The decision to head REALLY south

After much procrastinating we left Cajamarca with the plan of riding for 3 more days and then jumping on a bus (well, multiple buses) and getting ourselves to Santiago de Chile...where the weather is good for touring.
So our first stop was San Marcos. The ride was stunning and oh so peaceful. We did experience some rain in the arvo which stopped us for maybe 30mins. But on arrival, we weren't that impressed with the town and it began raining again. It just so happens that we stumbled on a bus company that had a bus leaving for the coast that night, putting us in Trujillo in the morning...we took it...and then jumped on another one that morning for a 10 hour trip to Lima.
Well the stark landscape composed of desert mountains and sanduness was eerie and on top of this were shanty towns dispersed throughout. The houses were either square blocks made of bricks the colour of dirt and all joined together or they were made of woven straw and everything was covered in a film of dust, so even if anyone did bother to paint some colour into the lansscape, it all just looked dirty and grey- I also doubt if many had running water or electricity! It was very depressing, and though we could see the ocean- goodluck getting to it as it would have been over an hour walk thru dunes of hot, burning sand! Ughh!
We entered Lima much later than anticipated and the 9pm bus to Tacna didn't exist, so we decided to stay the night and get on the 11am bus in the morning. So we found a hostel, and walked around the area only to find lovely parks, people making music or just hanging out and a really good feel to the place. What a surprise! We postponed our departure a day to check it out.
Our day in Lima was spent riding around- they even had nice bike paths- mainly the suburb of Miraflores, which is on the beach. We people watched, enjoyed the weather and views, found some great ceviche, and not so great craft beer and even watched the sunset over the ocean.
It was such a fun day, and we really liked Lima- especially for a massive city. But, it was really hard for me to get the scenes of the poverty of the people living only 50km's away. The difference in the lifestyles is so so huge and I wonder if each is even aware of the other. It was difficult to not feel guilty as we rode through manicured beachfront public gardens and watched people throwing down decent amounts of cash on food and drinks and living a seemingly carefree, spoilt life. I know this topic can open a can of worms and we really don't know who has the better quality of life, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Back to the trip..
It was a long, painful 23 hour bus ride to Tacna- with more incredible landscapes- we felt like we could have beenon the set for Starwars and thankfully the poverty wasn't as bad south of Lima.
When we arrived at Tacna bus station the display read 33 degrees C at 10am- we decided it wasn't a good idea to ride in the heat of the day, so we postponed our departure a day. It was a cool centre with lots of bustle, people and shops. We found more great ceviche and pisco sours.
The next day we rode throughthe desert with strong winds- never behind us- for 55km's to Arica, Chile. We both found the ride very boring and unpleasant and were glad when it was over. Once again, we were virtually invisible at the border crossing- with cars all lined up being searched and us riding straight through!
Arica was a super-cool beach town in the middle of the desert. We stayed the night, and after sleeping in- the 2hour time change got us- we were tempted to stay another night, but instead, jumped on our final bus to get us to Santiago- a 30hour trip! But it was the best bus yet with comfy chairs, lots of legroom, movies until bedtime and we even got served 3 snacks over the course of the trip. These buses are trying to simulate flight services and are doing a darn good job!!
We arrived in Santiago in the evening, found a hostel, stayed for two nights, met some cool people, checked out the sights and then departed for a quick tour of the coast before heading onwards to the Lakes District.