We about to fly off to Lima, having spent only eight hours at the hotel. The hotel which was supposed to be 10 minutes from the airport was 30 minutes away. In our shared taxi at peak hour after dropping off four other passengers, we were there in 90 minutes. The airport is new and undergoing further repairs.
On arrival in Chile we had to pay a reciprocity tax of $US56. I think this means that Australia charges Chileans a silly amount of money to enter Australia and so they are returning the favour. The tax applies to Australia, Canada, USA and Mexico.
The road from the airport was modern, but it went through some very dilapidated suburbs. The river running near the city has paved sides like a stormwater channel and the land on either side looks like rubbish infill with much of the rubbish falling into the river. The air appeared heavily polluted and there was a large rubbish fire burning just outside of the city.
Since the taxi to and from the airport was payable in US dollars and the hotel was prepaid, we didn’t need to change any money into Chilean Pesos. On the way back we don’t leave the airport but will still need Pesos for Easter Island.
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