Day 03- Papers? We ain’t got no stinking papers…but Alejandro…he’s got enough papers for everybody, no?

Departing Arica, Chile and then crossing the border and heading to Moquegua, Peru, Alejandro came to the rescue fully armed with all the papers we needed to satisfy the officials.  All non-intimate spaces were adequately searched and we were on our way in the near record time of 2 hours.  All Pisco was secured internally and remained duty-free.

Tacna lay ahead and served as our lunch stop.

Since this was only a 135 mile day, we leisurely took in all that the desert had to offer.  The scenery is surely worth the price of admission.  The Pan American Highway leads you through the Atacama Desert and continues to reinforce the fact that this desert is 100 times more arid than Death Valley.  We pressed onward with most thinking “this is not the Peru that I envisioned” and then, the oasis valley town of Moquegua appeared before us.

Sunday night in Moquegua is lively.  The street markets rock all sorts of merchandise and foods.  Cooked foods are offered on many corners and the piles of noodles, rice, chicken, breads, vegetables and fruits were tempting.  They’ll even wipe off a used plate and fork on their aprons, just for you.  Some of our troupe ate in the markets, but a few of us were off in pursuit of a recommendation.  Sadly, it was closed due to lack of a chef.  On down the line, we found the McDisco.  If Ronald McDonald had married Donna Summer, this restaurant would have been theirs.  Disco balls, flashing colored lights, blaring music videos, papas fritas, hamburguesas disquised as a round slice of chicken on a McDonalds style bun and Chicha (alcoholic? beverage made from purple maize) were on offer.  Maybe it wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, but the food sat well with us.  Do you remember the others that decided to eat at the street market?  Well for them…not so much.