Day 32 – Friday, February 27, 2026
That morning - yet again - I had trouble pulling my horses together. The breakfast was OK, but did not live up to my expectations in this otherwise really nice hotel. It was only after 10 am that I left - feeling a bit drowsy, but still excited - as I knew I was going to make the crossing to Peru.
I took a detour and rode alongside the beach, which was nicely developed - with separate lanes for runners and bikers (at least for a while, when it abruptly stopped), playgrounds, food trucks and toilets (though it was almost completely deserted around mid-day). We were still in the desert, a municipal park was established along an estuary of a river - and suddenly everything turned green. There were dozens of vultures mingling about and I also spotter a wader.
Vultures having an eating frenzy at the river arriving at the ocean
Redhead
A lonely wader
It was time to bid farewell to Chile. There was a large group of truck drivers waiting in the shade for their parked vehicles. Then the actual border came, me feeling a bit emotional when seeing the "Gracias for su visita" sign. In the past weeks, a strong bond formed to the beautiful country, its people and the easy, uncomplicated way of life. Muchas gracias for having treated me so nicely, taking me on a boat ride, giving me water and Gatorade in the midst of the desert, inviting me for lunch, picking me up within minutes of starting to hitchhike, letting me sleep for free, offering a foyer to pitch my tent...what amazing experiences!
An emotional farewell to amazing Chile
The crossing was anything but smooth, but have had a lot worse experiences (e.g. on the Israeli - Egyptian border, which took three and a half hours). First, the regular police stopped me and radioed whether a Hungarian on his bike is allowed to cross. Indeed he was. Next, similar to the Turkey - Georgia border, all passengers had to get out of their vehicles and stand in a long line. I was told to join in and was ready for the worst. There was some paperwork to fill out and, to my surprise, the line moved so quickly, I was hardly done with the paparwork and was facing the first (out of five) officers - no issues there. Then came customs, here a guy with impeccable English quickly finished me off. The troubles started at the next line, vehicles control. They were quite puzzled how to process the bike.
A bit slow, but friendly lady came out to inspect the bike and she went to great lengths to find an identifying number. She made all sorts of inscriptions about the color and model - then it turned out the officer with the English knowledge had forgotten to fill in something, so I had to return to him. Luckily, for regular cases, everything moves quickly, the place is so clean you could eat off the floor. The last control was that all my bags had told go through a scanner - and I was in Peru. The crossing took a little over an hour.
My phone was showing the regular time, but my watch was 2 hours "late". Yes, indeed, Peru is two hours behind - meaning (at least here, close to Chile) that daylight starts very early, but it is already at 7 pm that it gets dark (later my phone adjusted, too).
First picture in Peru
I started riding in an arid desert - on a long and straight road. There was a strange housing/farming project, where they apparently grow guinea pigs - a local delicacy. However, it looked abandoned.
First picture in Peru
(Abandoned?) Farming project
On the way to Tacna, the next major town, differences between Chile and Peru became quickly evident. The surface of the road, the signs, the vehicles and how they were driven (rahter wildly), the buildings - I felt most things being less modern. I made an uneducated guess: the GDP per capita must be 40% lower in Peru. I checked online - not 40%, it is 50%, i.e..in Peru, it is just half of the amount of Chile. Hmmm. As I found out later, even in Tacna, i.e. a large city, it was hard to find a single person who spoke English.
To my surprise, it kept getting greener and greener - and by the time I reached the town of Tacna, it was like there would be no desert whatsoever. In fact, I took a rest in the middle of a round-about in town, laying on freshly mowed lawn, next to me a bush statue of two swans.
It really is green!
Tacna is a vibrant city, also known as the “Heroic City” for its fierce patriotism and role in the country’s history. Looking at Wikipedia, it had originally belonged to Peru, then was seized by Bolivia, then back to Peru, then annexed by Chile and now it is Peruvian again. It serves as major commercial hub. There is a historic center, which features the iconic Tacna Parabolic Arch (designed by the bureau of Gustav Eiffel) and a beautiful neo-renaissance cathedral.
Cathedral
Arch
...like there never was a desert...
Local attire
I had plans to ride on, but knowing it gets dark early made me reconsider. So I get money exchanged (the Peruvian currency is called Sol, 1 € = 4 Sol), found a hypermarket, got a bite to eat and even had my laundry washed.
A bit of an unpleasant experience happenned. While my clothes were being washed, I found a nice a reasonable hotel (the price niveau in Peru is lower) close to the laundry, thought I would check in and pick up my clothes after that. I loceted the hotel, it has high rating and the manager shook his head (no English spoken). It turned out that despite my confirmed, paid reservation, the hotel was full - if I understood correctly, there was no water in the room I had booked. I found another hotel, it was a lot further - but it was actually a good pick, it was a nice, big room.