A comfortable 6h bus ride south brought us to the Peruvian beach & border town of Tacna from where we caught a collectivo (shared taxi) to bring us across the border to the Chilean beach & border town called Arica.
Border towns are rarely a pleasant sight, but Arica is an attractive exception. The north has some of the best beaches in Chile together with lots of good waves, attracting hordes of tourists in summer and surfers all year round. Arica is a rather small town, standing in the shadow of the larger town Iquique (to which we traveled next), but directly in the first evening after our arrival we learned not to underestimate Arica. The main shopping street was bustling with people. Music and groups of dancers were emerging from everywhere, forming a long parade slowly moving through the city center. A wide variety of dance groups in all colors of the rainbow were passing by. All age-groups were present, from young chaps in cowboy boots and shiny outfits and young ladies in even more colorfol dresses to older uncles and aunties, wearing very elaborate costumes and decorations.

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We thought it to be part of an important local festival and were surprised to hear from the hotel staff that this is just a regular event and we should come and see what happens during the local carnival!

We decided to stay another day and had a pleasant walk through town and along the coast. After many weeks of extra dry weather, our skin and lips were in desperate need of some humidity!

Quirky fact: The local church and town house were constructed by Gustave Eiffel (yes – the one from the Eiffel tower), not surprisingly he stuck to his favorite material – metal.

We moved on to the next town, Iquique, the regional capital. Upon arriving we got surprised by a large number of skyscrapers, comprised of hotels and apartment blocks, catered to the huge inflow of beach tourists in summer.  Now in winter, the city felt more like other (off-)seasonal holiday towns, with many hostels and restaurants closed or in state of renovation. Only during lunch could we see some crowds in the center, when the local office workers are streaming to their set lunch.

I was tempted to test the local waves and practice some surfing, but chickened out after realizing the water temperature. Instead we opted for the dry version – sandboarding    Iquique is the perfect place for sandboarding with a massive dune  4km long, called “The Dragon Hill”, located directly next to the city (apparently the largest “urban” sand dune in the world – whatever that means)

It was Yang Ke’s first experience on any board and she got the hang of it quite quickly – another snowboarder in the making!
For me it was a bit easier thanks to my snowboard experience and after a few runs I was able to do turns and surf dunes without falling. We progressed slowly to larger dunes and concluded with a long dune surfing back to the city. Sandboarding is absolutely fun, but walking up the dunes is damn tiring!

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Apart from its pristine beaches, the fate of Iquique (and the whole northern region) has been historically and till today linked to the vast mineral treasures buried in the dessert.
It all started end of the 19th century when saltpeter was discovered close to Iquique,  at that time belonging to Peru. Chile didn’t hesitate for long and snatched away the whole area from Peru and Bolivia. The “War of the Pacific” lasted from 1879 to 1883 and till today continues to strain the relationship between Chile and its neighbors.
The saltpeter boom, supported by US companies, is all too evident in the city center, dominated by American architecture in the style of an old western movie. Even the tracks of a tram still remain.

Iquique is also the first town so far with no church on the main square. (One with a church is a layout typically imposed by the Spaniards). Instead it comes with a pretty white clock tower.

A part of the history of the War of the Pacific can be relived in the beautifully restored ship “Esmeralda”, a Chilean corvette which sank in the defense of the city against a Peruvian counter attack.

In absence of other tourists we got a private tour, at the end of which the tour guide courteously declined our tip, which again confirmed my view that Chileans are the Germans of South America

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Like any boom, the saltpeter one also had to come to an end, unfortunately an abrupt one, leaving many mining towns to the fate of the desert. We took a tour to visit two of them, St. Laura and Humberstone, which are particularly well preserved.
The end of saltpeter was sealed in the 1920’s when two nasty German chemists found a way to produce ammonia artificially, replacing saltpeter as favorite fertilizer. Luckily I told the tour group I was from Singapore!!

St. Laura is interesting to learn the production process, while in Humberstone the whole living quarters are still intact. Humberstone was a city by itself with thousands of residents and far ahead of its time in terms of city planning and amenities. Many workers migrated from the poorer southern regions here, attracted by the tales of richness from the “white gold”. Those turned out to be vastly exaggerated and most ended up in near slavery. Only the”middle class” could enjoy all the fringe benefits the city had to offer, like education for the kids, a theater and even a huge metal swimming pool with 3m diving platform. During its best time, the most famous singers and shows would rather come to Humberstone instead of the capital.

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The saltpeter industry represented a huge part of the Chilean economy and its downfall was a big hit for the country, but Chile was lucky and the discovery of vast copper veins quickly resulted in a new mining boom lasting till today.

Other stops in the desert included the visit of ancient geoglyphes (left by nomadic tribes thousands of years ago!), a relaxing thermal bath within the cute oasis town Pica and visit of a very special church – with blue ceilings and the first modern paintings I have ever seen in any church!

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