Saludos from Chile! Since my last post I have been bussing, hitch hiking, biking, and walking all over this beautiful country, and today I find myself with time to do some serious updating.
From Cusco, Peru, my original plan was to spend some time outside of Arequipa, Peru and check out the Colca Canyon - the second deepest in the world (after the nearby Cañon Cotahuasi) and a great place to spot Condors. However, upon arriving at the Arequipa bus terminal, 10 hrs from Cusco, I felt an itch to keep moving south, so I found a young Chilean named Luis who was heading for Chile that same day, and we arrived in the coastal town of Arica before nightfall.
Just about the whole trip from Arequipa to Arica was staged through barren desert, and once getting off our last bus of the day it was a nice change to see the infinite expanse of the Pacific looming to the West. I spent two nights and one full day in Arica, spending most of my time at the high point of the town, El Morro, as well as on the sandy beaches. The sun was strong, but it was already noticeable that my southern path had taken me outside of the intense ecuatorial blasts I experienced in Ecuador and Peru.
Next on my list after Arica was San Pedro de Atacama, another relatively expensive and touristy town, but worth the visit due to the incredible landscapes in the high desert at the feet of conical Andean volcanoes. To get to San Pedro I got up early on Thursday May 1st to start hitch hiking the Panamericana highway outside Arica. Naturally I picked a holiday, Day of the Worker, to try and travel, and I could tell that there weren't many long distance trucks coming my way. Lucky for me, a pick up with four construction workers picked me up and they were headed to Calama, the big inland city on the way to San Pedro. We were on the road for 8 hours, and I could tell right away that my ear for Chilean spanish needed a lot of improvement. Chileans are notorious for lots of slang, talking fast, running words together and leaving out certain letters in pronunciation (sounds a bit like plenty of English speakers in the States!). After arriving in Calama post-sunset I decided to take a bus into San Pedro to avoid having to stay the night in expensive Calama.
The town of San Pedro is full of tour companies ready to take to you to dozens of sites throughout the desert, but I opted for exploring what I could by renting a mountain bike and riding as far as I could for two days. My first day I took a very flat, very straight road all the way to three salt lakes, named Laguna Cejar. I am still baffled by the isolation of salt fields and lakes in the middle of the desert, and they offered a cool, blue contrast to the dry scrubland surroundings. One lake was open for swimming, where the salt concentration leaves you floating with ease. The other two lakes were left to the birds, and I was fortunate enough to catch two flamingos flying between feeding spots!
My second day in San Pedro I spent the morning looking for "The Devil's Ravine", and though I didn't quite find it, I did get to ride along the San Pedro river and see some unexpected greenery in the midst of the dry dry desert. The afternoon however was the highlight of my stay. I took the main highway out of town, and took not the first, but the second turn off for "The Valley of the Moon". Turns out the back entrance was closed, but I took that to mean that either someone would be there to turn me away, or I would have the place to myself (the latter proved correct). I scrambled through crunchy salt deposits and up golden sedimentary slopes and found a beautiful high point to observe the surrounding valley. The picture of me standing next to the rugged landscape is close to the highway, but the two lower fotos, one with me kneeling and the other panoramic, show the diverse contours of the area that I got to see all for myself.
From San Pedro, I initially planned on hitch hiking the rest of the way to the greater Santiago area, a trip of 4 to 5 days. But after a few unsuccessful hours on the highway, and thinking I might rather spend more time at my next destination, I opted for a 24hr bus trip to Santiago, and then Los Andes - an area of smaller towns an hour north of the capital. My decision to stay longer in Los Andes was quickly justified by the warm welcome I received from the Acevedo - Galvez family upon my arrival.
My main reason for coming to Los Andes was to meet up and stay with the family of Christian Acevedo Galvez, the Chilean exchange student living with my aunt and uncle from Nevada City, CA, whom I had the pleasure to hang out and camp with while I was living with my Grandmother, Myrna Heppe, for the six months prior to this trip. They have received exchange students in the past, and also miss having their 16 year-old in the house, so I fit right in to the big brother/cousin void that was felt in the house. I have spent most days taking one of their bikes for a spin around the community. Los Andes is located in the Aconcagua Valley, known for its agricultural productivity and export of table grapes, wine, nuts, and avocadoes. There are vineyards as far as my two wheels can take me, and the landscape at the foot of the Andes reminds me of valleys in California bumping up against the coastal range and the Sierra Nevada. Above is a panoramic vista of the valley, a tractor loaded up with grapes destined for red wine, the Virgin of Los Andes at sunset, and Felipe Acevedo Galvez (11) and myself at the high point of the city.
Los Andes is also within a one hour bus ride from Santiago, and two and a half hours from Valparaiso. Yesterday I took the morning bus to Valpo, and checked out as many sites as I could before I caught the night bus back to Los Andes. Valparaiso is known for its colors and bohemian attitude, both of which were on full display during my visit. A student protest for free university education filled the square, artesan shops were on every street, and it seemed that every house was different both in structure and paint choice. To close out the day I visited the house of the late Pablo Neruda, an important figure in 20th century Chilean politics and Nobel Prize - winning poet. I haven't read a lot of his works, but plan to hunt down a book of poems in a used book store as soon as possible.
I leave you with some photos of beautiful Valparaiso! Next week I will make for Tupungato, a small town south of Mendoza, Argentina, where I will spend at least two weeks on a family farm doing whatever tasks are available as the region heads into the winter season. Thanks for reading, my next update will be likely be from Buenos Aires!
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| Staircases are the norm for getting around, definitely not handicap accessible. |
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| For all the hills within Valparaiso, "Acensores" are hundred - year old rooms on rails that take people up and down the city slopes |
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| A taste of the colors of Valpo, along with the big Lutheran church. |
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| Me with Pablo Neruda! |
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| Murals of all states of completion cover the walls all over the city. |
