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An early morning walk to find a hotel in Vicuna leaves my jaw frantically seizing and my teeth chattering due to what I call arctic temperatures. On the prowl for lodging we pick a kind of upscale hotel for lack of a better option and it did not even have hot water. The one joy of my future, a hot shower, was stripped from me. After the shower disappointment I had one mission, HEAT! I gathered every heating device I could find: radiator, strange wall heating like things, and blankets. A few moments of attempting to get warm was futile so I decided to take it like a man (or woman, not trying to be sexist so please just take it as a figure of speech) and go book our tour for the astronomical observatory. For this adventure I decided to bundle up! Jacket layered on jacket with a scarf and a beanie. Moments later outside the hotel the temperature is scalding. The sun hit the town and the temperature sky rocketed. Immediately my jackets were removed, my pants capried, and the skin started baking. I have never experienced such a dramatic temperature change in my life. When we were
hot we would walk on the shady side of the street but that would be too cold, so back over to the sunny side for more roasting. My body and I are so confused with the temperature changes. The elevation here is only about 2000 feet and we are not even in the desert yet. I cannot even imagine what the Atacama desert has to offer us. This should be fun!
I try to be a very positive person and I am trying to find some good descriptive words to describe the city of Vicuna. There really is not anything wrong with Vicuna but there is not anything great either. The streets are lined with high rock walls hiding all of the homes. All you can see are high walls, businesses, and locked down schools. Despite the rather unappealing sight of the city the people seem very nice. Walking along the street the drivers either wave or give a head nod. Nobody seems like they want to rob or injure us so that is also nice. Beyond the city we are surrounded by mountains and it is quite beautiful. Also there is a great view of a bright
Tree
Vina del Mar white observatory on a mountain top looking into the skies.
Today we took a tour of the Capel company distillery; fundamental for the famous Pisco Sour. My first tour of a major distillery left me intrigued. The tour guided us through the process from grape to shelf and it was very interesting. The end of the tour was a sampling of the end product. Very tasty and I would recommend an iced Pisco Sour on a hot day. Muy bien! Tonight is the astronomical observatory, the wonders of space await!
Previously we were in the nice port city of Valpariso and the rich beach town of Vina del Mar. Both were great for different reasons. Dylan does a great job describing both in his blog, but here is a short description of my own. Valpariso was a very loud city in both site and hearing. Most buildings are painted a very bright color which is very cool. The bright houses on the steep hills all converging along the ocean was a great and unforgettable site. With non stop car alarms and wild dogs the city is never quiet. This is more sad than annoying. I do
Beach
Vina del Mar not like to see all of the cute dogs being homeless and ragged. Maybe the dogs are happy like this but I cannot help thinking of my two great dogs back home and what a great life they have (thanks mostly to my wonderful mother). Vina del Mar seemed like a very popular summer resort and I am glad not to see it at its peak. I do not like the feeling of being leached on for my money. When trying to find a place for dinner we were swarmed by multiple vendors, naturally we did not eat at any of those places. Beyond the tourist leaching the town was great. The beach was fun and we spent most of our day there. We did some relaxing, some running, some yoga, and some reading. Overall it was a good time in both cities.
The farther north we ascend I am feeling more and more tourism. People love warmth! I was really enjoying the solitude of non peak season. I like meeting people and traveling but the leaching is not fun. I am a little worried that the remainder of our trip will be leaching. Of course I will
manage to deal with it and enjoy whatever situation I can find myself in. A few really long bus rides await me but so do the world´s most wonderful sites. I cannot complain because I am in South America having a great time and seeing what most people never will. The hard times are really easy to mask when all you need to do is walk outside and look around to realize how amazing the world is and how lucky you are to have the opportunity to experience it. Life is good!
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Nicole
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Oh my, I LOVE THAT TREE! It is amazing.