocean Pacific. Wehater is warm and
every day of the year sun shines. Years ago, an hotel entrepeneur
offered in middle of the winter, refund cash for each day without
sun during the staying at hotel. Contrary to statistics fron hundred
of years, this time was one full month cloudly (Murphy...) and the
guy loss lots of money
Arica is not a tipical
touristic destination as Cancún or else, but among our touristic
offer is the near altiplano (you can visit Lake Chungará an
Lauca National Park in one day), near border with Perú (frontier is
18 km far from downtown) and near Bolivia (a spectacular paved road
to La Paz, in 7-10 hours). We are also an ideal rest place in the
road to Arequipa-Cusco-Macchu Picchu.
Arica offers for
tourists:
- Good hotels and
hostales, all kind of prices and comfort
- Nice beaches
- An strategig
location as base for many good touristic destinatios in andine
area
- A small, clean and
quiet city (170.000 people about), in the coast of Pacific Ocean.
An ideal place to relaxed life
- Great archeological
museum and ruins everywhere
- Cheap, compared to
others places in Chile
The Drawbacks:
- Nigthlife, is very
poor
- Gastronomy, no
really great places
- Lack of traditional
touristic infraestructure (no Resorts nor mass touristic
accomodations,
etc.)
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Besides its sunny
wehater and beaches, Arica is on the travel route called "El
Camino del Inca" (the Inca Road) made by the ancient Inca
Emperors to comunicate the empire, which includes San Pedro de
Atacama - Arica - Cuzco - Machu Picchu. All over the year you can
see gringos traveling "in a budget" with the S.American
Handbook on his pocket. They are the kings of art of lite spending,
and they have crated an ensemble of places when you can economically
sleep and eat. In my view, I think that a visit to Arica Must
include at least the following:
A trip to the
altiplano; Putre and neigborhood is the most easy to do, but if you
dare and not afraid of puna (heigt sickness) Lago Chungará is far
most impressing (but only if you are nature lover).
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A visit to Tacna
(Perú), baths in El Laucho o La Lisera Beach, the Isla del
Alacrán for weeckends at nigth, also the Bar Barrabás, and
discos Soho or Sunset, visit to Casino (for dinner and trow
some chips), visit to Playa Corazones (with the huge caverns
when lived Chinchorro people), the Valle de Azapa and Museo
San Miguel with archeologic history of the zone, to the Feria
del Domingo and, of course the Morro de Arica with his museum
on War of Pacific.
If you are
whealty, the peruvian cities of Arequipa, Cuzco and mitical
Maccu Picchu are very near by plane, Bolivian city of La Paz
is 511 Km. of pavimented road and about half hour of fligth
from Arica, and the very beauty city of Santa Cruz de la
Sierra (in Bolivia) is about one hour fligth. You can go there
by bus or train also at a fractional cost.
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a
MUST for Travelers! is The South
American Handbook (click here)
The
BEST info source on our country Chile Handbook
(click here)
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Visit to Tacna
(Perú)
- The border with Perú
is about 20 Km of downtown Arica, and is very easy to visit this city,
as alien, you only need your passport and in rare cases a visation (only
from certain countries)
In Tacna the best
place to lunch that I know is the Rancho San Antonio, it´s not easy
to find, but answering you will reach it, it´s a nice place and
worth to taste the choclo con queso, the pisco sour (with homemade
pisco is delicious and not harm your stomach) and steacks and beef.
BEWARE OF BOTH POLICEMAN AND ROBBERS both are same as
dangerous in Perú so watch your steps, don´t carry cameras or
other goods easy to catch etc. Peruvians in general terms are people
extrematly open and hospitalaries. Taxi drivers and waiters are
courteous and honest, but also there are lots of pickpockets in the
streets and in police abound corruption. So try to keep away of
troubles.
The best alternative
to visit Tacna is in shared taxi (colectivos) the round trip from
Arica cost about 11 U.S.D. A more economic alternative is the bus,
but it´s not too confortable. To pass the nigth the best hotels are
Hotel Turista and el Camino Real, the last has a fine disco in
underground (Hot Steel) but also abound other places smaller and far
more economic (8 to 10 U.S.D. per nigth). An economic alternative to
luch or tea is El Viejo Almacén. If you like tropical juices, and
you are not so scrupulous in Mercado de Avda. Las Palmeras, second
floort are lots of small post which offer huge juices for a small
amount of money. I go always there and I am still alive.
To complete your visit
to Tacna you must go to the mercadillos, there are all kind of goods
from all over the world, the chapest liquors (Chivas Regall 3/4 at
15 U.S.D. same for Jack Daniels, Bacardi at 8 U.S.D. etc.)
Argentinean leather jackets at 60 U.S.D., jeans at 20 U.S.D. etc.
Also medicines and prescription lens are extremely cheap.
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Where
to e-mail
In General Lagos with
Maipu streets there are a place when you can send e-mail and go trough
the web. Also in Parque Colón (Colón with Chacabuco) there are
several small computer shops wich offer e-mail service. And, if you
want save your $ you can contact me here and send your e-mail from my
place at no cost, well, a can of beer would be apreciatted anyway, so
I can take you some shots with my digital camera to attach if you want.
Tips
for watch your budget in Arica
- To lunch good an cheap
it is Casino del Hospital de Arica, in 21 de Mayo street front to
colegio Santa Ana, is not very accesible but it worth. I lunch
sometimes there (about USD 1.50)
- To pass a good time at
weekend nigth (past 1 A.M.) with few $$, you can rent a car in Reinco
(about 20 U.S.D. a day) purchase some packs of Budweisser or anything
so and go to the Isla del Alacrán: if you go there with someone you´ll
entertained chatting as most of people from Arica does it, if you go
there alone, is a nice place to pick some chicks (or guys). If your
budget not allows you to rent a car, you can go there at foot also.
- In
18 de Septiembre with Baquedano streets, there are an chinesse´s
store named Li Shanzú. They sell chinesse food to carry very cheap
and good spiced, so you must go up 23.30, they close later.
- For the cheapest
sandwich there are a food chain called "Miranda" when you
can eat a good "churrasco" (bread, steack, tomato, mayonaise)
for only 1,40 U.S.D.the most accesible "Miranda" is at Maipú
street in the first square.
Cost
of Living in Arica (In US Dollars aprox)
1 kg bread 0.60, 1 kg
bananas, pears, apples etc. 0.50, Coke 2 Lt 1.36, hostal economy 8.00
to 12.00 (common bathroom), bed & breakfast 18.00 (private
bathroom), lunch economy 2.00, lunch medium price 8.00, airfare
Santiago-Arica-Santiago 165.00, Santiago-Arica-Santiago via pullman
bus 80.00, Tour Arica-Altiplano-Arica 24.00 to 50.00 (meals not
includes), rent a car 60.00 daily (30.00 from particular owners) plus
gas, 300c.c. can of beer 0.60 to 0.80 (Budweisser), botlle of beer 1
lt. 1.00 (Royal Guard, Guinnes), 1 lt. bottle of economic wine 2.00
(120 de Santa Rita), 750cc bottle of expensive wine 6.00 to 20.00 (Don
Melchor de Concha y Toro)
(If you have any doubt
on prices post me and I will inform and publish there)
Where
to Dinner
- Good an
economic place to eat is "Don Floro" a very small restaurant
with traditional / home cuisine. Is the choice for us when we go out
to dine. Don Floro is at Vicuna Mackena, between Chacabuco and Juasn
Noe St. almost in front of the ugliest building of the city: the
"Comandancia de Bomberos" (fire departament), so you can´t
miss it
- In 21 de Mayo
with Baquedano St. (downtown), at second floor is the restaurant
Casanova, with stupendous fish dishes. Ask for my friend Stanko
Mestrovic, who is in charge and tell him that you are friend of mine (maybe
he cut a little the prices)
- Casino de Arica:
Velazquez 955 (for the nigth, dinner, boite, casino $$$)
- Los Aleros de 21: 21
de Mayo 736 (Steacks and beefs $$$)
- Maracuyá: Costanera
Sur 321 (The most conspicuous of Arica very good and expensive,
international cuisine and seafoods $$$$)
- Caballito de Mar:
Mercado Colón loc. 22 (the cheapest seafood, good and economic, order
the "Copa Martínez" only if you are not alone $)
Ice
Creams, Tea Rooms
- Di Mango: 21 de Mayo
244 (in my opinion, the best ice creams and coffe in Arica), also in
Chinchorro Beach (see photo)
- El Altillo: 21 de Mayo
260 2º piso (also very good pizzas, and cofee)
- Barrabás restaurant:
in front of Di Mango (very good prices and quality, to lunch simple
order "menú del día")
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Discos,
Bars,
- Soho (disco all
ages, at Chinchorro Beach)
- Sunset (disco
for youngsters, km. 3 1/2 Valle de Azapa it has also a bracnh
for we the veterans; the Swing in the same place)
- Adobe (disco for
very youngsters, underground of restaurant Maracuyá)
- Avant Premiere
(disco in Cerro Sombrero s/n)
- Boite del Casino
de Arica (all ages, mainly veterans)
- Barrabás (Bar/Pub,
18 Septiembre con Lynch, very good, the must for pick chicks or
guys, from 1 A.M. to dawn, plenty of funny people and solitaries
also.
- Puesta del Sol (Bar/Pub,
most indicated if you had also someone and want to chat in a
relaxed enviroment.
- Donde Aliro (Bar
in Chinchorro Beach cheap for youngsters)
- Las Vegas (bar
in front of Casino de Arica, full of prostitutes, if you had a
bad luck day with girls)
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Hotels/Boarding
Houses
- Hotel Arica ex
Hostería: Costanera Sur 599 (most conspicuous, on the seashore
just for $$$$)
- Hotel El Paso:
Velasquez 1109 (also good and expensive)
- Hotel King: Colón
376 (2 star prices and quality, good)
- Motel Saucache:
Guillermo Sanchez 027, entrada Valle de Azapa (apart hotel, 4 to
6 persons per cabaña $$)
- Hotel del Rey
Robert: Velasquez 792 (hotel/boarding house, basic services but
good prices, nice quality/price rating, negotiable fares)
- Residencial
Leiva: Colón 347 (traditional boarding house in Arica, owned by
a frenchman who falled in love with the city years ago, good
service and reasonable prices)
- Residencial
Blanquita: Maipú 472 (ditto the former)
In Patricio Lynch street, between O´higgins and
Maipú St. there are a good amount of boarding houses at very
reasonable fares, basic, but clean and experienced to attend
gringos, many of them are recomended by "South American
Handbook"
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TWO
IMPORTANT ADVICES:
In general
terms, Arica is a pacific and quite safe city, however there are two
specific places when pickpockets and catch runners currently "works".
Those two "workplaces" are Paseo Bolognesi
and Maipu with Colón Streets. So when you going
those places watch your bags and cameras, there are usually many cops
there but they operates whith distracted people (i.e. one person talks
and distracts you while the other catch your bag)
Taxi drivers
usually receive commisions from boarding houses and
hotels, specially the ones who work in airport and land terminals, so
don´t trust much his advises, usually is a wise idea ask them they
left you in downtown (i.e. 21 de Mayo with Patricio Lynch Streets) and
then look for yourself for the most affordable place to stay. Chilean
cops (carabineros) are truly honest and helpfull, so don´t hesitate
to ask them for any doubt or problem.
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