The Bus Trip that Was - Finally

Yup! I really finally got to Chile - and the trip down only took 21 hours (as compared to the 19 hours advertised by the bus company). Leaving at 2 pm on Saturday, we arrived in Tacna (Peru) at 11 am the next day (Happy Mothers' Day!). But of course, arriving at Tacna doesn't mean you're there yet.
You're just at the domestic bus station. You then cross the street to the international bus station, where you get a collectivo (station wagon that takes passengers until it is full and then goes to a specific location, in this case somewhere in Arica, Chile). The day somehow becomes a blur of activity but involves paying for permission to leave the bus station (1 sol, or about 30 cents US), exiting Peru at immigration and paying the $1 US per day fine for overstaying one's visa (and explaining to the immigration agent that the "permiso para firmar contrato," permission to sign a contract, in the passport was obtained in order to buy an apartment), and going through immigration at the border to enter Chile. Too bad I didn't take notes, but there were some other stops and procedures related to making sure we weren't carrying fruits or bugs that could damage crops across the border, inspections to make sure we weren't carrying anything illegal and a couple of other stops and checks that I don't even remember. The afternoon was spent walking the pedestrian walkway in Arica and finally finding a little cafe serving lunch on Mothers' Day and then crashing at the very nice hostel, which had been booked in advance. The hostel featured private rooms with baths, breakfast, and a wake-up call at 5 on Monday morning by an earthquake that measured 6.4 on the richtor scale and fortunately did not kill anyone or cause significant damage. Monday was pretty much a repeat of the procedure in reverse, with a hour long drive to the bus station and then another 21 hour bus trip back to Lima. So I am now legal in Peru for another 6 months. And I was surprised at how painless the whole thing was. By the time we went, I had taken to referring to it as the "bus trip from hell," assuming that 19 hours on a bus would be one of the most horrendous experiences life had to offer. Alas! Three movies, a good book, lots of sleep and you're there. I definitely advise paying for the 1st class bus tickets, which provides nice big comfortable seats which recline pretty much all the way back. They also serve dinner and coffee, pretty much not worth eating, but you won't starve to death. Oh, by the way there really were no good photo ops, not even a miners' demonstration, closing the roads again. Sorry 'bout that.