Vagabonding

That night, I took a 20-hour very long bus ride from Iquique to La Serena, which I slept half the time, and worked on my computer the rest of the time.  This leg of the trip extends more than a quarter of the length of Chile, about 1200km.   I sat by a nice man who apparently took pity on me, and fed me some of his bread rolls, which were actually quite delicious.  He didn't speak a lick of English, but each time we would stop along drug control points or pit stops to refuel, he would gesture to me when I needed to get off.  I was a bit confused at first, as they do things a little differently in Peru where you just go all the way through without stopping. I got into La Serena early evening, and walked a mile to my hostel, which was really quite nice, with great common areas and patios.  La Serena is the ultimate beach town with a beach that continuously extends for many miles, and which is lined with many eateries and outdoor gym equipment. ...

The next morning, I took a relatively short four-hour bus ride from Arica to Iquique. I really cannot say enough about Iquique.   As we approached Iquique, I thought that, geographically speaking, it would be like any other beach city (basically, a coastal plain), but it is quite different in that it is situated directly between the ocean and a big plateau.   As we descended down the plateau, Iquique began peaking out from behind a huge sand dune, which I will soon learn is the biggest sand dune in the world, and on which I will later have the privilege of sand boarding. When I got to the bus station, I decided to make the 1-mile trek to my hostel, which is really the best way to see the city.   The sidewalks were a bit rough, so I just used the nice smooth streets to roll my duffle bag, which I found much easier than the dirt streets of San Pedro.   Along the way I kept seeing Tsunami warning signs, which I guess was an omen to what was...