Chile

Arica happened because my Peruvian visa needed a reset. From Arequipa you head south to Tacna, cross the border, and suddenly you're in Chile's northernmost city, right where the Atacama Desert runs into the Pacific. It's one of the driest places on earth, and you can feel it. The hills are bare brown sand, and the light is so sharp it almost hurts.

I climbed the Morro de Arica, the big headland over the city, for the view of the port and the ocean, then walked the waterfront and ate seafood that was better than any border town has a right to serve. It was a day trip that turned into a little crush. Chile felt more orderly than Peru, quieter and more expensive, and I left knowing I'd only seen the very tip of it. The plan is still to come back and run the whole length, desert to glaciers.