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Well I arrived in Santiago de Chile on April 10th and have been very busy for the last 3 weeks or so. If you pardon the pun, it seems to be a little more chilly here. Seems there is an air current on this side of the Andes from the south and is a lot drier than in Argentina.
Santiago was amazing. Only around half the size of Buenos Aires (still 7 million people or so)and with a less european feel to it. They don´t seem to have any water restrictions here at all as the green areas in the city are definitely greener than in BA and there is also an actual system of garbage disposal here that seemed to be missing in BA.!!
From here I have spent some time seeing the sights from Cerro San Cristobal ( big hill with big statue on the top) and Cerro Santa Lucia as well as finding my new favourite restaurant 'Las Vacas Gordas' - 'The Fat Cows', which is exactly what I would be looking like if I wasn´t doing so much walking around.
I also decided to see the beach side areas of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.
Valparaiso
I liked the way they kept the old building and just built the new one inside. Very quiet this time of year as is end of summer but I can imagine it would be just like the gold coast in the peak of tourist season.
Spent a fantastic day in the San Fernando region on the Tren del Vino ( Wine Train). Is an old steam engine that travels south whilst you enjoy wine and cheese tasting and the view of seemingly endless vineyards. A stop at the Estampa winery for a quick look around ( I must admit I wasn´t that impressed with the wine here but it was interesting) and then onto Colchagua for lunch and a look around the museum. Yes I know what you´re thinking- not another museum. But this was possibly the best one I have seen so far. A private collection of old cars, coaches, farm equipment, steam engines, fossils, dinosaur skeletons, old telephones, printing presses as well as the hugest collection of Allied and Nazi uniforms and weapons. Really weird selection but very cool.
From Santiago over the last two or so weeks I have travelled firstly north to La Serena, also a beachside resort area which is aso very quiet at the moment. Went to
the Mamalluca observatory near the village of San Isidro to check out the telescopes and have a look at the stars. Apparently one of the best places in the world with 300 clear nights a year. Amazing views even without a telescope as it is 1200m above sea level with no light pollution. Unfortunately it was here i discovered my camera wasnt working , due to too much salt and sand probably, and spent the next day in La Serena getting it fixed. Yes the spanish lessons certainly came in handy for that!!
From La Serena it was off to Bahia Iglesa for a night before setting off across the Atacama desert to San Pedro de Atacama (alt.2438m). San Pedro is a town of 4900 people and the truck driver needed a police escort to find the campsite coz half the roads were blocked off. Yes....lost in a town that is so small it doesn´t even have traffic lights. It did however seem to have a population of stray dogs that outnumbered the people. Not that I noticed during the day, but when trying to get to sleep in a tent in a desert that drops to 2 degrees
as soon as the sun goes down and then had to listen to them all barking all night ..fun fun fun ..
Sights in San Pedro were firstly the El Tatio geiser. At 4300m above sea level and minus 6 degrees at 6am had a look around before swimming in one of the thermal pools - nice to get into but very cold to get out!
In the afternoon it was off to Death valley and Valley of the Moon to wander the sand dunes and watch the sunset. After which some of us went back to the campsite and seeing as it was ANZAC day taught some of the Brits staying there how to play two-up. They took a while to get it and we ended up with more beer money than them at the end of the night.
From San Pedro it was a very long drive through the Andes - (scenery is amazing ,Shani and Chris we are definitely doing this on bikes one day) - back into Argentina and the town of Salta. One of the oldest cities in Argentina, founded in 1582, and also where the campsite has what is supposedly
Desert Sculpture
Yes even in the middle of the Atacama desert you can find art!!!! the biggest swimming pool in the southern hemisphere. Very nice we all thought except for the fact that it would be much more useful if it were actually filled with water!!!
And so now after 2 months away already I am off to Bolivia tomorrow to continue the journey.
Things I find disturbing chapter 3:
1. At the campsite in Salta we had a garbage bag party. Yes lots of people dressed in garbage bags as ninja turtles, cans of guinness, gladiators and even thorpie!! Not so disturbing for us but for the older german couple on the next site I think it was very disturbing!
2. At the end of the garbage bag evening managing to mistake a 1 and half foot drop onto a tree stump and a pile of gravel for a flat piece of ground- as you do! Resulting in a badly sprained foot, a cut up knee and three days sitting on a truck not able to walk. Even more disturbing is that yes I was dressed in a garbage bag at the time, as a xmas tree of all things, and I'm blaming it all on the altitude!!!!
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Mary Prenzel
non-member comment
west coast
Thanks Julie for keeping us posted on your journey. Keep up the great pictures and dialogue. Since I can't travel at this time (weddings) I really enjoy yours.