Dedicated to Mara's travel and hiking adventure journals as well as her words of wisdom and suggested resources for hikers and travelers.
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Argentina, Chile, and Peru - February to August 2009From 2008 to 2009, I spent over nine months traveling in Central America and South America with side trips to Antarctica and Easter island. What follows are my journal entries from South America. Central America, Antarctica, and Easter Island are listed separately. The comments in square brackets were comments from my emails rather than entries in my journal.February (Argentina and Antarctica)
March (Antarctica, Argentina, and Chile)
April (Chile)
May (Chile)
June (Chile)
July (Chile and Peru)
August (Peru)
Saturday, February 7: Panama City, Panama to Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe Panama City to Buenos Aires leg of my trip left last night at 9pm. For this leg, I had a window exit row. I was concerned they would make me move because I couldn't understand directions in Spanish, but thankfully, that wasn't a problem. The exit row seats had plenty of extra leg room so it was a pretty comfortable flight even though I was hip to hip with my neighbor. Shortly after take-off, we were served dinner. Chicken and rice or pasta and meat sauce. I selected the pasta and it was surprisingly good. Watched a movie but don't remember what it was. It was a seven hour flight and a few hours after dinner, they served sandwiches. There was definitely ham on them and something else I never really identified. After we landed, I found the ATM and got cash. Coming from Central America, I got thrown off when the ATM showed money amounts with a dollar sign. In Guatemala, it was Q for Quetzal, in Honduras, L for Lempira, and in El Salvador, $ for US dollars. Not being sure whether I was getting dollars or pesos, I only took out $100 but then got 100 pesos. Now I know they use the $ for peso amounts. There are about 3.5 pesos to the dollar. So, I ended up with just over 30 dollars. Oops! But it was enough to get into town. Then found the bank and got change (a hot commodity in this city - and absolutely necessary for the bus). Then, rather than taking a 90 peso bus or a 45 peso shuttle, I took a 1.75 peso local bus. I followed the one other traveler on the bus to a neighborhood with some hostels. His was full but they left me leave my backpack there until I found another hostel to call home. I quickly dropped my gear, sent a quick email message to family to let them know I made it OK, and then crashed. I took a nap, had a long internet session with a couple of Skype calls, took another nap and then in the evening, went for a walk looking for a place to eat dinner when I realized I hadn't eaten anything since that breakfast sandwich I had eaten on the airplane. I couldn't make any choices though and ended up back at the hostel. Finally, after 9pm, I wandered out in search of the supermarket and bought yogurt, bread, an apple, and water. Perfect. Back at the hostel, I ate and soon went to sleep. We are so far south here that during the summer it stays light until at least 9pm. I think that's what makes it easy to stay up so late. Unlike everywhere else I've been Buenos Aires is hopping well into the night and morning. There are 24 hour places to get a meal. Night clubs go to the wee hours. People are out walking and driving all night long. The people here are taller and many look more European than Latin. I can make very few assumptions about where people come from based on their looks here whereas in Central American, it was pretty easy to tell who were local and who were the travelers. Even the buses are different. They have set stops and are similar to the city buses we have at home. No old U.S. school buses here. Avenida 9 de Julio reminds me of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston - expect that it's wider. In places, there are seven lanes in each direction plus an addition two lanes in each direction on separate parallel streets. It takes at least two light cycles to cross safely with the walk signals. Sunday, February 8: Buenos AiresAfter a horrible nights sleep where I woke up with hundreds of bug bites, I got up at 10:00, ate the breakfast that came with the hostel of rolls with a bit of butter and plum marmalade. I checked out at 11:00 and moved a block away and checked into the Milhouse hostel, a new and very large hostel. I couldn't get into my room until 1:00 but I could have left my bags if I preferred. Instead, I hung out and moved into my room just before 1:00. I took a shower, changed, and then got directions for the Feria de Mataderos, a local street fair in one of the far off neighborhoods. By the time I got there, it was nearly 4:00. There were a lot of street vendors but not a whole lot else going on. I followed the sound of music and found a place set up as a club where for 5 pesos, you could go in and do traditional Argentine dances. These are the traditions of the gauchos and while they did play some tango, it was mostly other traditional dances. In season which starts in April, this fair also has gauchos racing their horses at a full gallop down the street trying to use a little stick to snag a ring hanging overhead that is no bigger than what you might wear on your hand. I have to wonder what came first, the merry-go-round tradition or the gaucho tradition. If I ever return to Buenos Aries between April and November, I'll be sure to return to the Feria to watch the spectacle. With not much going on, I stepped into a restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner of chicken and fries. The fries were delicious and the chicken just a bit dry. I met a couple from Canada and a man from the US there. They were all Peace Corps volunteers in the early 60s, when the program was just starting, and they and a bunch of others, have remained close friends ever since. The two men were in Columbia and the woman stationed in Peru. The couple had met during their time in the Peace Corps. At the restaurant, I noticed a poster for the Feria and it seemed the off-season activities were just getting going in the evening. I stuck around and sure enough, there was a concert and dancing starting at 8:00 or so. It started off with a marching band of a sort called murgas with a lot of drumming and a great many children, teens, and adults in fantastic costumes dancing through the streets. After one marching band, the stage was turned over to a trio playing traditional dance music and people danced in the street. It was an easy enough dance but with no real place to practice, I couldn't really get into it. After another set of marching bands, the next group on stage played a set with a couple dance done in closed position where the footwork was all triples. When a local man could find another local partner, I stepped in and ended up doing a few dances with him. He talked to me in Spanish. I talked to him in English. We didn't understand more than a few words we had said to each other but were OK dancing together. After the third murga set, I took off and grabbed a better bus back to where my hostel was. On the way back, we passed at least two other areas with local Ferias. Monday, February 9: Buenos AiresSomehow, I seem to have made some sort of transition to the "late" lifestyle here. For two days in a row, I didn't get up until nearly 10:00am, almost unheard of for me at home, but just early enough for me to grab breakfast. Here at the Milhouse hostel, breakfast consists of rolls with butter, marmalade, and dulce de leche, as well as corn flakes and milk, an orange drink that is decidedly NOT juice, and oranges. Dulce de leche seems to be the Central and South American (or maybe just Buenos Aires) version of the North American peanut butter and the European Nutella. It comes in tubs or jars and is spread on everything. Delicious! I grabbed a shower and hand washed some laundry before heading out. Being a weekday, I could finally run errands and get a lot done. I started at Wildlife, an outfitter. They have what I need, socks and overmitts, but rather than buying right now, I want to return with my mittens to make sure they'll work. Then I grabbed the nearby Subte (subway) for my next errand. The Subte was very similar to the US system but much cheaper. I had to go to a nearby hospital for a blood test. Before I left home, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or at least suspected to have it. It's at an early stage but my doctor wanted me to get a follow-up blood test in early February. She's expecting my test values to return to normal about now. With any luck, it'll be many years before I have to worry about daily treatment. Thankfully, I was able to go straight to the lab and did not have to see a doctor first. Also, because I'm leaving town, it was important to be able to get my results by Wednesday or by email or internet access. Turns out, my results will be ready Wednesday morning and I can log onto their web site to get them. How convenient. Wish I could do the same at home. I grabbed a lunch at Burger King. I went in for a snack but ended up with cheeseburger, fries, and then followed up with their version of a waffle cone sundae. Not bad, for soft serve. Back at the hostel, I got tips for where to look for some of the other things I need. I headed out for a couple of converters. I need one for US to Argentina and another for US to the two prong European system. I got sent to the electronics neighborhood where I started going in and out of every store. Some had no converters, some had transformers but no converters, some had converters but only to the Argentina outlets, and finally, after a lot of searching, one store had very cheapo versions of both converters. I hope they do the job. Then, I went in search of camera accessories. Along the way, I went past the book store section of town so I stopped in looking for the Lonely Planet South America guide book. I found it in a couple of stores, but only new ones which at $199 (or 55 US dollars) were a bit steep. I decided to hold off in the hopes of finding a trade for my Central American book. Then I found the camera stores section of town and like the electronics section, none of the stores had what I needed but then one literally pointed me into a non-descript office building. I walked past the bank of elevators and found another shop behind them. This store is the professional photographers store in town, not where the tourists go for extra batteries and memory cards. I bought a hood for my camera to replace the one I had lost from the back of a motorcycle taxi in Phnom Penh last year for just $19. It screws onto my camera but then the rubber hood retracts quite easily. I then balked at paying $192 for a polarizing filter for my camera. I decided to do a bit more research to find out if it was necessary or merely suggested for Antarctic photography. So I made note of where to find this shop again if I want to go back tomorrow. Walking back to the hostel, I walked through the jewelry and watches section of town. I've now identified, the textiles street, the bookstores street, the electronics and fishing stores street (the same street for some reason), the photography street, and the jewelry and watches street. You go down any of these streets and see countless shops that all seem indistinguishable from one another. Obviously there are small differences, but they mostly seem the same to me. All this running around town took time. By the time I got back to the hostel and relaxed a bit, it was time for dinner, say nearly 9:00pm. I got directions to a restaurant that had been recommended to me a number of times and headed out. It was maybe another 1.5 to 2 km away. No problem. This is not a late hour for dinner. And sure enough, when I got to Des Nivel's in the San Telmo part of town, the place was packed. If Argentina is known for steak, the restaurant in Buenos Aires seems to be the place to go to eat beef. I ordered a mixed salad and the tenderloin with mushrooms and potatoes noisette. The salad was something other than iceberg lettuce, a nice break for almost every salad I had in Central America. The tenderloin was HUGE. I'm guessing it was at least a pound of meat. It was probably 7-8" long, 3" wide, and 1.5" thick. There wasn't an ounce of fat or grizzle on the steak and it was cooked perfectly medium rare. The mushrooms were good but I wasn't crazy about the sauce they came in. Oh well. And the potatoes were delicious, rounds of potatoes, some cut thick and cooked until soft on the inside and others cut thin, almost like big potato chips. I washed it all down with pomelo soda. The Fresca and Squirt that had been mostly readily available in Central America don't seem to be available here but pomelo soda is. It's similar but maybe a bit less sweet. When I got the bill, I was a bit surprised to find an extra $3 charge on the bill. It was for the rolls and salt, oil and vinegar caddy. The salad did not some with any other dressing and the rolls weren't all that great. I only ate one small roll which for anyone who knows me knows they couldn't have been at all good. I usually eat a lot of bread if it's at all good. Oh well, so I've lived and learned. Before bed, I continued reading Rusty Young's "Marching Powder" about the strangest prison in South America. It's one of my hostel mates so I won't be able to finish it, but I've read enough to know that if and when I get to Bolivia, I will be taking a prison tour. Prisoners must buy they're own prison cell, they're food, and many have their family's living in the prison with them. Hope I can find another copy of this book eventually. Tuesday, February 10: Buenos AiresAfter breakfast, I hand washed more laundry and then went to get a haircut. On my way to the salon, I got sidetracked by a political march complete with a few brass instruments playing hava nagila. Huh? Then I finally went back to a place I had seen when I first got to town and Nino cut my hair for $25, that's pesos, not dollars. A good cut though - I think. Between errands, I keep returning to the hostel to wring out my clothes as there's no good place to let them dry except the bathroom until they stop dripping and then I can hang them on my bunk. I then went off to buy a polarizing filter for my camera. Yesterday's research made me realize that while not necessary, the filter can make the difference in how well my pictures come out. I also visited a Farmacia to get some non/drowsy antihistamine with decongestant. I had bought my Dramamine yesterday. Plus the pharmacist confirmed that the cream I'm using is appropriate for the bug bites I'm dealing with. Yesterday's research also confirmed that it probably really is bug bites even though I had always heard the bite in lines and threes and my bites are much more random but on-line pictures showed enough variability that it's more likely bed bug bites than anything else. I'm just glad got out of that first hostel after one day. I realized I've now bought just about everything I've needed for my trip and should be able to enjoy the city tomorrow as a sightseer rather than a consumer. I may try to catch a tango lesson as well. I was going to try one today but when I started to get ready to go, I realized it was pouring outside. That plus the fact that I was wiped out from my shopping had me decide to forgo the lesson. The rain must have started right after I had gotten back to the hostel this afternoon. I got lucky as I've been out and about without my rain gear. Later, when the rain stopped, I did some shopping at Carrefour, a French supermarket and bought some goodies for the cruise, including packets of Crystal Light in flavors I haven't seen before... Kiwi/melon, two different flavors of apple, orange, orange dulce, and more. I bought some granola bars, cookies, and more. I probably won't need much as the food is supposed to be good and plentiful, but I think I'm a bit food shy after my El Mirador trip. For dinner, I bought half of what would be a medium pizza at home for $5 (that's just 1.5 US dollars). Crazy. It wasn't the greatest pizza but it wasn't at all bad. After last night's $54 meal, this would go a long way to averaging out my food costs here in Buenos Aires. [Date: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:39 pm This is likely my last transcribed journal entry until after my Antarctic trip. We sail tomorrow evening. I do expect to be back on-line again during the day tomorrow for any last minute emails but then not at all for the duration of the trip. When I get back, it's likely to take a while to catch up. I'm going to miss the easy access to information. For example, the bird list below was compiled after I had seen the birds in the wild and then returned to use the internet. A google search on birds of Tierra del Fuego resulted in a number of sites with good pictures that I could match up to the birds I had seen. On board the boat, I'll have access to their library of things related to the Antarctica, but not much else. I don't think I'll be the only one going through a bit of internet withdrawal. But, I think life on board will be interesting enough without the computer. Wednesday, February 11: Buenos AiresWent to sleep relatively early as did three others in the room, for a change. Of the ones that didn't, one came in falling down drunk and proceeded to fall down with a crash and wake up the room when trying to climb into his top bunk. Then, his bed being somewhat kitty corner to mine, he started reaching down towards me to try to 'introduce' himself. I just turned over and tried to go back to sleep, knowing there was no way he could reach me. Then I heard something and turned just in time to see him swinging his legs over the side of his bed to try to climb down. I think he kicked Stefan, the guy sleeping in the bottom bunk, and then he fell on his butt in the middle of the floor. And he didn't fall quietly. Stefan got up, and told the guy to leave, so he did. Two hours later, he was back and climbed into the bunk above me. If he had gone to sleep, it would have been fine, but he started reaching down towards me but once again couldn't get near me. I told him to go to sleep. Then I saw his head leaning over the edge of the bed. Once again, I told him to go to sleep. He got indignant and told me "tranquilo, tranquilo" (relax, relax). So, not only was he a creep, but I was scared he was going to fall out of the bed head first. So I went down to the front desk and ended up talking with the night manager who knew why I was there even before I opened my mouth. He came up to the room and told the guy to go to sleep. If he didn't he would be sleeping downstairs on the couch - or out on the street. That did it and the guy wasn't a problem any more. Of course, it was right then that the sixth guy came into our room who was supposed to be sleeping in the bunk on top of mine. He had to retrieve his stuff from around the drunk guy and then went to sleep where the drunk guy was supposed to be. Of course, by then, I was too wired to sleep. Argh! Ah the joys of hostel rooms. Thankfully, these situations are very few and far between. I ended up getting up relatively early and got a full hour on the computer, an unusual occurrence in this humongous hostel with a 20 minute limit when others are waiting. After breakfast and a shower, I took the bus to go visit the Duarte's. The cemetery in the Recoleta part of town is a major tourist destination. Eva Duarte, better known as Evita Peron, is interred there. Walking into this cemetery is like walking into a miniature city. The entire cemetery is mausoleum after mausoleum. Most are in Spanish but I noticed a few in English. There's a map of the cemetery just inside the door so I avoided the tout offering 6 peso maps and just remembered the directions to Evita's tomb. Otherwise, it would be pretty easy to just follow the crowds. I wandered around the cemetery afterwards for a while, noting some were in great condition, some were in bad condition. Many had stairs going down. Not sure to what, especially since the stairs didn't look big enough to bring a coffin down. I continued a walking tour of that section of town, walking past the hulking Gothic building, to a museum. Being Wednesday, it was free so I did a quick tour. As is usual, I wasn't all that enthralled with the paintings on the walls but some of the other art caught my attention. Then I went to visit the giant metal flower, floraris generica, a 20m high hydraulically operated flower with petals that open in the morning and close at night. Stopped in a church and saw decorations that included human bones. Weird! I tried to take a tango lesson today, but the place that has offered daily classes in the past wasn't offering a class either today or any longer. Oh well. I could go to a show but will likely skip it altogether. Back in the neighborhood of the hostel, I went in an unsuccessful search for a used book store with English language books. Then it was back to the hostel where I played the waiting game to get access to the computers to download pictures from my camera. After finally getting the pictures copied, I went in search of Italian food. Apparently, a very large percentage of people in the area have some Italian heritage. I went to Al Fiorno on a recommendation and while I didn't particularly like my selection, I think the place was probably pretty good. Back at the hostel, I set my alarm for 3:30 and went to sleep. Thursday, February 12: Buenos Aires to UshuaiaI rolled out of bed mostly ready to go. Just had to get dressed and have the front desk call a taxi. The taxi drove past the giant flower so I had a chance to see it glowing with the internal red lights in it's closed position. It was cool. With the problem I had last year with a similar backpack flying from Malaysia to Thailand, I didn't take any chances and paid $30 (9 dollars) to have my backpack wrapped in plastic. Then I got an exit row seat. In the waiting area, I sat next to a 1939 Jewish refugee from Austria who has been living in Buenos Aires ever since. Interesting guy. Played the guessing game about the others waiting for the same flight. The group of Japanese tourists, 50 something group of four with outdoors duds (maybe on the same expeditions), other backpackers, etc. I was pleasantly surprised when getting on this plane. It was all leather like seating with plenty of leg room even in the regular seats. In the exit row, there was so much space, I could even cross my legs. Wow! The plane stopped in Calafate but I never saw either the town or the glacier the area is known for on the way in. Then we continued on to Ushuaia and I was surprised to see the plane descending through mountains that seemed to be reaching up for us. From my aisle seat though, I couldn't see down to the Beagle Channel that the plane was following until it took a turn. The mountains were rugged and spectacular. Their jagged peaks looked like difficult climbs and impossible hikes. There were a lot of glaciers and snow fields in the area and this is the middle of summer down here so if it hasn't melted yet, what I saw wasn't likely to go away any time soon. Retrieved my bag which arrived intact. Had to open my carry on to make sure there wasn't any fresh fruit or other items that could bring fruit flies into the area. Met Anna and Peter, a couple from Poland, also flying in on a one-way ticket with plans to travel north, hiking and backpacking as they go. We shared a taxi to a hostel, took one look and went to another nearby hostel. We all decided to stay there. I thought Ushuaia would be a rough fishing village, but it anything but. The main drag in town is full of high end stores and lots of tourists. The signs are frequently in English. There are pubs, other restaurants, and a lot of outfitters with gear priced double what I would see at home. Glad I got most of my shopping done in El Salvador and Buenos Aires. Having similar interests, Anna, Peter, and I ended up visiting the information booth in town, then grabbed lunch in a pub while it poured down rain outside. By the time we finished lunch, the weather changed again and it was nice. We decided to stick together and headed for a nearby hike in town. We climbed to the Glacier Martial for great views of town and the Beagle Channel in one direction, and we ended up at the foot of the glacier. We descended partway and then went up the Cañadon Negro, a drainage that led to a spectacular view of a deep valley being dominated by glaciated mountains above. Easily a better view than from the glacier. Altogether, we probably climbed close to 3000' that day. Coming down, we took an alternative trail which ended up being extremely muddy and slick. It was a nice trail if it hadn't been so wet though. This trail ended half a kilometer below where we had started so we hailed a taxi that had just dropped others off at the ski area where we had started. We walked to the supermarket and made dinner of pasta with an appetizer of carrots and tomatoes. Not a huge selection of veggies in that market. The three of us got along just great so we're likely to spend the next few days together exploring Tierra del Fuego National Park. Friday, February 13: Ushuaia to Tierra del Fuego National ParkIn a room of six, the two Israeli girls were loud and obnoxious when waking up at 5:00 this morning. Rather than planning the night before, they were noisy, rustling bags, talking with each other, dropping things, etc. That's a good example of how not to behave in a hostel. Oh well. By the time I got back to sleep, I ended up sleeping until 8:30. I hopped on the internet for half an hour and then ate my breakfast. I had to shower and get out of the room, but not the hostel, by 10:00. No problem. Then I joined Anna and Peter for breakfast. We decided to spend the next few days together in the park as we had similar interests and abilities. We shopped for food, repacked our bags and got ready to go. I was surprised when my hotel wouldn't hold my extra bags for me so I had to bring them back to the hostel. Then we had a bit of a wait for the shuttle to the park. We were let out on this gorgeous island with free camping. We were surrounded by mountains and cliffs. There was a river on one side and a bay on the other. The terrain reminded me of the highlands (either Grayson in Virginia, or Scottish) with open areas and then scrub areas. Not much protection from the wind which was strong. I was just hoping the wind would die down in the evening. We then walked to the other camping area and waited for the 5:00 shuttle to the other side of the park. We started a three hour hike just before 6:00pm. It wound along the coast, looking out over the Ensenada and Lapataia Bays both leading to the Beagle Channel. The Beagle Channel is well south of the Straits of Magellan, the better know channel. Across the channel to the south, is Chilean land. With a late sunset and a long dusk, we got back to our camp with plenty of time for them to cook their dinner in the light. I didn't bother with a stove on this trip, knowing I could make one along the way, if necessary, so I just ate my cold sandwich of ham and cheese. Thankfully, the wind had died down so it was OK to bundle up and sit outside. While we were finishing dinner, a Fuegian Red Fox came and wandered through our camp. It was obviously very used to humans as it came within a few meters and we were talking the whole time it was there. Of course, my camera was in my tent at the time. Argh! Met a Russian guy along the road near our campsite today. Turns out he's from Kazan, the same town where my niece and nephew are from. He was a bit weird, otherwise it would have been interesting to hear a bit about Kazan from him. It was only as I was writing this journal entry that I realized it was Friday the thirteenth. Oh well. We didn't have any bad luck today. Saturday, February 14: Tierra del FuegoSlept badly last night. Allergy nose congestion and an occasional cough. May buy some antibiotics in town just in case it turns into anything on the boat. Can't get prescriptions once on board. The wind picked up in the morning and it started raining. So rather than trying to get up early, I slept in. I had already decided I wasn't up for the mountain hike we had hoped to do. When the rain finally started dying down at 9:30, I inquired of the others about their plans. Turns out Anna had a cold and wasn't up for the hike, either. So, we all spent the day doing small hikes nearer to our campsite, including one that led to the end of the 3079km Route 3, better known as the Pan American highway. Not sure if that's 3079km in Argentina or through South America. We visited a mirador (viewpoint) over the Lapiteria Bay, an active beaver colony. Beavers are an introduced species and are causing havoc here. And we visited a beat bog in the making. There were a lot of birds to be seen.
Back at our camp, I napped for a couple of hours. Woke up at 6.00pm so went for a walk around the camp area and took picture of a bunny and a goose. It started raining again so I went back to my campsite to close up my tent. Sat a while talking with Peter while Anna slept longer. Ate dinner - another ham and cheese sandwich on the fattest pita bread I've ever seen. Hung out until dark, at about 10 something. Then sleep. Sunday, February 15: Tierra del Fuego to UshuaiaWoke up to a very unusual occurrence here in Tierra del Fuego. There was a big yellow orb in the sky and the sky was blue and clear. Wow! It's always been cloudy and frequently rainy though we've managed to do most of our hiking 'while it has been dry though we've had occasional sprinkles. The bit of condensation on my tent dried before I had to pack it. then we headed off to Roco Lake for our pickup but didn't make it as the guy in the van was driving in our direction so we could flag him down. I think he was in a rush as he drove crazy trying to get back to town. It was too early to check in so I left my backpack at the hotel and went back to the hostel to pick up the rest of my stuff and meet Anna and Peter. They decided on another hostel so were only picking up their stuff. So, we ended up saying our good byes. They're going to be heading north visiting the same areas I want to visit in Patagonia and other areas when I get back from Antarctica. I hope to hear from them and get some tips before I head north. We'll see. Back at the hotel, I checked into my room, grabbed a shower, and then got a load of laundry together. I stopped to do a bit of research on the computers available at the hotel before heading for the laundromat. It was only when I got there that I realized that it was Sunday and many businesses are closed. I'm going to have to do my laundry tomorrow and then carry it around with me all day. Argh! I grabbed some yogurt from the store and some sodas for the boat and headed back to the room. I ate and watched a bit of TV. Then spent some time on line though I couldn't hook up my hard drive to the computers at the hotel. At 6:30, the cruise meeting started. There wasn't a lot of new information imparted but some clarifying points were made. Plus I finally met my roommate here at the hotel and my roommate, someone else, for the cruise. I hadn't eaten much all day so was hungry even though it was a bit early for many of the restaurants in town which open at 8pm. After I grabbed my jacket from my room, I met Sanjay in the lobby, another cruise person. We ended up going for pizza near the hostel I had stayed in. It was delicious. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was nearly 10:00. The computers were free so after writing my journal entry for today, I had time to transcribe it. Monday, February 16 to Thursday, March 5: Antarctica cruiseFrom Ushuaia, I took a twenty day cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and the Antactic Peninsula. I've included my journal from that cruise on a separate page. Friday, March 6: UshuaiaWe pulled into port at 6:00am. Docking was so smooth nobody felt a thing. I was in the shower at the time so missed out on watching the process. I ate well for our last breakfast but it was so early, it wasn't going to be brunch no matter how long I tried to stretch it. I left my luggage at the storage facility until I could find and check into a hostel. I went to Yakush, a hostel which had a much better feel than the previous one I had stayed in in Ushuaia. It was nicer, felt cleaner, and had a better and more social atmosphere without turning into a party hostel. It costs the same as the previous hostel and includes breakfast. Not bad. By the time I checked email, scoped out the nearby laundromat, and retrieved my backpack from the storage facility, I could check in and get to my bed. I quickly pulled my laundry together and washed almost everything, leaving me to hang out in a rather cool town wearing my light skirt, crocs, and a fleece sweater. I had my rain jacket but needed to wash my heavier jacket after hanging out with penguins for a couple of weeks. I napped both before and after lunch, eating at the hostel in the hopes that I can get a bit more serious about watching where my money is hemorrhaging, knowing I also want to make it to Easter Island and the Galapagos. Being back in money saving mode is difficult in this relatively expensive town but shopping at a supermarket and cooking one's own food helps. Burgers on the grill for dinner. Then gave my first Antarctic presentation to Wim, another hosteller who is heading to the Peninsula in a week or so. Saturday, March 7: UshuaiaVisited the PO today. It's VERY expensive to mail even small packages home from here. I'll try again when I get to Chile. It certainly can't be more expensive. I visited a few bus companies and now know my options for getting out of town. Not knowing exactly when I wanted to leave, I didn't book right away. By the day's end, I had decided to do a two to three day hike with Wim, the Antarctic bound guy I had met the day before. He was just hanging around town, not particularly motivated to do much and with the murmurs of others who had done this hike and gotten lost, I decided I didn't want to do it alone. I asked him if he wanted to join me and he was game. Then I booked my bus out of Ushuaia for Wednesday. I was completely unsuccessful in finding an Internet Cafe with a DVD reader that would read my DVD from the Quark boat and/or recognize my hard drive. Argh! I wanted to include information about the ship's program with the first of the journal entries I mailed out. Oh well... I'll keep trying as I travel north - at least until I mail the DVD home. For our evening's entertainment, Wim and I made a soda can stove. He hadn't been able to find any fuel for the heavier stove he was carrying and was intrigued by the stove I was planning on making for myself. I had never successfully made one before but had only tried one half-hearted attempt so between the two of us, we managed to pull together a pretty good stove. We put the holes in the side so that we wouldn't need a separate pot stand. We attracted quite the crowd in the hostel, especially when we filled it and lit the thing on fire. It worked perfectly. The first pot we tried to use didn't work because the bottom was a bit concave. It put out the fire. Before realizing what the problem was, we tried again with the same pot but I was ready to lift it up before the fire went out and was rewarded with an interesting sight when the bottom of the pot continued to have a flame even though I wasn't anywhere near the stove. The concave bottom held the vapor which continued to burn for a surprisingly long time. When we tested the stove with Wim's pot, it worked well. With about 27cc of fuel, it vaporized the fuel in 1.5-2 minutes, then boiled half a liter of water in 8 minutes, and then continued to burn for another 7 minutes or so. Wim, skeptical when I first mentioned my stove plans to him, looked up the stoves on-line before he really believed me. Then even so, he was impressed with the results. Jerome who had been giving us moral if skeptical support, was amazed and kept trying to steal the stove once he realized how well it worked. Well, he kept threatening to steal the stove anyway. Sunday, March 8: Ushuaia to Lago de CominanteHappy International Women's Day. Who knew? Many of the men here have wished me a good day today and yet for a holiday that ostensibly got it's start in the US, I really knew (or had forgotten) anything about it. In any case, IWD seems to be a good day to start a hike. I was up, showered, and breakfasted before Wim got up. No problem. I had been warned and we're not in too much of a rush. Sunset is still very late in these parts. I packed and put my extra stuff in the hostel's storage room. Then went shopping for the food I would need for three days. By the time I got back to the hostel, Wim had almost finished packing so by the time I packed my food, we were ready to call a taxi. It's amazing how consistent taxi fares are here. When someone says it'll be 18 pesos, it is. This ride cost someone else 21 pesos and that's what it cost us. We were dropped off near the edge of a rural community on the outskirts of town. There were a few small houses and larger ranches in the area. We walked to the end of the road and went through the fence marked no trespassing. We had been told about that in advance, too. A few hundred meters on, the road turned and we continued straight onto an old woods road that had been converted to an ATV track. All the downed trees were cut back just enough for horses and ATVs as was in evidence by the hoof prints, tire tracks, and mud. We passed a peat farm with triangular horses supporting the sheaths of drying peat. We had been warned by others about getting lost but when we entered the well marked Tierra del Fuego park boundary, we found the trail well marked with yellow pickets at any points of potential confusion and a few extra places as well. At the border, we were greeted by a herd of a dozen horses or so. They looked very well fed. We almost immediately came upon a beautiful campsite and stopped for lunch. It was only an hour into our hike but since we hadn't started until almost noon, it was time for food. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, apple crystal light, Cheetos, and some Milka chocolate. Continuing on, we were careful not to enter the Cañado Negro, the same canyon I had seen from my hike on the day I first got to Ushuaia. But as long as we followed the marked trail, we stayed on the right path. We were following a beautiful river drainage and at one point I noticed we had veered away from it and it was now a pond. Beavers, an introduced species, were wreaking havoc in the area but since Wim had never seen a beaver pond, we went to look at the dam. By the time we got back to the trail, we had to sit and remove all the burrs that had gathered on our pants, socks, and shoes. That's when Tom and heather caught up with us. It didn't take long to realize that they were also Appalachian Trail thruhikers, having hiked southbound in 2001. We hiked together for a while but then they went ahead while I waited for shutterbug Wim to catch up. We started climbing out of the valley and when we got to our well-marked trail junction, we went from AT-like trail through forest to PCT-like sidehill trail high up on the mountains. From the junction, it was a relatively short walk to the lake through the trail down left a lot to be desired. We basically had to descend straight down along a muddy path that was almost a stream. At the bottom, we joined Tom and Heather camping in the lenga forest. These lenga trees are part of the beech family but are twisted like bonsai trees and grow as much horizontal as vertical. Their trunks make great seats. Dinner of pasta and cheese with mushrooms was delicious. Later Tom and Heather treated us to Hot Chocolate and Wim shared the bottle of wine he had carried in. It was a great way to end the day and we didn't crawl into bed until after 10pm, very late for most backpacking trips. Monday, March 9: Lago Cominante to unnamed horse campHigh hopes for spending the day at the lake were stymied by wet gray weather. it never really rained but kept threatening to. We finally gave up after lunch and started hiking at 2:00pm. We knew the wind had picked up at the lake but were shocked when we got to the sidehill trail and started getting blown around. It was scary for me just to get back to the trail junction. We should have learned and gone back the same way we came but were hoping that the wind would have died down on the other side of the pass. We were wrong. The walk up to the pass was a bit muddy until we got to the talus but it was quite reasonable if windy. Going over the pass however was interesting. On relatively flat ground, three points of contact were necessary to keep from getting blown over. Once on the other side of the pass, where some others had gotten lost, we once again found the trail to be well marked. We knew to stay high and to the left so looking that was, we found picket after picket marking our way. We soon found ourselves well high over the valley bottom but being blown about by the wind going through the valley. If it weren't so windy, it would have been a great hike but the wind was dangerous. I was getting blown over quite frequently and at one point, broke a hiking pole, banged an elbow, tore a hole in the pants that had been made for me in Guatemala and put a corresponding hole in my knee. Ouch! Wim, who was able to stay on his feet a bit better than me saw me go down and came back. There wasn't much he could do except lend me one of the hiking poles he wasn't using. On another occasion, one of my water bottles blew out of the side pocket of my pack. Thankfully, it came to rest maybe 20 meters further down the trail so I was able to retrieve it. Mostly, when the wind dies, I would hoof it down the trail trying to make as much time as possible. When the gusts blew however, I would just lean into the hill and wait for the gusts to pass. This often took minutes. My upper body and torso got a workout doing all these modified push ups. We expected the trail to descend into the valley but ended up staying very high for hours, fighting the wind the entire way. Finally we descended a series of switchbacks through a talus slope and then entered the forest. There was immediate and very welcome relief from the wind. Plus, while it had been threatening to rain all day, we hadn't been able to use our pack covers as they were getting blown off out packs when we tried. So here, we could use them if necessary. I think today's hike was one of the scariest hikes I've ever done, if not the scariest. I may have had short scary sections in the past but to be scared for so many hours in a row was a very new experience for me and not one I would wish on anyone else. That said, I would recommend the hike to anyone interested but just advise them if the wind was strong at the trail junction to the lake, to go back the way you came, and not go through the pass. We traveled through the forest, once again, used by horses and muddy at times and when we got near the edge, found a horse camp (for lack of a better word) and set up camp. We set up our tents in the light and started cooking in the light, but finished cooking with our headlamps. Dinner was eaten by headlamp. Tuesday, March 10: horse camp to UshuaiaI woke up early to a beautiful sunrise but being somewhat obscured by trees, I didn't wake Wim up. I went back to sleep and woke to rain. Argh! Nothing like packing a wet tent plus the extra time it takes to pack when trying to keep everything dry. Of course for Wim, the nearly hour it took him to pack was the fastest he had ever packed up camp. It helped that we had run out of water so he didn't have to fire up the stove for a hot drink. We hadn't realized last night, but we had set up camp just inside the fence. A few minutes from camp, and we were on an old road, no longer used by motor transport, but still easy to navigate. The terrain changed as well and we were back in highlands like landscape. Our road led to a fence near some buildings. It was obvious to me that many had gone under the fence but there was no gate and no indication which way was best to get back to the main road which we could see. So instead of going under the fence near the buildings, we walked along the fence until another fence had us backed into a corner. At that point, we went under, followed the new fence line and went under one more fence to gain the road. A couple of crested caracara on fence posts kept the walk interesting and we soon intersected with the main road. From there, we tried hitching but all the trucks passing by us had just filled up at the nearby quarry and weren't stopping and most of the cars that passed us were either full or pointing at some unknown destination to let us know they weren't traveling into the town of Ushuaia. Finally, a taxi happened by and we took that back to town. Turns out we flagged it down just before we would have hit the paved section of road. I'm glad to have gotten the ride. The walk through town would not be fun and we were probably unlikely to get a hitch once inside of town. We were back at the hostel before 11am so had to wait an hour to get our beds. Then we had the typical pack explosion with wet items getting hung wherever we could find space. I showered and did some hand wash knowing that my heavier socks were unlikely to dry by morning when I would have to hop on my bus to Chile. Then lunch was leftover hiking supplies. I spent a bit of time on the internet and then tried to go get hiking poles. But, 3pm was too early for many places to reopen to I tried again at 4pm and found all the stores open again. I finally chose a cheapo hiking pole replacement for all of 79 pesos or $21. While sometimes you get what you pay for, I'm hoping I've gotten a bit more than that with this pole. Tom and Heather didn't show up for a tentative dinner gathering so we did our own thing again and then spent the evening making another stove. This time, we had an even bigger audience, some of whom were playing very close attention to how we made the stove. One thing led to another and I was soon giving and impromptu session on how to use hiking poles. if only Tom and Heather had shown up... It would have been a true Ruck experience. It got late and I was leaving very early in the morning so I said goodnight to Wim who was crashing before me and then updated my journal before going to sleep myself. [Date: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:21 pm If everything goes well, I'll be out backpacking for the next week or so. I'm planning on doing a loop in Torres del Paine National Park that takes 7-9 days. I bought food for seven days. If worst comes to worst, there's overpriced food available for sale at some of the refugios along the way but I hope I don't need to take advantage of them. In any case, I plan to spend another day or two here in Puerto Natales upon my return. So here's my up to the minute journal entry, including today's entry... Wednesday, March 11: Ushuaia, Argentina to Puerto Natales, ChileI woke up early to find I was only one of maybe eight or so from Yakush Hostel heading north on the same bus. It was a very nice bus, not just compared to those I had taken in Central America, but compared to ones I've taken in the US, too. Unfortunately, the leg room was rather limited and the bus was full but the guy who thought he was in the back of the bus in seat 45 agreed to switch with me when he saw he was in the front in the single seat just behind the door. that means I traded foot room for knee room but I could sit sideways and stretch my legs out behind the door to the driver's compartment. On this 11 hour ride, we first crossed over the mountains east of Ushuaia and then descended into the Pampas which reminded me of the northern plains states in the us. It was dry with mostly flat short scrub and grass with occasional rolling hills, mostly in the distance. After traveling east, we turned north along the Atlantic Ocean until we came to the Argentine border control. We all had to get off the bus and go through immigration. That took the better part of an hour. Continuing on, it was a good 20km before we came to the Chilean border control. There, we not only had to get off the bus to go through immigration, but we had to unload our backpacks and take them individually into the immigration to go through x-ray control. That took maybe another hour but then we were delayed when they found an apple on the bus. They had to wait until we all got back on the bus to find out whose it was and then she was brought off the bus. I don't know if she was fined, but she could have been. She was smiling when she got back on board so maybe they gave her a break. No fruits, vegetables, seeds, or other farm products are allowed across the frontier. The pampas would be our landscape for the rest of the trip. Calling the pampas home are the guanaco, llama-like animals that surprisingly can jump like deer, and Rhea, ostrich-like birds though a bit smaller than ostrich. Our next stop was when the bus pulled onto a ferry to get across the Straights of Magellan. Once again, I find myself marveling at the fact that I'm actually visiting places that seemed otherworldly when reading about them in history and geography classes. Still unable to find my pesos, I scrounged the last of my change and a few centavos from someone else to buy a hot dog on board the ferry. Then I went out to watch for dolphins. Leaning over to look at the bow wake had others telling me 'don't jump' not realizing that the bow wake is where many dolphins choose to play. I did spot two dolphins with white sides swimming at breakneck speeds directly towards the boat on our port side. I didn't see them turn towards the bow so they probably went under. I looked at the other side but never caught sight of them again. Later in the day, continuing through the pampas north of the Straights, I saw what was probably a South American Gray Fox cross the road in front of the bus. We followed the north side of the Straight the rest of the way to Punta Arenas. The only food stop other than the ferry we had made all day was a 15 minute stop in the morning at a panaderia. I couldn't find most of the pesos I thought I had so just bought one chicken empanada and an apple pastry. Both were delicious. I'm just glad I had other munchies with me on the bus. We pulled in Punta Arenas just after 6pm so had almost an hour and a half. The first bank the bus station sent us to wouldn't take Visa so I found a Bank of Chile and used the ATM there. Then I found a small store with a soda fountain like counter and got a cheeseburger. It was a two burger cheeseburger on a huge tostada. I noticed a park paying homage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who not only wrote The Little Prince, but was the head of the Argentine postal service for a few years, as well. Back at the bus station, I retrieved my backpack from storage and climbed onto the bus only to discover there wasn't enough knees room. Based on what a German passenger said, I went back inside and was surprised to find I could change seats for the front row. Once again, there was no foot room, but I had two seats and could sit sideways quite comfortably. Turns out, I couldn't see the Pirates of the Caribbean movie they were showing but as I had heard, others have seen the beginning many times but never the end. Sure enough, I read my book but when we pulled into our final destination, the movie was still playing. I ignored the touts and walked to the hostel I wanted to go to but couldn't find it so stopped at another which was a bit pricey at 8000 Chilean pesos (C$600 to the dollar) but got me a TV in my own room. I watched a bit but then crashed. I did eventually find the rest of my Argentinean pesos. They were in my wallet where they belonged. Argh! Thursday, March 12: Puerto NatalesI woke up much too early at 8:00am, normally a late morning for me. Noise in the corridor was to blame. I tried to use the Internet but had to install some free malware removal software first. That took a while so I ate breakfast of tostadas, with cheese, sandwich meat, butter, jam, and one little muffin. While waiting for the computer to scan, I ran out long enough to know that there were better and cheaper options for lodging in town. I later checked out and then checked into Hospedaje Gloria, not a hospital, but a home hostel/guesthouse. Breakfast and internet are included. My new place is just C$6000/night. No TV but my bathroom is almost a private bathroom. Everything else is better than where I was the night before. With at least ten of us here, I'm the only non-Israeli here. As a percentage of travelers, there are more Israelis around here than travelers from any one other area. I generally try to avoid stereotypes but the stereotypes associated with traveling Israelis hold true quite frequently. In general, they are loud, insular, cheap, and inconsiderate of both other travelers and locals. Almost every time my sleep has been disrupted, it's been the Israeli's to blame. If you say something, they shrug and say it's their right to behave however they want. They think their time in the military entitles them to bowl over everyone else's feelings. They frequently speak only Hebrew to each other even when there are others around. I don't believe they are required to speak English, but when you see mixed groups with almost any other language and nationality involved, they usually try to accommodate others and speak a common language, usually English. Some will switch to English but many don't. In the afternoon, I) might have well been the only one here. Any attempt I made to engage them resulted in short responses, no continuation of conversation, and immediate return to talk with each other in Hebrew. Later on, a couple of Chileans came in and then a Brit who was probably just as happy as I was that there was one other person there who was willing to speak English. One of the Israelis was cooking up a storm in the kitchen, baking challah and then making stuffed peppers, with boiled potatoes in a tomato sauce and rice cakes to use the extra rice. She made way too much for her and her boyfriend and so shared with me and others. Delicious! She was one of the few to talk with me in the afternoon. It came out while talking with her that I was Jewish. I don't know if word got around, or if people just wanted something new to talk about, but in the evening, I had an interesting conversation with a couple of the other Jewish guys about the state of Israel. Even with just the two of them, they were on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum when it came to the use of military force to fight the Hamas. Finished the day with an internet session. Friday, March 13: Puerto NatalesMore internet in the morning before having to fight off the crowds. Turns out the crowds had already left to their various destinations. Had the usual breakfast of tostadas with cheese and other options such as butter, jam, and dulce de leche. Spent the morning taking it easy at the hostel. Then at 4:00, when stores reopened, I finally bought a pot, food for seven days, denatured alcohol, and a bus ticket to Torres del Paine for 7:00am tomorrow morning. My knee is still complaining but I don't think it's mostly the bruising from the fall, not anything that requires more rest. Back at the hostel, I fashioned a pot cover from a small round aluminum foil tin and a windscreen from a larger 13x9 type pan. Then I packed and ran out to get the bread I forgot to buy on my first shopping spree. Not wanting to cook, I stopped for a salmon dinner at a nearby restaurant. The fillet of salmon was HUGE and delicious. The fries were a bit undercooked and smelled funny. Perhaps the oil was old? I just hope I don't wake up with a case of food poisoning. It was so much food that I couldn't finish it anyway and having made the acquaintance of the long-distance bicycling couple sitting at the next table, my offer of my leftover fish and fries was eagerly taken up. Back at the hostel, the Israelis are celebrating shabbat, not so much in a religious sense as in a traditional dinner sense with more than enough wine. It was also noted that today is the second Friday the 13th in two months. Once again, nothing bad seems to have happened on this day noted for bad luck. [Date: Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:03 am Here's my Torres del Paine journal. I've been out of the park for a week already and this past week's journal entry will be much smaller and posted relatively soon. Once again, I've found myself hanging out in one town for an extended period. More details to come... Mara - from Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile] Saturday, March 14: Puerto Natales to Campamento Seron, Torres del Paine National ParkWoke up for an early breakfast after being told my bus would come at 7:00. My ticket said 7:30 though. And the bus finally came at 8:00. It then continued its rounds to pick up people at a bunch of other hostels in town. We probably didn't get going until 8:30 or so. The ride took a couple of hours through mostly pampas and rolling hills. There were guanacos and rheas to see along the way. From far away, we could see our approach to the park and the three towers for which the park is named, Torres del Paine, surrounded by larger mountains. When we arrived at the park, we quickly paid our admission of 15,000 pesos and just four of us set off on the large 'O' circuit from there. Most others stayed on the bus to go further into the park or took the shuttle to get to a different trailhead. The trail started through pampas with an ever changing view of the towers. Eventually, we lost sight of the towers and reached the river. We followed the milky blue glacial river that had rapids that made me want to go rafting rather than hiking. While it was wide and flat in places, the water moved even in the flat places. At the rapids, my untrained eye put many of them at class III and IV and possibly higher in places. Windy areas brought back none too pleasant memories of last week's hike around Ushuaia and had made me nervous about the upcoming trip through the John Gardner Pass. I arrived at Camp Seron at 2:30, just too late to continue the next six hour stretch to Dickson Camp. The wind was still blowing and made tent setup a bit of a chore. Once up though, the tent withstood the powerful wind albeit with a bit of flapping. I passed the afternoon and evening with an Austrian and a Czech guy traveling together as well as one French guy, unprepared for conditions he's likely to encounter. He's wearing jeans, has one other pair of cotton pants, and no wind or rain pants. This is his first ever trek. When I learned to hike, I started on small day hikes and when I started going overnight, I started on short one night trips before venturing out for longer hikes. I have to wonder about all these people (and it happens on the AT, as well) who think that a long trek is a good place to learn how to hike. At least no the AT. there are places to bail out within hours of most places. Not so for much of Torres del Paine. There's a British guy here with an interesting lightweight tent. It's a Laser Photon by Terra Nova and weighs in at 800g including the one pole and handful of wirelike titanium stakes. It's made out of a very thin, single ply Gore-Tex which means it's probably very expensive (330 pounds according to the Terra Nova web site). It was designed for adventure racing. I cooked dinner in the lee of my tent with only a little coaxing of my stove and pot combo. As planned the stove vaporized the alcohol properly but when I tried to put my pot on the stove, it repeatedly put out the flame. After a few minutes though, I was able to leave the pot on the stove without any problems. Go figure! My pasta with mushroom sauce was pretty good and it was nice to be able to wash my pot when I was done. I could also discard my trash here as well as use a flush toilet. If I had planned better, I could have brought shower gear and made use of the showers, too. I guess I am entitled to some services for the 4,000 peso camping fee I have to pay. Here in the park, you are supposed to camp only in designated spots and many, but not all, charge a fee. Unfortunately, the free sites aren't well distributed so there's no way to legally avoid the pay sites. Bedtime at 9:30. Sunday, March 15: Campamento SeronAfter a cold night where I could never really warm up, it felt good to get out this morning. With daylight savings ending here in Chile and the clocks falling back and hour, it was just after 7:00am when I started walking this morning. Because I was so cold all night, I started out walking in all my clothes in an attempt to finally get warm. Just a few minutes after I started out, it started raining so I quickly took shelter in a tiny copse of trees and stripped off one layer of dry clothes to ensure I would have something dry in my pack at all times and started to put on my rain gear. It stopped raining while I was doing all of this so I just left the rest of my rain gear handy and continued walking. I should have put it all on the first time. After another few minutes, it started raining again and I just happened to be near another small copse of trees so once again, I stopped and put the rest of my rain gear on as well as my packcover. I would stay covered up as such for the rest of the day's hike. I soon caught up with a couple just leaving their stealth camp. That's one way to avoid the camping fees in the park. We soon started climbing the headland over which the views were supposed to be spectacular. Unfortunately, the view was completely obscured by clouds and rain. The weather continued to deteriorate and I was having a hard time staying warm. My fingers and toes were the main problems. Even with the overmitts I bought in Buenos Aires for Antarctica but never needed there, I couldn't keep my fingers warm. I had mittens in my backpack but wanted to keep them dry for camp if at all possible. The wind also picked up at the top of the hill and going down the far side. I made it down the hill and took a break in the first sheltered area I came to in yet another copse of trees. There I was protected from the wind and from at least some of the rain as well. I decided to eat some food and reassess my situation at that point. As much as I don't like to start hiking in the rain, I normally don't mind once I am hiking. Today was different as I was having a hard time staying warm. While it was wet and windy, it didn't seem all that cold. Perhaps this is related to my thyroid problem? I was also having yet more doubts about the wind situation through the pass. But what really got me thinking was my knee. Last week's fall resulted in what I thought had been just a scrape and a surface bruise. It hadn't really bothered me much in the last few days and on yesterday's hike, I didn't have any problems. But yesterday's hike was basically flat. Coming down this relatively small 400m hill was also relatively easy because it was a fairly gentle grade. But there had been a couple of steep sections and I realized that the bump I got on my left knee last week had to be more than a surface bruise. For those short steep sections, me knee had been rather painful. I usually favor my right knee and now it was a toss-up which knee to favor. And it's really hard to favor both of them at once. I also know that the descent on the back side of the John Gardner pass is a long and steep descent. With all of these issues facing me, I decided to turn back. By turning back now, I would still have enough food with me to do the entire 'W' if my knee was up to it. If I continued and turned back tomorrow or the next day, I would run low on food and limit my options on the other side of the park. There were plenty of other hikers with me as I took this break. When I made the decision to turn back, I told those that were there what I ws doing in case anyone at the next campsite would think to wonder at my absence. The weather had continued to deteriorate and climbing the hill on the way back was much wetter than when I had descended. But at least I had the strengthening wind at my back rather than blowing stinging rain and sleet in my face. I passed a number of other hikers on my way back including the sopping wet French guy, other well prepared hikers, and two Chilean girls who were also unprepared for the weather and hiking in cotton who seemed unsure about their own abilities. I caught one oftheir packcovers just as it was about to be blown off of her backpack. A way to attach packcovers to your pack is essential in these winds. Going down the hill on the other side made me realize I had made the right decision. It was the steeper side of the hill and it was very slow and painful going for me. Four or five hours after leaving the Camp Seron, I was back in site of the camp and happy to see smoke coming out of the chimney at the main building. While not feeling particularly welcome to go in the main building the first day, today, I was going to ask directly whether I could at least go in to warm up for a while. When I got there, I was surprised to see as much smoke in the building as going out of the chimney and I was glad that the caretaker was OK with my going in to warm up. They were just getting the fire going as I arrived and were having a hard time of it. Thankfully, it was soon blazing away and the draft was soon working and taking the smoke up the chimney where it belonged. I ate lunch at the table with a girl on a one day horseback tour. It was her guides getting the fire going. Once the stove was warm, I joined her and stood near the stove to warm up and start to dry all of my wet belongings. Others soon joined us who were just starting the 'O'. The two Chilean girls also returned after realizing they weren't all that prepared for what the weather was throwing at them. Since they were near the end of the line leaving the camp that morning, they hadn't gotten word to anyone going ahead that they were turning back and later, a radio call went out to ensure that they had returned to Seron when they failed to show up at Dickson. At 4:00pm, the rain finally quit after it's all day onslaught. The hikers crowded inside started going outside to dry gear in the wind rather than the heat. I waited a couple of hours for the sun and wind to dry the ground a bit and then set up my tent for the evening, being very careful to avoid any potential depressions. After last nights group of eight of us, tonight's crowd of 20 or so seems huge, especially for this late in the season. This camp shuts down on March 24 and Philipe, the guy who's been overseeing it all summer, goes back to Punta Arenas to work as a history professor. Yesterday, I wasn't sure if hikers were supposed to be inside the building at all. Today, we're not only hanging out in there all day, we're cooking there, too. At first, it was only on the wood stove which was going to be hot whether anyone was cooking on it or not. Then when it had cooled off, I asked if I should put more wood on the fire and he indicated I could just use the propane stove to cook. Wow! Backcountry cooking made easy. Unfortunately, the pipe that supplies the building's water had collapsed under the flood from today's rain so there were no showers and no fresh water to drink. An American couple also getting warm in the hut offered to give me a liter of their pumped water to save me from having to walk up the hill to the now muddy stream. Sweet! When I had set up my tent, I had noticed theirs and it seemed vaguely familiar. Sure enough, it was a Stephenson Warmlite, the first manufacturer of tents using silnylon that I'm aware of. They were surprised that I knew of their tents. We spent time talking over dinner. Then I journaled in the warmth of the hut before going to bed. After freezing for much of last night, I almost rented a sleeping bag to supplement my own, but the rain brought a warm front with it and even with the wind, I was plenty warm to start the night. Monday March 16: Campamento Seron to Campamento Paine GrandeI woke up to a very dry tent after a night of very windy conditions. While my tent, a first generation Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo, withstood the onslaught, the inability to pitch it tautly meant that it flapped all night and kept me from sleeping as well as I would have liked. Plus, with the wind, the tent kept pressing gently against me through the night. I found that as long as I had the sleeping bag on my head and shoulder where it was pressing into me, it didn't bother me so much. At least there was no condensation to get pressed into my down sleeping bag. I said good-bye to Susan and Ralph Alcorn, the American couple with the Stephenson tent, this morning. Turns out, we know many of the same people from the PCT-L (Pacific Crest Trail) email list. She's also the author of "We're in the Mountains, Not Over the Hill" a book that I've sold when working at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The walk out to Torres took longer than it should have but I was dealing with a migraine that slowed me down a bit. I met Severine along the way, a park employee from France out for a morning walk before her shift at the refugio that afternoon. We walked and talked for a while and both she and I seemed happy to have someone to talk with who understood the concept of 'Leave no Trace', something completely foreign to most of the park's visitors. After wandering through the Eco lodge area because there were no signs indicated where to go when I got to the Torres area, I was pointed in the direction of the campground. I ate lunch and then made my way to the refugio to get the information I would need to figure out how to spend the rest of my time in the park. I was finally able to get some good information when Severine came on duty at 3pm. I ended up taking the 4pm shuttle to Laguna Amarga, where I had started my hike three days earlier, then caught the bus to the catamaran and took the catamaran to the Paine Grande area. I found a tent site, set up camp, and then took a look around. This camp has a quincho for the campers to use. It's a kitchen facility complete with propane burners and cold water sink. The nearby refugio is for those with much deeper pockets. Full meal service is also available. There's a bar with drinks and snacks, too. It's also where I had to go to pay for my campsite. Here, it's 3,500 pesos per night. They give you a sticker to put on your tent guylines. The sites are in tiny clearings between low scrub. I tried to find the highest of the low shrub to offer my tent the most windbreak. In the neighboring clearing, just a few feet away, two other hikers were sharing a site with a picnic table between them. They were friendly so I felt free to use their picnic table as my clearing is too small for one. The three of us ended up having dinner together in the quincho where it was really nice to get out of the relentless wind and into the relative warmth of an enclosed building. Of course, that meant dealing with many of the other campers but it was a friendly atmosphere. I used the propane stove provided in the building to cook my meal. Many others opted to use their own stoves and cook on the tiled tables built for that purpose rather than wait for a chance at the stove. On my first day in the park, I lost the mud basket to my new hiking pole. I was kicking myself for not checking that the guy in the shop put it on correctly. I should have known better. Knowing that the piece of plastic was out there littering irks me. Well, today, I found a mud basket. It wasn't the one I lost and it doesn't fit my hiking poles, but at least I could feel a bit better about helping clean up what someone else lost. Tuesday, March 17: Campamento Paine GrandeHappy Saint Patrick's Day, but more importantly, I can't believe it has been exactly TEN years since the start of my Appalachian Trail thruhike. I woke up this morning to a gorgeous sunrise. Mist surrounding Grande Paine and the Cuernos Mountains turned vibrant red with the rising sun. My tent survived the night but since I needed my hiking poles for today's hike, I collapsed my tent and ensured it wouldn't blow to bits in my absence with a number of well placed rocks. The forecast was for 60kph winds today. Walking to Gray Glacier, I can believe it. I got to the mirador along the way and couldn't stand up there. I thought about turning back at that point given that it was much more downhill to go the rest of the way to the refugio but then the Italian I was camped near caught up and we walked and talked the rest of the way, frequently keeping my mind off the pain in my knees. At the refugio, we caught up with Dennis, the Czech also at our camping area. He had already been at the mirador and said the wind was picking up so we decided to eat lunch at the refugio campground and then visit the mirador. Turns out, I was the only one who brought lunch. They just munched on candy bars. I've noticed many of the people out here don't eat nearly enough for their activity level. They eat a thin cup-of-soup type soup for a meal, don't bother to snack much en route, and then have more soup at their destination. Then there are the others who carry huge loads and pack in fresh vegetables. Sometimes, they are only doing that for the first night where they don't have to carry their backpack at all, but some have the veggies in the backcountry. The day's hike started in a valley, twisting and winding along a mostly gentle rise, and eventually losing sight of the lake behind us. Soon, we gained sight of our destination lake along which the rest of our hike would stay. The morning's rainbow was frequently visible as we walked along. Some bright blue icebergs were visible in bays along the way well below us. A tiny berg further out in the lake finally resolved itself to be the sightseeing boat that was positively dwarfed by the icebergs. Continuing, we came to a rise and then got our first view of the Gray Glacier. I could see two prongs entering the lake. The mirador came up a couple of hours after leaving camp but it was too windy to spend any time there. I got to a spot out of the wind and contemplated whether to go on or go back given the rest of the way was going to have a lot of downhill (the painful way) to get to the refugio. I continued with my camp neighbor. After lunch at the refugio, we went to the mirador. I stayed near the top, and got good views of the icebergs and foot of the glacier. Also got a picture of my friend near the water that put the rest of the glacier in perspective. After taking 'map' time of 3.5 hours to get to the refugio, I took my time going back and took 5-5.5 hours on the way back. This time, the wind had died down a bit and the mirador was a nice place to stop and contemplate the sheer size of the glacier. Continuing down the valley back to camp, there were many lenticular clouds forming in the near distance. They were stacked on top of each other and strung along on multiple places. Many look like UFOs. Their formation is a regular occurrence in this part of the world and may be why Steve Fosset's gliding world record as well as many other gliding records were performed in this part of the world. Once back in camp, I re-erected my tent and went to dinner in the quincho hoping my tent wouldn't blow away in my absence. I did a lot of thinking today about how much more hiking I could or should so. Not just here, but in general. I was told in high school to avoid stairs and hills and my lifestyle has certainly taken its toll on my knees. Every hike I do seems to get more difficult and more painful, with more miles of having to be careful to step this way or that way to minimize pain. At some point, when thinking about how to minimize pain becomes my primary focus rather than enjoying the natural settings around me, then it just won't be worth it any more. As it is, for my immediate future, I don't think I'll be doing the valleys which are the highlight of this national park. Oh well. I will continue to do what I can. Right now, I've got food to last eight days so even if I just camp and look at the scenery instead of hiking through it, that'll be good enough. As a traveler, if I were to forgo carrying my backpacking gear, my pack would be so much smaller and lighter, making for easier travel between destinations. Well, I don't have to make any decisions right now and even if I do, I can always reserve the right to change my mind. :-) Or, maybe I'll just research the world's best flat hikes. Tonight, the clouds cleared, the winds settled to aggressive breezes, and satellites raced each other across the sky. Wednesday, March 18: Campamento Paine GrandeToday's sunrise was not so spectacular so I didn't wake any of my neighbors to suggest they take a look. I communed with the ubiquitous rufous collared sparrows, bold little birds happy to scratch at our campsites for any crumbs left behind. Here, with the quincho, that generally means slim picking as most campers seem to be happy to eat inside and out of the elements. I watched a condor off in the distance. I was a bit sore this morning and didn't feel like hiking. By 9:30, I figured out why. I had a migraine. I took some Excedrin and the headache was gone within an hour but a weird 'off' feeling stuck around. I was happy to do nothing and take a zero day here at Lago Pehoé. The morning was nice so I spent some time at the picnic table near my tent but when it got cold, I was happy to move indoors to the quincho. Working Sudoku puzzles and talking with other hikers helped pass the time. After carrying it around for five days, I finally opened my peanut butter and jelly. The peanut butter, a brand from the US is in a handy plastic jar. The jelly is in a plastic packet that doesn't have any way to reseal it. Getting creative, I found a small stick and split it to use like a clothespin on the folded packet. Keeping the jelly in a Ziploc bag in my pot should keep it from getting squished and squirting all over the place. I took a much needed two hour nap in the afternoon and spent the evening in the quincho. Like the hiker boxes along the AT, this quincho has some shelves where hikers leave behind what they no longer want. There are more started propane/butane canisters here than anyone could possibly use. I managed to snag some powdered milk and butter that will make this evening's meal a bit tastier than usual. I also grabbed some bread that will help me stretch my tortillas out another day or so. I might run out of sudoku puzzles before I leave the park. Yikes! Warm evening and low winds for a change. Thursday, March 19: Campamento Paine GrandeStormy night with dramatic temperature change as a cold front swept through. It was so nice last night, I started the night with my vestibule cover up. A few sprinkles had me pulling it down - just in case the rain got heavier while I slept. The temperature dropped and the rain started in earnest by 2:30 accompanied by the wind that is the norm here. My tent was not designed for these conditions. As a first generation Lunar solo, rain came in through the vestibule door though it was a small enough amount that a small Packtowl on the floor by the door absorbed most of the drops and the few that reached me where I slept, backed away from the door a few more inches than usual, were shed easily by the water resistant shell on my sleeping bag. At 5:00am, the entire campground was awakened by a bright flash accompanied immediately by a huge earthshaking clap of thunder. The thunderstorm immediately left the area as there were only two further bouts of lightning, both followed much more distantly by their accompanying thunder. I finally got up and between rounds of rain, I moved to the quincho to sit out the worst of the storm. If the rain had let up long enough for the tent to dry, I probably would have left on the 12:30 catamaran, but it was mostly non-stop rain so I just sat and stayed dry in the quincho. At 12:30, when the catamaran was leaving, the rain let up a bit and I went back to check on my tent, left on it's own since 7:30 this morning. The vestibule was flapping and open but with the tent situation properly with the door away from the wind, there were only a few drops of spray in the tent so I mopped them up, grabbed what I would need in the quincho for the rest of the day, sealed the tent again, and went back to the quincho. The forecast is horrible for the next few days but the forecasts around here have less in common with reality than any forecasts I have seen for anywhere else in the world. If accurate however, I'm likely to skip much of the rest of the park. Also, many of my other plans for this region are in question, too. There's a lot of hiking to be done around here and with my knee, I'm just not sure what I'll be able to do. The knee injury I got in Ushuaia that I thought was a surface bruise seems to be more than that. I think it may have accelerated the degenerative process I've been fighting since high school. At least the Fitz Roy area is supposed to be easy so I probably won't have any problems there. The wind calmed to fits and starts by evening as did the rain. I'm just hoping the wind quiets for the night so I can get some good sleep. The temperatures have also dropped and I'm concerned I may have another cold night like the first where I just could not get warm enough. A couple of strong gusts came by as I wrote this so I'm not hopeful for a good night's sleep. Friday, March 20: Campamento Paine Grande to Refugio Torres areaI woke up well rested after a breezy rather than windy night. Plus, the weather was dry so I decided on an easy five hour hike and shuttle back to the Torres end of the park. If the weather is still holding at the end of the day, I'll go back to Torres, spend the night, and hope for a good night to climb up to see the parks eponymous towers. The mountains around the campsite, obscured by rain and clouds all yesterday, have been revealed and are now veiled in snow and ice outlining all the cracks and crevices in the rocky spires. My walk today had my back to the views so I was constantly stopping and turning around to examine the views I was leaving behind. First, the walk by the lake yielded beautiful views. Then across the pampas. The wind was fierce and I was glad it was at my back. After struggling with the wind, I was glad to pull into the Campamento Las Carretas free campsite along the trail. It has a lean-to with a picnic table inside. It's not meant to sleep in like on the AT, just to provide protection for breaks, cooking, and eating. In my case, it provided a well need break from the wind and I could care less that it was facing a hillside just a meter from the opening of the lean-to. At least I could have something to eat without fighting the constant and heavy winds blowing by. After lunch, I started passing the few northbound hikers that had started at the bottom of the 'Q' to head into the park. They would have great views for almost their entire hike during that day but would pay for it with the ferocious winds and all the dust and at times, rocks the wind blows around. Sunglasses are necessary here, not just for the sun, but for eye protection from everything that blows around. I continued out of the valley and into open pampas where the wind lessened a bit. I watched a herd of horses and a flock of Black-faced ibis settled uneasily near me, feeding a bit, then flying a few feet, then feeding some more, etc. After watching them for a while, I almost stepped on a European Hare, huge compared with the European rabbits (cottontails) that I had commonly seen in Tierra del Fuego. I soon finished the day's hike at the Visitor's Center, located so far south in the park that most visitors never get there. I spent a good half and hour perusing the well thought out displays. Summaries in English were helpful but I know I missed out on a lot of information in the much more extensive Spanish descriptions. I managed to hitch a ride to the Laguna Amargo entrance with Helen and Luis, a British, Chilean couple that met in Wisconsin, lived in Britain for seven years, and now resides in Chile. It was much nicer than taking the bus which never stops and drives at breakneck speeds over the dusty roads through the park. With the car, we had the ability to stop here and there to look at guanaco and their chulengas, or baby guanacos, a fox that was obviously used to handouts at the Lago Nordeskjold overlook, and many of the countless views of the mountains. Once at the park entrance, I had no luck hitching to the Torres Refugio so just waited for the regular shuttle. I ate dinner while waiting. Once there, it was dark and I had to cross the river and riverbed with only my headlamp. I'm glad I had been there nearly a week early and knew the layout of the land. I found the campground, paid my 4,000 peso fee, and set up my tent in a relatively protected area. Saturday, March 21: Torres del Paine to Puerto NatalesI was up and on the trail by 7:00am, hoping to see the towers before clouds moved in later in the day. It was an uphill hike on fairly easy trail until an hour and twenty minutes later, I got to a sign that said I had come an hour and a half and had half an hour to go to get to the refugio. Just after that sign, I got to a windy section of trail. For ten or fifteen minutes, I tried to get past that section. I could actually see the refugio from this point, below me in the well protected valley but after being battered by the wind, first in Ushuaia, and now, for a week in the park, I just couldn't deal with it any more. Even for a view of the towers, I couldn't get past this bottleneck of wind on this day with winds forecasted at 75kph. I finally inched my way back and started down the hill. Half an hour later, I started passing all of the other people heading up the hill for the day. I wondered if I could have gotten past that point had I been with others but I wasn't about to trudge up the hill yet again to find out. I know I'll have some regrets for not either waiting another day when the forecast was for less intense winds, but for now, I felt great relief at knowing I was putting these dangerous winds behind me - at least for a few days. I was down the valley by 10:00 and ran into Helen and Luis just starting up. A short while later I was breaking down my campsite and having lunch at 11:00am. With showers threatening which were mostly rain blown over from higher in the mountains as it was sunny where I was, I finished lunch, grabbed my stuff and made my way to the refugio. I sat there for a couple of hours keeping company with other hikers waiting for the shuttle. While waiting, I watched some employees mixing beer and orange Fanta. Combined, it looked like Fanta but it's not like they were trying to hide the fact that they were drinking. (Apparently this is fairly popular in Germany if not other parts of Europe.) I caught the 2pm shuttle to the 2:30 bus, napped a bit on the way back to Puerto Natales, and was back in my hostel by 5:00pm. I was able to get back into 'my' room but had to dig out my stored bags from under a huge pile or mostly (all?) Israeli bags before I could get to my clean clothes and toiletries. I stripped my eight day stinky and dirty clothes right into my laundry bag and then stepped into the shower. It took my three washings to get the shampoo in my hair to finally suds up. I've been out for a week before and I don't ever remember needing to wash my hair more than twice, even in conditions that seemed dirtier and sweatier. Maybe it was just the shampoo that I took from the hotel in Ushuaia. I finally got on-line and found out that for the second year in a row, my credit card company saw fit to issue new credit cards well before the 2010 expiration date. That means that I now have a useless credit card with me. To make matters worse, my bank card also expires this month. I'm going to have to figure out how to deal with this tomorrow. I had dinner here at the hostel and sat with an Australian/Chilean couple. They live in Australia and visit her family here in Chile every now and then. While here, they take the opportunity to travel and see other parts of South America. It was interesting to have met two Chilean mixed couples in two days and been able to compare their stories. Back in a bed for the first time in over a week, I listened to the owners of the hostel in the next room snoring through paper thin walls all night. [Date: Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:06 pm Hi all, I've been in Puerto Natales for the last week and expect to be here for at least another week. As usual, when I stay in one area for a while, the journal entries tend to get very small so I've been able to catch up this last week's entries very quickly. As I type this, Gloria went out and in the tradition of this last week, she made sure I knew she was going to the supermarket in case anyone came by looking for her. In this case, the laundry lade from across the street delivered the day's batch of laundry. Upon Gloria's return, she still found me sitting here and just handed me a plate with an empañada. One bite finds it filled with manzana, or apple. Delicious. Now I know what I'm getting paid for my services. Wim will laugh. Sunday, March 22: Puerto NatalesHad my laundry done. Spent time online researching my options for getting mail here from the US. Did food shopping. Sabrina, a French woman I met in the park, returned to town and we went in search of brownies she knew about. Being chock full of walnuts, I passed on the brownies and was happy with a small cup of orange hot chocolate. Sabrina, on the other hand gorged on a large brownie with ice-cream and whipped cream with a very tall hot chocolate that included dulce de leche layered in the bottom and maybe more whipped cream on top. We went from the chocolate place to a pizza place for dinner. I was glad I hadn't gorged but Sabrina managed to chow down on her pizza, albeit a bit slower than the rest of us. After dinner, we all went to a nearby cafe. Some got Pisco Sours, some tea or coffee, and I had my first banana shake since El Salvador. In Central America, bananas were bananos, and plantains were platanos. Here bananas are platanos and there are no plantains. There peaches were melocoton and here they are durazno. There, corn is maiz and here its choclo. Choclo is NOT chocolate. Monday, March 23: Puerto NatalesI woke up with a nasty cold today. Given that I'm likely to be in town for up to a week just recovering from this cold, I decided to have my sister Lori send me my new credit cards here in Puerto Natales. It's going to take 6-10 business days for the box to arrive. And since the 'Small flat-rate International Priority' box costs the same as an envelope and can weigh as much as four pounds, I'm having her put a few other items in the box as well. I'm about out of both ibuprofen and Excedrin. Ibuprofen is available here for a small fortune like $5 for 10 tablets. Excedrin doesn't exist here. Hopefully there won't be any customs issues getting them through. Plus, my journal is running out of pages and the paper products here leave a bit to be desired so she'll stick a journal in too. If I get better and don't want to wait around town, I can always go to Calafate and El Chalten and then return. Then I might take the boat from here to Puerto Montt, another journey that comes highly recommended to me. Lunch of Ramen noodles prepared with just a bit extra water into which a generous spoonful of peanut butter and some chopped cucumber and tomato made for a delicious Asian peanut noodle dish that was much better than the regular preparation. Dinner of bread with smoked salmon cheese spread with cucumbers and yogurt. I confirmed today that I am irretrievably missing the 300 pictures I took on my last day on land in Antarctica. These are the pictures that included me on a hilltop in a t-shirt, extreme close up pictures of a shag, and pictures of three fin whales cavorting all around us while we were on a Zodiac cruise. Argh! Tuesday, March 24: Puerto NatalesBreakfast here at the hostel is always pan, oven warmed rather than toasted, with butter, cheese, apricot marmalade, homemade plum jam, dulce de leche and hot water or hot milk for coffee or tea. I've bought some hot chocolate mix which has sugar but not milk to have something warm to drink in the often cool dining room. My cold is worse today with constantly runny nose and lots of sneezing. More noodles for lunch. it's a good day to nap and do not much. Unfortunately, today they started painting the ceiling in the dining/living room. The fumes are a bit much at times. I left when it got bad and did some chopping now that I anticipate being here for a while. I discussed the 'Israeli problem' with one Israeli who like many agreed that there is a problem but of course, he's not part of it. He ended up making a sign in Hebrew with the hours for the kitchen and computer. There are no other signs in the hostel. The Israelis are the only ones who need the rules spelled out because common courtesy guide them like most other travelers. I got an email from Wim, the guy I went hiking with around Ushuaia. He'll be here tomorrow and wants to start a stove making business. Didn't spend much other time on the computer today. Too many paint fumes. Wednesday, March 25: Puerto NatalesAnother slow day or eating, sleeping, reading Michael Palin's 'Himalaya', and doing more Sudoku puzzles. My Sudoku book is not going to outlast Puerto Natales. I tried to go to the museum here in town but even though I was there during hours, it was locked tight and there didn't appear to be anyone there. Wim showed up tonight with Vincent, a friend he had met on his Antarctic trip. It's good to see Wim again but it was late, they were hungry and I'm still sick so they went to eat and I got online and was just going to bed when they came back. Thursday, March 26: Puerto NatalesHung out with Wim and Vincent. Breakfast at the hostel. Wim and I caught up while Vincent went and bought his ticket to go to the park this afternoon. When he returned, we all went for a walk at the waterfront. There were a lot of sea birds there and inlaid elements of the walkway included arrows pointing north and oversized shorebirds such as the black-necked swan. There were also a lot of interpretive signs not only describing the shorebirds, but the mountain views across the water. We also passed this large statue that I had seen from the bus and puzzled over. It was a statue of a Milodon, a long extinct giant sloth. The remains of one had been found in a cave 15 miles from town in 1896. The cave is now a natural monument with a life-sized statue of a milodon for perspective but the remains of the milodon were long ago transported to the British Museum. Unable to find a restaurant with a water view, we settled on a nice place on the plaza. I had salmon (farmed in Chile) with a delicious king crab sauce that was more like king crab in sauce over salmon. It was served with fries and was delicious. After Vincent headed off into the park, Wim and I went to take in the Park introduction offered at a nearby hostel. Had I know about it before my trip into the park, I would have gone then but now, as someone who performs a similar function for aspiring long-distance AT hikers, I was curious about what they had to say. The Erratic Rock hostel which Wim had first mentioned to me as the Erotic Rock hostel, is run by a couple of Americans formerly from Portland, Oregon. (For those wondering, the Erratic Rock hostel gets it's name from "erratics" or glacial erratics, a term that describes rocks, often huge boulders, left behind by glaciers in areas where they differ from the typical rocks of the area.) The talk was pretty good though I didn't agree with everything our presenter had to say. I mentioned a couple of alternatives to him after the talk. Don't know whether he'll include them in future talks, but the talk is certainly better than nothing for those with little to no previous experience traveling in these conditions. Back at the hostel, we played with Google Earth for a while. Then we checked out Wim's blog where there were pictures of me getting blown off the mountain in Ushuaia and a picture of our soda can stove. He read his blog to me, translating from the Dutch. Then, just for yucks, I passed it through the babelfish translator. We got a good laugh at that, especially when he, having described me as a 'professional hikester' had it translated as 'professional hiccupping ester'. We talked about doing some travel together that involves hitchhiking that neither of us wants to do alone when he returns from Torres del Paine. Given the wait I have for my box from the U.S., it seems likely we'll be on the same schedule at that point. We eventually started looking at journals of other people who had hitchhiked, or tried to hitchhike, the route we want to hitch, from El Chalten to Bariloche, Argentina (about 1300km). It doesn't look promising but we'll see how we feel after El Calafate and El Chalten, our next stops with convenient bus connections. A couple of notes... Gloria, for whom this hospedaje is named, has started calling me her 'secretaria'. Every time she comes and goes, she tells me where she's going and when so I can tell whoever it is who comes looking for her when to expect her back. Wim is much amused by this and is wondering how much I am getting paid. There's a new supermarket in town named Abu Gosch. It's just a few months old. The name doesn't sound Spanish and the Israeli's tell me there's a town in Israel with the same name. Nobody knows if there's any sort of connection though. Friday, March 27: Puerto NatalesBreakfast with Wim and then back to bed waiting for Excedrin to kick in to fight a migraine. then we did some shopping and I managed to find a box just big enough to fit the broken hiking pole I want to send home. Everything else I'm sending (mostly the fleece stuff I had made in El Salvador) will fit easily around it without too much extra space. I also took some time in the supermarket to take pictures of interestingly named products. There's the soda named Kem. I have a friend named Kem so took a picture to send to him. Then there's the unfortunately named PAP, also soda. And Nestle's dairy products often fall under the product line called Svelty. A fairly good but cheap chocolate there is called Garoto but I haven't choked on it. Hmm, I guess that would have been with two 'r's, anyway. I'm not back to 100%, but my cold is much better today and I no longer wander the town with pockets full of snotty tissues, sneezing at every inconvenient moment. The Israeli's took over the kitchen this evening and were very proud of the effort they put in for their very complicated meal. The only stove here is an old style gas stove that looks like an old wood fired stove. There are two settings, on and off, and the oven portion is to the right of the stove and can only be used when the burners are hot. Like wood fired stoves, if the stove is on, pots of hot water are also on and boiling away. But the Israelis were completely ignorant that others might have also wanted to use the kitchen. I pointed that out to some of them who were sitting in the living room and they admitted that they had never thought if it that way. No surprise. They never think about how their actions affect others. It's the same refrain, over and over again. None of them are religious but when they can, they like to have their big group shabbat dinners and say a bracha. It being Friday, they made a special effort, but this happens on other days of the week as well. Anyway, at 9pm, Wim and I went out to the pizza place. After eating, as Wim enjoyed a Pisco Sour and I a Mousse de Toblerone (good, not great), in walks Vincent. We were both very surprised. He was supposed to be in the park until tomorrow and then go straight to El Calafate without returning to Puerto Natales. But, he couldn't take the wet weather and bailed. So he ordered dinner and the three of us sat there until we got kicked out at 11:30 or so when the place closed. Even though the tradition of a maddening siesta where nothing can get done in the afternoon continues in these cold and far flung reaches of Chile, that doesn't necessarily mean that restaurants stay open correspondingly late. Saturday, March 28: Puerto NatalesNasty day outside and dissipating paint fumes meant I didn't go out at all today. I took the time to go through most of the papers I had been carrying. I got rid of a bunch of them and decided to send another bunch home in the box I'm putting together. I passed time working Sudoku puzzles and talking with Justin, an American ex-Pat living in Thailand but traveling in South America for a while until it's time to head to California for his little sister's High School graduation. He's got an Argentina guide book with more specific information about Ruta 40 than is available in my South America guide book. I might copy some pages tomorrow. Sunday, March 29: Puerto NatalesLucas is the dog of the house. He's a large tawny colored short-haired dog with a huge head. He lost one of his legs at the knee to a run in with a car some years ago. I've seen much smaller three legged dogs in the past getting around as if they never had another leg, but it's a bit more difficult for Lucas. He gets around OK, but it's clearly an effort. Inside the house on the slippery hardwood floors, he's got the slide method clearly worked out. He also has everyone in the house well trained. A bit of groaning at the door, and he's out for a neighborhood jaunt. The only time he barks is when he's outside and wants to get inside. He thinks he's a smaller dog and it's funny to watch him fold himself up into a small ball to fit on some of his favorite chairs in the house. Thankfully, he doesn't think he's a lap dog. Today, he came into the living room and found all of his chairs taken so he settled in on the floor. As soon as someone got up to go get something from another room, Lucas was up and curling himself into the chair - it was a clear case of move your feet, lose your seat. When the guy came back, he was going to get Lucas to move until I suggested another chair. Score one for Lucas. I went to photocopy the Ruta 40 pages from Justin's guidebook today. I had to wait a couple of minutes for the woman who was going to copy the pages to return. When she did, she handed me three of the tiniest apples. The were perfectly shaped and colored. I shared them with Gloria and Justin, keeping just one for myself. When I ate it, it was hard, tart, and just a bit juicy. Surprisingly good. Looking for a book exchange at the Erratic Rock Hostel, I didn't find anything that was immediately appealing but Bill, (one of the owners?) allowed me to borrow Marching Powder from his personal (not for exchange) stash, knowing I would return it before leaving town. It'll be nice to finish reading it after starting it in Buenos Aires. I had yucky pasta with boring sauce for dinner. I've got another meal or two's worth of pasta left. I'll give it a few days before trying again. Monday, March 30: Puerto NatalesI finished Marching Powder this morning. It's a good book with a fascinating story. I now have one more thing to do when I finally get to La Paz, Bolivia. I went for a walk around town, took some pictures, returned Marching Powder and picked up another book. During my wandering, I discovered a small supermarket that had fresh mushrooms. As I hadn't had any fresh mushrooms since leaving home, I picked some up, bought an individually wrapped frozen burger, and made it all into a great meal with bread and a salad. The burger was easily the best hamburger I've had in months and the entire meal was delicious. Tuesday, March 31: Puerto NatalesSpent much time on the computer today trying to figure out if I could prevent the Conficker virus from causing harm tomorrow. Based on the fact that I couldn't load sites that had tools for cleaning the computer, I'm pretty sure this computer is infected. I tried to upgrade the operating system, but as best I could understand, this computer may have a pirated copy so I'm not sure if the update will take. Given that the other computer here is so badly infected with another virus that it can't be used, I would hate for this one to go down as well. I also uploaded some pictures to an unlisted album in Picasa. I'm going to have a couple of people look at them and if they think it's a good, rather than annoying system, I'll make them available to those who ask. I don't want to use it if Picasa will spam people. I also don't know if I need to be worried a out plagiarism and having my pictures stolen. It's not that I'm a great photographer or anything, but some of my pictures are pretty good. I'll upload at the lowest resolution which is find for on-line viewing but not so good for printing. Maybe it'll keep people from stealing pictures. I also have no idea if I'll be willing and able to upload pictures when I'm traveling rather than sitting in one town for a couple of weeks with nothing else to do. We'll see... I also read a bunch today and finished Ken Follett's "The Hammer of Eden" before going to sleep. Wednesday, April 1: Puerto NatalesReana, Tim, and Reuben from Australia, New Zealand, and New Zealand but all living in New Zealand are staying here at the hostel but all seem to speak less Spanish than I do. And they are planning on trying to find work in Chile. They are hoping to find work as architects and a forensic scientist but realize that the best they may do with their lack of language skills is to teach English. As there have been quite a few guests with no Spanish language skills, Gloria has turned to me surprisingly frequently to help out. It's not that I can translate (my language skills aren't good enough), but I can interpret a bit the meaning of each for the others. It works out. Anyway, they were hoping to see either the Cueva del Milodon or the penguins in Punta Arenas but when they heard most of the penguins were gone, having migrated already, they decided to join me today. Since the tours were overpriced at 15,000/person perhaps not including entrance fees, we saved some cash and rented a car (diesel SUV) for 27,000 and drove the 25km to the cave. The road was well marked and paved for all but the last 7km. The dirt road was a bit bumpy but not so bad that we had to go all that slow. It was fun to drive for the first time since November. Since they were all used to driving on the wrong side of the road, they were happy enough to have me driving. There was very little traffic and no need to rush so I calmed my Boston driver tendencies and just enjoyed the ride through pampas. The SUV we rented was a bit strange. It was an automatic which I thought a bit strange. And then the signal controls were on the wrong side, as if it were supposed to be a left hand drive car. I signaled a couple of times with the wipers but soon got used to the controls. Then of course, it started raining so I had to figure out the wipers anyway. I had already done that when I tried to signal with them. It only started raining after we had toured the cave. I was a bit disappointed that we hadn't come more prepared. There were two other caves on site that we didn't visit and a few kilometers of hiking trails that would have been fun to explore. But, the others weren't into it, being much more interested in having pictures taken of them with their feet off the ground, jumping in front of the fake milodon at the cave's entrance. They jumped, I took the pictures. My knees hurt just watching them jump. We stopped to take pictures a bunch on the way back from the cave. A crested caracara in a tree and then flying away. Sun on far off mountains (there was no sun where we were), waterfront pictures including a large brownish heron I'll have to ID from pictures. It's neck was folded in so I couldn't see it, but it didn't seem to have much color variation. I first thought Bare throated tiger heron but they don't come this far south. A stop at the market on the way back to the hostel, keeping the car just in case we wanted it for something else later in the day. Then hot dogs for a very late lunch. Eventually a very late dinner of a mushroom cheese omelet. Delicious. I started Paul Theroux's "The Old Patagonian Express" facetiously referencing a railroad I'm likely to pass near if not take in this part of the world. Timing will be everything. As best I can determine, the train only runs on Saturdays this time of year. The strange thing about the book was that it disconcertingly brought me right back to Boston. Unbeknownst to me when I picked up the book, it starts in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, just 5 miles (8 km) north of town. Paul Theroux grew up in Medford and Medford is where I lived for seven years until I gave up my apartment two years ago to travel and hike. Even though the book was written 30 years ago, what Theroux writes about his experiences getting out of Boston on the train are just as true today as they would have been thirty years ago. [Date: Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:48 am It'll probably be a while until I completely catch up on transcribing my journal, but here`s the last of my stay in Puerto Natales... I`m presently back in Chile, successfully hitching north with Wim, and fighting yet another flu-like cold. Ugh! So far, I haven`t let it slow me down too much but sitting by the side of the road with your thumb out doesn't take too much effort so we can still make progress. More soon though, I hope... Thursday, April 2: Puerto NatalesI`m still waiting for my box to arrive from the States. Today is the first day that I could really have expected it given the 6-10 day time frame listed on the USPS web site. But, Wim is back from Torres del Paine already. With any luck, the box will come in the next couple of days that he`s planning on sticking around town, anyway. He arrived back at the Hospedaje with two Czech girls, Jena and Lucie, that he had first met in Ushuaia and then again in Torres del Paine. The four of us had dinner at a parilla where they could all get massive cuts of steak. I opted for chicken and only ate one of the two split chicken breasts I was served. Thankfully, they do doggy bags so I took the rest back to the hostel for tomorrow. After dinner, we met four other travelers at Roberto`s, the Irish pub in town. Well, I can`t say it was all that Irish, but they did have Guinness. I got to sleep at 1:30. Friday, April 3: Puerto NatalesStill no box. I even checked at the PO in case they were holding it there instead of delivering it to the hostel. Made an interesting lunch of my leftover chicken, a hamburger, pasta and sauce, salad, and the last of my mushrooms for Wim and myself. I ate hot dogs for dinner. Then Wim, Jena, Tomar (an Israeli guy) and I went back to the pub. I called it a bit earlier tonight at got to sleep shortly after midnight. Today was my first truly rain free day in Puerto Natales since returning from Torres del Paine. Saturday, April 4: Puerto NatalesEven though the box was addressed to me at the hostel, I still wanted to check at the PO before the 1pm closing time just in case they couldn't deliver it for customs reasons. At noon, an hour before the PO was due to close, I was literally heading out the door to go to the PO when my box was delivered. I just had to sign for it. Woohoo!!! After my box came, I had time to finish packing the box that I wanted to send home and got it mailed off at the PO before it closed at 1pm. It`ll make my upcoming travels (especially hitching) easier with a lighter and less bulky backpack. I sent home extra warm gear from the Antarctica portion of my trip, the backup DVDs I`ve accumulated, the extra paper stuffs I`ve accumulated, the broken hiking pole which can be repaired with replacement sections, and my first journal which ended with the April 1 entry. The box I received had everything I expected (bank card, credit card, new journal, ibuprofen, Excedrin) and a few extras my sister put it: Chocolate chip cookie crumbs (with a few whole cookies, too), and some Passover candy which I sort of hid from myself to try to hold out for the upcoming holiday that I wouldn`t otherwise be able to observe. The meds are very expensive here so since it didn`t cost any more to send the small box from home than an envelope, it was worth sending all the other stuff, too. Had I not been delayed here in Puerto Natales, I might have been able to get to Bariloche for Passover. There, a fancy schmancy hotel puts on a free seder primarily for traveling Israelis but others observing the holiday are welcome, too. A few years ago, they served 400 people. But, there`s no chance of my getting there in time so I`ll probably celebrate on Fitz Roy. I am a wandering Jew, after all. Wim and I then bought our tickets for El Calafate for tomorrow. We walked to the waterfront and made our way out the pier and then along the more industrial part of the waterfront, having been on the promenade already. There were a lot of boats pulled out of the water, perhaps for winter, and lots of work being done on them. We also saw a lot of birds, including a bunch of oystercatchers (austral?), one Chilean flamingo, I think my first ever wild flamingo, and two interesting birds with black and white faces, smaller than ducks, don`t think they had webbed feet, but should be easy enough to pick out of a field guide. I spent time at an internet cafe, using Skype to activate my new credit and bank cards. Who knew I could call US toll free numbers using Skype? I was surprised. I also took the opportunity to talk with one of my sisters. Then I returned to the Erratic Rock Hostel where I've been borrowing books to trade my Michael Palin book for Michener`s "Centennial". Its probably formulaic Michener but at over 100 pages, it should keep me going for hours of hitching on lonely roads. I spent a few minutes talking with Bill, one of the owners of the hostel, and found out that Deia Schlosberg and Gregg Treinish, a couple that had walked from Ecuador to the southern tip of South America, had stayed at the hostel. I had met them last October shortly after they had returned to the US when they came to the ALDHA Gathering to be our Saturday night keynote speakers. They had needed a ride from the airport, an hour from the Gathering, after the Friday evening program, so knowing I was heading for South America, I had picked them up and had an hour to pick their brains on more practical aspects of travel and hiking in South America than they might have otherwise planned to present to the larger group the next night. I finished packing and then Wim and I had pizza for dinner. Earlier, we had found a pool hall so went and played one of the longest games of pool I've ever played. I'm not the best player and neither is Wim, but I realized as we played that the holes on this table didn`t have the same cut away banked corners I was used to on pool tables. That made the openings much smaller and the game much more challenging. It took us an hour and a half to finish one game. Wim won but I only had one striped ball left on the table. Not too bad. I started to rain a bit only later in the evening. [Date: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:48 pm Hi all, Well, I finally started traveling again in early April. Here`s the beginning of that part of my travels. Next up will be the hitching portion of my trip. Not sure when I`ll get around to typing that up as I`m leaving the town with the best internet prospects for a while. Oh well... Sunday, April 5: Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate, ArgentinaOur bus picked us up at the hostel at 7:45 in the morning. By the time it made the rounds to the other hostels, it was maybe 15 minutes later. It had rained a lot overnight and was still raining as we left town. An hour later, it had stopped raining and we went through the Chilean border, stopping so that each of us on the bus could get our exit stamps in our passports a 30 minute stop or so. As usual, the no man`s land between Chile and Argentina is huge. 15-20km later, we reentered Argentina. With this smaller bus and the less strict rules about transporting goods from Chile to Argentina, it only took maybe 30-45 minutes to get everyone through immigration. Today`s ride was a long one through Pampas with fogged up windows blocking our views. Found a cheap hostel for 25 Argentinean pesos a night. Then went in search of lunch and ended up at Libertad with lots of tango pictures on the walls and music to match. My burger came with lettuce, tomato, ham, and a fried egg. Yes, ham and egg on hamburgers is pretty normal for a loaded burger. The fries looked good but weren`t great. Oh well. It being Sunday, the car rental place was taking an extra long siesta and wouldn't reopen until 6pm. So we went to the supermarket and bought food for four days, enough for a two day backpack and to get stuck on the road for a couple of days when we leave El Chalten when hitching north. Then we started hitting the ATMs only to find they were all out of cash. We found two while walking around town. Then back at the hostel, I was directed to one we had missed when walking through town. No luck there either. I had the bright idea of going to the casino thinking they would have one but they didn`t and indicated that the only other ATMs were the ones I had visited. Finally, back at the hostel, our host pointed me to two other ATMs. The first one had money but a 320 peso limit. The second one didn't have a limit but the computer was screwed up and kept giving me partial screens. After cancelling the transaction three times, I finally managed to finish a transaction and get more cash. Back at the hostel, we got a ride to the car rental place with a group that was returning their car. Then we were able to return the favor and using the same car which we had just rented, gave them a ride back to the hostel. Perfect! There, we rounded up three others to share the rental car for the next day. Instead of paying for an 80 peso each bus plus 60 peso entry fee for the Perito Moreno Glacier and getting there too late for sunrise, the five of us are paying 200 pesos split 5 ways and will get there not only for sunrise, but too early for the entry gate to be open. Plus, we`ll have the flexibility of our own car. Restaurants here are expensive but we found a sushi place which while not cheap, wasn`t any more expensive than it would be at home. So we had sushi and for the first time, I finished Wim`s meal instead of the other way around. Played a card game called "shithead" at the hostel. After having a room to myself for two weeks in Puerto Natales, I am once again sharing a room with a six others. At least I managed to get a solo bed rather than having to deal with the lack of head room of a bottom bunk or the climb of a top bunk. Monday, April 6: El CalafateUp at 5:00 and was surprised when the group of us managed to actually leave within a few minutes of the 6:15 Wim and I indicated the previous day. As I had woken up with a migraine, Wim drove out to the park. It was dark with bright stars. I actually spotted a satellite from the moving car. A couple of the others fell asleep in the back. One stayed awake but as soon as we moved off the long straight road he started getting sick and we had to stop the car three times to let him out. I don`t know if it was purely motion sickness, if he had partied too much the night before, or if something else was going on with him. I wouldn`t be surprised if it was the latter. He just didn`t seem all that well to begin with. We had heard that it took a long time to get out there because of all the rabbits on the road. People kept their speed way down while driving out. We saw a few dead rabbits and a couple of live ones on the first road and then after the turn to the park, saw four more hopping around. These are the large European Hares, not the smaller cottontails. The way others had talked, we had expected to see a lot more of them. We got to the glacier after an 80 minute ride and still before sunrise. It was cold so we all bundled up in all the clothing we had. Wim and I were glad for our wind and rain pants. The others must have been freezing. It was trying to rain a bit as we started down to the overlook but that soon stopped and thankfully wasn`t a bother for the rest of the day. The walkway soon turned into an incredibly overbuilt metal grated, elevated walkway with beautiful wooden handrails. These walkways went for hundreds of meters to a variety of viewpoints giving different perspectives at differing elevations. We were here to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. It`s one of three glaciers in South America that is considered stable. It gains about as much ice each year as it looses. But, it advances very quickly and calves very frequently. In all the glaciers I`ve seen so far, I`ve never seen more than just a sprinkling of snow coming down the face of a glacier. Here, almost immediately, we could hear creaks and groans. It didn`t take long for us to start seeing chunks of ice falling off the glacier and soon entire spires calving into the water, sending out large waves. The peninsula we were standing on afforded a perfect view of the glacier. It looks more like a collection of spires than the river of ice with tributaries joining in from the sides. The cracks in the ice are all shades of blue and purple. There are also brown cracks where dirt had covered the ice at one point and then gotten buried by more layers of ice. There are also areas shaded red in the glacier. To the human eye, white is of course the predominant color. As the sun came up, it would cast the glacier in areas of golden yellow and peach. This glacier periodically advances completely across the straight and dams the Lago Argentina. Then, it bursts the dam with amazing ferocity. It does that on average every ten years but it had been thirty years until it dammed the river in 2004. Then it has dammed the lake again in both 2006 and 2008. It`s easy to see how it could happen as it just wasn`t all that far across the water in this very shallow area. We met some people on a group trip as photographers. They were there with David Meunch. I`m familiar with some of Meunch`s coffee table books. I was looking for him as we continued meandering the walkways but never saw him. One of the other photographers, Lance Kuehne had mentioned Meunch was carrying the same camera I was using that day so I could have picked him out if I had found him. No such luck. Wim and I took a boat trip on the north side of the glacier in the afternoon. We came within 300m of the 60m tall ice face. In addition to some smaller calvings, we were witness to one of the largest calvings we had seen all day from the boat. Amazing! The floating ice from that calving would affect not only our return path to the shore of the lake, but the next boat trip as well. After driving to the second boat launch area where we had lunch but declined to go on the other boat trip, we returned to the viewing area only to find we could no longer drive there. So in order to meet the others from our car, we parked the car and took the shuttle in. I went off to visit one overlook we hadn`t gotten to in the morning and eventually rejoined Wim at the best one, low down near the shallows. We watched a submerged piece of very old ice abruptly surface. It must have been stuck to the bottom or been held under by another piece of nearby floating ice. By this point, I had gotten more still pictures of the glacier and not-quite-the-beginning-of-calvings and I was determined, or rather very hopeful, that I could get video of one. I had 45 minutes to stand there with my camera in video mode pointed in the direction of the glacier. I missed some calvings but then heard a crack and started rolling. I couldn't believe it. I actually got video of the glacier calving, right from the very beginning. And it was a huge calving. One of the largest we had seen all day and one of the closest, too. What luck! And in the afternoon, that face of the glacier was in full sun. Beautiful. Somehow over the course of the day, I took nearly 3gb worth of pictures of the glacier. Yikes! I guess it was all the bracketed photos I took to ensure I got the right exposure, not a sure thing when pointing at a lot of white ice and snow. I drove back to town, stopping a couple of times for viewpoints. Errands back in town included gas, shopping, returning the car, loading pictures onto my hard drive, and a late dinner at the here at the hostel cooked by our host. The lasagna was delicious but I wish there had been more of it. He usually does beef but having had that the last four nights, tonight was his night for a change and I was glad for it. Eight of us ate for 96 pesos or about $3.50 each. Tuesday, April 7: El Calafate to El ChaltenWith an afternoon bus out of town, there was no need to rush in the morning. I finished the milk and cereal that has been such a nice break from the bread and cheese I had been eating for weeks in Puerto Natales. Then I took a walk to the nearby Laguna Nimez to see the flamingos (flamenco - as in the dance - ah ha!). Eduardo had given me overly simplified directions but I managed to find it anyway. There were maybe a hundred flamingos and they were pretty far off, but it was still nice to see them both in the water and flying around the area a bit. They make Great Blue Herons look small. I had seen my first flamingo yesterday near Puerto Natales. Today, just one ventured a bit closer so it was nice to get a better look at them. I realized only my way back to town how many horses there were living just a few blocks from downtown. Cattle Heron were taking advantage of them stirring up bugs as they moved around but the town dogs chased the herons and kept them from feeding. Back in town I bought a couple of DVDs but then realized I didn`t have quite enough to bother to burn a new DVD. I`ll wait to the next town where I have the option to burn a DVD to backup my hard drive. I rejoined Wim at the hostel, checked email one last time, and then we bought some empanadas on the way to the bus station. Wim has a huge amount of stuff with him and it`s heavy. I have a hard time seeing him hitching with it all but he says he can get it into two bags. He grates at any attempt I make to help out. Like me, he likes to be independent. But, I also like efficiency and so we`ll see how it all goes over time. There was plenty of room on the bus so we each had two seats. It wouldn`t have mattered on this bus anyway. I think I have more leg room on this bus than any other bus I've every been on other than the sleeper I took in Thailand. Lots of great views along the way as we got closer and closer to Fitz Roy. At the turn off to Chalten, I noticed absolutely nothing on the road that had continued ahead. There`s a good chance we'll be hitching there in a few days. Yikes! The bus stops at the visitor`s center on the way into town as almost everyone coming into town is headed into the National Park. In town, the HI hostel near the bus terminal was full so we ended up at the cheapo hostel run by Eduardo`s son. It wasn't so nice but it was OK. We had a tiny room for four people. We squished and made do. Wim hadn`t felt well in the morning so we took it easy for the afternoon. We had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hostel. Turns out it was the most reasonably priced place in town and had good food to boot. Wim had a huge steak and I had ravioli. Both were delicious. Both the restaurant and hostel are named Ahonikenk. Wednesday, April 8: El ChaltenSlow morning. Went back to the visitor`s center which was incredibly well done. They have a whole room devoted to displays on climbing in the Fitz Roy area and another with lots of natural history displays. The displays are in Spanish but some have translations on separate fliers to be read while looking at the displays. They apparently have a lot of time during the winter to work on the displays and do it all themselves. Unfortunately, the forecast for the next few days is rather horrible but today was supposed to be nice so we quickly hit the trail for a day hike. I had some fun taking silly Wim pictures on the way up and Wim was a willing participant. We went to the Laguna Capri, first for the overlook to Fitz Roy which was spectacular in the clear blue, cloudless sky. The view equaled or even exceeded that of Torres Del Paine with its grand spire reaching to the sky. Plus, it`s now full into autumn and the trees are nearing peak and full of reds, yellows, and orange colors. It`s not the same palette as New England, but it is pretty. Then we circled around to the lake and spent some time there. We wanted to try to make it to the mirador on the other side of town for sunset so we left after a while but at a different overlook on the way back to town, Wim decided to stop there and skip the other overlook. I continued on and planned to meet him back at the hostel after sunset. But, a short while after heading down, I ran into a pair of woodpeckers. I believe they are Magellanic Woodpeckers though one reference I saw mentioned Patagonia Woodpeckers. These are large striking birds. The female is black with a red patch around the beak and white wind patches. The male has an all red head, white wing patches, and otherwise is all black. They are large woodpeckers and remind me of the pileated woodpeckers I see along the Eastern US. After watching them for a long time, I was about to move along when a large flock of Austral parakeets came in. There must have been well over 100 birds in this flock. They are large green parakeets with red along the back of the tail. They are about the size of cockatiels or maybe a bit bigger. I continued on but got distracted by yet another birds, maybe a flicker, near the parking lot. By the time I got back to town, it was too late to head up to the mirador so I just went back to the hostel and found Jena and Lucie there. Hung out with them until Wim came, equally surprised to see them there. Wim and I went for dinner. I had a salad and he a lentil stew. Both good. Thursday, April 9: El ChaltenWim didn`t want to try to leave town today even though the weather was deteriorating. So we stayed to see Jana and Lucie off on their own hitch out of town. After they left, we finally set off to visit a waterfall just a few kilometers out of town. Given the peaks were in the clouds, this seemed a likely prospect for the day. To get there, we walked along the braided river and I marveled at how big the floods must be to rearrange the river bottom and affect the flow of water as much as it does. The waterfall was big but not huge. There weren`t any obstructing trees so you could get the whole thing in one camera shot. We had lunch on the rocks below the falls. At one point, I reached into my bag and just before I grabbed it, I realized there was a huge fuzzy caterpillar on my fleece inside the bag. I was able to extract the fleece and caterpillar with no harm to either - or myself. I almost left my poles behind, but Wim realized I was missing them as we started walking. it was strange that I hadn`t noticed sooner but we had been playing on the rocks without them so I probably got used to the rocks without them for a while. Shower and hand wash back at the hostel. then I shopped for some hitchhiking supplies... A notebook and magic marker so we could make relevant signs. I had a short and very expensive internet session to let family know of my plans with Wim. Split a steak dinner and a pumpkin ravioli dinner with Wim. A whole steak would have been too much meat for me. Both were delicious. Then dinner continued with an ice cream. We split a 1/4 kg of that, too. I finished Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a freebie book that I had gotten in El Calafate that I really don`t want to carry around any longer. [Date: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:54 pm After traveling with Wim for over three weeks, I'm on my own again in a small town with nothing to do at night. As luck would have it, there's an internet cafe here. Here's the start of the hitchhiking portion of my travels. Wim and I were both interested in hitchhiking but neither wanted to do it alone. So we teamed up for a while and had a great time. We also both gained a lot of confidence about hitchhiking in the area and would now each hitch on our own. As a matter of fact, I had my first solo hitch earlier this evening and it took less than a minute to get a ride. More to come - sometime... Friday, April 10: El Chalten to Gobernador Gregores (335km hitching)Wim has so much stuff. It took him forever to pack but he did get it all into two bags which is probably the max manageable for hitching. At least he let me carry ALL the food for both of us as I've got plenty of room in my backpack. Together, we got our load down to two backpacks and one day pack. It looks bulky to me but should be OK for hitching, especially if we can get rides in pickups. We stopped at the store to get a bunch of chipas, these wonderful cheese/bread rolls for lunch. We have plenty of other typical backpacker type food with us in case we get stuck along a road for a day or two. We finally started out at 11:00. It had rained hard all night and into the morning as we ran around doing errands but as we started out, the rain was already clearing out and we could see the peaks, spectacularly peeking through the clouds. It was frustrating to realize that this was turning into a nice day and we could have been enjoying it while backpacking instead of in town. Oh well. The weather here is as changeable and as hard to predict as in New England. We went to the gas station to start hitching. Towns here are so spread out that almost everyone would top off before heading out on the road. In a short time, we had our first ride the 89km out to Ruta 40. Fitz Roy receded in our rear window as we drove along the huge Lago Viedma. We got dropped off at the intersection I had noted a few days earlier. There was absolutely nothing there except the intersection. I was extremely surprised to see the car that had dropped us off do a u-turn and head back into town. Apparently they had just driven us to the intersection to do us a favor. That was a 90km each way trip out of their way. Wow! What a way to start our hitch. As usual, the pampa was extremely windy so we walked across the street to where we could start our hitch north. We found a place where we could keep our gear and maybe one of us at a time out of the worst of the wind. So we dumped our stuff there. Wim took the opportunity to go relieve himself, being careful to piss with the wind. He hadn`t even finished when the first car came by that didn't turn to go to El Chalten. It was a pickup and as I stuck out my thumb, it stopped. We hadn't been waiting for a hitch for 5 minutes along an extremely remote and infrequently traveled road and we got a ride. Once again - WOW! This pickup was only going the 34km to Tres Lagos but at least it would be a better place to wait for an ongoing hitch. Wim sat in the back of the pickup (his preferred ride) which left me up front with the driver who spoke no English. So we talked what little I could for a few minutes and then I just enjoyed the ride. At Tres Lagos, we got dropped at the gas station. We ate, hung out, and not too much later, the owner came out with a couple of steak knives and indicated that instead of being bored while we were waiting, we could help out if we wanted by helping to scrape the multitudes of stickers off the windows that other travelers had left behind. I think the guy thought we might do a few and then get tired of the work, but Wim and I got into it. After just a few minutes, the guy came out with a plate of food for Wim and I to share. Salmon, potatoes, rice and ham, bread, and mushrooms. Wow! After our second lunch, Wim and I went back to work. The guy left a few minutes later to pick up his daughter and Wim and I kept at it. By the time the guy came back, to the amazement of both the guy and his wife, we had finished scraping almost all of the stickers off all of the windows. At that point, Wim and I knew we were assured of a meal and a place to stay if we didn't get a ride that day. We had been dropped off around 1:00 and four hours later, someone pulled up who was going in our direction and had space in his vehicle. Woohoo!!! We had a ride going 212km further north in a newish Fiat SUV. This guy spoke English quite well and switched back and forth a few times when necessary to include me in the conversation. I always use Spanish when I know it but switch back when I don't. It works. Leaving Tres Lagos, we were off the paved part of Ruta 40. We saw lots of guanaco and a few rhea along the way. We also drove over a small armadillo that was crossing the road. I've seem armadillos pancaked on roads in the US but that was the first live one I had seen. But, our driver wasn't a tourist so wasn't about to stop so we could get a better look. We drove past rolling hills, grassland, and milky blue lakes. We stopped to say 'hi' to some friends of the driver who were hunting guanaco from their pickup. They had just shot one and I could see it 100m up the hill with blood running down its leg. A few seconds later, it went down for good as I watched and then two helpers, one with an ATV and one on foot soon closed in on the fallen guanaco. I think some people used to eat the meat but now they just use the meat to feed their dogs. I think they keep the hides as well. We pulled into town as the sun was setting, turning the tall trees used as windbreaks a vivid gold. Turns out the guy who gave us the ride owns a hotel in Gobernador Gregores and gave us a 240peso room for just 120. That's a bit more than Wim and I would usually spend on a room but it wasn't outrageous and gave us a wonderful splurge for not much extra money. This small splurge got us a room that would be nice even in the US, with TV, towels, soaps, shampoos, a heater, toilets that can handle flushing toilet paper, and toilet paper with blue puppies on it. We found a place to shoot pool and had mediocre pizza for dinner there. The pool tables here are what I'm used to from other pool places but Wim and I keep proving to each other how bad we both are at pool. At least here with the banked holes, we could play three games in an hour and a half rather than the one game we had played in the same amount of time in Puerto Natales. One big surprise for us today is the size of this town. Our guide books barely include it but it is bigger than El Chalten, has at least a couple of ATM machines, a reliable gas station, a bunch of lodging options and at least one large supermarket. A thought... While we would prefer to have our own wheels for this trip, we probably wouldn't save any travel time. Our drivers go fast and don't stop whereas we would constantly be stopping for this view or that view or those guanacos, so ubiquitous to those that live here. They drive fast on bad roads and we would go slower, not knowing the roads as well. But time is not the issue and it would be so much better to have our own wheels. So this hotel, while quite nice, still has it's problems. I leaned against the headboard and the lights turned off. They put a convenient switch on the wall above my bed, but then put in a headboard that hits the switch when you lean against it. Oh well. A well placed folded towel solved that problem. In the shower, the shower head is so high (a good thing in my book) that it shoots water mostly over my head (not so good) and clear across the shower rather than down into the tub. Once again, nice ideas have gone awry. It's Good Friday today and Easter Sunday is coming up so there some consternation about he amount of traffic we're likely to see along the road as we hitch out of here. Saturday, April 11: Gobernador GregoresCrappy "free" breakfast at the hotel. Finally got out at 11:00. I would normally chafe at these late starts but with no schedule, I'm just taking it in stride and we'll see if it matters in the long run. We started at the gas station but then after Wim had heard from multiple people that the crossroads might be a better place to hitch, we got a ride that far, just a few kilometers from town. There's a detour right at the road out of town. Ruta 40 is slowly being paved and there's construction going on here. We`re hitching just before the detour sign so we know we can be seen. We were also sitting just beyond the entrance to the autodromo, the local dirt racetrack, similar to one we had seen in Ushuaia. We smiled and waved or thumbed at all the construction vehicles going by, as much to give them a laugh as to keep ourselves amused but we and they knew that they couldn't help us out at all. We took turns stretching our legs. At one point, I went for a 'drive' around the autodromo, just walking out on the course and pretending to race around, and do donuts. It was windy and the wind got worse as the day progressed. We had fun videoing our clothes flapping in the wind. We had blown grit in our sandwiches for lunch. Three cars went south all day long and only one went north. With winds getting increasingly bad and blown rocks and grit getting worse, we gave it up at 4:30. We got an easy hitch into town in the back of a pickup with three freshly caught fish. We found a different place to stay that was a bit cheaper and a lot less nice. Oh well. Along the way, someone mentioned the police station radio, and perhaps a call going out over the radio for a ride the next day. Well, it wasn't the police radio, it was the radio station across the street from the police station. When we finally figured that out after a visit to the police station, they were happy to send an announcement out over the air. We left there, stopped at the supermarket, and then made our way to the pool hall. It was too early to eat anywhere as restaurants wouldn't be open until 8pm so we shot a few games of pool and I wondered who I was playing against. All of a sudden, Wim seemed dialed into the pool table and all his balls were sinking fast. I was having no such luck. It got to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. He was having to dodge most of my balls to sink his and I just couldn't get any to fall. Back at the hospedaje, no luck so far with responses to our radio call. Went to dinner at Criollo and had a strange experience. It was as if they didn't want to run a restaurant. No menu, so he told us a few options and we ordered from that. I ordered ravioli and was surprised to get cheese and spinach ravioli with a bunch of steak on top. Wim got the Milanesa, a typical dish here of breaded steak. As others came in, we could hear them ordering all sorts of stuff that Wim and I didn't even know were options. As we were leaving, we met three Argentinean's at the restaurant who were traveling in our direction. It would have been great to go with them but there's no room in their vehicle. Back at the hostel, the wind has continued and doors bang in the wind. The heater in the hallway is going full blast and it's so hot we have to close our door to keep the heat out. Earlier, the outside door was open to let the excessive heat out. Why don't they just turn it down and not waste energy? This isn't the only place we've been with blasting heat and open doors. There seems to be no connection between wasting energy and high utility bills here. Oh well. Maybe it's all so cheap that nobody cares? At least one place we've been cared so I just don't know. A small wad of folded paper in the door kept it from banging all night. Walking through the streets, I became aware that every house has a permanently installed garbage basket out front. The households put small plastic bags of trash out for pickup. and don't need to put out barrels. Many are standard baskets provided by the town but some are specialty metal sculptures of men or other shapes holding the basket or what have you. I've seen this in other towns, too. Sunday, April 12: Gobernador Gregores to Bajo Caricoles (234km hitching, 569 total)Today being Easter Sunday, Wim and many others did not have high hopes for much traffic on these remote roads. But since travelers rarely stop for holidays, I was hopeful we might get a ride. We got an earlier start today, not the 8am start I would have hoped for to take advantage of all the daylight, but we were hitching before 9am after walking from the hospedaje and stopping at the ATM. We decided to hitch from the gas station today. Once again, we got many friendly waves from everyone not going in our direction. We were also surprised at the number of people working today, even some of the construction workers were busy. Finally, at 11:30, a small three door car pulled into the gas station. I think it was supposed to be white (silver?) but it looked more brown with all the mud and dust caked on it. It had obviously been traveling but from here, we had no idea which direction it was going. Wim was soon talking with them and they were heading north. They didn't immediately invite us along but when I went over to introduce myself, they were talking as if we were going with them so just over 24 hours after we first started trying, we finally got our hitch north. My pack fit in the trunk with their stuff. Wim and I shared the back seat with Wim's backpack and day pack. It was tight but wasn't all that bad. The backpack did limit our views out of one rear window though. The terrain here was not the featureless pampas we had heard others talking about. There were hills, valleys, exposed escarpments, distant mountains, and rivers to keep it all interesting. That said, all views are expansive and distant. We saw more guanaco, rhea, another armadillo crossing the road, and a fox. We were surprised to get to a 56km stretch of paved road along the way. We know the road is being paved but it seemed strange to get to one stretch in the middle of nowhere, rather than near a town. Today we were surprised at the number of vehicles going south. With only three pulling into Gobernador Gregores yesterday, if most of these don't go into Gobernador Gregores, then we're surprised at the number of cars that bypass the town, the only source of gas for many miles around. I realized along the way that the body aches I had this morning weren't from carrying my pack yesterday and the dry throat I had in the morning wasn't from the excessive heat. I was sick - again. Another flu type illness. I'm getting sick of being sick but don't know if I would be sick less if I stayed at home. So, I would rather keep traveling and deal with the illnesses as they come. At least the hitching part of the travel is relatively easy and likely something I'll be able to continue to do rather than have to stay in bed waiting to feel better so I can go on a hike. Our ride got to Bajo Caricoles where there's supposed to be a reliable source of gas only to find there was no gas here. With their small car and small gas tank, they weren't going to make it in and out of the Cuevos de los Manos (Caves of the Hands) and then all the way to Perito Moreno and since they have to be home to work tomorrow, they decided to skip the cuevos altogether. We stayed behind an checked into a hotel. As soon as we did, I crawled into bed for a nap while Wim went exploring around town a bit. It's not much of a town, just a few buildings at a crossroads. I had considered continuing to Perito Moreno thinking a bigger town might be a better place to be sick, but I have all the meds I might want with me so decided to stick it out here in the hopes I feel well enough tomorrow to visit the cuevos. After an hour long nap, I woke up feeling well enough to go out and get some fresh air. I could see Wim on the hill next to town but decided to just walk up the road a bit rather than tackle the hill. Maybe in the morning, I'll walk up. I got back to the hotel just after sunset and crawled into bed to wait for Wim. When he returned, we braved the locals that were in the bar to watch soccer and got crappy microwave pizza for dinner. Back to the room for antibiotics for my stomach which is acting up, ibuprofen for my body aches, and Benadryl to help me sleep well. Monday, April 13: Bajo Caricoles to Los Antiguos (282 miles hitching, 851 total)I didn't sleep well last night. I was too hot and too cold. I ate breakfast, took ibuprofen for the body aches and more antibiotics to get going. Wim performed heroics and got us a ride to the Cuevos de los Manos (Caves of the Hands) with a couple who had also stayed at the hotel the previous night. They were also heading north afterwards so we were entirely likely to continue after the caves with them. We left all our bags at the hotel and piled into the car. It took about an hour to get to the National Park. Once there, we bought our tickets and then had to wait for 50 minutes for the next tour to leave at the next hour. I ate more breakfast while we waited. Wim and the other couple drank the ubiquitous mate. When it was time for our tour, they had us don hard hats. There is no independent visiting of the cuevos any longer. I'm sure too much vandalism had occurred in the past. I was the only one on the tour without a good understanding of Spanish but our guide was happy to repeat things in English for me. Even Wim told me later that he benefited from the English. The hand print negatives, made from putting a hand against the rock walls and blowing paint around them, are as old as 9000 years old though some are newer. They were not able to date the paint, but sections of rock that had fallen off the walls and then got buried with other rocks that were able to be carbon dated were where those number came from. Most of the images are hands with 90% being left hands, the thought being that the right hand was used to aim a tube that was used to spray the paint around the left hand. One has six fingers. One has three. One has stubs for fingers. There are also pictures of guanaco, rhea feet, and hunters surrounding herds of guanaco. There are jagged lines thought to represent the nearby mountains. There are concentric circles. All meaning for why any of these images are here and what they mean is speculative. The physical area was similar to the areas with cliff dwellings that I've visited in the southwestern US. There was only one cave but a lot of overhanging rock that would keep the area below dry if not protected. There were no walls obviously created to delineate dwelling areas though. The area ran along a fertile valley with cows grazing below. A river ran through the valley. While much bigger than the cliff dwellings I've visited, when I clearly heard a cow from the valley mooing, I inquired if they thought that people in the valley could communicate easily with those along the cliffs, I found they had never tested that theory. The woman who gave us the tour was clearly interested in the other areas that I had visited. Our tour which usually takes an hour and twenty minutes took an hour and forty five, more because I kept asking a lot of questions rather than her having to repeat everything in English. On the way back to Bajo, we had great views of the mountains to the west. Back in Bajo, we knew we had a ride to Perito Moreno (the town, not the glacier or the National Park) if we could get in the car with all of our gear. If we had thought our ride the day before was cramped, this one was much more so. We rode in the back seat with all of our gear and a bit of theirs. We sat next to Wim's pack and had my backpack going across our laps. It was extremely uncomfortable and for my knees, painful. I still can't believe they did the three hour drive without one break to stretch legs or look at a view. Oh well. After refilling their gas tank at Perito Moreno, they drove us to the roundabout at the edge of town. It was early enough to try to get our next hitch. We stood there for 45 minutes before a car stopped for us after passing us and doing two u-turns to come pick us up. it was a great ride. Our driver heard my halting Spanish and immediately switched to English. I don't even know if he ever realized that Wim spoke great Spanish. But he was a wealth of information and we got some great tips for the days ahead and soon changed our plans accordingly. He dropped us right at the hostel we hoped to stay at. There wasn't anyone there so we left our packs in the back and went to dinner to a place with a sign that indicated that English, Dutch, Spanish, and German were spoken there. Wim declined to let on that he spoke Dutch. I ate Chupin de Pescada, a delicious seafood stew of salmon, other fish, squid, veggies, and potatoes in a tasty broth. It was delicious. We had lamb empanadas to start. This restaurant was so obviously run by people form outside the area. They were attentive and made sure everything was OK and got anything else we needed in a fairly timely manner. Usually, we order, get our food, and then never see anyone again until we want our check. We were able to check into our hostel when we returned. It was nice enough except there were no seats on the toilets. Argh! Tuesday, April 14: Los Antiguos, Argentina to Chile Chico, Chile (17km hitching, 868 total)We're so far west in Argentina that sunrise isn't until 8am or so. Getting up at 7am seems really early. It was nearly 9am by the time we hit the road. We started hitching right away but were soon directed to walk to the border control a fraction of a kilometer ahead. We got within sight of the Argentine border control and saw a road off to our left leading to a mirador. So we stashed our backpacks out of sight and walked up to the mirador. The sign pointing to the mirador ostensibly had it looking towards the valley in Argentina we had just passed, but in reality, the view was to the west, to the mountains in Chile and over Lago Buenos Aires as it's known in Argentina (Lago General Carrera in Chile), the second largest lake in South America after lake Titicaca. We were soon down and through the Argentine border control but with a 14km long border swath, we could do nothing but wait until another vehicle going our way would be willing to pick us up. The fourth vehicle going our way was a pickup with nothing in the back. Perfect for our purposes. Turns out they were an American couple who come each year to go fishing in the area. They brought us to the Chilean border crossing where I was prepared to trash my open cereal and other food that I thought to be restricted but when I showed the customs agents, they said I could keep them. We did have to open our backpacks and start taking things out but when they saw the rest of the food I had was all packaged, they stopped there and I didn't have to take anything else out of my pack. For me it wouldn't have been a big deal, but for Wim, it takes him a long time to get things 'just right' so he was extremely glad not to have to completely unpack and repack. We were done fast enough that we could put our stuff back in the pickup we had come with and continue with the same ride that brought us across the border area. That was convenient. Then they drove through town a few times looking for their friends and that gave us a chance to see what our options were in town. They dropped us in front of the place with one hospedaje we were interested in but they were full. So we left our packs there and went to the visitor's center to get information about trying to get to the Cuevos de los Manos here in the Chilean side of the border. We ran into Rachel there, someone Wim and I had met separately in Puerto Natales. She directed us to the hospedaje where she had stayed the previous night. We would have ended up there anyway, but it was nice to have the recommendation. She was on her way out of town that day on the ferry crossing the lake. We soon checked in, retrieved our bags, and then continued trying to make our plans happen. Unfortunately, we couldn't find transportation and a guide for the next day so we decided to just hitch out. I did a bit of sightseeing at the tourist office/museum and the cultural center with the boat the Andes on dry land next to the center building. Dinner was uninspired at a nearby restaurant and they tried to overcharge Wim for his wine. We paid half of what they wanted which was twice what the menu said and left the restaurant after our complaints fell on deaf ears. Back at the hospedaje, I was too tired to socialize and went to bed. Wednesday, April 15: Chile Chico to Puerto GuadalBeing in Chile means turning the clocks back an hour. That means sunrise comes an hour earlier and I'm back on Eastern time, the same time zone I live in Massachusetts. As is often the case in Chile, there's little to no heating so the beds are piled with lots of warm blankets. They are often very heavy, too. I stayed in bed as long as possible but had woken up early so just read for a while. Once again, our breakfast was included with our stay and as usual, there was cheese. For some reason, the cheese in Chile all tastes like nothing. It's got texture and bite that adds something to the bread and butter, but no flavor. It's weird. Our hosts offered to let us use their computer rather than going to an internet cafe so I took an hour or so to copy my pictures from my memory cards to my hard drive. Yesterday, we had heard something mentioned about a radio station but it was only when we were brought back to use the computer that we realized exactly what they meant. Our host runs the local radio station which is in his back yard. He was also the head of the county seat at one point. While my pictures were copied, Wim sent some email. Then we got on our way. We stopped at an ATM for money and only then realized that with only Visa cards, I couldn't get money. So, Wim took out a bunch for me knowing I could get him back when we got to Coyhaique a few days up the road. One of these years, I have to find a bank with Master Card check cards - preferably fee free. We walked to a good place to hitch which was at the base of some stairs to an obviously great mirador. So we dropped our packs and took turns going up to the mirador, keeping an eye out below as we went up in case our ride came. We started hitching at 11:30. Every town has tons of dogs and it's inevitable that every day, one will latch onto us and just follow us around. We don't do anything to encourage the behavior, they just chose to do it. So, our "dog of the day" as we've started calling them, joined us as we waited for a ride. It joined each of us as we climbed the hill and descended. Then, when we got boring and just sat there, it took turns resting in the sun (hot) shade (cold), and chasing the few cars that passed by. This one was a cute black dog smallish to medium sized, with white marks on its rear paws and a white stripe from its chest to its belly. We got silly, making up stories for each of the vehicles passing us about why they would or wouldn't pick us up. At 3:30, we gave up and headed back into town to catch the minivan/bus going in our direction. It wasn't going as far as we wanted it to but it was a good start. For 6000 pesos ($10), we took a four hour ride to go 100km to Puerto Guadal. When getting into the bus, we ran into Angela, another woman Wim had met in Torres del Paine. The bus ride along the lago General Carrera was beautiful. The road was carved out of the rock for one famous 30km stretch. My seatmates were also interesting. One found every reason to elbow me whenever possible. I couldn't tell whether it was done on purpose or not. They were also getting very drunk on beer as we traveled so we had to stop for a lot of pee breaks. We also made deliveries of boxes and other supplies along the way and went miles out of our way to drop off one of the people on the bus. Cows, horses, and dogs, all slowed our progress at times. We got into town well after dark and the van started driving us around to the hospedajes which for some reason were all full. He kept avoiding the one that was written up in our guide books so we insisted he go there but it was dark and run down. So he tried one more place and finally, on the fourth or fifth try, we found a place to stay. The ceilings were so low, I couldn't stand up straight in the upstairs which is where our rooms were but we had fun picking out our rooms. We each got a room and we could have whatever one we wanted. I found one with a queen sized bed and a fluorescent light. The other room with the big bed had an incandescent and I was concerned I would break it getting up in the middle of the night. Our place was in the middle of nowhere. There were no dinner options in town so Wim and I pulled together a dinner for the three of us including Angela. I took the last of my Benadryl as much to help sleep as for the nasal symptoms I now have. We'll all be traveling together to Puerto Tranquilo tomorrow where Wim and I (and maybe Angela) will visit the marble caves. Thursday, April 16: Puerto Guadal to Puerto Tranquilo (30km hitching plus 20km bus ride)Puerto Guadal is 10km shy of the Carratera Austral so this morning, our hosts arranged for us to hitch a ride with a local transport going through the next town - no charge. It dropped us at the intersection where an hour or so later a bus would come. We started hitching anyway and although there wasn't much traffic, we did get a ride about halfway to Puerto Tranquilo. We rode in the back of the pickup much to Wim's delight. It's a great place to take pictures from but left our butts a bit bruised. They let us out in the middle of nowhere. We hoped to hitch the rest of the way but after an hour, with no traffic to speak of, the bus came. We flagged it down and took that the rest of the way to town. They only charged us for the distance we travelled with the bus. Gotta love the system here. Plus the bus had windows that opened so we could still take pictures. We continued to follow the same lake now for the third day and the views continue to amaze. The water is a vivid aqua blue. In town, the three of us soon found lodging in an inexpensive cabaña. Then we arranged for our boat trip to see the Capilla de Màrmol or the marble chapel. We got settled into the small boat and only then, when we got under way, did Angela let on that she hated boats, especially small ones like the one we were in. But, the way was pretty smooth and she did OK. There was a bit of spray so Angela and I put on our rain pants as we went. Then we got to the caves area. The water in some areas of the shore is slowly undercutting the rock in the most amazing formations. The holes are so large the entire boat can go through some of the tunnels created by the wave action. I would love to do this trip by kayak sometimes but that could only be done on a day with little wind and wave action. We not only went through some tunnels, but poked into others with no outlets and circled some sea stacks also undercut. Back in town, we had tomato, avocado, and cheese sandwiches for lunch. We visited one of the supermarkets in town afterwards. It was the size of my last living room, that is, very small. We then walked back to the cabaña past the church and plaza, performing a Rocky like dance at the top of the much too short staircase leading to the top of the tiny hill. The rain started so we were forced back into our cabaña. I looked so bad to Wim and Angela that they put me in the room with the large bed. I then took a much needed one hour nap. Pigs snuffled outside our door. Another shopping spree later for the smallest onion we could find and ended up with a one kilo onion. It was huge and we only needed a small portion of it. Wim and Angela cooked our tuna and egg salad with mashed potatoes. I cleaned. Friday, April 17: Puerto Tranquilo to Villo Cerro Castillo (130km by bus)Roosters woke us up but not all that early. We got out early enough to hitch for 1-1.5 hours before the bus came but we had no luck so hoped onto the bus for the ride to Coihaique. Here in Chile, buses are much more affordable than in Argentina so it doesn't make sense to let buses pass to keep on hitching these remote roads. When the bus came, it was a bit crowded so we all ended up in the back seat with me in the middle so I could stick my legs down the aisle in the middle of the bus. The windows on this bus did not open so we just watched the passing scenery. Whereas Ruta 40 in Argentina went through open pampas with sweeping vistas, here on the Carretera Austral, we still have great views but we're often in narrower valleys, with lots of trees. It's peak fall foliage season in many of the areas we are currently traveling through so the mountains are aflame with reds, yellows, and orange. We are now traveling in and along the Andes rather than viewing them from afar. As Such, the road twists and winds much more here than in the pampas. There's also a lot more rain on this side so the road is muddy rather than dusty. It rains a bit here and there as we drive. After 1.5 hours, we came to a view of a huge majestic butte and we realized we were looking at Cerro Castillo. Then we approached the town of Villa Cerro Castillo and it looked beautiful So rather than continue to Coihaique as planned, we all got off the bus here. I was nursing a migraine so watched the backpacks as Wim and Angela went to find a place to stay. By the time they came back, I had taken Excedrin and eaten something. We soon checked into a triple room at a nearby hospedaje. Then Wim had lunch in a converted bus. I had eaten when taking my headache meds and Angela had made herself a lunch that she ate. There's hiking in the area but still fighting the flu, I didn't feel up for that. I did however, recognize horse country and expressed a desire to find horses for rent. Angela was also interested and Wim was willing enough so we went looking for information. First we found a sign indicating horses for rent. Then we found the horses. But we couldn't find anyone to get us set up. Along the way, we met someone who mentioned a special day of riding the next day that we could probably join. But the person responsible was busy and would be back later. So, we went for a walk, hung out on a bridge over a deep and narrow gorge just south of town, and eventually headed for the local 'manos' paintings. We ended up getting a ride there which was just as well from my point of view. Then we wandered unattended to the hand prints here. Many more right hands than we had seen before as well as more positive rather than negative prints. We got a ride a short way back towards town and walked the rest. Back in town, we found those responsible for the horseback riding the next day and were soon signed up for what promised to be a full day, not just riding but experiencing other truly local events. From what I could figure out, we would be the only non-Chileans along for the ride. Back at the hostel, I had enough of a second wind to help cook but went to sleep shortly after eating. Saturday, April 18: Villa Cerro CastilloWe got up at 7:30 and made it to our rendezvous point by 8:30. Then we stood around for an hour waiting until the horses and a film crew, including interviewers, were ready to go. Then gave us half chaps to wear, just like gaiters for hiking but out of leather. Finally, we got on our way. Wim who had only ever once before been on a horse, lagged way behind. They probably gave him a placid horse but they should have given him one that liked to be with the crowd. I was on a responsive horse that mostly paid attention to me. It wasn't without its quirks though. My horse never wanted to lead the group but was happy to go whatever speed I wanted as long as there was a horse in front of it. It also liked to scratch its nose on the rump of the horse in front of me so I had to keep both of us from getting kicked at times. And then there were the times when it either knowingly or ignorantly tried to brush me off, passing too close to other horses. Mostly though, these weren't problems. Once I had figured it all out, I could avoid the situations reasonably easily. A short time into our ride, we were joined by another larger group that had started out at 6:30 in the morning. Our entire ride was along a valley with views of Cerro Castillo along the way. It was an amazing place to ride. We both crossed and rode in quite a bit of water with a lot of splashing going on. Mostly though, it was along dirt road that made me really want to go. Only near our destination did I really have the opportunity to let go and ride at better than a jog. Our destination was a ranch. Once there, we watched as cattle were brought in for branding and ear marking. Thankfully, there was no castrating going on. It seemed like fishing in a barrel. A dozen gauchos with lariats stood in a circle a few meters from the edge of the ring and from a holding pen, one at a time, a cow was singled out and forced into the ring. In order to bring it down, it had to be running so there was much yelling, whistling, and barking of dogs to get those that preferred to stand to move so their legs could be lassoed. They were eventually brought down onto one side, branded, and had their ears cut. They bellowed for a short time but within seconds were chased out of the ring and were soon grazing nearby as if nothing untoward had just happened to them. I realized as I was watching that while I had seem similar action in the rodeos I had visited in the US southwest, these actions were for business. The cattle here are beef cattle and keeping track of ownership of these animals is absolutely necessary for eventually having them turn up on dinner tables. Speaking of food, after the brandings, we went to the main house for asado. There we found an open campfire with three very large cuts of beef cooking over the fire as well as one closed pan on which steaks were cooked. We started with the steaks. There were no plates, just pan (rolls) to hold the steaks. Once those were eaten, it was time for the asado. Those in the know which was just about everyone but us, brought their own very sharp knives. You just walk up to the beef over the fire and cut off the piece you want. Wim's knife was adequate but the others cut tough cuts of meat like butter. Mostly, if someone saw me looking at one of the pieces of beef, they would step forward and cut me a piece. I had one piece that was mostly fat which after I nibbled the meat off, the dogs were happy to get the fat. Then I had another piece which tasted great but was a little tough. I ran out of room at that point as there were also boiled potatoes going around, salad stuffs, and more bread. Still no plates or silverware so you just had to manage. The two vegetarians got plates to eat more of the potatoes and salad stuffs. Angela was one though she tasted the meat just for yucks. There was music from a very old accordion being played by one of the gauchos. Some people danced to it. They were also playing a horseshoes like betting game. This weird object sandwiched between two pieces of metal had to land in a pit but often got deflected out of the pit. I found out later that the white piece sandwiched between the metal pieces was a piece of ankle bone from a cow. We had arrived at the ranch at about noon and didn't saddle up for the ride back until about 4pm. With the sun behind the mountains, it was a colder but faster ride back to town. We had a lot of periods with extended gallops. It was a lot of fun especially since this was the most comfortable saddle I've used in years. Other saddles I had used in Central America were too small and extremely painful. This one had a lower pommel, no horn, and was covered in a thick sheepskin that worked wonders as a cushion. Once back in town, we had parrilla for dinner, or barbecue. This time on a more recognizable barbecue, on a grate over coals. More meat, potatoes, and salad. Then there was dancing. They started with some traditional dances but soon transitioned to modern stuff. I preferred the traditional music but got to dance to the other. The local men will not dance with a partner my height. The videographer kept pulling me up for dancing but nothing partnered. But he was a lot of fun and we kept not only ourselves amused, but the other there as well. I was about to call it quits when someone pulled a guitar out. That was worth staying for. Three people took turns handing the guitar off between songs. But, half an hour later, the party broke up. This entire day cost 25,000 pesos or about 42 dollars including 5 hours of horseback riding, guides, two large meals, drink (alcoholic and non), and the dance. The three of us were the only non-Chileans there. There's no way we could have planned a day like that for ourselves. We just got lucky. Days like this are what we always hope for when traveling. I crawled into bed at 1:00, tired, sore, and happy. Sunday, April 19: Villa Cerro CastilloSlept late and then enjoyed a much needed shower. Then put on my dirt clothes. Oh well. We had breakfast and then went for a hike. I'm still taking it easy so they went on ahead. I kept hiking slowly until I got distracted by what was probably a family grouping of Magellanic Woodpeckers. There was one adult male with a bright red head and the rest were all black except for a red ring around their beaks and white wing markings. I could see at least four at one point and hear at least one or two others at the same time. They were fascinating to watch and listen to. As they moved, it seemed like they had to announce their new location to the others before staying silent for a short time (maybe listening for movement by the insects in the trees) and then they would start pecking away at the trees. There were times when there were two on the same tree and three within one frame of my camera. I stayed and watched them for over an hour. I then continued but came to an amazing viewpoint almost immediately. I could look down into a gaping gorge with a whitewater river running through it or look up to glaciers below the imposing peak of Cerro Castillo. I stopped there for lunch, wrote in my journal, and then started down. As I neared town, I found a patch of scrub and trees with a lot of bird life including a smaller variety of woodpecker that I haven't been able to identify yet. I got back at 4:30. Wim and Angela returned at 5:30 having gotten lost but still having had a great hike and a good day. Dinner of guacamole on bread then ramen noodles with tuna, tomato, carrot and onion. They watched the Simpsons in Spanish. I read. I'm not sure if they've admitted it to themselves yet, but Angela and Wim are a couple and have been almost since the day we met Angela in Chile Chico. I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel so I'm not sure how long the travel partnership I have with Wim will continue, especially since we're already triple and three people hitching seems unlikely. Maybe tomorrow in Coihaique, I'll find out if we're still traveling together. In the meantime, Wim and I have frequently run into signs that say 'tu usted aqui' (you are here) and we keep joking about how we can't get away from here or here we are again, etc. We also frequently find ourselves being accompanied by dogs. Almost always, there's one dog that latches onto us early in the day and stays with us wherever we go. We never encourage them. We never feed them. But they stay with us when we walk, wait at doors when we go inside our hospedaje or a store, and then move with us as we do about town. We've come to call them our 'dog of the day'. Monday, April 20: Villa Cerro Castillo to Coihaique (97km by bus)Good breakfast of bread, butter, banana, yogurt, and cheese. Then after sleeping late, the three of us started hitching. No luck so we eventually took the bus. The ride to Coihaique was along completely paved road, the first time that's happened to us in weeks. The area we drone through was beautiful. Valleys and mountains and rolling hillside. Getting into town was a shock. There was traffic and a lot of it. Traffic jams, even. Traffic lights, lots of shops, and most surprising, expensive hospedajes that were full in this off season time. Plus the attitude of the people renting the rooms left a lot to be desired. Usually those in the hospitality industry are hospitable. No necessarily so here. Weird. We ended up looking at a bunch of places before settling on one. We retrieved our packs from the first place we had tried that was full and settled in. Then hit the internet cafe. For dinner, Wim and I shared a huge plate of Pichanga. When I first heard the name, I thought it was a dance, but the dance is the pachanga. Pichanga is a melange of french fries, chorizo, beef, hot dogs, avocado, pickled vegetables, hard boiled egg, and cheese. We were told the grande was enough for three and there was certainly plenty left on our plate when we were done. Bad TV back at the room before bed. Tuesday, April 21: CoihaiqueWith no hot water for our showers, we moved hostels after breakfast. We're now in a four bed attic room where I have to duck to go through doors and can only stand up in the very middle of the room. This new hostel which seemed promising yesterday, turned into a nickel and diming establishment. We could use the kitchen - for a fee. When I took a shower right after checking in, I was told there was only one shower per person per night paid. When we left with bags of laundry for the laundramat, she wanted us to do our laundry at the hospedaje even though she was charging an absurd amount per kilo. Usually, the hospedaje's offer competitive or better rates for laundry - at least they did further south. She gives the three of us one key and then complains if one of us returns without the others and needs to ring the bell to get in. This after telling us she would be back so we could get into the house at 11:00 to check in, only to leave us standing outside until 11:30 with all of our gear. This is the only hospedaje I've been to where the kitchen and living room doors have locks on them to keep out the guests. We're all getting fed up with Coihaique so we ran around getting the information we needed to get out of here tomorrow. We had all hoped to go through Chaiten, a town north of here that has been wracked by a volcano twice in the last year, the last time in February. The government wants to relocate the entire town. Transportation options seems a bit limited but not impossible. The biggest problem is that all the buses that go there go to meet the ferry that would take us away from there. We were told there were no other services available in the town. Finally, we figured out we can get there one day by bus if necessary as traffic there is supposed to be non-existent and then take the ferry the next day. We'll go prepared to camp or even just sit up overnight to wait for the ferry. I spent more time online and then me the others back at the hospedaje. Later, when Angela had run out to do an errand without the key and the doorbell rang, I ran down to answer the door only to find our friend Malienko who we had met on the horseback ride a couple of days earlier. He came over to tell us when and where he and some others would be meeting for music that evening. The owner surprisingly didn't have a problem with him coming up to our room even though he wasn't staying there. Then Wim ran down to answer the door when it next rang to let Angela back in. I can't imagine what the hospedaje owner was thinking. We went to dinner at a restaurant with a great menu. Unfortunately, both Angela's and Wim's first choices weren't available and then even Wim's second choice wasn't available. We eventually had a good dinner even though Angela's Ceasar salad ordered off the vegetarian menu had chicken in it. She's been trying to eat a bit more chicken and meat so she ate some of the chicken and pushed the rest to the side. After my pasta, I ordered dessert and splurged and had it with hot chocolate as this is one of the few places with an espresso machine and steamed milk. The hot chocolate was better than the cake layered with manjar (dulce de leche in Chile), crema, and topped with chocolate ganache. Malienko caught up with us again at the restaurant purely by accident but then we were able to go with him to the club which ended up being a salsa club. I did a few dances with Malienko who knows salsa much o everyone else's amusement. He's not just shorter than me, he's short for a local so he got some good natured ribbing but mostly we were complimented on our dancing. He danced with all the women in our group. One other knew the dance a bit, and two didn't know the dance at all. Unfortunately, he's a dancer not a teacher. Oh well. During the evening, lots of alcohol was running and with inhibitions lowered, Wim and Angela finally figured out that they were a couple. It started raining again this evening. Ah yes... For what it's worth, I'm no longerhitchhiking partners with Wim but we'll continue to travel together until our paths diverge - maybe tomorrow if nothing else happens to keep us going in the same direction. Wednesday, April 22: Coihaique to Puerto Puyhuapi (214km bus)On this very rainy morning, we were surprised and thankful when our hospedaje let us leave our luggage there while we ran errands in town in preparation for the afternoon bus north of here. With no kitchen access, we ate breakfast of empandas standing up in the entrance of the supermarket. We then made our way to the ferry office and were delighted to speak with Carla in English who was a positive wealth of information. And when she didn't know something, she even made phone calls on our behalf to get bus information relevant for our travels to the ferry. With this new information, we are all rethinking our plans again for about the tenth time in the last two days. Now, I'm thinking of going through Futaleufú and skipping Chaiten but I still have a few days to figure it out as I go north. I managed to burn two more DVDs at an internet cafe that said they couldn't burn DVDs. I sat down to use the computer and realized that the computer I was sitting at had the software and the burner - and it was blazingly fast. It took just 8 minutes or so per full DVD. Fantastic. We left town at 3pm for a three hour trip north which took 5 hours. We arrived in a very dark town, and found a nice hospedaje to check in. I think we've all come to the same conclusion that a cold place with hot water is preferable to a warm place with cold water. This place ended up putting Wim and Angela in their own room with bathroom and then I got my own room with bathroom. Fantastic. And it includes breakfast and is relatively inexpensive at 6000 pesos. No extra charge for the two rooms and private baths after showing us the triple and seeing that we preferred separate rooms, if possible. No charge for kitchen access even though she runs a restaurant. But we were too tired to cook so we found a house down the street with someone to cook us huge salmon fillets, with bread and mine with fries, theirs with salad. 3500 pesos, less than $6. Thursday, April 23: Puerto PuyhuapiIt was still raining when we woke up today. After talking with the owner who's nephew runs the buses in this neck of the world, I am changing my plans yet again and hope to make it to Chaiten after all. Wim and Angela went to the hot springs south of town, walking the 6km to get there. I stayed in town, using the somewhat expensive internet cafe as the free internet access at the tourist center was down for the day in preparation for the afternoon inaugural there. Lunch back a the hostel of my own bread and cheese. More internet. Dinner at the hospedaje - more salmon fillets, with bread, rice and salad for 3000 pesos, $5. Watched the Mentalist on TV before bed. Friday, April 24: Puerto PuyhuapiStill raining today but less than yesterday. While waiting for Wim and Angela to get their stuff together, I went ahead to the Visitor's Center (still closed) so made use of the free internet room in the same building. It's a room full of computers that can be used for an hour for free. Not sure if they are really keeping track of the time spent as I was only there for 30 minutes or so, but what a wonderful resource for the town. Spent the day exploring the town and surrounding area with Wim and Angela. The new bypass being built to take the Carretera Austral out of town obliterated the Sendero de Colonos that we were trying to follow. It's a trail leading to a historic section of town. Lunch back at the hospedaje. Then more exploring and a trip up to the mirador. We passed an older couple on their farm with a small building smoking in the background. Sure enough, they were making smoked salmon but didn't seem to have it for sale. Oh well. I should have brought my hiking poles and ended up taking a flop at one point on the way down. It hurt my right knee but there was no loss of function so hopefully it won't be more than a temporary ache. More salmon for dinner tonight. I hope this doesn't keep up for much longer. I like salmon and would hate to get sick of it. With the price of full meals so cheap, it just doesn't make sense to cook. Saturday, April 25: Puerto Puyhuapi to Villa Santa Lucia (113km hitch, 1001km total hitching)Knowing the road south of town was closed between 10am and 2pm, we knew our most likely hitching opportunities would be early so we ate at 7:15 and were hitching by 8:15. I stood apart on the other side of the road knowing two were more likely to get a ride than three and was willing to hitch on my own or catch the bus later in the day if necessary. But just 10 minutes later, a truck pulled up and he was willing to take all three of us. That meant that Angela sat on Wim's lap for the duration of the trip. We had planned on just getting to La Junta today but Wim soon ascertained that our driver was going to Villa Santa Lucia, where we were going to go tomorrow. We had no real reason to go to La Junta so we kept on going with Abdias, our 20 year old driver. About five hours later, we got to Villa Santa Lucia. We thanked Abdias who was continuing on to Futaleufú on his way to Argentina and Bariloche. Had we not already figured out a way to spend a day in Chaiten, I would have continued with him but Chaiten was more important to me. As we stopped at the store to ask directions to a hospedaje, we were joined by our dog of the day, a medium sized playful black dog. We were checked into the only hospedaje in town rather reluctantly. It was only 4000 pesos. Then we went back to the market to get vegetables to supplement our lunch. After we found the playground with benches to sit on, our dog of the day found us again and dropped a rock at my feet. He wanted to play fetch. I threw the rock for him a few times but them settled down to eat lunch. As we ate, the dog would continue to look expectantly at me. She was not begging food, she just wanted to play. If I hid the rock under my foot, she would go off and find another. If I ignored her, she would first tap the rock with her paw. If I continued to ignore her, she would then tap my foot with her paw. Then she would try the others, moving the rock, tapping the rock, and finally tapping their feet. She was so cute. After lunch Wim and Angela threw rocks for the dog, tossing one before she had brought back the other and completely wore her out at least for a while. Later, Angela took a nap and Wim and I went to explore separate areas of town. The dog followed me so when convenient, I would kick a rock along the road for it to chase. We were also joined by another very large boxer cross who was happy to go along for the walk and mostly kept to me side, ignoring the rocks I was kicking. There is a military base in this town and we could see what looked like barracks, but saw very little activity that would suggest military and few personnel. At dinner, Abdias showed up. He had gotten to Futaleufú and then had a change of plans. He was staying at the same hospedaje as us and going to Chaiten tomorrow. We were welcome along for the ride - and he knew of a hospedaje that was open in this supposedly abandoned town. Not only that, he was interested in going to the same hot springs south of town that we were interested in. So, once again, we change our plans to take advantage of opportunities that come up. [Date: Fri May 1, 2009 1:03 pm This part of my journal is primarily about Chaitén, a town ravaged twice in the last two years by a volcano that had been dormant for over 9000 year (Boston.com pictures and wikipedia info). The volcano is just 6 miles from the town. The volcano came to life in May, 2008, spewing ash which coated the town and built an ash cone. When heavy rains then came days later, a lahar, or mud flow, washed the ash down and rushed through town. It kept to the river route at first, then dammed itself and chose a new route through town, pushing houses into the Pacific, completely inundating others, and surrounding others in cement-like ash/mud once it stopped flowing. The Chilean government at first vowed to rebuild and a project to help the town was underway in January of this year, 2009. It was scheduled to end in early February and probably did. Then later in February of this year, the volcano erupted yet again and sent yet another lahar through town. No lives have been lost as a result of these eruptions. Now, the government believes the town too dangerous for habitation and wants to abandon the town and rebuild it 12km away, in an area considered safe. Turns out there are about 60 people living back in town. There are few town services. The police are here to keep looters away. The fire department is still here. There is a small military presence but politics keep them mostly away. The hospital is closed. There is no electricity. Those living in Chaitén have generators for whatever electricity needs they have. Those that have stayed feel like the government should rebuild. This is the town I had been hoping to visit but information was scarce and most of what we heard was discouraging. As we got closer and closer to the town, it seemed more likely we would be able to visit. I wanted to visit Chaitén for a number of reasons. First of all, it was on my way north and was the best way to get from points south to points north. Second, I've long been fascinated by volcanoes and have visited many but even though I visited Mt. St. Helens 25 years after that volcano blew and I've roasted marshmallows over lava on Volcan Pacaya in Guatemala, I've never seen how volcanoes affect people on a human scale. I've only before seen the changes on a grand, geological scale. I'm also curious about the few people left in town. I had thought the entire place would be abandoned and yet there are people around. To be sure, most of the town is certainly abandoned. Thousands used to live there. Now it's just 60. What are their lives like? So here's my experiences for those days I was in Chaitén... Sunday, April 26: Villa Santa Lucia to Chaitén (81km hitching, 1082 total hitching)Great breakfast today. All the usual (bread, cheese, spreads) and fresh moist apple cake to boot. For some reason, most cakes here seem to be dry and/or stale so this one was delicious. We each ate multiple pieces. After Abdias got a jump start for his truck which fortunately uses a car battery, we got on our way. It was only 81 kilometers to Chaitén but tired of sitting on Wim's lap, Angela crawled into the back of the truck with the grocery items, many stacked on a palette, and made herself comfortable while looking out the open side door of the truck. Wim and I stuck to the relative comfort of the cab. Abdias is great. We got to a relatively large suspension bridge and he let Wim and me out not only to take pictures, but to walk ahead of the truck across the bridge. Continuing on, we started seeing ash lining the road at about the same time we got to the paved section of road. Then it only got worse. As we got closer to Chaitén, more and more ash piled up. Many of the trees were also dying. The hillsides, covered with evergreens, were about half and half green and gray. I couldn't tell if others were still dying off or if the dead trees were just from the eruptions. We all had very mixed emotions as we pulled into town. I think the devastation and emptiness of the town hit us all a lot harder than any of us expected it to but over time, we all had to find a way to be in this town with the destruction all around us. I also realized that those who chose to continue to live here also had to find a way to live with it. The evidence of the destruction is everywhere but you have to get on with your lives and continue. We also realized that as people were trying to get on with their lives, they might not appreciate tourists coming around to take pictures. But then I realized that most of the time, there just weren't people around to even see me taking pictures and those that did didn't seem to mind. There was also a film crew in town so maybe those left behind are used to cameras by now. After an hour or so in the center, Wim and Angela stayed in the center as I drove around town with Abdias. Our first destination was the port but as we drove there, we were stopped along the shore front road because part of the road had gotten washed out and was a deep pit, maybe 5m deep. Had it been nighttime, he might have easily driven off the end of the road. We circled around, not just the block, but a hill to get to the port from the other side. Abdias wanted to see if he could get his boat on the ferry the next day to Puerto Montt but that ferry was full so he would keep his original reservation and go to Quellon on Tuesday. We returned to town and then drove to the other side of town to deliver goods to a store. Even though he told me I didn't have to, I helped unload the truck. Why not help speed things up? We returned to town, parked the truck, found Wim and Angela, and went for a walk through town. We walked on what was left of the promenade near the old coast line and could see the mud from the lahar spread out below us for quite a ways. There were houses out there, buried in the mud, that had been pushed there from town. We walked up a hill to a mirador. From there, we could see the extent of the destruction in town. A large swath in the middle was inundated. From town and the mirador, we could also look up and see the volcano spewing more ash into the sky. Everywhere we went, it was still there, changing from moment to moment but still throwing ash. Later, we walked on the mud flow, where the river used to run. We could see houses at rakish angles, others mostly buried, some with cars also buried next to them. Even though the government wants to abandon town, there were workers out all day Sunday and into the night, building a levee to keep any further lahars in the channel. I have no idea why they would do this when they are talking about relocating the entire town, anyway. Like after natural disasters in the US, people left messages on their windows as they abandoned their houses. I love Chaitén. Chaitén lives. And political messages for both the government and the US landowner that owns most of the nearby land as Parque Pumalin and has expressed interest in buying the property of Chaitén. We also went to the cemetery where the paths had been cleared and many of the graves had been cleared of mud but many still had half a meter of mud capping them. We had dinner at one hospedaje where we had steak, a nice change from the three days of salmon we had just had. Abdias was staying at this hospedaje but they didn't have any more room but they do cook meals for more than they have room for. After dinner, we walked through the very dark town using our headlamps to get back to our hospedaje, about a kilometer away. It was strange to see a town so dark. At night, it was possible to tell which houses were occupied. They had generators and lights on. The rest were black. When we got to our hospedaje, the owner and her friends asked if I had felt the temblors. I hadn't but then a little while later, we all felt one. I'm sure I must have felt the earlier ones but they were so small that I chalked them up to passing trucks (what passing trucks?), etc. Now that I'm in tune with them, I'll probably feel more. Our hosts gave us sopapillas smothered in caramelized orange sauce that reminded me of the candied sweet potatoes I had grown up with. Monday, April 27: Chaitén (50km hitch, 1132 total)At 5:30 in the morning, I was jolted awake by a short but powerful temblor that shook the bed and made the entire house creak. I could tell it had woken others as the bathroom got a bit of use. Then, at 7:35, I was woken up again by another temblor, this time not as powerful. I was still awake at 8:02 when a third one gently shook the house. This last one would not have woken me up had I fallen back to sleep beforehand. In New England, houses shake in the wind or rattle when trucks go by so anything like these I would usually just dismiss. Here though, it's the volcano. As we walked to town this morning, Nicolas La Penna, an ex-pat living in town, stopped his van to greet us in Spanish, English, Dutch, and a little German, too. Turns out he has roots in Canada, the US, and here in Chile. He's lived in all these countries and now lives in Chaitén. He runs Chaiturs and we had seen him running a French film crew doing a documentary about Chaitén around town the previous day. He is a friendly guy and seemed to want to talk but was busy and had to drop someone off to catch a bus. When we caught up with him at his home a few minutes later, he handed each of us a piece of obsidian that he had picked up on the volcano. I usually avoid carrying rocks around in my backpack, but this one will be an interesting souvenir of the area. Nicolas doesn't recommend anyone go to the volcano but he has gone himself a few times and picked up the obsidian along the way. It was nice to finally talk with someone in English with first hand experience living in Chaitén. He was busy though so we couldn't talk long but we found out a bit about the politics of the area and the strain between the government and the people who want to keep living in Chaitén. We had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up with Abdias so I wandered the town a bit. I found some pumice that someone had put on a bench and took a small piece. There's more on the beach but it's a bit difficult to get down to the beach right now. The piece I took is about the size of my pal, about twice the size of the obsidian and half the weight. Now I'm carrying two rocks. We met Abdias at 1:00 and piled into the truck again. We then drove to the Amarillo Termales (Yellow Hot Springs) about 25km south of town. After a couple of hours, I was ready to go when Abdias had to leave at 4:00 so I went with him but Wim and Angela stayed behind to spend more time in the hot water. We thought he had to get back to load his truck onto the ferry before another vehicle. In reality, he had to load another vehicle, a van, into his truck before driving onto the ferry tomorrow. I watched as they went through pains to get a van loaded into the back of the truck. By doing this, they only had to pay for one vehicle to take the ferry and would split the cost. Apparently this is done quite frequently. After the van was loaded, I stayed at the waterfront to watch the sunset and was joined by the film crew driven by Nicolas. The two French videographers were more than a bit overbearing. Quiet please! was a command, not a polite way to ask someone who had been watching the sunset before they got there to refrain from talking. They also complained with sharp words to Nicolas about how if he had driven a bit faster, they would have gotten the sun going down and not just the clouds. It was them that decided at the last minute to try to catch the sunset. If they had decided earlier, they would have see the sun going down behind the clouds. Oh well. At least the Swiss guy with them was nice. I walked up to the hospedaje to check in again but nobody was home so I let myself in with the hidden key and by headlamp, dumped the stuff I wouldn't need until later. With nobody home and no lights, I walked to the other hospedaje where I would be having dinner once again and asked if I could just sit and read until dinner was ready. So I settled in for the couple of hours before dinner was expected. A short while later, I was treated to my favorite Chilean food to date: milcao. It's like a potato pancake stuffed with roughly chopped meat. It was greasy and delicious. I'll be keeping my eye out for more of them. Dinner tonight was chicken and rice, a dish I had gotten sick of in Central America but was able to enjoy here. We had one sizable temblor while I was waiting for dinner. When one of the other men staying at the hospedaje realized I was about to walk back across town in the dark all alone, he assisted on accompanying me. I thought it rather silly as he would then have to return alone but then as we left, I realized he meant to give me a ride. Oh, that was better. He had started to ask the hospedaje owners for directions but then realized I could point the way. It was nice to get the ride as I was very tired. Wim and Angela were there. They had wanted to spend the night in a hospedaje near the hot springs but it was full. So ten minutes later, they got a hitch back to town. No problem there. Tuesday, April 28: Chaitén to Chonchi (79km hitch, 1211 total)Woke up at 3:40 to another temblor that lasted a few seconds this time. Then another long shake at 5:22. When I finally got up, I couldn't get the pilot lit on the shower so skipped the shower for the day. Argh! I hadn't planned well and only had two small cereal bars for breakfast. Then it was a quick walk down the hill to the ferry. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:00 which was about the time it pulled up to the dock. It was quite the operation to get it docked just right. It couldn't approach the ramp directly. It had to drop anchor and then use a small helper boat to fetch the lines and bring them to shore. Then, once the lines were on shore, it could shorten the lines and bring the boat to the ramp. While there, Nicolas and the Swiss guy came up so I introduced the Swiss guy to Angela, also Swiss and they were off and running in Swiss German. They were there waiting for a scientist to come off the boat to accompany the documentary crew to the mountain. They would be in radio contact with the appropriate authorities in case the mountain decided to get active again. At least they might have a bit of extra time to get off the mountain. Finally, after the other passengers got off, we could get on and the vehicles, including Abdias' truck could be loaded. They take your ID as you get on but were happy with my driver's license. Then as you go, you go to the office and pay your passage. If you take your time, they call you over the loud speaker. Once you pay, you get your ID back. We left Chaitén at 11:00am, only one hour late. Under way, at first it was foggy looking back but the fog was just along the shore and we were soon out from under the cloud. Then we could see the town under the cloud and the ash plume from the volcano above the cloud. Even with the temblors, I had never felt nervous being in Chaitén with the volcano rumbling above us, but leaving on the ferry, there was a little sense of relief. Perhaps it wasn't from the danger of the volcano, but maybe just the return to normalcy after spending a couple of days in a deserted town where the topic of conversation is almost always the volcano and related issues. Four hours later, we arrived in Chiloé, a large island off the coast of southern Chile with it's own culture. Even though we were at the pier, it was still another 1.5 hours until they could land the boat properly and offload people and vehicles. Then Abdias dropped Wim and Angela in town. They wanted to go to the end of the Pan American highway, just a few kilometers away. It was raining and while it would have been nice to go to the end of another very long road, I wanted to continue north. So I said my goodbyes to them. I am glad to be traveling on my own again. I continued with Abdias another 79km to Chincho. Abdias dropped me off on the Pan American highway and I hitched to town. It was dark when I was hitching but the first car to turn the corner picked me up. I got in and it was only after a few minutes that I realized it was a taxi. Hmm... All the other times when I was hitching, the taxis just passed us by without stopping. I clearly had my thumb out so wasn't looking to flag down a cab. Was I expected to pay? There was someone else in the car, too. So when I got to town and got out, there was no mention of money so I guess I hitched a taxi. Strange. Maybe the other passenger told him to pick me up. I have no idea. They let me off in the middle of town. I walked down (literally, down a very steep hill) to the shore road and found Skorpio, a hospedaje for 5000. It's the nicest place I've been to since the fancy hotel in Gobenador Gregores. I have my own room with key. It's a shared bath down the hall but with the best shower in a real tub I've had since maybe the fancy hotel in Ushuaia. Got a yogurt for dinner at the nearby supermarket that had, among other items, Edy's Ice Cream. Not what I expected to see here. Then I found another small market with internet access. There's nothing to do in a town this small at night so I spent a couple of hours transcribing my journal. [Date: Sun May 3, 2009 8:37 am Well, I intend to leave Castro later today but it's warm in the hostel and raining cats and dogs outside so we'll just have to see what happens in the next few hours... Until then, this journal entry brings me up to date for the first time since maybe Puerto Natales. Wednesday, April 29: ChonchiBreakfast in my room looking out over the harbor. Grabbed stuff for the day and made my way to the bus stop. Took the bus towards Queilen but got off for the ferry to Lemuy. It's free for pedestrians. I walked to the nearest town on the Isla Lemuy, about 4km from the ferry landing and saw lots of bird life and beautiful flowers along the way. Here, it still seems to be summer. Everything is still green. Being out of the mountains and near the water, it's much more temperate. Plus, it just happens to be a sunny and warm day. This is the first day in weeks (months?) that I've been able to walk around in a t-shirt. I had to stop in a bus stop to remove the tights I had been wearing under the lightweight pants I've been surviving with since Central America. The island is pastoral with checkerboarded fields on sloping hillsides. The special churches of the Chiloé area continue on this island. They are built of wood and have their own design elements, different from other parts of Chile. From the ferry and from the island, I could see a lot of the salmon farming that goes on in this area. It's a huge industry and there's a huge processing plant near the ferry landing. I have to wonder if some of the salmon we eat in the US comes from here. The only traffic of note on the island was the periodic spate of cars heading to the next ferry, or coming from a recently arrived ferry. Other than that, there were very few cars out and about. After lunch along the beach at the small town just 3km from the ferry landing, I walked back to the ferry and returned to the island of Chiloé. There, as I waited for the bus, I noticed I could see the Chaiten ash plume from 60km away. While still waiting, one of the truck drivers that had brought his truck across on the ferry drove up the ramp, saw me waiting for the bus, and indicated that I could have a ride. So, without even trying to hitch (admittedly, I was thinking about it), I got a ride for the few kilometers back to town. Wow. Two weird hitches in one small town. Back in town, I ran into a couple who looked very familiar. I had met them in Flores, Guatemala back in December. They've been traveling south the whole time while I skipped south and have since been traveling north. They're the first travelers I've run into from the Central American portion of my trip. Wow! Wandering around the waterfront, I saw a sign advertising a cultural festival with music and dance. It was this evening and it was free. I couldn't tell if it was participatory or a performance, but either way, I was going. I spent more time on line in the afternoon. I ran into Wim and Angela about to head to Esmeraldas, a hospedaje further down the road. It's listed in the guide book and has kitchen facilities. I told them about the evening's festivities. I then went to the supermarket cafe for dinner. I had been hearing about completos throughout my travels in Chile and seen them on many menus, but it was never appropriate to order one until now. It's a hot dog with tomatoes, guacamole, and mayonnaise. It was pretty good. I even added ketchup to the mix. I had it with fries and a meat empanada. The fries were great. The empanda, not so good. Even the apple empanada from the bakery next door wasn't all that good. Oh well. The apple empanadas will make me look at the fried pies I eat along the AT in a whole new light. From now on, they'll look like empanadas to me. I ran into another couple staying at my hotel and told them about the festival. They're going to show up as well. When I got to the festival, I realized it was a night of dance performances. I got there in time to get a seat and save two more for the other couple from the hotel. They were the last seats that were more than one seat in a row. They came in just as a school group came in and thankfully grabbed the seats just before they would have been snagged by the kids. They were from Buenos Aires and he spoke great English and translated a few of the relevant parts of the intros for me. The performances started with kids performing the traditional dances in gaucho dress. These "Chilean" dances were the same as I had seen in Buenos Aires. Then a group of teens came on and performed a bunch of hip hop routines. Some of the routines were quite good. Many were from those still learning. A favorite routine was a synchronized routine from one of the older dancers and the smallest one performing together. An adult version of the tradition dance came next. There was a belly dancer and then a large group of musicians, singers, and dancers came on. The finale was a couple performing the tango and the were phenomenal. They performed a tango that was a joy to watch but no so flamboyant as to seen inaccessible. They also performed a milonga, I think, that was also beautiful. It turns out that they are the Chilean tango champions who happen to come from Chiloé. They represent Chile at the World Championships. For the first time either on this trip or maybe since Central America or Buenos Aires, I had people twice ask me for money. The first time was from an understimulated teenager with nothing better to do. He probably asked on a dare from his friends who were hanging out. the second time was from a man who looked like he may have been a down and out fisherman. The circumstances were a bit weird so I was wary and pretended not to understand, saying that I don't speak Spanish. The culture here really is different than on the mainland so it remains to be seen in this is part of the Chilote culture, or just the fact that I'm moving north towards a more temperate climate where I'm more likely to encounter poorer people. Thursday, April 30: Chonchi to Castro (bus)A morning internet session had me coming closer to catching up on my journal. Then with frequent and cheap buses, I didn't even try to hitch. I just hopped on the bus for the relatively short drive to Castro. I knew it was a bigger town, but I was surprised at how many people were out and about, walking on the sidewalks, and for once, populating the main plaza. Even though it feels weird to be in such a "metropolis" after being in small towns for so long, at least this one felt good with all the people milling around. I was glad I paid attention to a friendly low pressure tout offering lodging. When I excused myself to look around, I found the visitor's center on the plaza to be closed for the afternoon break, then as I tried other hospedajes, they were either too expensive, or surprisingly, nobody answered the bell at many of them. So, I ended up at the Torre del Babel Hospedaje. It's a really nice place, quite affordable, with kitchen access, breakfast included, and I have my own locking room with TV. All for 6000. I found out later that it's probably the off season price as others who had booked online paid more. I wandered the town for a while with two American college students, Julia and Jillian, studying in Buenos Aires for a year. We visited the artisans fair, found a place for dinner that evening, and went to look at the colorful palafitas, or stilt houses that dot the shoreline. They remind me of houses I've seen in the US and Cambodia. When the visitor's center reopened, I went in to take a look at the models of the Chiloé churches they have on display there. This models are complete on one side and open on the other so the construction can be seen. Took a break before dinner then walked to the restaurant with the college students. There, I had a avocado and tomato salad and shared a dish called curanto with Jillian. our version had lots of mussels, some clams, sausage, chicken, a small pork rib, and potato bread. It comes with a dipping sauce. Other versions also include fish, beef, lamb, potatoes, and more. To be honest, it wasn't nearly as special as I had hoped but it was OK and I'm glad I tried it. Maybe if I could find a place where it was prepared the truly traditional way, in a hole in the ground with lots of vegetable matter about, it might have been more interesting. Friday, May 1: CastroIt's Labor Day here and lots of businesses are closed, including the supermarket. But some restaurants are open and some of the smaller markets are open. The weather started out gray and rainy and stayed that way all day. I took a zero day and did nothing. I got out of the hostel once before dinner to by some yogurt and other stuff. Other than that, I spent the day on the computer, transcribing my journal and doing an initial sort through my Honduras journal and uploading some pictures to Picasa. When others were using the computer in the afternoon, I watched most of Notting Hill on the TV in my room. Saturday, May 2: CastroI came to Castro for an afternoon or maybe one overnight but when you find a nice place to be, why rush it. So, I'm staying for a third night. Today, Angela (this one from Australia) and I went to some nearby towns to look at houses, their wooden shingled siding, and churches. The construction techniques used here on Chiloé are unique and not seen in other parts of Chile. We started in Dalcahue and soon realized that although I had seen examples in Chincho and Castro, the decorative elements we saw in the towns we visited today were more interesting and creative. We started in Dalcahue. We visited the plaza and went into the church. While we were inside, a funeral procession arrived. We waited while they moved to the front of the church and then discreetly left. There was a guitar and violin (I think) playing music and the song they were singing seemed familiar, as if I knew the words in English, but I couldn't place it. We then walked onto the ferry going to Isla Quinchao. We got lucky when the bus we needed boarded the same ferry. When it was time to disembark, we just climbed aboard the bus for the 20km trip to Achao. We went through Caraco and decided we would stop there on our way back. The houses there were prettier and had a bit more interesting architecture than many of the others. In Achao, we visited the oldest church in Chiloé. There, we found a restaurant on the beach for lunch. I had fish of some sort with fries. We watched beached boats slowly righting themselves as the tide came in. We spent a few minutes in Curaco on the way back but it started to rain so we beat a hasty retreat to the bus stop and took the next bus back to Castro. I stopped at the supermarket on the way back to the hostel. The French couple I had met - again - in Chonchi showed up here at the hostel today. The hostel is full tonight so I had very limited computer time. I ended up watching a very old, really bad Steve McQueen movie. The alternatives on the TV seemed even worse. I still have a bit of my book to read but without prospects for a trade, I'm holding out on finishing it during any time when I have anything else to keep me busy. Sunday, May 3: Castro to Puerto VarasAnother rainy morning. I took my time leaving the hostel this morning and just missed one bus so had to wait 1.5 hours for the next one. So, I left my backpack at the bakery across the street and took a walk down the hill to see the palafitos, or stilt houses, there. These houses are considered special here but they remind me of many of the stilt houses I've seen in the US (Louisiana and other coastal areas), Cambodia, and perhaps other locations, too. These however, probably take the prize for the most colorful. Back at the bakery, I bought a milcao for lunch and two alfajores. Live and learn, I should have checked... I ordered with chocolate and got with coconut, not at all my favorite food. If I had checked in the bakery, I would have been able to change for the right ones. Oh well. At least I had plenty of other munchies to keep me going for the duration of the bus ride. The bus ride was uneventful though surprisingly full. It was also a local and stopped at every possible bus stop if anyone was waiting to get on or off. At least until the bus completely filled up and there was no more room to even stand in the aisles. On the ferry, I wasn't going to bother getting off the bus until I realized I could see sea lions from the bus. So I bundled up against the cold wind and rain and went to watch a bit. A few brown mottled pelicans flew by as well. In Puerto Montt, I was glad to be taking others' advice and just pass through the city. I couldn't believe there were glittery high rises lining the beach. Yuck! After a quick visit to the supermarket, I grabbed a bus to Puerto Varas. Once there, I found the hostel that a couple of others had recommended to me. It was a nice place with good beds, neat, and clean. It had a kitchen and free internet access though the computer was too old for the USB ports to be functional. Nasty weather kept me inside where it was warm and dry for the evening. Monday, May 4: Puerto VarasAnother slow day. After struggling with beg bugs all night - even in this nice hostel, I have yet another reason to do laundry today. I had planned to anyway though. Since I needed to wash almost everything, I'm stuck once again wearing the bar minimum for the weather so mostly sticking indoors today to stay warm. If this had been a crappy hostel, I would have moved out immediately. Instead, when I mentioned the problem, they took it seriously immediately. They first offered to have me move to a bed in a different room. Then when they found a bed bug in my bed, they had the other guy in my room move as well. They then cleaned and fumigated the room. I don't think they'll be using it for a day or two. That other guy is a Japanese guy named Kanai (Can I) and he is fishing his way around the area. So, when he went out this morning and came back with a good sized trout, he offered to share. So then I ran out to the supermarket and got salad stuffs and potatoes to go with. Together we made a really nice meal, with him frying up the fish in two different flavors. Later, I visited the tourist office and got a great idea for how to cross the border into Argentina but they couldn't tell me if it was too late in the season to do that route. It would have involved a few days of walking on a track that seemed high enough to be cold and potentially snowy or icy. I had to find someone else who knew that area better. When I did, they too weren't sure if that route would be passable. But they had another suggestion. I gave up on the route I found which would have been great in the summer, and latched onto their alternative. It'll still be a bit of an adventure, well off the usual tourist route, but with limited hiking and reasonable transportation options for most of the route. So, after spending a day in Ensenada tomorrow, hopefully doing a small hike on Volcan Osorno, I plan to get back to Argentina by using buses, ferries, independently hired boats, hitching, and walking. It should only take a day or two to get to El Boson, a hippy enclave and from there, it's an easy bus ride to Bariloche, a ski area settled by Germans and known for its beer and chocolate. From there, I have a number of options for moving north again and will probably only spend a short amount of time in Argentina before crossing back into Chile. Should be an interesting crossing. The two American college students I had met a few days ago in Castro had to submit to having their temperature taken on their way into Chile as an attempt to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading into the country. I haven't been in the US since November and I've been out of Central America (not having visited Mexico at all on this trip) since February. Will they bother to take my temperature anyway? We'll see. Earlier when I bought stuff for dinner, I thought I would be here a couple of days. Now that I'm planning on leaving tomorrow morning, I have extra food in the house. When Kanai came back without a fish for dinner, I shared my mushrooms and burgers with him. Spent some time talking about the Patagonia Sin Represas! (Patagonia Without Dams) campaign. I had first become aware of this project when in Chile Chico. My host family had shown me a coffee table book of before and after images of the natural Patagonian environment should the proposed dam building projects go through. This was the first time I had the opportunity to talk with someone outside of Patagonia who could tell me about some of the politics in English. The project has not started to be built so hopefully the growing movement throughout the country, and not just in Patagonia, will prevent these pristine natural environments from being destroyed. Tuesday, May 5: Puerto Varas to EnsenadaFeliz Cinco de Mayo. I got some good news today. An acquaintance from the Appalachian Trail long-distance hiking community who had gone missing a week earlier has been found alive and well near the A.T ( Article). I was heading for the bus when I saw a church on the hill. It was alpine style with white sides delineated by dark exposed beams and quite pretty. It was over a grotto of a sort with a statue of Mary - very picturesque. Then, I found an internet cafe and with the limited ability of the computer at the hostel, I decided to step in for a few minutes - which turned into a couple of hours given the way I can get absorbed. So, it was lunch time when I finally climbed into the bus for Ensenada. The bus ride gave me peeks of Volcan Osorno, getting closer and closer as we traveled. In Ensenada, I found the lodging expensive so paid 2,000 to camp instead of 10,000 to stay in a hospedaje. The campsites back up right to the beach on the lake. Then I hitched the 5km to a trailhead for the Sendero de Solidario. Turns out the family in a vegetable truck, drove out of their way to bring me to the trailhead. Once again, the people are amazing. Then it was a 6km walk with views of the volcano looming above at times through the vegetation. Then a bit more than halfway through, I came to a huge rock field with spectacular views. I took my second break there and then continued, following orange arrows painted on rocks. 2/3 the way through, the trail gave out. I thought I might have to turn back but managed to find clues here and there that indicated where the trail continued. A cairn here, a log stuck upright in rocks there, some orange flecks of paint on a rock, etc. I eventually made it to the other side of the rock field and found the path back into the woods there. Phew! This trail is mostly downhill so I'm glad I didn't have to backtrack. Plus, the road where I started is only in the park and doesn't carry much traffic. While only 5km back to town, I'm glad I didn't have to walk it. I got extremely lucky with the weather with quite a few clear or almost clear views of the volcano today, some in almost clear blue skies. As I emerged back on the main road to town, the bus was just driving by so I flagged it down. I almost wish I had missed it because I'm sure I could have hitched without a problem. In town, I checked out the restaurant, decided not to eat there as it was pricey, so picked up a few supplies at the market. Then walked back to my campsite along the beach but almost had to turn back as I encountered a stream that was too big for me to jump. The sun was setting as I was walking and it was a pretty sunset. Back at the campsite, each site has a light so I ate on a table under a light, then organized. There was a family of cats and kittens hanging around, curious about my presence but too skittish to get too close. The weather was great so I decided to sleep out. I couldn't figure out how to get the light by the table under the gazebo to stay off so I picked another table to sleep on. The lake that I traveled along from Puerto Varas to Ensenada is called Lago Llanquihue and pronounced Yankee Way. There's even a nearby cabañas site that uses the English spelling for it's name. Peeking up behind the flanks of Volcan Osorno (2652m) is another volcano called Volcan Puntiagudo (2493m). Wednesday, May 6: Ensenada to Lago InferiorWhen I woke up in the middle of the night last night, the dew had started to form on my bag and the light was off at the covered picnic table so I displaced the kittens that had made themselves comfortable on my gear that I had left there and moved my bag to that picnic table. As I had hoped, by the time I got up in the morning, my bag had mostly dried. Having gone to sleep very early, I was up for sunrise and was treated to brilliant pinks and peach colors reflecting on the snowfields of the volcano. I then finished packing and started hitching along the road. I hitched unsuccessfully for an hour and then moved to the police station to wait for my bus, not realizing it would be another hour. I boarded the bus and had a similar experience there that I've had many times when I try to speak Spanish. My pronunciation may not be all that great, but when I say Lago Tagua Tagua, and the bus helper repeats back to me Cochomo, I know they just plain aren't listening. I would say "No, Lago Tagua Tagua" and again, he would say "Cochamo.." I know they don't sound anything alike so once again, I said "no, Lago Tagua Tagua" and finally he heard me correctly. Argh! I think it's just that most tourists don't go to the end of that particular bus line. I was going well off the tourist trail today. There was one other tourist on the bus who I pegged, correctly, as a Brit purely because he was wearing Montane brand clothing. We finally introduced ourselves only at the ferry landing. Jack was going most of the way I am, stopping just shy of the border to do some volunteer work for a month. When he went off to grab lunch before the ferry sailed, I met a French woman, Francoise, who has been living on a tiny island in the middle of Lago Rocas for 20 years. By the time we got off the ferry, she wanted to offer me a ride but couldn't as her truck was full with both supplies and the electrician that was accompanying her from Puerto Montt to do some work on the island. I can't imagine having to travel so far to do the job he's going to do. She also ascertained that the bus that usually runs on the far side of the lake wouldn't be running apparently for the second day in a row, but there was a guy with a pickup on the far side who piled seven of us in and on his vehicle. It wasn't a true hitch as he expected the same payment as the bus would have gotten. At the invitation of Fran, I had him drop me at her farm where her oxen were waiting. Yes, her oxen. She got there just a few minutes later and we were soon unloading the pickup and loading the oxcart. The well matched pair of oxen would be carting her load to the boat landing, beyond the end of the road where her truck would be forced to stop. So, with an invitation to visit her house on the way across the lake, I left my backpack with the oxcart, and together we started the walk to the lake. It was maybe 3km past the end of the road to get to the lake. Along the way, we picked up garbage and picked berries to eat. At the lake, we waited for the oxcart. Once it arrived, we loaded the boat with her load, then crawled on, and finally pushed off for the 20 minute boat ride to her island. It was nearly dark when we got there but light enough to see that it was beautiful. Her house was rustic but gorgeous. She's a weaver and painter and has a studio there. And the house blends in well with the surroundings. When they finished unloading the boat, Jack and I hopped back in for the rest of the trip across the lake. With the moon nearing full, we could see quite well. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had any idea what this end of the lake looked like. I seem to have lucked out and either Fran paid, Jack's volunteer stint paid, but somehow nobody wanted my money. I had hoped to get this far in daylight but expected to get here alone. Had I been alone, I would have just found a place to camp and reviewed my surroundings in the morning. But because Jack was here and being met by people from the organic farm he'll be working on, I ended up joining them. They loaded our backpacks on the 4x4 ATV driven by Jeff and then Chardo led Jack and me on a 15 minute night hike to Ulaa, the failed resort turned organic farm and soon to be outdoor enthusiast camp. I had no idea what they were going to charge me, but they were so relaxed about my being there that I just relaxed and went with the flow. We got there and it was dark, with candles lighting the kitchen and living room. They turn the generator one just before dinner and so we had lights for a few hours in the evening until the generator ran out gas. We had an amazing dinner of roasted lamb (slaughtered just days earlier) and roasted vegetables (potatoes, two types of squash, onions, garlic, and greens) along with salad. Delicious. Chardo took my passport to get its exit stamp and would be returning with it the next day. I'm a bit nervous about that, but with the transparent nature of life here (everyone knows everyone else, and everyone else's business because it's all goes out over two way radio that everyone listens to), so I felt reasonably OK with letting my passport go with someone else for the night. It was only after my passport went that the invitation to extend my stay came and I'll consider it as long as my passport situation won't be a hindrance. Geff, the guy who is mostly responsible for getting me set up and I established an instant connection. Turns out he not only spent 15 years living in the US. but he went Harvard, lived in Boston, the Cape, and Portland, ME in that time. He's Brazilian and only returned to South America last fall. We had a lot of fun comparing notes. I admit to quite a bit of homesickness and though the US is no longer his home, he also obviously missed a great deal about living in New England. They put me in a comfortable room with luxurious bedding though I saw evidence of mice and heard a bit of scrambling as I got ready for bed. Nothing after that though. Thursday, May 7: Lago Inferior, Chile to El Bolsón, ArgentinaI woke up to find that last night's hike had taken us from the shore of Lago Rocas to the shore of Lago Inferior. The view from the windows of this cabin are fantastic! It rained last night and this morning had light showers on and off. I decided to stay another few days and take up the offer that had been extended to me assuming my stay wouldn't tax their resources and they had real work for me to do. So after a very light breakfast (too light in my book), I started helping Jimmy who was chopping wood. We first reorganized one of the wood sheds and I was happy to offer a technique that would get more wood stacked in the shed without it leaning against the gas tank that needed to remain accessible. Then I started carting wheelbarrow full loads and stacked the wood higher and higher. As I was working, Chardo returned with my passport already stamped and it took a while to get the communication going, but in the long run, my boat had already been called so there was no way I could stay any longer. I quickly packed my bag and and was seen off at the dock by everyone at the farm. Kent Shoenauer was a seemingly humorless American ex-pat, now living in South America for 40 years. He handed me a life jacket which I declined to wear through the first lake, Lago Inferior. It was a beautiful crossing with a bit of a chop and wind-blown spray. As we neared the end of the lake, I knew what was coming and donned my life jacket. At the end of the lake, Kent pointed the boat up the Rio Puelo and we pushed our way through a series of rapids. My amateur estimate of the ratings for these rapids based on paddling and rafting trips on other rivers with known classifications up to class V included, a couple of class I and II rapids to start and then two or three class III rapids, with one possibly III+. Kent's boat was extremely stable and he was certainly knowledgeable about the vagaries of the river and which lines to take through the rapids. Once through the rapids, there was another 20-25 minutes of lake crossing to get to the immigration office on the far side of Lago Puelo. Along the way, rain to the west and sun to the east made for a pretty rainbow. With the time change, we made it by 11:45 or so, just in time to get to immigration before it closed for the day or at least for hours. It would have been possible to have it reopen for us but only for a hefty fee. It took a long time to get through immigration but mostly because of the officer's hunt and peck use of a very slow computer. But, I was in no rush. I then made the acquaintance of Lechuga (lettuce), a 5cm long pet turtle that one of the woman who works at the National Park brings to work with her. We watched as it ate grass and wandered around - very slowly. I called it Lechuga la Tortuga much to the lady's amusement. Then when it was time to leave, I found my pack which I had left on a bench under a pine tree covered with tiny green flying insects. I had to brush them off before I could heft it. Then I wandered the one kilometer to the nearby town and caught the bus to El Bolsón. When I realized the bus would be picking up many passengers, I consolidated my stuff to take up as little room as possible. When three Israeli girls got on, they each grabbed two seats, one for each of them and one for each of their backpacks. The bus was past standing room only when they decided it might be a good idea to try to consolidate. Argh! In El Bolsón, I found lodging to be expensive and the places the guide book recommended either closed or much more expensive than listed. I finally found a refugio a fair walk from the town center and settled in. Then I walked back to town to see the rest of the artisan fair that happens four times per week. This town is known as a hippy enclave and the people here would fit in with the NEFFA crowd at home quite easily. I grabbed a burger and fries, then wandered town, went shopping for dinner, and returned to the hostel. Spent time on the computer there. Eventually made dinner, using the pasta packet I had been carrying for a couple of weeks in case I ended up somewhere without options. I seem to be squarely back on the tourist track right now so probably won't need to carry such groceries until I go to Easter Island. I organized some photos online. There are at least three of us here tonight with my exactly journal - except theirs are the original Moleskine brand which I've never seen in a store at home (not that I ever looked). Mine is by Markings and I had bought my first one at Staples. My sister bought the one I'm using now on my behalf so I'm not sure where she found it. Friday, May 8: El BolsónWhat a night... After a woman came in well after midnight and woke us up, she then got up at 5am to shower and didn't leave until 5:45. Then there was banging at the door and the doorbell buzzed over and over again so I finally got up and let in three people looking for lodging. I just turned my back and went back to sleep. It was 6:30. They found a room with beds and went to sleep themselves. When I got up this morning, I was assured that all the disturbances were unusual and so I agreed to spend another night. Just noticed something interesting this morning... A Kellogg's box with braille on the side. It spells out Kelloggs Honey NutOs 240g. I'll have to try to figure out if other Kellogg's boxes have braille, too. Has anyone else seen braille on boxes where they live? It's across the nutricional information side of the box here. It's a rainy day today so after running out to the store (forgot to look at the cereal boxes) for food to last until tomorrow, I'm happy to stay inside where it's warm and dry. The forecast for this area tomorrow calls for snow tomorrow night and on Sunday, 10-20cm of snow. But, I'm pretty sure that's in the hills and not here in town. By then, I'll probably be in Bariloche, just a couple of hours north of here. There's a bit of snow in the forecast there, too, but once again, that'll be the forecast for the hills and the people of Bariloche would love snow. It's a ski town and they're just waiting for the winter ski season to start. Met a guy here, Benoit, who has walked here from Ushuaia, taking about four months to get here, frequently in the mountains where there are no trails. He's young and not interested in hearing about lighter options because he can carry his load - even when it tops out at 40 kilos. Ugh! There's plenty of these types on the AT, too. He's tired and is going to stop in Bariloche. He also spent time in Chaiten and managed to be there during clear weather. His pictures of the ash plume against blue skies are fantastic. Saturday, May 9: El Bolsón to BarilocheLast night was uneventful, the way it should have been. I slept well, too. After breakfast, I finally figured out that the striking but fairly ubiquitous birds I've been seeing since Puerto Natales are Southern Lapwings. Other birds I've been seeing occasionally are Buff-throated Ibis. The Chimanga Caracaras I first noticed in Ushuaia are still common and as gregarious as ever. I walked to the bus station with Benoit. We got there only to find out that the bus going now was a semi-cama (bed) bus that would cost a bit more but it wasn't worth waiting the two hours for the next, cheaper, bus. So, I got to see how I would fit - or not as the case turned out - in one of these buses. There is definitely more knee room on these buses bus less foot room as the hole to the space under the seat in front is blocked off for the foot rest. I still managed to get fairly comfortable and think I even nodded off once or twice. Many of the long distance bus rides show movies. The last one showed a violent adult movie even though there were little kids on board. This one was halfway through A Brilliant Mind when I boarded. It was in English with Spanish subtitles but the volume was so low, the English was almost useless, anyway. Even still, it was nice to see something other than mindless entertainment on one of these buses. Someone had recommended a hostel to me and Benoit already had a reservation so I just tagged along with him. Glad I did. The local bus system was not at all obvious. All the buses go to Centro which in other places is one small area. Here, it seemed like the entire downtown area is considered Centro and only a couple buses went where we were going. At the 1004 hostel, I managed to get the last bed of this large hostel. This place is unusual. It's on the 10th floor of a 10 story building and the views from the dorm rooms and the common areas are amazing. Bariloche is on a large lake and we overlook the lake. Fantastic! I relaxed a bit and then took a walk to try to get my bearings a bit but it was very cold so after stopping at the supermarket, I returned to the hostel for the evening. I made cheeseburgers, potatoes and onion, and broccoli. I think this is the first time I've had broccoli since Central America and there, it was always overcooked. The potatoes and broccoli allowed me to use up the rest of my butter and the burgers will go a good way to using up my ketchup. My backpack will be getting a lot lighter. Met Mick at the hostel, a 50-something Aussie traveling for the first time in his life. Interesting guy... He's going to try to get to Burning Man this year. Sunday, May 10: BarilocheWoke to rain. It rained all day. Breakfast is included here at the hostel as is fairly normal in these parts and it includes the usual bread and marmalade, but the butter is not butter. it's not even margarine as far as I could figure. So I gave that a skip and instead found happiness with the cereal and milk they also offer, unusual for most hostels. Lunch of leftovers. Not much on the book exchange shelves here so just borrowed one to read... Dick Frances "Second Wind". When I finished that, I read more Don Quixote. I have been surprised at how many travelers have never even heard of Don Quixote. I at least knew the name and something about a crazy guy who went tilting at windmills. I wasn't at all sure I would want to read the book, but I'm finding it quite amusing and clever at times. But, it's rather a pain to read as it's necessary to constantly refer to the notes in the back of the book in order to get context. There are many references to other books of the era that I'm not at all familiar with. These are mostly books on chivalry and knights errant which gave Don Quixote his idea to become a knight. It's Mother's Day and when Mick let me use Skype on his computer, I managed to catch my whole family together celebrating with my Mom. It was great to talk with them. The funny thing was they were eating Mexican food. I've had very little ethnic food on this trip and since there's a Mexican place here in Bariloche, that's where Mick and I were planning on going even before I called home. It was so nice to have something different for dinner. The picante sauce was only a little picante but tasted good. I had a delicious burrito that was grilled and served with a huge pile of guacamole and a smaller pile of lettuce and sour cream. After dinner, it had stopped raining so we walked around town a bit. This town is known for its chocolate and there are more chocolate stores here than I think I've seen anywhere in my life. And they are huge stores, too. There's a large German influence here so there's a lot of exposed beams in the construction around here. Also a bunch of rustic wood trim housing. We successfully resisted the chocolate shops and had flan for dessert. Flan can be bought in small refrigerated cups in the supermarket, right next to the pudding cups. It's not quite as good as home made but it's not bad and it's something I've been eating quite frequently when I want something to follow a meal. But we had the flan before we realized the hostel was doing an ice cream run. But our little flan cups weren't a barrier so we got in on the ice cream run, too. I had some delicious Chocolate Profundo (Very dark chocolate) and Dulce de Leche. Delicious! Monday, May 11: BarilocheWoke up to a beautiful sunrise shining on all the new snow in the hills just above town. When it rained here, it was snowing there. Temperatures are just above freezing here at the lake front so you don't have to go high to get to ice. Alternated picture taking on the balcony and breakfast while warming up. Mick and I went to Cerro Catedral, a large ski area near town, but were disappointed to find that the gondola wasn't going to be running so we wandered around, slipping and sliding on the snow and ice, got some hot chocolate and waited for the next bus back to town. Wasn't feeling great after lunch so I just took it easy regardless of the great weather. Read Carver's "Cathedral", a collection of rather strange short stories. Tuesday, May 12: Bariloche to Villa la AngosturaPlans to rent a car to visit the lakes in the region disintegrated this morning when we couldn't get through to the car rental agency and the others involved just didn't seem all that interested in finding alternatives. So I packed up and checked out. I grabbed a bus to this little town where almost all of the hospedaje have closed for the season. Left my backpack at the visitor's center while I walked around downtown and did some shopping at the grocery store. Then walked the 1 kilometer out of town to the affordable hospedaje. It's a nice place with full kitchen access, slow internet on an old computer, a TV, and with so few people here at the hospedaje (just one other couple), that I have my own room, albeit a very cold room. There are some touristy things to do in the neighborhood but since transportation is a bit of a problem around here (everything is a few kilometers from the town), I'll probably just head out in the morning and make my way to my next stop, San Martin de los Andes. [Date: Fri May 15, 2009 8:39 am Well with rain expected today and torrential rain expected tomorrow, I'm going to try to get out of town and back into Chile, not that I'm expecting the weather to be any better there. Tim's sticking around here a bit longer so I'll be on my own again. Not sure if I'll make it all the way to my destination today or not. Once again, I'm planning on taking a route little used by tourists but through what should be pretty mountains and lakes. After finally leaving Patagonia for the last time, I entered the Lakes region and it has proven true to its name. There's plenty of water in these parts. Wednesday, May 13: Villa la Angostura to San Martin de los Andes (about 100km hitching)Sent one last email from the Windows98 computer at Hospedaje Hongo (mushroom) this morning and then hit the road. Rather than wait for the 1pm bus, I stuck my thumb out. As I had sort of expected, one person stopped and gave me a 15km ride to the crossroads. From there, I wouldn't have to thumb the cars heading to Chile on most cars passing me would either be going very locally, would be going to the next crossroads, or would be going all the way through to San Martin de Los Andes. Quite a few cars passed me and most pointed. It doesn't matter where they point. If they point, then I know they're going someplace locally. Standing there, I came to the conclusion that hitching in the cold may not be all that great an idea. Then again, as soon as I got the ride, that idea flew out the window and I keep wanting to hitch some more. I really do prefer to hitch. I had waited maybe 15 minutes for my first ride and then maybe 30 minutes for the second. When a car finally stopped, it was a couple, perhaps around 60ish, who were on their own vacation and traveling from Buenos Aires. With just my smallish pack, it was easy to climb in the car. Finally, I got into a car with tourists who wanted to be tourists. They didn't stop at every mirador, but they did stop at quite a few of them. Not only that, they frequently got out of the car, too; sometimes to smoke, sometimes to take pictures, but always at a picturesque spot. So, I could get out as well and get pictures of some of the very pretty lakes and mountains in the region. I think I'm glad the car rental thing didn't work out for yesterday as much of the route we would have taken was repeated in this stretch of road. So, I missed one side of a loop, but it was the side with only one lake so I didn't miss out on much. In town, I got dropped at a plaza and soon made my way to the main plaza and information center. Surprise, surprise! This one had public bathrooms. Most Information Centers do not. The gave me a map of the town, pointed me in the right direction for a good hostel, cheap, not in the guide book, with breakfast, kitchen access, and a blazingly fast computer. Or is it just fast relative to the dinosaur I used yesterday? Hmm... I dropped my stuff, and grabbed a burger and fries at Pepperoni's. Then I went for a small hike, 40 minutes to a Mirador Bandurrias, overlooking the lake. The views were great and the hike was nice, too. It was an easy enough hike that my knees only gave a few little twinges here and there. It was nice to do a hike and feel great on the trail and have no aches and pains once back in town. I haven't been here for long, but I think I like this town even though it's very touristy. I think it`s because the town has active people. I've seen people running, road cycling, mountain bicycling, playing tennis, playing soccer, and more. They're locals participating in these activities, not tourists. That's unusual. I've rarely seen anyone enjoying physical activity much less this many people enjoying this many sports all in one town. Of course, in many of the towns I've been through, people use hard physical labor for their jobs so may not be inclined to get more physical exercise for fun. I stopped at the store and got some dinner provisions. Back at the hostel, there were a few other people there so I'm not alone here like I thought I might have been. They ended up going out for dinner so I stayed behind and cooked my own. I wish I had gone with them. The ravioli I bought were rather doughy and though supposedly filled with ricotta, I couldn't taste any cheese whatsoever. The sauce I bought was also rather bland. Oh well. I'll probably end up tossing the leftovers tomorrow as I won't want to eat them again. One of the people here is an Irish guy who's been doing a bunch of surfing. He's interested in going back to Chile and expressed interest in joining me for one of the routes I'm thinking of hitching back into Chile. But I'm not sure I want to hitch with a guy carrying two surfboards even though he said he's not had problems getting rides. Hmm. I'll have to decide if I want to deal with this. Of course, the weather may decide this for me. I'm not all that keen on hitching in the rain and the weather is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow while I`m still here in town and get steady for the next day. Yuck. That may make it bus weather regardless off this guy's adventurous spirit. Knowing I would be here at a hostel with fridge and freezer for two nights or more, I bought ice cream for dessert. Thursday, May 14: San Martin de los AndesAfter a meager breakfast of bread with butter (at least it's real here) and elderberry jam, supplemented with my own banana and orange, I walked up to another mirador with Veronica (from Germany) and Sarah (from Austria). It was 4km each way. The rain in the forecast for today has held off and made for a nice though cold morning. We stopped at a supermarket on the way back to the hostel so I picked up a prebaked pizza crust and some cheese to use with the sauce I have back at the hostel. It made a cheap but halfway decent lunch. Hung out at the hostel. Went to dinner with Tom and Veronica and had trout with mushroom cream sauce that was delicious. The potato torta thing could have used fewer herbs but was an OK accompaniment. One quick game of cutthroat air hockey at a gaming store with Tim and then back to the hostel to hang out. [Date: Mon May 18, 2009 9:16 am Here are a couple of journal entries including a link to letters some students in Wisconsin wrote to me and the text of my response below. Friday, May 15: San Martin de los Andes, Argentina to Puerto Fuy, Chile (45km hitch)As of 3:30pm, it's already been a good travel day and the day's not over yet. This morning, Tim made eggs to go with the meager bread, butter and jam we get. I then sent off an email to a friend's, daughter's teacher. Her class is doing a section on South America and each student wrote me a letter with questions. With permission and with all identifying information blanked out, the letters are posted at (site deleted as it was temporary and no longer available). As it's not a permanent site, I'll probably post a copy on my own web site eventually. I've also included my response to the letters below. I consolidated the answers, by topic rather than respond to the individual letters, into one email and sent it back to the teacher. I also suggested to the teacher that any unfamiliar terms I used could be fodder for more class activities such as creating a glossary for my letter. I imagine that some of the animals I mentioned and place types such as Pantanal would be worthy to include. I walked to the bus station to get information for the bus along the route I want to take only to find out there is no bus. I did confirm, however, that if I could get to Lago Pirihueico, on the Chilean side of the border, the ferry would be running. I also checked into alternative ways of getting into Chile and there's a bus going the less interesting way leaving at 6am in the morning tomorrow. So, I decided to try my luck at hitchhiking today knowing that if I don't get a ride, I can always return to the hostel and leave on the bus tomorrow. Back at the hostel, I grabbed my backpack and my sign (I'm still using the notebook that Wim and I had bought to show our destination). Then, as I was walking toward the edge of town where the hitching is better, I left my sign out and managed to get a ride to the best spot to hitch. Then, not 10 minutes later, I get a ride. This route is not well traveled (or else there would be a bus even in the off season), so I just got lucky. The guy who picked me up told me he was going 12km. But we went a lot further than that and I realized he was going as far as only 12km to the border - a walkable distance. When we got to his destination, he had decided to just drop his load (he was pulling a large oil tank) and he would take me to the border himself. Cool! So, I got to see the lumber yard that he apparently operates. The lumber yard operation and harvest area was interesting. It's either in or surrounded by Lanin National Park and was started generations ago by German and Italian immigrants who planted Ponderosa and Oregon Pine trees from North America. These trees grow for 30-32 years before being ready for harvest. The area is now being converted solely to National Park. I think the last planting of trees was 20 years ago at this point. What they do now, is that when they harvest these plantations of non-native trees, they replant with native species. The process will apparently take 60 years (retroactively, maybe), but then the entire area will be National Park lands. I also got a tour of the facilities and saw raw logs on one side, some cut for log cabins, and others cut into regular boards. There wasn't any saw work going on when I was there but I did get to see the large sawmill where trees are stripped and cut as desired. They also had a large German generator(?), Wolf brand, from 1928 there. I've seen quite a few of smaller versions in various towns representing the pioneers who started many of these smaller towns. There were also Cypress and Sequoia trees on the property, both types of which were probably also imported and non-native. What was even more interesting was that even though it took a bit of explaining and restating, I managed to glean all this information from my ride even though he spoke almost no English. Every now and then, he would pull a word out of his hat, but for the most part, I was figuring it all out from his Spanish. So, I might have gotten some specifics wrong, but the general gist is correct. After the tour, when he finished pumping the oil from his portable tank to the larger permanent tank on site, he gave me a ride the rest of the way to the border. There, I got my exit stamp for Argentina, ate my lunch (I had an apple with me that couldn't be brought into Chile), and then knowing how little traffic there was, started hoofing it to Chile. Yesterday, not one car had passed through the border. It was threatening to rain so I almost stayed put hoping for a ride and to stay dry but I had limited time and knew that I could make it to the ferry by walking if I started right away. So, I started walking. It turns out that this frontier, Paseo Hua Hum (ho hum?) is probably one of the shortest between the two countries. It was only about 5km from the Argentinean and Chilean immigration stations. I made it in just over an hour, including stops to pile on the rain gear when it started raining and to take pictures at the actual border signs, something I hadn't been able to do for most crossings. Thankfully, the rain never got all that heavy and it was a reasonably pleasant walk. I think I surprised a few of the people living in this frontier area when I went walking through. The folks at the Chilean immigration office were obviously a bit surprised to see me walk up to the immigration station. They had to run and get someone who spoke English to get me through the process. I had to answer all the usual questions about what I was doing, where I was staying, and how long I would be in the country, but they also asked me some new ones, too. Sure enough, they wanted to know when I was last in the US, had I been in Mexico, when I left Central America, etc. It was all about the pork flu. Err, swine flu, err, H1N1 virus. The woman who saw me through had spent years working both in Park City, UT and on Nantucket. Go figure. This remote immigration station is not a permanent position for them, rather, they rotate in and out on a ten day rotation before working in other areas for a while. After getting me through immigration, the woman who helped me through offered to ask if I can get a ride to the ferry with a pickup she knows is going across. I got the ride so waited in the dry office rather than walk through the rain. I put all the warm clothes I had taken off for my walk back on, and sat to wait for the ride. It was a good time to write in my journal. Good thing I got the ride. I had been told it was 10km total to the ferry from Argentina, but it was 10 MORE km from the Chilean immigration station and I'm not sure I could have made it in time by walking. Had I not, I would have had to wait another full day to get across on the one 5pm (4pm Chilean time) ferry that now runs each day. The ferry was a large one. It carried two double logging trucks as well as four pickups. There were comfortable seats in heated rooms inside. So, even though my ride was also getting onto the ferry, I grabbed my backpack and brought it inside with me. It was sort of clear to me that I would not be continuing with the same pickup that got me to the ferry. The ferry doesn't cross this lake, rather is runs the length of this long skinny lake. Lago Pirihueico is more like a fjord. It's long, skinny, and has steep mountains lining both sides of the lake. The channel markers were frequently placed right on shore. It was rainy and foggy, but I could still see enough to appreciate the beauty of the area. I wish I had been able to do the crossing in better weather but at least the water was calm. It could have been much worse. I hadn't really made an effort to find a ride continuing on the other side of the ferry. One car offered me too short a ride so I let it go and checked into a hospedaje in Puerto Fuy, deciding to figure something out the next day. On the ferry, I had been told there were no buses from Puerto Fuy. It had started raining harder and I didn't want to hitch in the dark or the rain. I got checked into a place for 6000 pesos per night. The power was out in town but expected back on within the hour. That didn't happen so I read first by headlamp, then by candlelight that my host brought me. Finally, I ate the dinner of carne (beef) she brought me. As best I could tell, it was chopped beef with shredded carrot, served with rice, bread and butter, and salad of peeled not quite fully ripe tomato wedges - about three tomatoes worth. I had no idea how much dinner was going to set me back, but with the worsening rain and no power in town, I wasn't heading out when I didn't have to. I read some more, wrote in my journal, and started getting very tired. When the power came back on after 8pm, all the guys (construction crew, perhaps?) staying at the hospedaje turned on the TV to a Spanish station so with nothing left to hold my interest and being back in the land of little to no heat and lots of blankets, I crawled into bed at 8:30 and called it a day. With no bus and worsening weather, I was faced with the possibility of spending extra time in town until I could hitch out. But, there was nothing I could do at this point and just went to sleep. The maxim the long-distance backpacking crowd often uses, "Things will always work out", holds true for travel, too. Saturday, May 16: Puerto Fuy to ValdiviaAs forecasted, last night's rain turned into this morning's torrential downpours alternating with merely very heavy rain. Ugh! After going to sleep so early, I woke up very early and then slept on and off until 7:30 when I finally dragged myself out of bed and joined the last few men having breakfast downstairs. It was the usual bread, butter, and cheese but today, I was offered hot chocolate instead of the coffee and tea that are usually the only beverage options. Fantastic! After breakfast, I looked out the window and was surprised to see a bus there. It wasn't there last night so someone had driven it and parked it. When I asked about a bus, sure enough, there was going to be a bus leaving for Panguipulli at 10am. Then, one of the other people there said 9am. Either way, fantastic! This is another stretch of road that would have been good to hitch, but not in this weather. So at 9, I started getting ready but was told to wait. At 9:40, my host finally sent me outside and the bus came just as I got to the road. I flagged it down even though it was going in the wrong direction. The end of the line was at the port so I figured it was better to wait on the bus than in the rain. As I got on, a little cat got off. Someone had to go out into the rain to retrieve it. It seemed to be the driver's cat. When we got to the port, the driver got out for a break at the restaurant there and the cat meowed mournfully for 5 minutes before giving up and curling up next to the driver's seat to wait. Had I missed the bus going in that direction, I would have eventually found the bus stop shelter and waited in the cold there. But I would have gotten completely soaked in the process even though it was only a couple hundred meters down the road. The driver had parked the bus broadside to the wind and there were a couple of violent gusts that I thought might send the bus over on it's side. Yikes! I did look around and there wasn't much to land on top of me if it did, but it was still scary at times. I was looking forward to getting back into the relative safety of the more enclosed road rather than the open beach at the port. This wind was also having an affect on the lake. What had been a nice smooth ride along the lake yesterday would be quite a bit rougher today. The waves on the lake were surprisingly large. As we drove, I got the impression it would have been a beautiful drive through valleys, between mountains, and along lakes but the rain and fog outside not to mention the foggy windows inside the bus almost completely obscured any views I could have had. Even after 11 hours of sleep, I still nodded off a lot in the bus. With heavy rain and one very long construction delay along the way, we were 30 minutes late pulling into the bus station at Panguipulli. Once there, I didn't even have time to find out when or if there would be another bus to Valdivia as one was leaving right away. I gave my backpack to the helper to put under the bus, and went to grab some yogurt, chips and cookies for the road. Even so, the bus driver was closing the door as I walked up. I did not have time to buy my ticket before boarding the bus but that's never a problem on these buses that stop at every little bus stop to take on and let off passengers going only part of the way. I just paid the helper on his first walk through of the bus. Once again, it rained the entire way but this time I got lucky, the rain quit just as we pulled into Valdivia. I was able to walk through town, check out one nice but expensive hostel and then make my way to another cheaper place with better vibes though not as nice. Once checked in, my first order of business was to get online and use Skype to call my friend Betsy who was celebrating her birthday. She wanted me to be there and I even went so far as to check into flights but it was much too expensive to fly up for the party so I joined them as best I could with a phone call. It was great to talk with Betsy and wish her well. Then the phone got passed around to the others there that I knew, David and flown in from California and Benson from Boston. I also talked with Ken for the first time in ages. It was great for me to talk with all of them and a fun surprise for them to talk with me, too. I then went for a walk around town, found the market which had already closed but was still being washed down with high pressure water hoses, sending scraps of fish back into the river. So, I got to see two huge sea lions there, begging for scraps and look forward to coming back when the market is going full blast to really see them in action. The sea lions are regulars there, begging for food. I knew they were big animals but I didn't realize how big. Not as large as elephant seals but I still wouldn't want to ever get in their way. The sea lions were sharing their meal with the chimangas, turkey vultures, cormorants, gulls, and terns. It was getting dark, so I made may way to the Bigger supermarket and bought staples for the next couple of days. A Pasteleria had me buying a piece of kuchen for after dinner. This area was settled by Germans and their traditions are still here in the chocolate and beer available in town. Also things like kuchen are throwbacks to the original German settlers. Then back at the hostel for dinner, watching Erin Brokovitch on TV, and more computer time. ---------------------------------------
Dear Intermediates; I'm afraid I don't have enough time to answer each of your letters individually so I'll answer as many of your questions relevant to my travels in South America as I can. Since many questions were repeated in your letters, I've organized my response to address the topics you've asked about. Please forgive me for not answering questions unrelated to South America. Given the limited time I spend on-line while traveling, I thought it better to more fully address the topic you are currently studying. Here are the topics I've identified: Travel information for this tripI started this trip in Central America, visiting Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In February, I left El Salvador and stopped in Buenos Aires on my way to Ushuaia, in the very southern part of the continent. After a 20 day cruise to visit the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, and the Antarctic Peninsula, I returned to Ushuaia and started my travels in South America. South America is a very large continent and I'm taking my time as I travel. Since I left Ushuaia in March, I've only been to the southern parts of Argentina and Chile, the two countries that make up the southern part of South America. At the end of May, I will travel to Easter Island to see the large stone moai. Easter Island is part of Chile even though it takes a long plane ride to get there. Before I return to the United States from this trip, I also hope to visit Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands. But, I'll only visit those countries if I have enough time. All of my travels are for personal interest. I enjoy meeting people from many different places and seeing many different types of environments. I also enjoy learning about these new places and though I do learn a great deal by reading, it means so much more to see a place than to read about a place. Jet lagThere's something unusual about visiting South America from the US. South America is very far away, but the western part of the South American continent is still in the same time zone as the eastern part of the United States. So, when I'm in Chile, it's the same time as when I`m at home. So, even if I had directly flown here from my home in Boston, there would be no jet lag. Now, while I'm traveling back and forth between countries by bus or boat and there's at most one hour difference as I go back and forth, jet lag is not a problem. Speaking SpanishWhen I first got to Central America. I spent two weeks in Guatemala learning some Spanish. So, I don't speak very much Spanish but I do speak enough to get by when I'm traveling. The most important words to learn in any language when I travel are "hello" and "thank you". In Spanish, they are hola and muchas gracias. But in Spanish, I can now arrange bus tickets, a place to stay, and talk a little about my family, friends, and travels in Spanish. CultureIn most ways, the culture here is very similar to the culture in the US. In big cities like Buenos Aires, it's basically the same as in big cities in the United States. The primary difference here is that many people start work later, take a long break in the middle of the day when many businesses are closed, and go back to work in the evening. Then dinner doesn't start until 9 or 10pm. There are other differences too, especially in small towns or for those people who live on large ranches away from towns. For example, many of these people often use horses to get around. They may check on their cattle or go visit a neighbor. Or they may ride into town to go shopping. It's not unusual to see horses on the streets of smaller towns in South America. Gauchos are the cowboys of Argentina and Chile. They wear traditional dress including hats, baggy pants, boots, and ponchos. The women don't seem to have traditional clothing that they still wear. FoodMuch of the food in South America is similar to food in the United States. In Argentina, they eat a lot of beef. In towns, they prepare it using a parilla, a large indoor grill. In the country, if they're able to cook out over a fire, they put very large pieces of meat over an open fire to cook it slowly and then cut off pieces to be eaten with your fingers. In Chile, eating fish is very common with salmon being the most common fish. They farm salmon in Chile. Other special foods I've eaten are milcao which are like potato pancakes stuffed with pork and fried. This is one of my favorite foods from South America - so far. Empanadas are common through both Argentina and Chile. These are pockets of dough filled with spiced beef, pork, ham and cheese, chicken, or sweet fillings like apples. They are then baked or sometimes fried and eaten as a snack. Another common snack in Chile is the completo. The completo is a hot dog on a large roll, with chopped tomatoes, guacamole, and mayonnaise. The one thing I miss from where I live in the United States is the variety of food I can get. In the small towns of southern Argentina and Chile, there are no ethnic restaurants other than an occasional pizza restaurant. I don't have choices like I do at home so rarely have Chinese, Mexican, or other types of ethnic food. EnvironmentThe environment in South America is as varied as in the United States. So far, I've seen pampas, mountains, lakes, fjords, rivers, islands, rain forest, and more. As I travel north, I hope to also visit desert, tropical rain forest, jungle, salt flats, and maybe the Pantanal, a tropical wetland system. Continue reading for more on the environment. WeatherI've been traveling north from Ushuaia, Argentina, near the southern tip of South America. I arrived there in February, near the end of summer. In South America, the seasons are exactly the opposite of North America so when it's winter in Wisconsin, it's summer in South America. Now, it's autumn here so the leaves are turning pretty colors, it's getting colder, and there's been some snow in the mountains. In the towns I've been visiting recently, it's been very rainy with a nice sunny day every now and then. I try to get out and see what I can on those nice days. I hope to get to drier areas as I continue north. Rain forestTraveling through southern Chile on the west side of the Andes Mountains, I traveled through one of the few temperate rain forests in the world. The area was very green with some very large plants. I saw ferns that towered over me and some giant rhubarb with leaves as large as a table. VolcanoThe western part of South America is part of the Ring of Fire. Chile has hundreds of volcanoes some of which are active. Recently, Volcano Chaiten erupted and sent ash raining over a large area of Chile and Argentina. Afterwards, during heavy rain, a lahar sent a huge amount of mud and ash through the town of Chaiten and forced everyone to leave. I was able to visit this town during my travels. It was very strange to see houses buried in mud. Also, when sitting still, we could frequently feel small earthquakes shake the ground. Volcan Chaiten also gave me a couple of rocks for souvenirs... I now have one rock called obsidian and another called pumice. Both are interesting rocks. Arrowheads and knives with extremely sharp edges can be made from obsidian. And did you know that pumice is a type of rock that can float? AnimalsSome of the animals in South America are similar to the ones in North America. There are beaver, rabbits, hares, skunks, cats, dogs, deer, seals, and sea lions. Others such as guanaco are very different. They are related to the alpaca and llamas of other areas of South America. The birds here are probably the most different from the ones I've seen in the United States. There are flamingos, rhea, penguins, chimanga caracaras, and more. FunI have had a lot of fun on this trip. Some of my favorite activities have been hiking in the mountains, doing traditional dances, taking boat rides, and watching wildlife. One of the most unusual things I've done was to take a boat ride from Puerto Tranquilo to a place called Marble Caves. The boat actually went into and through some of these caves that form beautiful archways over the water. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences with you. I hope that you will all someday take the time to travel and see the world yourselves. Sincerely, Sunday, May 17: ValdiviaDidn't do much today. Searched out a laundromat near the hostel only to find it's closed for good and the map on the window pointed to one that didn't even have a sign out front. So, I'll eventually just bite the bullet and pay at the hostel for their very expensive service. It's Sunday so many stores are closed. I did find a mall and a huge supermarket. Did some shopping for foodstuffs that don't need immediate refrigeration and got lunch stuffs heated up at the deli department. Then I took my stuff to the mall and ate in the food court there. After lunch, I checked out the theater there and noted the movie times of the movies I am willing to see. Star Trek is playing as is Angels and Demons. Then, for the first time since Buenos Aires, I saw an American fast food store. This one was McDonald's but not a full restaurant, just an ice cream stand. While I've seen plenty of The North Faces stores and even a few Timberland and a United Colors of Benetton in Puerto Varas, this was the first place in the MickeyDs, BK, or KFC realm I've seen in months. I was recently trying to figure out the longest period in my life that I've gone without seeing a typical American fast food restaurant, and it may have been here in South America. Certainly in Southeast Asia, every time I returned to Bangkok, I saw Burger Kings and McDonalds. It was maybe 2.5 months between my longest time away from Bangkok during my 2007/2008 visit. Here, I left Buenos Aires maybe around Feb 12 and it has been more than three months since I've seen one of these restaurants until today. And even today, I only count it because the golden arches are so recognizable. It's still not a restaurant, just a soft serve ice cream cafe. Oh well... There'll be plenty more of that when I get to Santiago in the next week or so. It was raining when I left the mall so I put on my rain pants and made my way down to the riverfront to watch the sea lions in action. By the time I got there, it was only raining in fits and starts so I took cover under the market awnings in the rain, and stepped out only when it wasn't. I made the acquaintance of Pancho, the big bull sea lion. He would eat entire fish, almost a meter long, in one gulp when handed to him by the local fishermen. Mostly though, the fishermen would just throw scraps into the water or to the sea lions as they were cleaning the fish. These sea lions are huge and fat. They don't work for a living any more and I wonder how they compare to those that don't rely on humans for food. Are they as healthy, less or more? Are they overweight for a sea lion or do they self regulate? They weren't the only beneficiaries of the fishmongers. Gulls, terns, turkey vultures, cormorants, chimanga caracaras, pigeons, and even a few dogs had at it with the scraps. After seeing a smoke house weeks ago with Wim and Angela, and then only seeing very expensive smoked salmon in the supermarket, I was happy to see reasonably priced, or downright inexpensive smoked salmon at the market. I bought a piece big enough to last me for a couple of days. It cost 2000 pesos, or around $3.50. The salmon was delicious. I spent a good part of the evening on the computer deleting pictures to help make room on my hard drive. So far, I'm still just at the point where the decisions to keep or delete are easy. It'll be later passes where it gets tougher to make those decisions. Monday, May 18: ValdiviaMorning computer session. Wandered town with Nicole. With no rain, a nice surprise, we arranged for an afternoon boat tour. Then as we made our way to the bus station, we found a great bakery with bread just coming out of the oven. Delicious. Then at the bus station, Nicole booked her bus to Bariloche tomorrow and I got bus schedules for Santiago. I'll have to decide if I want to go overnight, during the day, and what kind of seats I want to pay for. There are regular, semi-cama, cama, and suites available for the 8-11 hour ride. We went to the mall to see if Nicole could find a game she had been looking for but got sidetracked by baby goods for her sister's upcoming kid, and a home goods store with lots of cute socks. Then back to the bakery for kuchen, empanadas, and more bread. We went to the riverfront to eat lunch and then found our boat. Our empanadas were different from most others. The dough was like soft pretzel dough, perhaps made with high gluten flour. Delicious. The filling was good though nothing special. Finally, we hopped on the boat for a three hour tour (uh oh. Where have I heard that before? Cue theme from Gilligan's island.) Our guide introduce himself in Spanish and then ask me in english if I understood him. I told him "when you speak English" then wondered over the next hour and a half why he had bothered to ask me since he didn't try to explain anything in English during the tour. So, at one point when he took a break, I asked if he spoke English and when he said a little, I asked if there was anything he had already explained in Spanish that would be interesting for me to know about. So, he told me a little about what he had already explained. From then on, he tried to tell me a little about what we were looking at in English. Oh well. I don't really expect tours to be in English but usually when someone wonders if I understand them, they usually intend to ensure that I do. He didn't. Oh well. The first part of our tour was around the area near town. it was industrial with a few houses of German architecture. There was also a submarine that we passed. I was a little surprised to return back to where we started after an hour to pick up more passengers. Then we set out on the better part of the tour. I wish I had taken just the second part of the tour. It was through the more natural setting of the rivers that led to the coast from Valdivia. We stopped at the little town of Punucapa to visit the church that had something from a church in the Canary Islands but I was more interested in the large and beautiful cypress tree on the grounds. It was 200 years old and had some wind damage that it'll hopefully recover from. Then we went to a cafe for tea and coffee. We had a choice of fried cheese empanadas or kuchen. I chose the empanadas and wish I had gotten the kuchen. I ate one of my empanadas and gave the rest way. So much of the tour was a bust for me. Oh well. It was cold and dark by the time we returned so I bundled up and Nicole went inside but most of the people stayed outside for the return. With our guide and one of the other passengers, I got into a conversation about the impact an environmental disaster had a few years ago when 5000 black necked swans were killed due to an industrial "accident" where the company was never really held responsible. That morphed into a discussion of the corruption of the government and the current state of environmental awareness of both the people and the politics. Chile's current economic growth are just beginning to allow for the added expense (not that it has to be expensive) of environmental awareness. Many people aren't aware of the possibilities and practices associated with recycling and there are no facilities to do so right now. There has to be awareness from the people before the government will step in. We stopped at the smaller Bigger market on the way back to the hostel. Nicole and I are the only paying customers in the hostel tonight. So for the second night, I have a room to myself - and it has a bathroom so basically I have a private bathroom, too. I sorted more pictures but mostly watched TV. Tuesday, May 19: ValdiviaI woke up to the long expected rain so with nothing else to do in the morning, I sat in shorts, my rain jacket, and wrapped in my sleeping bag so that everything else I owned could be put in the laundry at the same time. It may seem weird to other travelers but at least my backpack is small and relatively light. It enables me to have experiences others couldn't have, such as walking across borders while carrying all of my stuff. After lunch, I took an apparently much needed nap of 2.5 hours. I might have slept longer but someone opened the door to my room and woke me up. No problem, I needed to get up anyway. It was still raining but I needed to get out so I decided to go to the movies. I hoped to see Star Trek. I stopped at a bakery, then did a bit of shopping in the supermarket attached to the mall. It was only then when I tried to get money out of the ATM machines that I realized the ATMs in the mall would only take Master Card and Cirrus. I use VISA and Plus cards. Argh! I ended up having to go back out into the rain to find another bank. By the time I got back, Star Trek had long started so I grabbed a quick dinner at the food court and ended up seeing Angels and Demons which started an hour later. For the second time on this trip, I found a movie with a significant portion of dialogue in a language other than English. What that means is that here, it was subtitled in Spanish and I missed almost all of that dialogue. Oh well. It wasn't a great movie but it kept me occupied for a few hours. I don't particularly recommend the movie but if you have any interest in particle physics and want to see how CERN is portrayed in the movie, it might be worth seeing. I got soaked on my way back from the movie so am glad I still have a large room to myself where I can spread out all of my wet gear to dry. [Date: Sun May 24, 2009 10:21 am I'm sitting here typing with a tiny little kitten sitting on my lap. Yes, yes, I am allergic to cats, but I like them all the same and this one is much happier and much quieter sitting on my lap. She, and two resident dachshunds have kept this place interesting and entertaining for the time I've been here. Unfortunately something happened to one of the kitten's eyes last night but while she complained bitterly last night and the eye still looks very swollen, she seems to be taking it in stride and isn't letting it get her down.] Wednesday, May 20: ValdiviaAnother wet day spent mostly indoors. I finally made it out for the 6pm showing of the Star Trek movie. For anyone who has seen a lot of the original Star Trek series, it puts a lot in perspective. Actually, that's mostly what the movie seems to be about. More about background history than a story in and of itself. If Angels and Demons was a date movie, this one was anything but. Last night, everyone or almost everyone there was part of a couple. Tonight, there were quite a few other singles, groups of kids, families, friends, etc. but I don't remember seeing a single couple in the audience. I'll be popping some popcorn in a minute and settling in back here at the hostel for Mission Impossible III. That is, assuming it's in English. Thursday, May 21: ValdiviaI woke up to a 21-gun (or cannon) salute, followed by church bells ringing throughout town. It's a holiday today commemorating some war victory over Peru. Many businesses and schools close today so any take tomorrow off, too to get a four day weekend. It's another very rainy day. I went out this morning to buy a bus ticket for Santiago for tomorrow night. I managed to get a great deal on a semi-cama seat so hopefully, I'll find some way to get comfortable enough to get some sleep on the overnight ride. I ate Chinese at the food court in the mall. It was a nice change of pace but the wasn't all that great. I spent the rest of the say in the hostel, playing UNO, burning a DVD, watching movies, and drying out my clothes that got wet while out and about. After four nights in a large room to myself, there are now four of us in the room. [Typing continuing from Santiago where, alas, there's no little kitten contributing to the effort.] Friday, May 22: ValdiviaSpent the day (afternoon, really), at the Kunstmann Cerveceria (brewery). No tours on tap, just a one room museum to peruse. Then had lunch at their restaurant. I mostly ate mine while my friends, Elodie, Adolfo, and one other mostly drank theirs though they did order a plate of munchies at one point. I had a very good hot dog, this time with sauerkraut, some sort of salsa, mayonnaise, and maybe some other stuff. Even the actual hot dog was good and flavorful on this one. Had a moist cinnamon apple strudel for dessert. Delicious. We had been overcharged by a taxi whose meter quit on the way out to the brewery so grabbed a bus going back, especially since the rain was quitting. We stopped in the center to go see the sea lions where they haul out of the water for the night. Needing a bathroom, we went to one ubiquitous place that usually has public bathrooms. McDonald's. I didn't know there was one in town until we went to see the sea lions and caught sight of a full McDonald's restaurant. Oh well. As usual, they are good for one thing and they had no complaints when we went to use their facilities. But, we ended up getting McFlurries there. I think they are a bit smaller than in the US but a lot cheaper, at only 1000 pesos or less than two dollars. But they don't mix them here, just put the toppings on top and serve it like a sundae. Back at the hostel, I played a bit of UNO until it was time to get my ride to the bus station. I caught a 10:15pm overnight bus to Santiago. I was surprised at how much smaller these seats were than the semi-cama bus I had taken in Argentina. It was going to be a tight fit and the person in front of me wasn't going to be happy to be told they couldn't recline but then I found a double seat in back where I could sit or lie sideways and take up two seats. Saturday, May 23: SantiagoI went to sleep last night in wet, cold, windy, and miserable Valdivia. I woke up this morning, 800km further north in Chile, to warm, sunny weather. Sometime in the middle of the night, we passed through a transition area from the wet southern region to a dry more tropical region. Not only the weather changed, but the vegetation as well. I've already seen a few palm trees here. Once here in Santiago, I was about to hop on the metro system for a couple of stops when I decided to walk the couple of kilometers to my hostel. I walked out of the bus station/mall/train station and found a bunch of kids doing a variety of forms of juggling. There were also some drummers there and they were juggling in time to the drummers. There were traditional jugglers, devilsticks, diablo, and a rhythmic ribbon performer as well. Some of them were fantastic, especially the diablo guys. Two of them were not only doing their own tricks, but were tossing back and forth to each other as well. I would have watched longer but they were with a religious outreach group and though when asked what religion I was, I told them I wasn't there to discuss religion, it sort of grated on the woman who was there to talk with people. The kids however didn't care and were just happy to have someone there who appreciated what they were doing and wanted to pose for pictures. I then walked the couple of kilometers to the Casa Roja, an old mansion with 15' high ceilings turned hostel. I spent the morning there, researching where to find things in town, then went to the supermarket to buy food for lunches and breakfasts. It was nice to make lunch and then eat it in the garden, enjoying good weather for the first time in months, having been chased north by fall and winter through all of Patagonia and the Lakes regions. I took a nap and then eventually found the Israeli woman, Anate, I had met in Bariloche. She and a Brit, Naomi, and I went out to eat at the one Indian restaurant in Chile which was at a Best Western Majestic Hotel nearby. I had heard good things about it from some travelers I had met further south. We knew it was likely to be expensive and it was, relatively speaking for this area, but I wasn't expecting really good food. It was very good food and we were all happy with out dinner. We shared a Vegetable kofta dish, Chicken Korma, and Nan. All were very good. When we got back to the hostel, we saw an interesting looking group heading into the restaurant next door. There were three women dressed in long black dresses with capes that had puffy shoulders and one guy dressed normally. I thought they might be part of an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) group but they were a singing group that had permission to provide entertainment in the restaurant in exchange for tips. But they were told to wait an hour so with us being a willing audience, they proceeded to give us a private concert right on the street. They all sang, one played mandolin, another guitar, and the third played a mean tambourine and danced. Three were students at the local college and the dancer was still in high school. They were wonderful. It's quite amazing that twice in one day, I get semi/private street performances by people who were really good at what they do. Fantastic! Sunday, May 24: SantiagoI was up relatively early (8am) but still didn't get out until 10:30 or so. I made my way past the Gothic church we had seen in the dim light last night and over the cable stayed pedestrian bridge. I passed a bunch of homeless sleeping on the street who asked for money and found the pedestrian area. My map was wrong so I circled the wrong block looking for the pre-Columbian museum only to find it on the next block after asking one of the police. I thought it would be a small place and not take much time, but I spent a couple of hours there easily. The museum included many similar artifacts to those that I had seen in Central America but then also showed how southern Central and South American artifacts relate to those from further north and to each other. There was plenty of information in English though there was more in Spanish. No complaints though. It was still interesting. There was also a temporary exhibit there showing pictures of a pictographs from an area north of Santiago. I'm now hoping to go there but I don't know how accessible it is. This exhibit also had mummified remains that are 3000 years older than those found in Egypt. By the time I emerged from the museum, it was 1:30 and too late to seek out another of the museums that are free on Sundays but only open until 2pm. So, I wandered the pedestrian areas where there was a street fair of a sort set up regardless of the fact that many of the businesses behind them were closed for Sunday. I found more traditional dancing there but it was only the dance that requires set steps so not something I could step up and do. I watched for a while and then walked to the nearby Plaza de Armas in the center of the city. Lots of people out and about there including many evangelists preaching quite often to nobody. I returned to the hostel to cook myself a late lunch. I was tired so I spent time on the computer and took a nap. I was woken up when Jimmy, one of the volunteers I had met at Ulaa, moved in. We caught up on each others adventures. His included just getting out of Ulaa. All of the rain we had been having amounted to a lot of flooding in their area. A couple of people who had gone across to Argentina had gotten stranded there and are waiting for the water level to go down so they can get back. And when Jimmy left, all the usual transports were flooded and rock slides were blocking roads so alternative transport with the police had been arranged to get him back to Puerto Montt. Jimmy and I ended up going out for Chinese for dinner. The spring rolls were delicious and the mains were pretty good, too. Just Cantonese options though. I hope to continue to have a wide variety of food here in Santiago where there are options. Most of the food in the rest of the country is rather plain and bland. Other options I hope to have here in town include Thai and Sushi. Experiences I don't particularly want to have include all the American fast food restaurants I found around the Plaza de Armas area including Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, and Dunkin Donuts. I've also seen Tony Roma's and Benihana advertisements here, too. Back at the hostel, the internet was down so I took the opportunity to use the computer to copy pictures from my camera to my hard drive without worrying about the 30 minute per session limit. Monday, May 25: SantiagoArgh! I seem to have brought the rain with me. Anate, the Israeli who has also been traveling slowly north feels the same way. It had rained once in the last six weeks here in Santiago and after just a couple of days here, it's already raining. So, a slow morning getting out of here. Finally got out of here after lunch of leftover Chinese. Went for a walk with a bunch of girls from the hostel, repeating much of what I had done yesterday but yesterday's deserted streets were bustling today. We tacked on the fish market which was more restaurants and less market than I had expected. But the wrought iron building, in and of itself an attraction, was interesting and a man there was able to tell us where other similar buildings in the world were. Went for delicious hot chocolate when it started raining. Then a supermarket visit. Hung out at the hostel and then went to the Vacuna Gordos (Fat cow) restaurant for dinner with a crown of seven. This time, I had the filet mignon - delicious. I mostly went for the social aspect though. It meant putting off sushi dinner another night or two. Back at the hostel, I met Igor, a guy I had met in Puerto Natales twice, then Villa Cerro Castillo, and finally here. Apparently Ron, another Israeli is in town, too. I've met him in a few places including Puerto Natales, El Calafate, El Chalten, Puerto Tranquillo, and Villa Cerro Castillo. He's got a disability that makes walking very difficult and slow but has managed quite a few hikes with the help of some irreverent but cool other travelers he befriended in El Calafate. It's pretty amazing how much he's gotten around, including a bunch of hitchhiking as well. Tuesday, May 26: SantiagoWandered town this morning, "discovering" completely new sections of town including the markets that only locals tend to visit. I found the flower market, the fruit and vegetable market, the clothing market, and even vendors selling freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice right on the street. I also wandered through sections of town with electronics stores and other themed neighborhoods reminding me of my experiences in Buenos Aires albeit on a smaller scale. I was walking through these areas en route to Clinica Davila, a hospital with walk-in clinic and laboratory. As I thought, I didn't need to see the doctor, I just paid my $40 and had the tests done. I can get the results Thursday night or when I return from Easter Island in June. I returned to the hostel by way of the fresh squeezed OJ and a flaky pastry version of an alfajore as well as a Chinese restaurant for an order of rice. Jimmy left last night but left his leftovers behind so I ended up eating them for lunch. Real juice, even from concentrate, is almost impossible to find here. All the juice in the supermarkets here is "nectar" or water, concentrate, sugar, and other additives. So, having the fresh squeezed OJ was delicious. Mid-afternoon, I walked to the metro station and took the subway six stops and then walked to the base of Cerro San Cristobal. There, I took the funicular up the hill with two woman I met in line. We also bought tickets for the cable car and then rode that down and back up the hill. We climbed to the top to see the view from the feet of the very large Madonna that overlooks the city. It was built in 1987 or so after a visit by the Pope. A church, a large outdoor area for services and a smaller area for more private church-type gatherings all occupied the top of the hill and religious music was blaring from loudspeakers. But the view had potential not fully reached today. There was no rain but the smog in the area is very bad so the view was obscured by haze. We stayed on top until it got dark, they lit the Madonna, and the lights in the city twinkled on. Igor showed up, having walked up, something I might do another day. Once at the bottom, I checked out the Thai restaurant and was disappointed to find that it was mostly a sushi place that has pad thai and maybe a few other Thai dishes on the menu. Without others to share a few dishes with, I didn't want to stick around for another hour and a half until the restaurant opened at 8pm so I made my way back to the hostel and spent more time trying to figure out if I should commit to a return flight back to the US. Earlier today, I decided to start paying attention to how much flights are back to the US so I would know if a good deal came up. Well, after checking out any number of one way tickets from Ecuador or Peru to Boston or New York in the $700 range, I stumbled upon a round trip airfare from either Ecuador or Peru to New York for just $400. I can use the outgoing ticket and just throw away the return ticket. Somehow, I don't think I'm going to find any fares better than that but I have to purchase this ticket by the end of the week. The problem is trying to determine where I'm going to be at the end of August. And hey! If I decide I want more time in South America, I can always use the return portion anyway, and just turn it into a vacation in the US from my travels in South America. LOL. So, I spent more time on-line in the evening trying to figure out where to fly home from, when to fly back based on whether or not I can visit friends in New York City area, and other related stuff. I eventually realized I had never had dinner. I wasn't all that hungry though that probably had to do with the banana/orange ice cream cone I ate when I didn't stop for Thai food. So, I sipped a cup of bouillon, ate some crackers, had an apple and called it dinner. [Date: Thu May 28, 2009 10:37 pm I'm leaving tomorrow morning to spend a week on Easter Island. Of the people I've met who spent three or four days there, they all said it was enough time. Those who spent a week there, said they needed more time. Hopefully, I'll find a week is enough time. I'm looking forward to seeing the moai and marveling at a culture that found some value in carving huge pieces of rocks into large heads and bodies and transporting them with methods that are still a puzzle to this date. Last year, it was the Plain of Jars in Laos that had me wondering the same thing. I'm not sure if internet access will be all that affordable there unless I end up at a place where it's included so if I don't get around to sending email for a while, it'll probably be just a short break until I get back to Santiago on June 6. Wednesday, May 27: SantiagoNot much sleep last night... Three times someone came in and turned the overhead light on. Then it seemed like someone was doing laps in the hallway, slamming doors as they went, and finally, it sounded like people were moving furniture outside our door. I finally gave up at 8, ate breakfast, and showered in time for a 10am haircut I had scheduled for here at the hostel. Yes, someone came to the hostel to cut my hair. How cool is that? It reminded me of the time I was hiking the PCT and someone came to the motel I was staying in to give me a haircut. (Wow! May 15, 2003.) Today's goal was to find some cheap sunglasses and I found a great deal of them but only very expensive ones in the optician section of town - yes, an entire section of town with small shop after small shop of opticians. Mostly, I had been looking for a small kiosko or street vendor selling them. I did find a couple of street vendors selling them but with a tiny selection that wouldn't work for me. I realized that this time of year in Santiago it's cloudy and smoggy almost all the time so the need for sunglasses is rare. There are many more vendors selling umbrellas than sunglasses. So in all my wanderings today, I never found a pair of cheap sunglasses and since I don't seem to be able to keep them in one piece for very long, having already broken two pair on this trip, I don't want to spend the small fortune that the optician's shops want. But, I may get taken for a ride once I get to Easter Island. If it's sunny and I need them, I may have an even smaller pool of sunglasses to choose from once on the island. I did make it up Cerro Santa Lucia, a small but steep, much castellated hill in the middle of town that affords great views all around. The climb up involves taking any number of maze/like stairways and paved paths. There are bridges where the "trail" goes over itself and arches to go through. As I was on my way up, two grown men seemed to be roughhousing as they came down the hill. I gave a shout to make sure they didn't bowl me over and they continued past me without involving me in their little shoving match. It was only afterward that I realized one of the men was a security guard and wasn't a willing contributor. I was watching other guards watching them descend and I think there were more guards meeting the pair at the bottom but judging by their behavior for the next hour, the guy must have gotten away. I took the shortest path I could find going up the hill but then explored the hill a bit, taking random paths and staircases as I came down. I ran into one of the other hostel guests on the hill and since I was trying to get a good look at one of the many hummingbirds flitting around, I was able to point one out to him, his first ever sighting of a wild hummingbird. After a stop at a supermarket for breakfast food for tomorrow, I made my way back to the hostel for a much needed nap. In the evening, I watched the slide show of a tour group that goes north from here. They are trying to drum up business but rushing north to do all of northern Chile in a week or so is not my idea of a good time. Afterward, Johanna and I went next door to Platypus for a delicious meal of sushi. Thursday, May 27: SantiagoSlept somewhat better last night but still woke up early to more activity that I wanted. Met Julia and combined our laundry so that left me hanging around today in shorts. It's warmer here than down south, but it's not really shorts weather so I'm mostly stuck in the hostel for the day. I ran out to copy the Easter Island pages from someone else's Chile and Easter Island guide book as there's more complete information in there than in the South America guide book. Booked my flight home from Lima, Peru to New York on August 25. I didn't really want to buy my ticket home this early because I'm not sure where I'm going to be but I got such a great deal I decided to go with my best guess. I'll visit with friends in NY and then make my way to Boston, perhaps picking my car up in Connecticut on the way. Went to a local restaurant for lunch and had Alemana Asado, the meatloaf with an egg in it. It came with ensalada which was just sliced celery with a few strands of grated carrot on top, fried potatoes, and dessert but they were out of flan so the only other choice was raspberry jello. But for 1800 peso plus 200 tip, I can't complain. That's less than $4. I did an initial pack of my backpack and came up with a plastic shopping bag full of stuff to leave here in Santiago until I return. Then realized I had a lot of room to fill in my backpack. I did some food shopping as it's much less expensive to buy food here than on Easter Island plus it'll help fill my backpack so it'll travel better on the airplane. Then I found a lady making cheese and mushroom empanadas. Even though I'm not crazy about the fried ones, I couldn't resist and bought some. They were delicious! With an apple and a pudding, I called it dinner. Shortly before 10pm, I went upstairs to the TV room to see if people would be willing to watch the Mentalist at 10pm. Nobody said they were watching anything else so when it came on, I was a bit surprised when this guy who seems to be living here at the hostel started switching channels. When I asked if he was planning on watching something else, he didn't say anything. At more prompting, he said he had been trying to watch this other movie. When I asked which one, he ignored me again and just pointed at the TV and told me Lionsgate. I said that's the production company, not the name of the movie. Oh well... The name of the movie eventually came on. it was Hard Candy, nothing I wanted to see starting at 10pm when I have to get up at 5am tomorrow morning. Friday, May 28 to Friday, June 5: Easter IslandFrom Santiago, I took a side trip to Easter Island. I've included my journal entries from that trip on a separate page. [Date: Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:44 pm Highlights of this batch of journal entries include museum visits, Barbie (yes, the doll), a theater tour, acensors (funiculars), and more regional food in a noteworthy restaurant. Mara] Saturday, June 6 : SantiagoDid laundry and since it was cold, that meant I passed the day at the hostel. I took the time to sort through Easter Island pictures. I had a good chunk of time on the computers because the internet went down and nobody else wanted to use them. How convenient! I also spent part of the day having one of the hostel staff members help me try to get my battery charger back. I left it on Easter Island but at least from there, almost everyone comes through Santiago so it should be a no brainer to have it sent back on the plane with someone. We'll see what happens... Went back to the Best Western Hotel Majestic for Indian dinner. It wasn't as good as last time. Oh well. With internet back up in the evening, I uploaded a bunch of pictures to Picasa. (Let me know if you want the link to see them.) Sunday, June 7: SantiagoIt was a very cold and gray day today with the sun just trying to make an appearance in the afternoon. I visited the Museo de Santiago (Casa Calorado) with dioramas depicting important historical events in the history of both Santiago and Chile. Then I went to the Palacio de Belles Artas to visit the Museo de Belles Artas which was mostly painted wall art, not my favorite though I did marvel at the sheer size of some of the pieces. They reminded me of the Night Watch. When I was done there, I walked around to the other side of the building to visit the Museo de Arte Contemporeano. I was surprised to see a very long line waiting to get in. Knowing that the exhibits there are supposed to be hit or miss, I figured this one must be a hit and got into line. I did notice while in line that there were a large number of families in line. It was only after waiting in line for 30 minutes, when I was finally approaching the building that I engaged the family in front of me in conversation. It was only then that I realized it wasn't "families" in line, it was parents and "girls" in line. The special exhibit at the museum was the 50th Anniversary of Barbie exhibit. Hey! What else was I going to do during the day. So I stayed in line and besides, there were other exhibits there, too. When I realized it looked like people were paying, I tried to ask if people were paying because the other museums were all free on Sundays. And if so, how much did it cost. Most are inexpensive and I wouldn't have a problem paying. The man in front of me, perhaps thinking I didn't want to pay to see a Barbie exhibit, paid my entrance fee. I tried to pay him back but he wouldn't take the cash. So, I went to see the Barbie exhibit. I couldn't believe the crowd. I found one from 1959, the year Barbie came out. I found one from 1965, the year I was born, and it was astronaut Barbie. There were others but not necessarily one from each year. Many years had multiple examples and many years had none. I think I might have had a Barbie doll at one point in my life but since I don't remember, I don't think it was ever a huge deal to me. It was interesting to see how elaborate some of the Barbie costumes got. Major designers designed for Barbie and Barbie copied many of the worlds popular women. Imagine Barbie in Cher's black costume. After having my fill of the crowds, I beat a hasty retreat to the main level to visit the other exhibits. My favorite of the other exhibits was Antonio Quintana's ( 1904-1972) photography. After the museums, I wandered back through Plaza de Armas where they had all the roads closed in preparation for a concert that evening. It was cold so I ducked into a McDonald's for an ice cream (yeah, yeah, outside temperature has nothing to do with eating ice cream) and to sit for a while and start to figure out where I'm going next and what I want to see as I travel further north in Chile. Back at the hostel, I napped, then went shopping but it was too cold to go back to the plaza to stand outside to listen to music. No news about my charger today. I might be here in Santiago for a while if the hostel on Easter Island puts it in the mail for me instead of sending it with someone flying over. Monday, June 8: SantiagoThis morning, I went with Sandra, Peter, and one other from the hostel to have a private tour of the municipal theater in Santiago. It was inaugurated in 1957 and is absolutely beautiful. It seems to be a small theater without that many seats on the floor but there are three or four balconies all with seating. The details of the walls, balconies, ceiling, etc are all meticulous. Medallions between two of the balconies honor the greats of music, theater and more. I saw medallions for Beethoven, Verdi, Goethe, and even Cervantes. I can't get away from Don Quixote if I tried. After our tour, we stopped in the cafe in the theater building for hot chocolate and muffins. We all split up after our tour. I went back to Clinica Davila to get the results of my blood test nearly two weeks earlier. Everything looks normal. Then back at the hostel, I ate lunch of smoked salmon paté and/or cheese on toast. I still hadn't heard anything from the folks on Easter Island so I tried calling them again with no luck. Then I had one of the workers who has been helping bridge the language barrier help write an email. I seem to be getting in the habit of napping. It worked again for me today. Went back to the Chinese place for dinner. Even with three of us, there were a lot of leftovers. It'll feed all of us tomorrow for one meal. Finally got word later in the evening that my charger, battery, and adaptor will be sent back to Santiago on tomorrow evening's flight. I just have to go to the airport to meet the person doing me this great favor. Woohoo! Tuesday, June 9: SantiagoKnowing I would be getting my charger back this evening and therefore be able to leave the city tomorrow, spurred me on to finally spend time transcribing my Easter Island journal entries. So, I spent most of the day doing just that. In the evening, I went to the airport to pick up my charger. I got there very early so grabbed a sandwich at Dunkin Donuts, the most affordable of the options at the airport. I did check out Gatsby's Bar and Grill which had a great looking AYCE buffet for about $16. If I was leaving from there sometime I could plan on going but it wasn't going to work out this time. It was finally time for the flight from Rapa Nui to come in so I stood with all the taxi and limo drivers with their signs looking for passengers that had arranged for transport. I had a sign of my own with Erika's name on it, hoping she would remember to look for it when she left the baggage claim area. No problem. She saw me straight away and signaled which exit she was heading to. Thankfully, the battery, charger, and adaptor were all together. It was really nice of her to bring them back to Santiago for me. They grabbed the same bus I was taking but since they were heading straight for Valparaiso, they got off at the bus station while I continued back into the city. I ate the leftover Chinese for dinner and then thinking I would leave my big backpack in Santiago while I went to Valparaiso for a few days, I repacked my bags. I took some Excedrin to fight off an impending migraine and went to sleep early. Wednesday, June 10: Santiago to ValparaisoI woke up feeling much better. After breakfast, I finally took a look at the map and realized that going back to Santiago when I was going north after Valparaiso just didn't make sense. So I repacked again. I killed time using the internet in the morning, ate the last of my food stuffs for lunch and then walked to the metro which I took to the bus station. As seems to be the usual case these days, I was falling asleep on the bus even though I wanted to stay awake to see the terrain. We went through two very long tunnels to get to Valparaiso on the shore and there was a distinct change of vegetation at one point. I could look back and see hills covered in cactus. At one point, there was a cactus nursery. In town, I took a local bus to the base of the hill I wanted to stay on. From there, I took an "ascensor" or funicular. It was the Acensor Cerro Concepcion, the oldest of 15 funiculars in Valparaiso having been built in 1883. At the top, I continued my climb and found a reasonable hostel and checked in. I was beat though so just hung out there with the others for the rest of the afternoon. Went out to dinner with Ewen, an Aussie at an all day breakfast place. Ordered lasagna but they were out so we ended up eating quiche instead. It came with soup, salad, and baked apple a la mode for less than $8 each. Thursday, June 11: Valparaiso"Breakfast" of a single roll, two little cookies, and coffee or tea was included in the hostel. Oh well. I had my roll with water and supplemented it with a yogurt I had bought. Spent the day with Ewen, touring Viña del Mar. We climbed to the top of the hill in the Parque Quinta Vergara only to be told by the security guards there that it was very dangerous and we should go down. We thanked him for his concern and continued on our own way. It was a small park so didn't take long to finish our own tour. We went down by way of a huge amphitheater in the park. We had lunch at this great little Middle Eastern restaurant called Jerusalem. I ate a small chicken shwarma sandwich with a piece of falafel and a stuffed grape leaf on the side. I should had skipped the shwarma and had more falafel. Then we wandered to a nearby funicular. All the others in town were labeled acensors. Why was this one labeled funicular? This one was different. It only had one car rather than the two counterbalanced cars I had seen on all the other funiculars I've been to around the world. Instead of a similar car counterbalancing this one, there was a weight on a sled like mechanism that slid down between the tracks as the car went up the hill. According to wikipedia, these are both types of funiculars. Then we wandered to the beach so Ewen could touch the other side of the Pacific. We looked at some of the sand sculptures there. I visited the museum and then we both caught the bus back to Valparaiso. Ewen got off at the bus station. I kept going back to the hostel. We met there and then later, went to dinner at the Casino Royal J Cruz. It had nothing to do with a casino. It was down this dark alley that neither of us would have likely ever explored on our own especially given the guy who started down the alley with us only to use it as his own urinal. But, this place was listed in our guide book and it sounded rather curious. Sure enough, when we got to the door, even the door whispered of something special. It was stained glass - sort of - but covered over with a lot of stickers. When we went in, we couldn't believe our eyes. The entire place, every wall, and even hanging from the ceiling, was covered in a variety of collections and lots of writing from visitors. The table cloths were completely scribbled upon. It was a visual feast to accompany our dinner. When I asked about seeing a menu, the man shook his head and just indicated we should sit down. Turns out there was only one thing available here. it's called Chorrillana. You just order for however many people there are in your party. Then you also order your beverage. Chorrillana is a plate piled high with french fries, sauteed onions, scrambled egg, and cubed pork. It's served with the vinegary pepper sauce that I don't care for and bread to sop up the last of the juices on the plate. Chorrillana is available all over the place but there's no restaurant with the character of J Cruz. It's also the type of food that makes you feel your arteries clogging so I don't expect to order it very much. As for the decor, every wall was lines with glass cases to house the collections. There were collections of African art, Chinese ivory, pocket watches, beer steins, glass, porcelain shoes, and so much more. Walked back by way of the supermarket and acensor. Friday, June 12: Valparaiso to OvalleI was supposed to have a tour of the area today by Hospitality Club member with a number of good write-ups but it was cancelled after a strange set of emails. For example, how was I supposed to know to give out the hostel number so he wouldn't have to take 6 minutes to send me an email? It never would have occurred to me to give out a hostel number. Ah well... Perhaps without the email exchange with him, I would have stayed longer, but he put a bad taste in my mouth for Valparaiso so I just wanted to leave. I got my stuff together and left it at the hostel so I could go take a short harbor cruise. But with the weather being cold and gray, there were no other takers and given that it was just a collectivo, they wouldn't go without more people. I waited a while and then gave up. So, I went back up - literally - to the hostel, grabbed my backpack, and made my way back down the acensor for the last time. Took the bus to the bus station only to find out the only bus leaving that day would be at 7:30pm. Argh! I tried to figure out how to hitch out of this town but gave up and spent the rest of the day in internet cafes to kill time after putting my backpack in the custodia - left luggage. In one cafe down an alley, I could hear a marching band. I poked my head out only to see the bottom half of a man on stilts walking by and what looked like a four piece marching band. I never did figure out what that was all about. I did take the time to book a bed in a hotel in the town I was going to. It was the first time on this trip that I've booked ahead. But getting to a small town at 1:30 in the morning, I didn't want to be ringing random hospedaje bells. Dinner was a set meal of a burger, fries, and drink. My burger had a choice of tomato, avocado, or mayonnaise. Then I made it to the bus station, retrieved my backpack, and had time to help someone start a sudoku before catching my bus. I got the front seat which meant no foot room whatsoever but no worries about my knees being crushed by the seat in front of me. I played musical chairs with the empty rows in the back of the bus until it filled up enough that I had to go back to my seat and put up with the cramped conditions for the last few hours. Once in town, the hotel that I had booked earlier in the day because it was supposed to be close to the bus station wasn't anywhere near the bus station but it was still a small enough place that I just walked there. It was a bit overpriced and the bed had crumbs on the cover and hairs on the pillow. But I was tired so I slept in my clothes and decided to move on or to another place the next day. [Date: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:52 pm Sorry for the delay in getting some journal entries out. My hard drive is out of space and I've been spending more time deleting crappy pictures to make space for new pictures and less time transcribing journal entries. I'm still behind and likely to get more so as I may have a few busy days ahead with limited access, but here's what I have so far... Saturday, June 13: OvalleVisited the museum with great examples of pottery. I had seen similar types in Santiago. Then I went to the plaza to stop at the information booth cum jewelry vendor and got some good tips for visiting Valle del Encanto, my destination for the rest of the day. When asked, the guy there thought I could hitch so I did. It was easy. 12km out of town I got dropped off for a 5km walk but I got picked up there after walking maybe 1km. The guy who picked me up had his kid with him and I thought he was also going to the Valle but he wasn't. He just dropped me off and went back maybe a km to the pisco grape vineyard where he works. I was the first person to sign in to the register in three days. But there was someone there to collect the 300 peso fee - about 50 cents. He gave me a map and then pointed out the different areas from the high point with the booth. I then walked into the valley. There were quite a few petroglyphs (scratched in rock) to explore. As the guy in the booth said, they looked like martians. The few pictograph (painted on rock) sites were easy to find but hard to decipher. I did find some of the painted markings but often I just saw what looked like plain rock to me. There were also interesting geological formations there, too. This area was perhaps South America's answer to the Devil's Marbles of Australia. There were also huge natural pots carved out of the rock when a river once engulfed the area. Now, there's a small stream and it's unclear if it ever floods. Looking around, I don't think it does so these natural pots, now named the Bathroom of the Incas rarely see any water any longer. The largest of these pots would be large enough for me and five friends to climb into. But it would be awfully difficult to climb out so I just took a picture and backtracked to the picnic area, finding other places to explore along the way. There were a lot of man made mortars there. Large flat rocks often had many of these holes ground into their surfaces. I was also surprised at the amount of wildlife I saw there. There was a large European hare that almost ran me over. I saw a few small rodent-like animals and when talking with a family picnicking there, I realized they were chinchilla. There were quite a few birds in the area as well. The ubiquitous Chimango were there but there were other larger hawk-like birds there. Vultures. And smaller birds including the red collared sparrow I've been seeing since Ushuaia. There was also a pigeon sized bird there with a startling red breast. I haven't been able to figure out what it was yet. The flora was dominated by one type of cactus and one type of leafy bush. There were a few other plants there but none as prodigious as these other two. The cactus had huge thorns that must have been as long as 4 or 5 inches. I was very careful to avoid them. The long, slender, red blossoms on these cactus kept many hummingbirds busy. I had stopped at one point to have my own lunch near the family picnicking and they gave me a mandarina (mandarin orange) and talked a bit. Caroline and Marcos, an Ovalle police officer, were there with their kids, picnicking and exploring. They ended up not only giving me a ride back to town, but bringing me to their house so I could use their internet and then brought me back to town. I stopped at the info booth again to thank the guy there and then got another idea for the next day so with a suggestion from this guy, I moved to a cheaper, cleaner, nicer residencia. I went to the local supermarket cafe for dinner, and went to sleep early. This residencia gave me the second degree before allowing me in. They didn't want anyone up late, making noise, checking out late, etc. They were willing to hold my backpack if I didn't take it with me the next day. This kind of place makes you feel rather unwelcome at first and there's no way Lonely Planet or any other guide book could ever include it in their pages. Sunday, June 14: Ovalle to PichascaI got an early start but the bus never came so I ended up taking a collectivo to Pichasca. Without knowing how far off the main drag it was, I had agree to pay the driver extra to take me to the entrance gate of the Monument Natural de Pichasca but just after we turned off the main road, his phone rang. He wanted to drop me at the bus stop rather than take me all the way and I wouldn't have to pay the extra. Well, at the turnoff I had seen it was only 3km and he had easily already taken me one of them so I agreed to walk. I had hoped to find a business I could leave my backpack with but it was only a residential area so I carried the backpack the one or two kilometers up the hill to the entrance to the park. There, I was able to leave my backpack and just take my daypack with food and water. They gave me a map to borrow. I paid my entrance fee and went off to explore this park starting with the little one room museum. This park is known as the Jurassic park of the area. There are dinosaur remains here, petrified wood, a cliff dwelling, and geologic features that easily show a wide range of time periods. The museum gave information about all of these elements of the park. I certainly missed out on a lot with my limited Spanish, but I think they may have missed out on describing the circumstances in which petrified wood is formed. They did describe the replacement of natural materials with those like silicon, but not that the silicon might be present following a volcanic blast such as the one at Mt. St. Helens. After the museum, I walked the 2km interpretive trail, saw the petrified wood and the geological features that make the park unique. I then visited the dinosaur site but the large plastic dinosaur there in place of the bones seemed unnecessary to me. The large cave dwelling would have looked right at home in Mesa Verde or Gila though there were no interior walls like I've seen elsewhere. There were pictographs on the ceiling of the cave, however. As far as I could tell, only three other cars came to the park the entire time I was there. Maybe two of them went to see the cave dwelling or more likely, the plastic dinosaur which didn't require going down stairs. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who walked the 2km interpretive trail to see the petrified wood and the geologic layers. I walked the 3km back to the main road and got a ride to the nearby eponymous town of Pichasca. I had hoped to get a ride to a hotel 30km further up the road but the only traffic was local and the next bus was going to come when it would be nearly dark. So, I checked into a local residencia and only then found out that the first bud going past Pichasca the next day wouldn't go until 2pm. I was trying to take a very back road to Vicuña and if I had to walk, I would have had to start first thing in the morning. And it still would have taken me two days to get there if I couldn't get a ride. But not being able to get to the place to start the walk until late in the day, I gave up. So, I spent the night in Pichasca, once again where nobody spoke English, but still managed to communicate quite a bit with the lady of the house and her sister who came by to visit. They were amused that I was reading Don Quixote and were surprised that I only took two weeks of Spanish. I don't think my language skills are all that great but we did have quite a little bit of a conversation. I was beat though and went to sleep very early. Monday, June 15: Pichasca to La SerenaTook the 8:15 bus back to Ovalle this morning after giving up on the back road. The weather in Pichasca was great but as we descended down into Ovalle, we moved into the fog and by the time we got to Ovalle, it was trying to rain. I took the opportunity of my return to Ovalle to get a couple more tuna in packets. This is only the second time on this trip I've seen a supermarket with the option and they are so handy for travel. Then got online and connected with a couchsurfing host who couldn't offer me space but as an astronomer, was able to offer tips for more observatories to visit. I had expected to visit at least two but it looks like there may be more to visit and quite a few that are not open to the public. I grabbed the bus to La Serena and was glad when we drove out of the fog. The first hostel I went to was being renovated but the owner noticed me and came out to apologize. he suggested a friends place around the block. It was one I was likely to try anyway. I got there and though the place was great, the flowers there were sure to give me an allergy attack and a migraine. So, I left my pack there, checked out a couple of other places, and finally ended up at the place the second hostel recommended. There are a lot of flowers in this town but fewer on the cactus at Maria's Casa. I brought my backpack here and settled in with a plate of fruit that Maria offered. On it was a piece of banana, half an orange, and some pepino. Now, I had learned pepino as cucumber but this was a melon-like fruit called pepino. Unripe, it has a yellow skin. Ripe, it's skin turns purple or streaked with purple and it's called treemelon or mellowfruit. (I saw it in a supermarket a couple of days later called pepino dulce (sweet) as opposed to pepino ensalada (salad) for the cucumber.) I'm the only one in my room with two beds. We'll see if that lasts. Outside my room is one of those welded found metal object sculptures of none other then Don Quixote. Would I really see this many references to him if I wasn't reading the book? It's cold here and I'm back in the land of the houses with a lot of exterior rooms. My hands are freezing as I type this. There's a very friendly, very furry, long-haired ginger cat that prowls the grounds looking for unoccupied laps to jump onto, whether you're paying attention or not. When he jumped onto my lap, I welcomed the lap warmer and he didn't seem to mind that I wasn't actively petting him. Tuesday, June 16: La SerenaI spent a good portion of the day doing research into the many observatories in the area. Many are closed to the public but some allow visits, usually during the day on Saturdays. The tours are free but they require you to have your own transport. By design, they are up long roads with limited access. No buses go there. It's easy to get permission to visit but paying for rental cars will be prohibitively expensive if I can't find others to share the costs. But I booked a tour of one nearby "professional" observatory for this Saturday and they're holding five spaces for me in case I can find a car full of people to rent a car with. I reserved a car in the afternoon for Friday. I put up a sign in a nearby hostel that might have others interested in going but I don't really expect to hear from anyone until Thursday. I joined some Aussie girls (does calling them girls show my age?) for dinner at the Mall food court and we went to see "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" only we didn't really know that was the name until we got into the theater and started watching the movie. The Spanish translation had us thinking it was something else. It was at most entertainment but mostly a really bad remake of a Christmas Carol. Wednesday, June 17: La SerenaI got details about Collowara Observatory and I don't need my own transportation to get there so I made reservations for this evening, packed my small pack for overnight, and planned to leave my large pack at the hostel. I had hoped to get to Andocollo early to explore the town but when I went to the bus station, I found there was only one bus going later that afternoon. So having been told reservations were unnecessary, I returned to the hostel only to find out that the observatory tour had been cancelled already due to clouds. So, I checked back in and just went back to the bed I had been in as it hadn't been remade yet. I had lunch at the supermarket cafe opposite the archeological museum. I had the lasagna and the pasta was mushy, just like the few times I've made pasta while in South America. Maybe it's the pasta and not me. The museum is very proud of the fact that its two mummies are much older than the Egyptian mummies. They also have a moai from Easter Island. It's a well traveled moai having spent years in France and Spain before being brought to Chile. Jerome from the Casa Roja hostel in Santiago showed up. He and a couple others might be interested in the observatory tour on Saturday but I doubt they want to stick around that long. Supermarket visit for dinner stuffs, ate at the hostel, had another night of the cat lap warmer. I'm going to bed hoping to have another good night's sleep. Last night had been the first full night's uninterrupted sleep I had in weeks. Thursday, June 18: La SerenaFinally, a partially sunny day so I did laundry. Laundry service is not offered at the hostel but Maria offered to do mine if I went out and bought a tiny box of laundry detergent. I visited the Jumbo store first only to realize they don't carry small boxes. I had to go to the neighborhood kiosko to buy the overpriced tiny box Maria wanted. Still it was cheaper than going to a laundromat. I finally got to the beach this afternoon. There are a lot of shore birds there. Here's a list, probably incomplete:
I got a bit bitten up maybe because the skirt didn't keep the bugs off. Found a cheaper car rental place on the way back from the beach. Now I'll go if just one other person wants to go. Friday, June 19: La Serena to VicuñaI woke up to find an email from the lady at the other hostel saying there was someone there who wanted to join me for the Tololo Observatory tour. Perfect. I stopped by the hostel but we couldn't find the guy but we finally connected after 10am and confirmed our spaces at the observatory, called to rent the car, and got on the list for the evening observatory tour at Mamalluca. Thomas and I then walked to the nearby university to get our permit to visit Tololo. This is not a tourist observatory. The visiting hours are only on Saturday during the day. We connected at the car rental place that afternoon and had no problems getting the car. Strangely, it didn't have a full tank of gas so we just have to return it with 5/8. We had a nice drive to get to Vicuña where we checked into a hostel. It was nearly sunset but we decided to drive as far as we could to take in as much of the valley as we could. it got dark but we ended up continuing all the way to Pisco Elqui in Elqui Valley. This area is known for growing the Pisco grapes required for pisco and Pisco Sours. Too bad we couldn't see anything. But we did stop for dinner and hook up with a foursome at a place that makes pisco sours on the spot rather than pouring them from a bottle. Over the course of the day and evening, I found out that Thomas is a mountaineer and also a Tango dancer. He does a bit of salsa but that's about it. Upon our return to Viocuña, we went out in search of a pub so Thomas could get a beer, but instead followed our ears to the Municipal Theater where we found a performance of folklorico music and dance. It was very similar to the show I had seen on Chiloe but we only caught the last part. Then we struck out when trying to find a pub later on. We found them, but they weren't conducive to hanging out and talking. All day, it had been moderately exasperating talking with Thomas. I would always have to repeat the first sentence of everything I said. I wondered if he had a problem with his hearing and only when we turned in did he mention it. I would have to be the one to hear the alarm and get us both up in the morning. No problem. Saturday, June 20: Vicuña to La SerenaThomas' watch alarm went off repeatedly at 3:30am until I finally figured out how to turn it off rather than snooze. I knew he didn't use the alarm because he couldn't hear it so he wouldn't have been able to figure it out and faster than me. But some noisy neighbors had woken me up just before the alarm so I wasn't all that annoyed with the alarm so much as the neighbors. I figured out how to reset the alarm and turn it off over breakfast. Thomas had no idea and I can only wonder how many people he's annoyed with his alarm going off probably every night while he's been traveling. We got to the observatory gate very early but so did others. I was surprised how many others. I counted 39 people on the tour at one point. We caravanned to the summit along a dirt road. I left a lot of space in front of my car in order to stay out of the dust from the car ahead of mine so Thomas could use my camera and take pictures. He had forgotten to recharge his batteries so was using my camera while I drove. The drive up was spectacular and I joked how the drive was worth the trouble to rent the car. As we reached the summit, there was a small spotting type telescope that came in view just before the parking lot, and I remarked to Thomas' amusement, "Oh look, a telescope." Never mind the fact that we had been catching glimpses of very large domes building all the way up the road that house huge telescopes not to mention the numerous smaller domed buildings with smaller telescopes here and there. We toured the two largest telescopes including the 4.1 meter Blanco telescope. It's an optical telescope with the ability to switch to infrared on nights with too much moonlight. It was this telescope that observed the 1987 supernova. Our guide was proud to describe how the large telescope was anchored to bedrock, not the building, so that the safest place to be in an earthquake would be under the telescope. Hmm, I think I would rather be outdoors. It's a huge machine that weighs in excess of 600 tons. The movable part is about half that and is so well constructed that a 1/4hp motor is all it takes to rotate the telescope to change the viewing angle. I had taken the elevator up to see the telescope but then we started smelling burning rubber and realized that it was the elevator so the others had to walk up about 6 flights. Our guides were a bit out of breath but managed to get the job done. We all had to walk down after the elevator went out of service. There was a lot of talk about the dark skies initiative. If you're not familiar with it, check out darksky.org for more information. Most people who live in urban areas and even suburban areas can't see the Milky Way. Those of us who either live or manage to spend good chunks of time in areas with dark skies know what everyone else is missing. Apparently there are large chunks of Japan where the only way to see the sky is online. There is concern at the observatory that light pollution will get worse. There's already some from La Serena and with Santiago growing, there's concern that may become an issue, too. New observatories are being built in the northern part of Chile precisely because the area is remote and it'll take a lot longer for light pollution to catch up with those areas but with growing tourism in northern Chile, there is concern that the communities near those telescopes will also grow to the point where light may become an issue even there. At the end of our tour, we watched some of a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum IMAX show (projected on a wall, not in an IMAX theater) of the Cosmic Voyage, narrated my Morgan Freeman. I'll have to look it up when I get home. We didn't get to see all of it. We had to caravan on the way down the mountain but it was a bit looser than on the way up and since we left basically last, we took our time. We weren't supposed to stop, but I did a few times to take pictures from the windows. Plus, with one of the cars having a flat tire, I knew we wouldn't be last so didn't rush. When we got to the bottom and I wanted to explain to the guard where the other car was, I figured out the international sound effect/mime for flat tire. I pointed to my tire and then made the lovely noise of a fart. He got the idea. I was able to tell him that they had a spare and were changing the tire but they would obviously be delayed. In town, we dropped off our stuff at our respective hostels and added gas to the tank but we didn't know the gage was broken so we ended up filing it even though it read less than 5/8 full. We returned the car and complained about the gage. If he had apologized and mentioned being sure to get the gage fixed right away, then we would have swallowed the added expense but he didn't so we kept trying to get a bit of satisfaction and a return of the extra 4000 pesos worth of gas we had added to the car. He didn't want to budge so as I talked in English with Thomas about how we were going to have to pay and since they had my credit card info, we couldn't get away with only giving him part of the cash. I grabbed my credit card imprint and we handed the guy the cash that he told us we owed. We were surprised when he gave us back enough to cover almost all of the extra gas we had paid. I figured he understood a lot more English than he had let on. In any case, we did get satisfaction from Santiago Car Rental and they were the cheapest in town, but they would still be hard to recommend. We had the broken gas gage and it was one of their trucks that had a flat tire. By the time we had finished returning the car, it was 4pm and we had only had a small breakfast early in the morning. So walking down the street, we went into the first restaurant we came to, Mistral. We both ordered this strange item on the menu. It was marketed as pancakes and the description said lasagna but the ingredient list looked too good to forgo. Mine had salmon, tocino (prosciutto), and mushrooms. Thomas' chicken and other stuff. When it came, it was three crepes layered with the ingredients listed above with gooey cheese and cream. It was the most delicious meal I've had on this trip to date of all the original dishes I've had. Come to think of it, I think it might have been the most delicious of the entire trip without condition. Of course, I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate it. I had a milk with strawberry smoothy - also delicious. After walking back to the hostel, I realized something about that dinner wasn't agreeing with me as it went right through me. But, I would still get it again and contemplated staying another day just to get it again. The weather has generally been great though the high thin cirrus clouds that do little to bock the sunlight prevent nighttime stargazing so once again, the Collowara observatory canceled the evening's tour. Argh! Sunday, June 21: La SerenaI spent a good part of the day deleting pictures from my full hard drive. I've still got 2.5 months of travel and need a lot more space. I should have bought another drive in Santiago. Not sure if I'll have another opportunity. The skies were cloudy this afternoon so I didn't book and observatory tour only to have the skies clear and beautiful stars come out in the evening. Argh! so much for winter in northern Chile. Feels strange to be in "northern" Chile after spending so much time in southern Chile. Splurged on Philly Salmon Cream Cheese for lunch. Pancita has to do for bagels. Food court Chinese for dinner with Oscar, a Spanish guy heading to Easter Island soon. Internet was down today. Andreas thinks it's my hard drive but I've rebooted with and without it to no affect. He rebooted and internet works again. Argh! I've been fighting bug bites that seem an awful lot like bedbugs but they only started after I had been here a few days, on the day I put clean clothes on to do laundry. Weird. I hope they are starting to heal and I don't get new ones now. Anyway, a day with a lot of frustration. Monday, June 22: La Serena to CopiapoI took my time getting out this morning and caught the 10:30 Pullman bus. I wish I had taken just a bit more time though. The bus broke down and we sat there for 1.5 hours while they fixed it. Other buses that left later passed us by. A few people got off to watch. Others managed to flag down a passing bus or other transport. I finally got off to document the broken down bus with a picture that will probably look remarkably like a picture I took in the Australian outback when my bus there broke down. Do other people have as many buses break down on them when they travel? I had just enough time when I got to town to make it to the tourist office before they closed. I got a good map and some good information about town, the surrounding area, and the area I was heading. A stop at the mall for a bathroom and then I made my way to a residencial. My room has a TV but it's only broadcast TV. Don't think I've seen that before in Chile. Nothing in English so fairly useless to me. I looked into the laundry place in case I cold get a load in tomorrow morning but it's too slow and too expensive. With nothing else to do, I spent two hours at an internet cafe and made enough space to download my pictures from my camera. Now my hard drive is full again. Went to the mall for dinner to get try a local chain I've been seeing and have a place to stay warm while eating something that's not too expensive. Not only are the houses half outside, but the businesses usually keep their doors wide open regardless of the cold temperatures. I haven't experienced winter in a few years, but I have't been in reliable t-shirt weather either. I'm tired of being cold but don't see any chance to break the routine. Even as I head north, I'm going to be spending a lot of time at high elevation and in desert. It may be warm in the sun during the day, but it's going to be COLD at night. Tuesday, June 23: Copiapo to ChañaralNot a good start today. I walked five blocks in the wrong direction. Then once at the bus station, I remembered I needed to get to a cash machine so back to the square I should have passed had I not gone the wrong way. Another four blocks each way. Argh! Back at the bus station, I realized that my ticket was for the bus that had already left even though I told her the next bus when I bought it. No problem. She changed it without a fuss. Then things started going better. We drove through beautiful desert that has less and less vegetation as we go north. Caldera, the town, was a couple of kilometers off the main drag. The bus dropped me off in town. I walked to the waterfront which was quite nice. I wish I had more time but for once, I've given myself a time constraint. I want to be in San Pedro de Atacama on the 29th for a festival. So, I took pictures, found a place with a set lunch and had a very hearty soup and then delicious fried fish with rice for about $4. I ended up having to walk all the way to the other end of town to start hitching. This time, I hitched a long-distance bus. They were dropping someone off near where I was trying to hitch so I went over and asked to get a ride for 15 kilometers. I was heading for a place they didn't know about so they let me on and as we drove, I pulled out what little information I had about the place. It was only 11km from town so they soon dropped me off and wouldn't take payment. Sweet. Just as I started walking down the side road, just 1km to the shore, another car pulled up and offered me a ride. So, I put my pack in the car and joined Carlos and Margarina with their small daughter Sofia for the drive. We were visiting Santuario de la Naturaleza Granito Orbicular, a site with very unusual outcroppings of orbicular granite. See the Wikipedia entry for more information about these granite rocks with leopard-like spots. While at the site, I was about to hitch further up the road with a truck driver that had also stopped at the site when my last hosts told me they were going to Chañaral and they would be happy to have me continue with them. Perfect. They were tourists and had planned to stop at a couple of points along the way. We drove through the amazing landscape with mountains and rocks that looked like Swiss cheese. Many of these holes were huge. I have to wonder if there are any full fledged caves in the area. Their planned stops turned into non-stops when the communities they were planning on visiting turned into non-communities. These were mainly collections of squatters lodgings though I don't think the land was owned by anyone else. I went my own way in Chañaral. It took a while to find a place to stay. Places were either too expensive, full, or didn't answer the door. I finally got some tourist information at the municipal office. Their map was horrible but good enough to serve my needs. They also knew of one hostel, also good enough though a bit expensive. I dropped my stuff and then climbed to the millennium tower and the religious grotto with a statue of Mary which was just another hole in the mountain turned into a religious site. Back in town, I stopped at the hostel, met Shawn, and walked to the store with him. We had dinner together back at the hostel and then I went off for another internet cafe to delete pictures and copy my cards onto the hard drive. In these small off the tourist track places, I seem to always get my own room as they don't have dorm accommodations. Also, TV may be turning into the norm. Wednesday, June 24: Chañaral to TaltalSaw Shawn at breakfast. I think I inspired him to hitch a bit. He got out before me but I saw him on the main road before I found the road I needed with two false starts to my hitching to Parque National Pan de Azucar. When I finally got to my hitching spot, I had just enough time to take pictures of town before my ride came. What luck, they were two park employees heading to where I needed to go. The drive along the coast there was beautiful. It's desolate with less and less vegetation. There were areas with absolutely no plant life and others with piles of cushion cactus that looked more like piles of something a herd of horses would leave behind. I left my backpack at the office and started on the 10km walk to the Mirador. Wouldn't you know it, it was mostly a road walk. I had almost finished the worst of the road walk when the rangers came by so I hitched a ride with them for the last 5km to the mirador. There's a spectacular view from there. There's an island in view with Humboldt Penguins, seals, and sea lions. Had there been others in the park, I would have taken the boat out to see them but it's prohibitively expensive for one person. As the rangers had dropped me at the summit, a curious fox (zorro) came to greet us. I figured it was used to getting handouts from the few visitors that make the trip up there. After the rangers left, I was giving it plenty of room, but circling it to get some other pictures and came within a meter or so of another fox that I would have stepped on had it not moved away from me. I got more pictures of both of them. Then went to see the rest of the views. When I decided to stop and have something to eat, I moved away from the foxes and found a rock with a view to sit on. But no sooner that I had opened my bag and rustled a plastic bag, than the foxes showed up, not just the two that I had seen earlier, but four of them. One of which was extremely vocal, and barked a lot and squealed quite a bit, too. They were very curious and kept crawling closer. They mostly stopped at about 2 meters from me though one eventually ran out of patience and tried to circle me to see if he could steal food from the other side. He came within a meter of me and so I had to shoo him off. As it was, I was extremely careful to keep my bag between my feet and the rest of the food on my lap. Had I dropped anything, I'm quite certain it wouldn't have been mine any longer. But they were cute, they listened well, and kept good company. I had to walk all the way down but that gave me a chance to have a fairly good close up encounter with a guanaco. I had seen it on my way up the mountain, just as the rangers had arrived but it was nice to have the opportunity to get pictures of one without it being through dirty car glass going 60kph. I retrieved my backpack and then sat by the road to wait for a hitch. I had plenty of time for lunch number two. But then it wasn't long before a ride came. It was a pickup with six guys in the cab and one in the back. I joined the guy in the back where it was perfect for taking pictures. Back in town, I got dropped at Ruta 5, the Pan Americana highway and started hitching north. It seemed to take forever but it was probably only 45 minutes or so before a truck driver pulled over for me. I had a few misgivings at first. He had me sit on the bed rather than the other seat. Turns out he wasn't supposed to have others in the truck and I had to be able to duck down should he pass another truck from his company. In the 2.5 hours or so I was with him, I only had to duck a few times. He was also a flirt, but a harmless one. Actually, I'm pretty sure he would have backpedalled fast if I had responded to him at all, but I didn't. Mostly, we listened to music. By the time he dropped me off at the road to Taltal it was almost dark. I still had 22 km to hitch. One taxi passed me. One car passed me, but only because there was a bus behind it. I caught the bus. This time, rather than get a free ride, they took me for a ride. I got charged rather a large fee for the ride but it was OK, I got to town and overall, I'm still way ahead if you look at the hitches from a financial point of view. In town, I wandered far to the expensive places only to find the cheap place right near the plaza where I had been let off. Perfect. Dinner was in my room at the hotel. They operated a restaurant and there was no other common area to eat. Plus it was too cold to sit in the beautiful plaza. Then I wandered into town and following my ears, I found a group practicing some music in a hall that had a photo exhibit of night sky images from around the world. (I found out the next day that the exhibit had ended the day I saw the pictures. I got lucky...) I don't know if the place was technically open to the public at that hour but they didn't mind my wandering around. An Internet session and reading rounded out the evening. TV was broadcast only with no English channels. [Date: Thu Jul 2, 2009 11:05 pm Michael Jackson has been a big topic of conversation this past week, especially when people find out I'm from the United States. Most of them however seem to have stronger feelings than I do. I've never heard Thriller get quite this much play time. For a couple of days, it seemed to be playing everywhere I went. Plus, the last couple of days I thought my allergies were acting up but now I'm wondering if I have a full fledged cold. We'll see what happens over the next day or so. I just hope it doesn't turn into the flu. I'm planning on leaving the country for Peru in the next week or so and don't want to be sick when trying to cross the border. Oh yeah... I've purposely left information out of my journal to obfuscate information about the location of a threatened species. During the week or so when I was traveling along quite a bit of coastal Chile, I once had an opportunity to see Humbolt Penguins. These penguins are most often viewed on islands by tourists from boats but given that I'm traveling in the low season and wouldn't have others to share the expense with, the boats weren't an option for me. At one point, a local who realized I had interest in birding, pointed out some of the penguins along the shore - no boat required. He did not want me to "advertise" the location in order to help protect the fragile toehold this species has in the area so I agreed not to be specific about the sighting. Thursday, June 25: Taltal to AntofagastaUp early and had breakfast in my room. Then I went in search of information. The municipal office here tried to give me a large wall calendar and book with information about the region but both were too large to carry so I took a picture of the two relevant pages in the book and left both the book and the calendar behind. Other than that, they had very little information to offer but someone there pointed me to the right road out of town - sort of. They took me along the scenic route so I had to walk a bit further than had I taken the straight road to the best hitching spot, but it was a nice walk along the coast for part of the way. Once at the edge of town, I found a group of local men also hitching. I made it clear that if my presence would hinder their chances for a ride, I would move on but they insisted it wouldn't be a problem. When we finally got a ride, they insisted I get in the truck. I thought they waited for another truck and sort of felt bad but then after a while, the truck stopped and the guys climbed off the payload. They had just left the cab for me even though one or more would have fit inside with me and the driver. The driver had no use for conversation so we just listened to music. It was a long ride and the driver left me off well above, literally, town. But, right behind the truck was a pickup that gave me a ride down to town. The first person I asked not only indicated that I should be able to get a ride to El Médano, but that she was going and I should just wait with her for her ride. It was only after a while that I realized she had been waiting for a couple of hours already. It took maybe another hour before her ride left but at least I could go with her. When the driver heard where I wanted to go, he indicated it wouldn't be a problem. It was only when they dropped me off in the middle of nowhere that I realized the site wasn't near the community. Then they said it was a three hour hike - each way - and difficult. They were gone before I could truly assess my situation. I had camping gear but not enough water for overnight. There was no water in the area. It was also so late that I wouldn't be able to complete the hike in the rest of the daylight and have time to view the pictographs in the area. I gave up but I still took some time to walk in towards the ravine to get a better view and realized that the hanging valley seemed to approach vertical. I turned back to the road and ate lunch while waiting for a vehicle to come by that could give me a ride. One full truck passed. It stopped but couldn't offer a ride. A couple of vehicles going the other way stopped to make sure I wasn't any more crazy than anyone else they would find in the middle of nowhere or in distress which I wasn't. Finally, I got a ride with a young man in a pickup, surprisingly devoid of other people. He dropped me at the bottom of the hill. I made use of the portopotty there for the construction workers and talked with the flag lady there until she had to stop some traffic. That was my cue to get a ride to the crossroads where I could find vehicles only going north. Right after my first ride dropped me at the intersection, another pickup came by and offered me a ride all the way to Antofagasta. Perfect. As best I could figure, they were white collar workers associated with a mining company that has operations in various parts of Chile. Miguel spoke quite a bit of English. Juan not so much. We kept company for a while, I shared some of the munchies I was carrying, and we listened to music. They dropped me a few blocks from the plaza in the center of town so I walked along a pedestrian zone to the plaza. The tourist bureau had closed but the guard at the municipal building dug up a map for me and I quickly found and checked into an el cheapo hotel. I dumped my stuff. For dinner, I found Spiedo Chicken and got some of the most delicious rotisserie chicken I've had, perhaps ever. It was perfectly cooked and extremely moist. They have their operation down and seem to be backing up maybe a hundred chickens at a time. They serve Chicken and French Fries. Nothing else unless you get a beverage. too. Spent my evening at an Internet cafe and then read Don Quixote before going to sleep. This is a big city but not the kind of place where I'm likely to run into other travelers. There are no hostel-like accommodations with dorms that would concentrate travelers like myself in one place. My shoulder is still bothering me though it's not getting worse. It's hard to tell if it's getting better though. Friday, June 26: AntofagastaI spent the morning getting information I would need while in town. Then I changed hotels to one with a fairly flat bed instead of the horribly concave one at the really cheap place. Finally, after lunch, I went to the fish market where I wish I had eaten lunch and grabbed a bus from the fish market to head out to the airport, about 20km to the north. My goal was a monument on the other side of the road from the airport and once I finally found the right bus, I got there in good time. I've been traveling north from Antarctica since February and today, I crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. There's a monument here delineating the imaginary line.The monument is about 15m tall and is the green color of copper on a bed of copper ore. Quite fitting given the large number of copper mines in the area. This is the second monument to the tropic of Capricorn I've visited. The first was in the outback of Australia. Then I hitched back towards town 8 kilometers and got dropped at the turnoff for La Portada, a natural arch formation at the coast. It was only a couple of kilometers from the turnoff so I wasn't hitching but a truck stopped anyway, as I climbed in, we realized he was turning off just down the road so maybe he saved me 10 minutes of walking. But still, it was nice of him to stop. The sea stack archway at the shore is famous in this region and is a major tourist attraction from the town. Most people pull up, go to the railing, snap pictures from there, and leave. But there's so much more here. I visited the office which had some informative displays outside but the office wasn't geared for visitors. I wandered the cliff area a bit more and was about to head down some of the stairs to the beach when the man from the office, Marcelo, caught up with me. He ended up telling me a lot about the birds of the area and even lent me his binoculars so I could get a better look at the birds. We walked down eh stairs to the beach, maybe 40m below, and then walked along the beach together. We saw one dead pelican and other dead chick of a vulnerable species. We saw a Christo-esque art project underway where panels smoked black are being hung from the cliffs about at intervals depicting 100 years of sedimentary layers. we walked through two arches or tunnels to go further along the beach to the point opposite the archway. There, we saw a seal that was apparently in some distress. It only acknowledged us when we got a lot closer than it should have allowed us to get. There's a chance it was hypothermic according to the expert Marcelo was talking with. Since it didn't seem in immediate danger, they would leave it overnight and see if it was still there in the morning before taking any more proactive action. After a while, I left Marcelo on the beach and went back up to the top of the cliff. I caught a ride back to town with a couple I had met on the beach. They dropped me right at the plaza. I finally got confirmation from Paranal Observatory that I could attend the tour session tomorrow so I printed out the release form to give tot he guard at the gate once I got there. More chicken for dinner. More internet. More Don Quixote. Being off the typical tourist track means there's nobody to socialize with at hostels so at least I know how to kill time on line. Saturday, June 27: AntofagastaWith permission to visit the VLT (Very Large Telescope) at Cerro Paranal but no transportation, I got up and out by 8am even though it was only a 2-2.5 hour ride to the observatory and I didn't need to be there until 1:30. Having passed the access road to the observatory on Thursday, I knew exactly where I was going but wasn't at all sure how quickly I could hitch. I started with a city bus to get to the road to La Negra, the community on the Pan American highway. This was the only place I ended up using my sign. I had made one for La Negra and it took only 5-10 minutes for a truck to stop. Unfortunately, he was going north but could at least get me to the Pan American Highway. He dropped me at a gas station just before the police checkpoint on the highway. There was a pulloff there so I started hitching in sight of the checkpoint. Mostly, I just wanted to get to the observatory and I didn't care how so when a bus pulled up a few minutes later, it was worth it to me to pay for the ride. They wanted 1000 pesos to the "cruces" or crossroad for Paposo. What a deal! But as we went along, I looked at my watch and realized I had gotten out of the city so quickly and had so much time to kill, that I actually had time for a detour. I asked if I could get a ride all the way to the Mano del Desierto, the Hand of the Desert. It is a huge concrete sculpture of a hand reaching out of the desert and was maybe 20-25 minutes past my turnoff. They agreed but it would cost me all of 2000 pesos instead of 1000. No problem. So they dropped me off at the Hand which is truly in the middle of nowhere. There aren't any other signs of humanity other than the highway near the hand. The bus driver and helper did give me a skeptical look and a raised eyebrow to make sure I really wanted to get off there, but I was sure I could get a ride on the highway without a problem. So, I walked the few hundred meters off the highway to visit the huge hand. As I walked up, the two cars that had been visiting the hand left the area waving to me as they went. I thought that was a good sign and maybe others would pull up and I could just ask for a ride rather than thumb. So, I took my time and took all the requisite pictures with me in front of the hand, with the sign, and more. Nobody turned in while I was there so I walked back to the road expecting a quick ride. I was surprised when truck after truck passed by without stopping. A couple of cars also passed by. There were always cars or trucks in sight from one direction or another but I still waited a half and hour or so before a truck driver picked me up. He took me halfway back to where I started and also expressed skepticism when I told him where to let me off. There were no signs for the observatory facing the south. So, after he left me in the middle of nowhere again with only the intersection in sight, I walked along the highway to check the signs facing the other direction. There were quite a few and I had to walk a half a kilometer or so to the last one (from the south) to find one that referenced the Observatory and make sure I was in the right place. I was. Phew! I then had to walk back to the intersection to start hitching the last of the public roads to the observatory. I was hoping to walk down a ways to get out of easy sight of the highway so I could take a pee somewhere. I wasn't meant to be. Before I got far, a car came along and gave me a ride. It was a family in a pickup with the mother riding in the back with the toddler. I got the front seat again. Sweet. This family was going to Paposo but didn't seem at all surprised to let me off at the turnoff for the observatory. Finally, I was on a road with even less traffic. I could see far in both directions so quickly found a place out of sight and peed. No sooner had I gotten back to the road did a pickup come by heading for the observatory. They offered me a ride and before I accepted, I asked if it would be a problem to arrive for the tour hours early. They indicated no problem so I climbed in with the four of them. I knew they had to work there so I asked what they did. The guy I was talking with spoke excellent English which was no surprise given that scientists from all over the world visit and work there. Wouldn't you know, they were the tour guides. LOL. They dropped me at the guard house where I would have to wait. It was only 11:30 but I was hungry so I ate my second breakfast or was it my first lunch. Then I took some pictures from that area. Finally, having forgotten to use sunscreen, I told the guard I was going to look for shade and he invited me in to a waiting room of a sort with a couch and a bathroom. It was quite nice and fairly comfortable. So, I waited there until others started showing up shortly after 1pm. I handed in my paperwork and got my visitor's name tag. I started talking with a family, a couple in their thirties and their daughter 10 +/-, who were also there for the tour. It didn't take long but they soon offered to shuttle me around the site as we would have to drive to the summit and then they would be happy to take me back to Antofagasta afterwards. Perfect! Now I could enjoy the rest of the day without having to worry about how or when I was going to get back to town. In total, there were at least 15 people and maybe as many as twenty on the tour. Most were Chilenos but there was one group of six from Germany and Poland and another German with a Chileno friend. I was the only native English speaker but the Germans also preferred English. The Polish guy spoke excellent Spanish though and could translate if necessary. We started the tour at the Visitor's Center. They showed a video there but it was only in Spanish so they recommended the English speakers look at the displays which were in both English and Spanish. They didn't really give the Spanish speakers time to read the displays so it all worked out. Then we piled into the cars for the drive to the summit. The tour was split into language groups. Even though Paranal Observatory was built by a European Alliance with Germany playing a primary role, and there were a large bunch of Germans on the tour, our tour was in English. We visited just one of the four large telescopes. These each have an 8.2m reflector which would dwarf the 4.1m reflector I had seen last week at Tololo. This one is used for optical viewing and also has both infrared and ultraviolet instrumentation, useful for when the moon is too bright for optical viewing. These four telescopes can be used independently or in concert using interferometry. I could draw parallels between this VLT and the VLA (Very Large Array, a humongous radio telescope in New Mexico) in that together, they can see a lot more about one object than when used individually. Also on the summit, are four 1.8m telescopes. They look like huge gold balls on white pedestals. These telescopes are on tracks and can be moved into different configurations, kind of like the radio telescopes of the VLA. We visited the control room. Each of the four large telescopes has its own area with its own set of control computers for the actual telescopes and other computers for the scientists to use to analyze the images and data they collect. I noticed there were quite a few keyboards that had two large monitors. Even though it was Saturday during the day, there were still quite a few people working there. We saw one looking at an image with a lot of galaxies. Most of the others were looking at a lot of numbers or other representations of the data they were observing. There was also one group that seemed to be laughing and having a good time. That went right along with all the humorous comic strips and other drawings sprinkled on the walls which were well integrated with the more technical and professional postings. We piled back into the cars to return to the living area below. We visited the hotel where the visiting scientists stay. It's mostly subterranean with a dome that looks deceptively small from the outside. Inside, you see exactly how large the dome is. It covers a large arboretum filled with the only green living plants in miles. There was also a blue pool below but it was unclear if that was for show or swimming. We weren't permitted beyond the access hall but that was interesting enough. It was lined with a nice selection of photographs. Some were of the stars and by the same photographer that was featured at the exhibit I saw in Taltal, Stéphane Guisard. Others were by other photographers and covered a side variety of topics. There were under water images including a skin diver sitting on a sunken toilet. Others were from places I had visited in Southeast Asia. There was one recursive picture taken of itself and the picture next to it on that display wall (recursed twice more). I took another pictures of the two of them. There was one picture of uniformly green hills that seemed nice enough but not particularly special until you read the caption. Only the English speakers really got it. It read "Paranal Dreams (Nightmares!)". We got a good laugh at that having just been told how important the dry air in the area was as good as it gets for optical observing on the planet. Speaking of which, the observatory site is cloudless for 350 days a year. That said, you can look down to the ocean and see a sea of clouds. But they stay far below and never make it to the mountains. It's so clear up here you can see distant mountains quite easily but when asked, our tour guide had no idea how far the visibility actually extended. One of the reasons why the hotel is included on the tour is that it was used in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. They even left behind a prop in the form of a large boulder. We had fun moving the seemingly large and heavy rock around quite easily. The return to Antofagasta had a surprising amount of conversation. I feel like I don't speak all that much Spanish but we talked for most of the trip and eventually just listened to music though that would spark conversation every now and then. There was a lot of music in English, some bad Spanish covers of English songs, and one very good cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart in Spanish. I couldn't understand the words to know how accurate the translation was, but the tone, voice, and instrumentation seemed to be right on. Back in town, they dropped me at the plaza, just a couple of blocks from my hotel. I checked out the local MallPlaza mall and ended up having a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza for dinner. Unlike the ones I had in Guatemala, this one was the same small US size pizza. But it was only 690 pesos, maybe $1.40. A supermarket empanada while I shopped for breakfast food rounded out dinner. Then internet stop and reading before bed. Sunday, June 28: Antofagasta to San Pedro de AtacamaCaught the bus to baquedano this morning. Was surprised how small the tired dusty town was. I just wanted to visit the museum there but after three false starts with people giving me completely wrong directions, I finally took a chance and left my backpack inside one of the little kioskos there and tried again. This time, it took two tried before the directions from the fifth guy pointed me in the right direction and found the museum, such as it is. The museum here is an old railroad roundhouse and turntable. There are about four antique engines sitting forever idle and the turntable bridge is bent so that even if it did turn again, the tracks wouldn't be able to guide the train cars any longer. It was completely deserted. There was nobody there to take any fees. You just wandered around. There were active tracks nearby with car after car of explosives. This turntable and roundhouse were also featured in the last James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Historically, this entire area was used for saltpeter (potassium nitrate) production and that drove the economy of the area. This railroad and many surrounding towns owed their existence to the mineral but when demand faltered, they fell on hard times. There are many ghosts towns in the area and ruins dot the landscape as I move along the roads in the area. Copper mining now sustains what's left of the area and the railroad tracks are in use to support the mining efforts. But this speed bump along the road is a common stopping point for many trucks and long-distance drivers. In the roadside pull-off were two extremely large flatbed trucks each hauling a humongous new Caterpillar frontloader. The frontloaders were each much wider than the trucks they were sitting on, the wheels themselves much taller than the truck and the front shovel positively immense. It would be amazing to see them in action. From this parking lot, I hitched a ride 33km down the road to the next crossroads hoping to hitch the rest of the way to Calama but being in a mood to get there, I took the first thing that stopped - a bus. I ended up having the entire upper deck to myself and had no idea if I was paying or not. In Calama, they dropped me at the bus terminal where I did end up paying for my ride (shucks) and then paid for another bus to take me to San Pedro de Atacama. I had just enough time to grab some chicken and fries but they were disappointingly dry after the wonderfully juicy chicken from Speido Pollo in Antofagasta. When I got to town, I wandered through the tunnel like covered artisans alley to the main plaza. As I arrived, I heard some very familiar music. The first of the murgas was coming through. I had aimed to get to San Pedro today for the eponymous festival tomorrow but some of the festivities were happening the day before and I got here just in time. I dropped my pack and watched the first group come through and then made my way to a hostel. The places in this town are more expensive than other areas. Even though it's a small town, I'm in culture shock. Once again, I'm in a mainstream tourist destination and I hear English and languages other than Spanish being spoken on the street. So, I paid a bit more than I prefer but at least I found a place. It's really nice and though there are bunk beds in my room, I'm in a single. There's a heated common room with TV, internet access, and a large kitchen. In this high desert, that heat is going to be nice in the evenings. There are also lockers that include keys and towels for the asking. Back in town, I watched more of the festivities near the church with costumed gauchos, matadors, and a bull. Thomas, from La Serena, found me on the street and we went to get something to eat. I had dessert, he had a huge calzone-like empanada. My dessert was two crepes filed with manjar (dulce de leche). Monday, June 29: San Pedro de AtacamaIt was freezing in my room when I went to sleep last night only to realize the window had been left open. I closed the window and some hours later, it had warmed up in the room, possibly with the help of the warmth of the two other people also sleeping in the room. They came in late but left early. The Geyser tour leaves at 4am. I'm likely to take it one of these days. With nothing specific to do in town in the morning, I spent the time on the computer deleting pictures. This isn't really how I want to spend my time traveling, but at least it's going to save me a lot of trouble when I get home. Even then, I'm going to have to go through this process a few more times to weed the sheer number of my pictures down to something manageable. I finally managed to squeeze my full two gigabyte card onto the drive. Today is a festival here in honor of San Pedro y Pablo. Given the town is named after San Pedro, it's a very special day here in town with a lot of festivities. I made it to town just in time for the end of the religious ceremony that happened in the square rather than in the church. That set off the parade. I got to see many of the parade participants as they set off but then made my way to the end point of the parade and got to see all of them when they comes through there. The costumes ranged from the fantastic rainbow colors with feathers, and fringe to what I would say looked typically Peruvian. We are very close to Bolivia and Peru here so it hasn't been a big surprise to see the people here starting to have more and more of what I would call are Peruvian features. Plus, this part of northern Chile used to be part of Bolivia until the Chileans won it during the War of the Pacific in the 1800s. The parading groups were similar to the murgas I had seen in Buenos Aires. Bands playing music and troupes of people in costume dancing. But here, they weren't quite as athletic and for some troupes, the steps took on obviously different meanings. Some of then mostly walked or had very simple steps. They frequently walked backwards to honor the religious heads of the ceremony who were coming up the road behind them. Some troupes had two leaders who wore Rhea skins complete with legs hanging down their backs and head and neck hanging down their fronts. Seeing me taking pictures, one came up and shoved the head into my face. I tried to take a pictures but think it came our blurry. He was saying something about pajarito that everyone laughed at. Since a pajaro is a bird and a pajarito is a little bird, and a rhea is by no means little, I can only imagine. Food in this town is expensive so I've been frequenting the empanada places rather than eat in restaurants too much. Empanadas were perfect for eating while waiting along the road for the parade to come through. After the parade, I took a nap and got dressed in my newly and expensively cleaned clothes. Since last week's episode with the potential bed bugs, I've been looking for a place where I could get all of my clothes cleaned, even the ones that were clean or haven't been worn in ages. In the evening, I went on a sky tour. There's a French astronomer living just outside of town who hosts daily night sky tours. He's got a huge setup with about nine telescopes for the viewing public. He starts off by giving a pretty good history of the how people have come to understand the night sky over the ages. He also knows how to keep is interesting and informative while quite humorous. Then, we ventured outside to do some naked eye viewing and to get a better understanding from there. It was this point that went on way too long for me. He probably spent and extra 20-30 minutes explaining how to make observing interesting to a potential romantic partner rather than making it completely geeky. But the reality was that I already knew how to read a star chart, was more interested in learning the objects visible in the southern skies, and really wanted to get at the telescopes. I can read a star chart on my own once I have a dark place. He also explained how bright stars can be further than less bright stars, the earth's rotation and how it affects the sky through the seasons, and how our position on the earth affects our view of the night skies. This was nothing new to me but good for the potential newbies in the group. The largest of his telescopes for the viewing public is 60cm. He also schedules his tours around real astronomical events. Tomorrow, he needs to be viewing at 7:45 so the tour won't start until 8pm. Mine started at 7pm. We started with the obvious and moved on to the more esoteric. Some of the objects we viewed included: the moon, the Milky Way, Saturn, Vega, Alpha Centuri, a nebula, a globular cluster of stars, Jewel Box (a constellation with three different colored stars in the middle, the Butterfly, and more. I was finally able to pull out my star chart that I had gotten art Observatorio Tololo and ID some constellations other than the obvious Southern Cross. I think Alaine, our guide, was amused that I had a chart and a red light. It was when he was taking pictures with my camera that he confirmed something I had been wondering about... The image on the screen often does not reflect the reality of the pictures I'm taking. There's something wrong. But, since, I use automatic mode most of the time, I just look at the pictures after the fact and they still come out correctly. Thomas was on this tour as well as Bernd, the guy I had me on Easter Island who I had taken a picture of while he was riding a bicycle in front of my jeep. Back at the hostel, I watched most of Kingdom of Heaven, a rather gruesome movie about the crusades in Jerusalem. Tuesday, June 30: San Pedro de AtacamaI spent the morning on the computer, deleting pictures and copying my SD cards to my hard drive. Then I went to town to get cash from the ATM and book a few tours. There are now three ATMS in town. Two take only the MasterCard family. The other takes both MasterCard and Visa. Unfortunately, with the long holiday weekend, all were out of cash for a while. And today, the Visa machine was still out of cash. You would think that with this being an ongoing problem, one bank would get smart and figure out that maybe it would be worth their while to add another machine or two. Luckily, the tour agencies seem to be used to the problem and they allowed me to book the tours and start my tours before paying for them. They know I'll be in town for a few days and if worst comes to worst, I can always pay with a credit card or change some of my US dollars at the change booths but both give horrible rates so I prefer to get cash at the ATMs and pay for the tour in cash. You get a significant discount when paying in cash, too. 47,000 is the going rate for all three tours but I'll get the package for 40,000 (45,000 to pay with a credit card). I'm running so low on cash that restaurants are out of the question. I've put the money I'll need for the entrance fees aside and will stick with empanadas and other minimarket (there are no supermarkets) food until I can get more cash. I ate my leftover ham and bread sandwich from last night for lunch today. Then I tried to take a much needed nap but only slept for a few minutes. I met my tour at 3pm at the agency. We spent the rest of the afternoon touring natural sculptures such as the three nuns, an abandoned and very small salt mine, and visited an overlook with an overhanging rock that'll be right at home with the other pictures of myself that I have sitting over high cliffs. Of the 10-15 people on our tour, only three of us ventured out to the edge of the cliff for that picture. None would have if I hadn't seen the possibilities. We also visited Death Valley and the Valley of the Moon. These formations are comprised of sedimentary layers of clay, sand, and salt have been sculpted by many years of wind and occasional rain. The changing angle of the sun gives them changing appearances as we watch. We climbed a dune and walked along a ridge before sunset. The view was good but only got better after the sun had actually set. I was a bit surprised at that. I had more fun with my camera taking almost daytime looking shots once it started to get dark. Long exposures with the light of a quarter moon came out surprisingly bright. My favorite shot of the day may have been in the afternoon. We walked through a cut in the rock to view Death Valley and I got a picture of the moon in full daylight with the upper edge of the cliff near it. You can see all the features of the moon quite easily. Back in town, Daniela, the other woman on the tour who sat on the cliff's edge, and I went to see if the bank machine had been filled. It hadn't. Then knowing I was low on cash, Daniela took our guide and myself out for a drink. We whiled away a couple of hours there, taking a break at one point when someone came in who knew we were looking for cash and told us the machine had been filled. I went first and got the cash I would need to pay for my time in town. I bought a few munchies for the next couple of tours on the way back to the restaurant. Then Daniela took a turn going to the cash machine. It'll be a little nicer to relax in town now that I know I've got some cash at hand. After a couple of hours, I left them at the restaurant to go get some much needed sleep. Wednesday, July 1: San Pedro de AtacamaAfter two nights of having my sleep disrupted at 4am, I woke up this morning around 4am even though nobody else was moving about the room. I tossed and turned for a while and then decided to try to take a shower but the water never got warm. I found out later some of the hoses had frozen overnight. I crawled back into bed and managed to get some sleep until my alarm woke me at 7am. I found the table set for breakfast. I had expected to just grab a bowl of cereal from the cupboard so that was nice. My bus came at 8. There were just five of us including Daniela on the tour to the Altiplano. We stopped at one town, Jeres, in a valley with a river to see all the green trees and the old irrigation system they were using. We visited a cave dwelling and saw where tuff, the lightweight volcanic rock used for the light colored houses in the area is harvested. Our next stop was at the Laguna de Chaxa in a huge salt flat. This salt flat was unlike others I've seen in other parts of the world. It was a jumble of sharp grey rocks. We stopped there to see the flamingos. On the way in, they had an aquarium with the brine shrimp on display so we could understand what the flamingos eat. However, when I saw the shrimp, I thought of something else, too. When I was growing up, all the comic books had ads for tiny and mysterious sea monkeys. These brine shrimp are the sea monkeys or very similar to them. It was kind of amusing to contemplate these sea monkeys as flamingo food. I was also interested in the other birds of the area and was happy to see a display that showed pictures, with the Spanish names and English names of the birds. Hopefully I can match up the display pictures with the pictures of the real birds I took. I did have some difficulty here at the laguna. Right as we got here, I got a bloody nose. And it was a good one so for my entire time here, I had to walk around with one hand holding a tissue to my nose while I used my other to take pictures. Thankfully, by the time I got to the bathroom on the way out of the area, my bloody nose had basically stopped. But as I was cleaning up after one, the other nostril started. This one wasn't all that bad though and I was soon able to get everything under control and our tour continued. Next, our vehicle climbed nearly 2000m to the Altiplano at 4300m. As we went up, I was surprised to see more and more vegetation. The snow that accumulates on the peaks around us slowly melts and provides limited moisture for the plant life in the area. Our next stop was at the twin lagoons of Miscanty and Miñiques. The mountain peaks near us had bits of snow in the crevices. The lagoons were beautiful blue ringed with white salt and this against the reddish color of the hills and the yellow of the local grasses. We got out to take a look and were able to walk down the hill and then across to the other lagoon. We didn't have time to take the walkway down to the water's edge but could only see the wildlife from afar. There were flamingos there, Andean gulls, ducks, and kati (sp?). As we walked along, a fox wandered past us, just a couple of meters off the road we were walking on. It ignored us completely but took great interest in the pickup truck coming along behind us. When the truck stopped, it went to maybe within a meter of the truck. It was clearly used to getting handouts from people in small vehicles. We could also see a few herds of vicuña in the vicinity. At the second lake, there were more flamingos and there were vicuña at the waters edge drinking the salty water. We started back and stopped in Socaire for lunch. Our vegetable soup had quinoa and potatoes in it and I think the bread we had may have been made with it as well. The only thing missing from the three traditional foods originally grown in the long disused terraced fields we had been passing were corn. We had roast chicken, rice, and potatoes with frozen carrots and peas in mayonnaise served warm. Our last stop was in Toconao to see the bell tower and grass roofed adobe church. I was pointing out herds of vicuña as we drove along. And I spotted another fox, too. Back in town, I finally paid for my tours and then went back to my hostel to clear out some of the directories that I now know I had backed up before I left Boston. I started with the big ones and immediately cleared out 12gb of space. I immediately filled 3gb with the pictures from my SD cards. I've got more to clear out when necessary, too, but it's going to be hard to find other large chunks of memory to clear up. Had a fried empanada for dinner filled with chicken, cheese, mushroom, and onions. It was delicious. Socialized at the hostel with a good group of people. I finally had a chance to look at the skin on the backs of my knees. They have been bothering me for a couple of days. Sure enough, it's the same lizard skin I had in New Mexico when I was hiking on the Continental Divide Trail with Jim and Ginny. So, I immediately put the same cream on it. Funny, I think the tube of cream I'm using is the one I had bought in New Mexico. I just hope this goes away soon. This time, I've been doing almost no walking around and I've always been wearing long pants rather than shorts which exposed my legs to the sun. Thursday, July 2: San Pedro de AtacamaAfter yet another bad night's sleep, I got up at 3:30 in the morning and got dressed in almost every last stitch of clothing I have with me. I wore my tights, my tight shorts, my pants, and my overpants along with the socks I used in Antarctica. For my top, I had a t-shirt, two long-sleeved shirts, my fleece sweater, my filled jacket, and my rain jacket. I also had gloves, mittens, and overmitts, a hat, and the hood from my jacket. It's cold in the desert at night and my tour picked me up at 4 to go to the El Tatio Geysers, like the Altiplano, at 4300m, 2000m higher than San Pedro. By the time we got there two hours later, it was -18c or about 0 Fahrenheit. Along the way, I was probably the only person who even tried to look outside and I enjoyed the stars until the windows eventually started fogging up. Then I closed the curtain over my window but was sitting where I could see out the front window. I saw a meteor streaking across the sky at one point and the headlights made the terrain look very interesting. I was going to want to take it all in on the way back to San Pedro. The geyser field was much bigger than I had expected. I thought there would be one large geyser and then a few smaller ones and fumaroles here and there. But there were geysers spread out all over the place. Admittedly, it was difficult to tell where the geyser stopped and the steam continued. In the predawn light, leading to sunrise and increasing sun, the changing angles of the sun made the geysers take on different character from minute to minute. We took a break for breakfast at one point. Our hard boiled eggs had been cooked over a fumarole and our hot chocolate and hot milk for coffee had also been heated over the fumaroles. Once again, I was reminded that we weren't in the liability shy US any longer. The only safety features of this part of the geyser field I saw were a few holes with a circle of rocks around them. We went to another part of the geyser field which was somewhat more protected - probably protecting the geysers from the people rather than the people from the geysers. This area had three very tall geysers. It also had a thermal pool where we were allowed to go into if we wanted. It was still well below freezing outside so I was satisfied to touch the water to feel its warmth. In our group, I don't think anyone put more than a hand in. Other groups had people sticking their feet in and a few brave souls went all the way in. We were also snowed on by crystals that froze from the steam that had gone up. They were beautiful to see in the sunlight. The other geysers were much too hot to try to touch. The down side was a piece of machinery left over from a previously failed attempt to use the field for geothermal energy. Unfortunately, the Chilean government apparently didn't learn from its past and has already approved another attempt to build a geothermal plant there that will eliminate the field as a tourist attraction. There's a great deal of local opposition to the plan. On the way back to San Pedro, we stopped a number of times to view local wildlife. We saw vicuña, llamas (OK, not so wild), vizcacha, a rabbit-like animal with a longer tail and stripe down its back, and ñandu, rhea. We stopped in another town with interesting grass roofed houses and had an opportunity to try llama asado, grilled llama. So I bought a skewer. It was pretty good but not particularly all that different from beef. I also bought a cheese empanada there. Back in town, I was so exhausted after not sleeping well for most of the week, regardless of the fact that the bed there was great. I just hung out in the house for the rest of the day, getting online every now and then and mostly watching TV. I was also sniffling a lot and concerned that I might be getting a cold. I am out of strong drowsiness inducing antihistamines but when I was looking for them, I realized I had some muscle relaxants that may cause drowsiness. With my shoulder still bothering me, I decided to take on of them thinking it might help me sleep and it might help my shoulder, too. Friday, July 3: San Pedro de Atacama to TocopilloI slept well last night and woke up feeling quite well rested. Woohoo! I got an easy hitch with a local guide and his daughter back to Calama. I had a couple of hours to kill so just wandered the main drag but with my backpack in town, I didn't go too far. I ate lunch in the plaza and eventually made my way to the waiting collectivo. When nobody else showed up to fill our car, a couple that had already been waiting an hour and I agreed to pay extra to get there. Turns out the car behind us only had three paying customers and didn't have to pay extra. Argh! I thought that was the case but the other couple had already agreed to pay the extra. We got to Chuquicamata, "Chuqui" Mine, one of the worlds largest open pit mines. They offer free tours but you have to register in advance which I had done yesterday. Our tour started in the now abandoned town of Chuqui. It was just abandoned in the last few years due to the pollution from the processing facilities which are too close to the town. It's a ghost town but since it is still relatively modern, just doesn't have that ghostly feel yet. Even more noticeable than the absence of people, is the absence of dogs. We started with a history of the mine and a description of the processes necessary to get copper from the two different types of ores being mined in the area. We then visited the mine itself. The mine is now more than a kilometer deep, 5 kilometers wide. And it will soon be connected to the mine to the south and be even larger. To make the connection, they are having to move a lot of the infrastructure for the mine that it's already in place but since the ore goes there, so goes the mine. The tailings piles which are more like mountains are also being recycled. Large sheets of plastic are being laid down with the recyclable ore on top and then solution to leach out the copper will be leeched through. The plastic allows them to collect the solution and get more copper out of the material. We watched the mining operation in the pit. Some of the worlds largest trucks operate here. One dump truck costs, $4 million. One tire on these trucks costs, $30,000 dollars. That same tire weighs 3 tons (or is it tonnes?) It lasts nine months. These trucks last 10 years. They operate an average of 22 hours a day. 80% are in service at any time while the others are being serviced. I never did see any of the types of trucks I had seen on Baquedano operating here. Before arriving in northern Chile, I had heard of the mine and decided to visit if time permitted. I expected it to horrible blight on the earth. But as I got closer and further north in Chile, I began to wonder. And now that I've been here, I just don't feel like it's as bad as I thought I would. This mine is in a barren area with no vegetation, no noticeable animal life, and no water. The discard piles or mountains look much the same as the original hills and earth from which it was taken. Unlike the mountaintop mining in the Appalachians for example, there is no polluted runoff affecting areas far from the mine downstream. I can't say I like the mine, but I can't say it's all that bad. Now there's is probably waste pollutants that I don't know about, but it still just seems like it can't be as bad as a similar mine in an area with water and life to be affected. After the tour, instead of returning to Calama, I hitched two rides to Tocopilla, on the coast. It's much warmer here, especially at night. I found an expensive room here at 8000 which is the same as I had been paying in San Pedro. Dinner of Tuna while watching TV in my room. [Date: Thu Jul 9, 2009 9:35 am I am planning on heading into Peru in the next couple/few days. I've been hearing about road blockades in Peru for quite some time. Some of them allow vehicles to pass for a small "donation". Others you can cross on foot but may have to walk a few hours or even a day or two to get to the other side of the blockade where other vehicles wait to bring you further along the road. Others still completely block the road with boulders or are too sketchy to cross on foot. And there are some where a long detour can get you past the blockade. Some tourists have been forced to fly from place to place or skip areas they wanted to visit. This is especially true for those short on time. Since I have no set schedule, I will be prepared to detour around, cross on foot if possible, or wait out any blockades that seem like they may turn violent. One of the things I'm doing before entering Peru is mailing home any of the extra weight and bulk I'm currently carrying. That way I'll be in a better position to walk if that's my best way through. These blockades started out politically motivated when the government decreed Amazonian land be sold to outside interests in the name of "development" seemingly without regard for the native people who already live there. However, other blockades may have started up as purely opportunistic ways of making money for the locals. They are not just targeting tourists. There are also union strikes targeting transportation. In any case, I will be careful as I move around Peru but for as many people as I've heard traveling in Peru, nobody has had any bad experiences other than delays and a few extra dollars paid to get through blockades.] Saturday, July 4: Tocopillo to IquiqueWoke up early and watched White Fang 2 on TV this morning. Then it was time to start hitching. As I had hoped, I got a short hitch to the edge of town. Then a small car that already had four people in it did two u-turns to come pick me up. Cool! I squished into the middle of the back seat for the better part of an hour. They were going to a beach town. Turns out the one other guy in the back seat that didn't react to the shenanigans of the other three was also hitchhiking. They let him off first and I kept going with the others. They stopped at one of the unofficial beach towns but it was big enough to have a bus stop. So, I started hitching from there. In the first 15 minutes, two buses went by that I didn't stop. Then a car stopped. I had heard about this, but this was the first time I got into a car and they guy asked me to talk to him to help keep him awake. I had to explain that I knew very little Spanish. He didn't know much English so I was my scraping the bottom of the barrel of my Spanish skills for two hours of conversation with this guy. But we kept the conversation going - mostly - and all was good. At one point, we had to go through an immigration checkpoint. While stopped, the guy bought me a soda and cookies. Then we stopped at another roadside stand that was obviously very popular and the guy bought me a cold seafood dish with peppers, cilantro, onion, in a broth and with a hearty fish with a good bite but not chewy. I did try to protest but he would have none of it. He dropped me off at the southern end of Arica so I grabbed a bus to get to the center. No problem. I could see paragliders above as we went and remembered this was a paragliding mecca. Hmm... It's something I've wanted to do for a long time... I'll have to think about it. I checked into a hostel, dropped my bags, and took a walk. I started with the corner bakery, known for their local specialty cookies, chumbeques. They gave me a sample to try and I bought a few more in a variety of flavors. These cookies are layered with sticky stuff holding them together. They come in traditional flavor as well as a variety of fruit, manjar, and chocolate. Traditional was OK, Orange was good, chocolate so-so, and manjar OK. They were rather dry, sticky, and only sort of sweet. I walked around the plaza and saw some performances by little kids on a stage in front of the arts building. Song and dance kind of stuff. The area has beautiful old buildings and the sidewalks, believe it or not, are wood. There's just no rain here to make that a problem. I looked into tours to go to the areas I'm interested in seeing and there aren't any that are appropriate so I'm hitching tomorrow. Dinner and then Internet at the hostel, transcribed journal, copied SD cards. And oh yeah, it's Independence Day and N. Korea has seen fit to test a medium range missile. Sunday, July 5: IquiqueNo breakfast appeared at 8:30 as I had been told the previous day so I waited nearly 30 minutes and when there were no signs of life, I took off and found my own breakfast at the local supermarket that was supposed to open at 9 and didn't open until 9:10. The wonders of Chilean time. I went to the road out of town to try to hitch. It turns out there was only a small space just beyond the police checkpoint where cars could pull over. Two Chileans were there also trying to get a ride. A collectivo taxi pulled over and they went to talk with the driver. One motioned me over so I hitched my first collectivo. He brought me up the hill to Alto Hospicio, a town a few kilometers away and at the top of the hills or cliffs behind Iquique. They let me out where it might have been possible to hitch but with two lanes going my way, I gave up after not too long and started walking. I soon found the bus stop and just took a minibus to get to the Pan American Highway. They turned south, my direction, so I stayed with them through the next town to the place where they turned off. I got out there and started hitching. It was a good place to hitch as lot of the traffic turned off. So only the vehicles going my way would pass me from here. A truck soon picked me up and drove me through the salt flats and tamargural forest. There's a forest here of obviously planted trees, but I think they are native to the area. After driving through more salt flats that look more like brown dirt than the white salt underneath, my driver dropped me at the turnoff for Cerro Pintados, and I started walking. I knew I could walk to my destination 1.5 hours away and didn't know if anyone else would come along so I started walking. It was a long dusty road to a ghost town and then along the base of the hills. It was here that the only vehicle to pass me came by. It was a guy on a motorcycle who stopped to tell me my destination was at some trees I could see in the distance. Like at the salt flats in the altiplano, I could hear the salt groaning and cracking kind of like ice on a lake. Shortly after he passed me, I started seeing some of the geoglyphs high in the hills. I could also start to make out more in the distance. I knew they were spread out over a three kilometer area in these hills. A little while later when I got to the gate, I realized the guy on the motorcycle was the gatekeeper for the site. I sat with him to cool off a bit, used the bathroom, and talked about the wildlife in the area. Then I went to the picnic area to eat lunch before touring the main part of the site. As I finished my lunch, one car came by but drove right past the picnic area. I hoped they would picnic after touring the area and maybe I could get a ride out with them. I started walking through the remaining two kilometers of the site. There are over 350 geoglyphs here, some or all of which may have been restored. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but found these images were created by clearing the darker surface rocks off the lighter sandy surface they rest on. They are huge though. I felt no need to try to climb a hill to go see one of these closer up. They were much easier to see from further away. I was also surprised at how high many of the geoglyphs were. Some of these hills are very high and some of the geoglyphs were right near the top. As I continued walking into the site, the car I had seen go in while I was picnicking passed me on its way out. Oh well. There went my ride. I continued though, knowing I could walk it. The geoglyphs took on all sorts of forms. There were llamas, people, geometric shapes such as squares and circles, patterns that reminded me more of southwestern US Indian designs, birds, arrows, a star, and more. Another car came in as I was walking out. They had stopped to take pictures and we exchanged cameras to get the proof pictures we all wanted and for them to have a pictures with all four of them in it. They agreed to give me a ride out of the park but I had them pick me up when they were leaving rather than take me now. I walked back to the guardhouse and used the bathroom again and waited for my ride out. Turns out, my ride was a group of off duty Chilean Army people. They were taking part in exercises that some American Navy people I had met yesterday were taking part in. They gave me a ride all the way back to Humberstone where I toured the long defunct saltpeter plant there. There's also a ghost town there and I got to see how time stood still after an entire community moved away. The theater, school, and a bunch of other buildings were open for touring. Even many of the plant buildings were open. After Humberstone, I walked to the nearby Santa Laura plant, about 30 minutes away. I toured there and as the sun was setting, started walking back to the bus stop at Humberstone. It wasn't the best area to hitch with little area for cars to pull off and lots of traffic so I wasn't trying all that hard but a car did eventually pull over and give me a ride. I wish it hadn't. It was my first "bad" hitch. The guy was drunk which wasn't immediately evident. On the straight road, he was OK, but I did wonder why he was going so slow. And it's not unusual for me to not understand some people when they speak Spanish so I just thought he was mumbling when he was slurring. Then we started hitting some curves in the road and he started to get out a cigarette. He was all over the road and when I kept saying "watch out" (in English) because I was scared and trying to think how I could get out of the car, he finally asked if I wanted him to stop so I could get out. I think he was surprised when I said "yes". It was dark. This was still not a god stretch of road to hitch because of all the traffic and lack of space to pull over. And I was now only halfway to where I was trying to go, maybe 23 more km away. Then I realized I was only 15 km to Alto Hospicio and the nearest bus stop. I could walk that in three hours if necessary. I walked the road to a place with some street lights and tried to hitch from there but only the last car in any line of traffic would be able to stop so I gave up and knowing I could get back to town in three hours, started walking. I had my headlamp with me so turned on the flashing red light to face backwards as I walked. There was nearly a full moon so I had plenty of light to see by. Any time I got to a place where a car could pull off, if cars went by, I would hitch but otherwise I would just keep walking. It didn't take all that long, maybe 30-45 minutes, but finally, at one of those places where I stopped to hitch, the last car in the line pulled over. I had to run maybe 300m to get to the car. When I got in the car, I immediately thanked them and explained that my last driver had been drinking too much. They had been wondering what a gringa was doing in the middle of nowhere. They were a really nice couple on their way to Alto Hospicio where I could get a bus, but when we got there, they drove right through and brought me all the way to Iquique. Wow! And then when I got back to the hostel, my free internet was no longer free (I could pay 500/hour which is expensive in this town) and the lady who owned the hostel said her son was wrong to tell me breakfast at 8:30 but he was sitting right there and she didn't tell him because an hour or so later, after I had been talking with a couple other people staying there, the son told them 8:30, too. Monday, July 6: IquiqueSocialized with two morning arrivals from Belgium and ended up making plans to meet them for dinner. Breakfast today, was being put out before 9am but didn't start until after 9am. The two new arrivals had been told that internet was free. Plus, I tried to get a hot shower this morning and the water wasn't hot. Someone else said they had hot water, but the other guy in the dorm said his wasn't hot. That was the last straw at this hostel and I decided to move to another hostel. I finally got out and wandered town looking for another hostel. I ran into some Germans I had seen in San Pedro and then again on my tour of the Chuqui Mine. One of the guys in this threesome is very tall and may have legs as long as mine. Wow! I may see then again in Arica. Kept wandering until I found a more expensive but quite nice hotel. I've got my own room, too. When I checked out and paid for my second night at the first hostel, the lady gave me back an extra 500 pesos because she knew I wasn't happy. Oh well, it was a bit too late. I brought my pack and had a very nice shower with no weirdness from the people that run the place save the lock on the front door. You can't leave without them unlocking it and locking it behind you. Other doors lock automatically but not this one. Oh well. There was cheap and fast laundry nearby so I did laundry. I spent the rest of the day burning a few DVDs. Then I met the two Belgian guys for dinner. I had a pizza but their salad plates looked better. I ran into two German girls staying at my hotel and we walked and talked for a while before bed, and made plans to visit the Gigante de Atacama together tomorrow. Tuesday, July 7: Iquique to AricaI took a walk around town early this morning. I visited the beach with it's violent surf, walked past the Casino that was closed, otherwise I would have visited the paintings of Don Quixote inside. Then I had time to exchange the bad DVD I had bought yesterday for a good one and bought a couple more. I met the two girls as planned and we soon found a minibus to Alto Hospicio, then a bus to the Pan Americana and started hitching. Of course, it turns out another bus came by so we just ended up taking that rather than wait for a hitch. We got out at Haura and were going to try to hitch to the Gigante when we were approached by a man who would take the three of us to the gigante and back for 10,000 pesos. With as little traffic as we saw, we didn't take too long to decide to go with him. Even if we had gotten another bus, it would have cost 1000 each, for each leg so 3300 each wasn't too bad for a sure thing and a ride all the way to the base of the hill rather than just the stop on the main road. The Gigante is the largest prehistoric geoglyph of a human form. It's 86 Meters high. It is possible to climb the hill so two of us did but we were careful to steer clear of the geoglyph even though it's obvious from the footprints that others go wandering in the geoglyph. Given how easy it is to wreck these, I'm guessing most are restored. Back in Haura, we had lunch together at one restaurant and all had the typical daily menu. 1500 pesos for a huge plate of soup with a large chunk of chicken and a potato as well as noodles, veggies, etc. Then another plate of food, this time with lentils with meat, and rice. Less than $3. Not bad. After lunch, they went to hitch back to Iquique and I started hitching north to Arica. 10 minutes later, I got my ride, all the way with a guy who sells car accessories who was on his way to Peru for business. We talked a bit but mostly listened to music. He was surprised that I preferred the Chilean music to Michael Jackson (how many times can you listen to Thriller in a week?), Kiss, and Pink Floyd. We listened to a lot of Cumbia and Reggaeton. He was leaving his car at the bus station so I grabbed a bus to the center from there. It was only on the bus that I read my guide book and realized the hostel I was aiming for was near the bus station. Oh well. I walked and it wasn't too far. The Sunny Days hostel is big, clean, with nice people running the place and a good crew here to socialize with. A stop at the supermarket and the super agro market for tomato for sandwich stuffs for dinner. Internet is free here and I have less than 100 pages of Don Quixote to read. I don't think Don Quixote will be accompanying me to Peru. [Date: Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:33 am Well, I heard there were some difficulties with transport across the Chile/Peru border today. Collectivos that normally go from here all the way to Tacna stop at the border and it was necessary to get another collectivo on the Peru side to get to Tacna. I may try for the train instead of the bus tomorrow. That way there's no border stop. Unfortunately that means that I may have to take the night bus to get to Puno, a town on Lake Titicaca. Not my idea of a good time but I'm still hoping to get there for the holiday on July 16. Maybe hitching to Puno will be an option. Wednesday, July 8. AricaBurned one last DVD. Now I've got a bunch to mail home. I sorted through my backpack to find anything else I no longer need to keep with me. Ate leftover deli for lunch. Read. Watched Crocodile Dundee. Hamburguesa papas for dinner which turned out to be a hamburger with french fried piled on the sandwich. It was pretty good. The German girls I went to see the Gigante with showed up. The three Germans I had met on the tour of Chuqui Mine showed up. And another German couple I had met in Bajo Caracoles showed up. Seven others I had met previously showing up all at once and all German. Thursday, July 9: Arica to PutreMost of the tourists who come through Arica visit Lauca National Park. It's a long day trip from sea level to 4500m (14,763 feet) or an expensive three day tour. Since the sights seen there seem to be similar to other places I've visited recently and I know how badly I usually do at elevation, I had sort of decided to skip the experience. But then, the three Germans, a couple and a friend in their fifties, rented a car and offered me a ride to Putre, the town at 3300m. I had 15 minutes to decide and pack. I went with them. We had a great day climbing from Arica at sea level to Putre at 3300m. We saw the Lluta geoglyphs spread out along a dry mountain. We drove through a quebrada (river valley) with its green agriculture butting up against the dry desert walls of the valley. We stopped to look at Cactus Candelabro, with its Medusa like growth on top of a single large stem of spiky cactus. We ate lunch at Posada Pueblo Taki with its environmentally sound use of renewable energy. Lunch of veggie sandwiches was served with a lecture about how their way of life, living in the middle of nowhere, was the best way to live and every other way was not good. We wondered at the upbringing of their homeschooled kids who have extremely limited contact with other kids and only hear their parents point of view about the world. Their mate was supposed to be good for those of us heading to high elevations so I tried the mate de local plants. Even with a ton of sugar, it was still rather unpalatable. We stopped at the Pokra de Copaquilla to marvel at the chasm below and the building of the pre-Columbian fort to defend against others who might otherwise encroach on the fertile valley below still being used for agriculture. When we got to Putre, Karsten, Hans, and Dagmar were checking into one hotel and asked if I wanted to share with them. I indicated that it was a bit expensive but if they would like a fourth person along for the next few days, I would love to join them and would therefore stay at the same hotel with them. Otherwise, I would probably seek out a less expensive option. They conferred in German and I was very quickly invited to join them. So, Hans and Dagmar got a room and Karsten and I shared a room. Not a great start when I visited the bathroom only to flush the toilet and have it overflow when I flushed. Apparently the people before me had flushed their toilet paper, something that is just not done in the country unless specifically directed to. We left the owners to clean up the mess and went for a walk around town. We returned after dark to pile on more clothing. High elevation desert is hot during the day and extremely cold at night. We soon went out to find a restaurant with heat. I had the local specialty, alpaca steak. It was like a very flavorful cut of beef. Back at the hotel, Hans and Dagmar went to sleep, I wrote, and Karsten read. Friday, July 10: PutreToday was an acclimatization day. We stayed near town and went for a local walk that climbed only a few hundred meters. Anywhere we found water, there was ice. We found a sluiceway and followed that for a ways. We saw vizcacha, rabbit-like animals with shorter ears and longer tails. We tried to find a different way back along the base of the hills but ran into a gorge. We had to climb in and out of a couple of sizable gullies to regain the same road we had used to walk out of town. We had to get out of the way of a shepherd with cows, calves, a herd of sheep coming up the road as we went down. Back in town, empanada for lunch with Doritos, shower during the afternoon, the only time it was warm enough to take one, nap. Took a walk to a neighboring hostel as we have to change places tomorrow. Tea and bouillon. Computer time. Empanada for dinner. Rummikub played with cards to keep busy in the evening. One interesting thing about this hotel... The bathroom is so narrow I have to sit sort of sideways on the toilet. That's not all that unusual. But what is unusual, if that I don't have to duck to get under the showerhead. Even more strange is that Karsten, who towers over me, could also stand under the shower without having to duck. He also pointed out that the mirror in our bathroom is useless for anyone who isn't tall. How strange in this land of relatively shorter people. Saturday, July 11: PutreAfter moving our stuff to our new hostel, we drove another 1000 meters higher to National Park Lauca. We stopped in the small town of Parinacota and walked with some difficulty due to elevation about 10-12 km round trip to visit a laguna at the base of Volcano Parinacota. We had to go over gentle hills along the way and my breathing was definitely labored. I walked with Dagmar and Hans along a marked path while Karsten preferred to go cross country. There was quite a bit of birdlife at the lagunas but mostly birds I had seen before. Back in town, I was feeling the affects of the elevation and was looking forward to descending to Putre. But back in Putre, I found that going down only 1000 m wasn't enough. I felt crappy. I found that Excedrin doesn't work nearly as well on altitude headaches as on migraines so I tried ibuprofen and found it worked about as well as Excedrin. Since I have more ibuprofen than Excedrin at this point, I'll use ibuprofen to help my elevation headaches. I had no appetite for dinner. The computer was down. It was too cold to go for a walk or go stargazing and I had nothing to read having finished Don Quixote in Arica. Going to my room at one point, I could hear music and followed it to the gymnasium across the street. As best I could tell, it was folk dance practice. My best guess was an Aymara Folk dance. The dancers had already learned a long sequence but still needed a lot of practice. It seems like they are preparing for a festival in a month or two. But it's just as cold in the auditorium as outside so I only stayed for half an hour and then crawled into bed. Sunday, July 12: PutreI woke at 2:15 this morning to find my bed shaking. It was an earthquake (later verified as a 6.1 in southern Peru). Went back to Parinacota to see the wildlife near the lagunas near town. In addition to the llamas and alpaca (not wild) and the vicuña and viscacha, we saw many birds including flamingos, Puna ibis, tagua, Andean Geese, Andean Gulls, and more. We drove down to a laguna we hadn't been to yesterday but my headache was coming on too fast so I didn't hike as far as the others. I returned to near the pickup and sat to watch some of the birds. A small duck dove for up to 30 seconds at a time. The tagua were building nests in pairs. Hans came back to tell me of some nearby flamingos. I walked around to see them but three flew away. Got to see the remaining flamingo. I pointed out a hip bone that Hans took for Dagmar. We drove to the Bolivian border to get a look at the volcano across lake Chungara. Very nice. My stomach has been acting up today so I visited the bathroom there, trying not to get caught up in the muddle of those crossing the border. Back in town, more bouillon while the others had tea. Then I went for a 30 minute internet session. We met at 7:30 for an overpriced dinner of chicken and rice with salad at a place crawling with locals who weren't eating chicken and probably weren't paying much either. Our little heater does little to reduce the chill in our room. I'm sleeping in tights and lots of layers on top as well as my hat. My bed has a sheet, two very heavy thick wool blankets, a quilt and a bedspread. I'm warm enough with all this but if I were to sleep in fewer clothes, I would need to pull out my sleeping bag. Noticed Google was honoring Pablo Neruda's birthday today. Was that just here in Chile or worldwide? Monday, July 13: Putre to AricaCelebrated Karsten's birthday at breakfast today. Dagmar set his place setting strewn with Smarties and a couple of sleeves of cookies, a tub of peanut butter, and a large candy bar. We lit a candle and sang the Happy Birthday song in three languages to him all at the same time. This hostel is weird. The guy put bread and manjar on the table and left. Yesterday there was ham, cheese, and butter, too. So we found four eggs on the counter along with butter so we decided to eat them but when we tried to cook them, the stove in the common area didn't work. So we ended up cooking them in the little kitchen in or cabana. Of course the guy showed up just before we checked out. He hadn't collected his money yet. Argh! Karsten set off on his own to walk the 15-20km to the next town. Dagmar and Hans were going to visit the hot springs nearby and since I was dealing with a sore toe and a persistent headache, I wasn't excited about either option. So, I decided to just head back to Arica early. I brought whatever I would need for the day and left my backpack for the rest to bring down later in the day. I got dropped off at the main road. I was in the process of trying to take a picture when a truck came by. I stuck out my thumb and didn't even notice when the truck stopped until it blew its horn. Oops! It was the first vehicle to pass by and only a minute after I got dropped off. I ran to catch my ride and never got the picture. Note to self: Don't hitch until truly ready for a ride. The driver was Bolivian and hauling European sesame seeds to Arica. With a full load, we were one of the slow vehicles on the road crawling up and down hills as others passed us like we were standing still. In true Bolivian fashion, he asked for money for the ride. I agreed and then tried to figure out how much to pay him. We stopped at one point so he and the driver of the other truck he was traveling with could eat breakfast. I just bought a soda so I could break one of the larger bills I was carrying. He dropped me at the truck depot. I gave him 2000. He tried to ask for more but when I told him others never asked for anything, he realized I knew a bit more than the average gringa and smiled at having been caught. So, I felt OK at having given him enough to cover a meal and I think he felt OK at having gotten anything. It's pretty common knowledge that in Bolivia and Peru, it's common to pay a bit when hitching but not in Chile and I think my driver knew that. I walked to the roundabout to get to the road to town and tried to hitch. But I was avoiding trucks at this point and the cars weren't stopping., I eventually flagged down a local bus and the driver wouldn't take my money but just brought me to a place where I could catch the right bus to get to my part of town. I paid the second driver and got dropped at the Agro market. Perfect. One of the benefits of my coming to town before the others was that I could buy a birthday cake or pie for Karsten. But the bakery was closed so I went to check into the hostel. Then later, when the bakery reopened, I went back but they didn't have the pie I was looking for. No problem, they were making more. I could come back at 7:30 that night. So I reserved a pie and went back to the hostel. Ross, one of the owners, is from New Zealand and is extremely helpful and quite knowledgeable. He got me set up with a box for the stuff I'm mailing home, gave me information about when and where to go to the post office, had packing tape, and more. He also saved me a trip to the bus terminal with information about buses to Tacna and from there onwards to Puno. I hung out at the hostel, talking with others and sort of waiting for the rest of the group to return from Putre. I was a little surprised when they didn't show up by 6pm and a little worried when they didn't show up by 7pm. At maybe 7:15, I got a call. Karsten, who had set out on a what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour hike hadn't shown up. The police had been notified and Hans and Dagmar had checked back into the hotel in Putre. They weren't sure what they were going to do. Hans may come back to town tomorrow to return the car and would bring my backpack. I told them there was nothing in my backpack I needed to just not even worry about that. They would keep in touch as necessary. When we got off the phone, I was extremely worried but knew I couldn't do anything until the next day. I just hoped that Karsten would be smart about spending a night out in the below freezing temperatures if it came to that. At this point, Art and I went to the market. I had to tell the bakery that I no longer needed the pie. The person it was intended for was missing in the mountains near Putre. Was it a problem? They said no. I did not have to buy the pie. I bought a slice anyway. More like lemon chiffon with meringue topping than lemon meringue pie. Then, not wanting to deal with making dinner, I bought a burger - the same one with fries on it I had a few days earlier. I got it to go, just wanting to hole up in the more familiar setting of the hostel with others I could talk with. By this point, I had already decided that I would go back up to Putre tomorrow to see if there was anything I could do to help with any search the authorities put on. With my limited Spanish, I wasn't sure any of the experience I had gained with my previous search and rescues would help but at least I could try. By the time I got back, the hotel had gotten another phone call. Karsten was back and everything was OK. No story yet. I'll have to wait for tomorrow when they all return to Arica to find out what happened. In any case, I was very relieved. Now I could relax and continue my planning to go to Peru. I sat down for dinner with another couple from the US. They had been in Peru and had gotten scammed when they changed money. So, they pulled out their bad money and some good money and gave a few of us a little course in how to detect bad money. I'll be looking for money without red and blue fibers, without color changing ink, without clearly printed metallic stripes, and without raised embossed printing. These features can all or only partly be present in any combination. This information should prove useful in the next day or two when I finally get to Peru. [Date: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:08 pm I may be for a few days as I explore the islands of Lake Titicaca. As usual, I find interesting places only get more interesting as I get closer and find out more about them. I will eventually visit the floating islands but first, I'll visit some of the more distant islands with cultures less impacted by tourism. I expect to be gone for three or four nights before returning to Puno. Tuesday, July 14: AricaHung around the hostel this morning until my friends returned from Putre. Karsten walked in looking very sheepish. Basically he had underestimated how far he had walked and then misread the not very accurate or detailed map and ended up going cross country for hours. He missed his destination completely and eventually came out on the main road just as darkness fell, 3-5 hours later than he should have gotten to his destination. He had the presence of mind to stop the first truck going by (in the wrong direction) just to have the driver call the police to let them know he was OK. He accurately figured that Hans and Dagmar would have called them when he didn't show up. The police ended up picking him up and driving him back to Putre. There it took three hours to go through all the paperwork. All's well that ends well. I grabbed a ride with them when they went downtown to return the car. We then walked to the Post Office where I mailed out a five pound box for $35. Yikes! At least it's five pounds I won't have to carry around for another five weeks. We wandered the pier, looking at the sea lions, pelicans, and other shore birds before stopping for a sea food meal overlooking the water. The seafood soup was delicious and would have been a good meal alone but then we had our second plate of fried fish and rice. It was rather dark and a little tough, but we could have paid more for the white fish that was softer. As it was, it was too much food for me to finish. I can rarely say that. With individual errands to run, we went our separate ways after lunch. I tried to find a place to exchange my book to no avail. But, I did find the perfect gift for Karsten's birthday - a compass. Then I ran into Hans and Dagmar and joined them to read the crappy book I had picked up at the hostel while they wrote postcards. I tried the books store after 4 to see if it would reopen but it didn't so I walked back to the hostel to meet the group to finally celebrate Karsten's birthday. I found some candles for Karsten to blow out and he amused at the compass as a timely gift. We nearly demolished the fruit and custard tarte on a delicious cookie-like crust, each having two fairly large pieces. It was after 5pm when we ate that and it turned into dinner. Watched some bad TV for a couple of hours and then went for a walk along the beach and the long and dilapidated pier. Saw a Greater (or was it Lesser) yellowlegs along the way in addition to all the usual suspects. Watched men fishing successfully for small fish from the pier. On the way back, we stopped for ice cream. That was dessert. Then back at the hostel, we played rummikub again. This time, there was a bit of a lesson in how to shuffle the cards and arch them afterwards. While playing, Karsten pulled out his chocolate bar to share. That was the evening snack. Oy! Not knowing if I would see them again in the morning, I said my goodbyes and hit the sack. Wednesday, July 15: Arica, Chile to Moquegua, PeruI managed to get up and out in time to catch the train to Tacna, Peru from Arica, Chile. It meant that I wouldn't get to say goodbye to my friends again. It also meant that I didn't have to worry about the border delays others had experiences the previous day. It was also cheaper. The train was a single car train. It was old and held 60 people. It was supposed to be full but I got lucky and the person across from me and next to me didn't show up meaning I didn't have to share leg space or leave my backpack in the aisle. The train and tracks were quite rickety and we rocked and bumped along more than some of the bad sections of the Pan Americana Highway. In Tacna, I found my way to the plaza and admired the church designed by Eiffel. Unlike the Eiffel designed church in Arica, this one isn't all metal. Then I found an ATM there. After I got money out of the ATM and went to the counter to get smaller bills, the lady looked carefully at my bills and didn't bat an eye when I took the time to look carefully at the bills she gave me in return. Everywhere else I've spent bills today, the same thing. They always look. I just hope I remember to always look. I'm also glad I had the presence of mind to trade in my biggest bills for lots of small ones. That means fewer bills as change. Got directed to the police tourism office and got some good information there including that the police didn't think it would be a problem to hitch to Puno. Wow! Talk about a confidence builder. I stopped for lunch at a sandwich place and got a couple of empanadas and my first Inka Cola. It tastes like sweet tarts or bubble gum. I'm sure to drink more of it. I did stop at the bus station on the way out of town but there are no buses to my destination until night time and I don't care for night buses. I got to the place to hitch and shortly after I got there, the National Police showed up, stopped the next two cars seemingly at random, and then took off. I didn't try to hitch while they were there. It took while but the a car offered me a ride for gas money. No problem. I hopped in but at the first ADUANA government checkpoint, they ended up with a problem. It's not unusual for newly bought cars not to have tags, but they had left town without getting one of their documents notarized. They were let through but stopped almost immediately because one had to go back for the notarized document. I got out and flagged down the next collectivo and paid to 10 soles get to Moquegua in the way back of the small station wagon. I was only one of two people back there. From Moquegua I took another minivan combi to Samegua where I started hitching. But it was late in the afternoon already so I gave myself and hour and then returned to Moquegua. Argh! I should have gone the long way by way of Arequipa. So now I had to decide whether or not to take the night bus or try again in the morning. I decided to get a room and try again in the morning. I rejected the 40 soles room and got a perfectly nice 15 peso room. Just $5. Cool! I wandered the town trying to find the car that everyone said would go to Puno in the morning but there was none to be found. I got a set menu dinner which included a large bowl of chicken soup with a whole potato, noodles, and a chicken foot. I ate all but the foot. Then it was followed by a large plate of rice with a small piece of chicken and another potato. There was also a large slice of carrot, a roll, and a cup of pepperminty tea. All this for 3 soles ($1). I can get used to Peru. Spent some time in the internet cafe where prices are one soles an hour ($.33). Got a nice piece of Oreo cheesecake for 4 soles (hmm, spending more on dessert than the meal), and went to sleep early. Peru is an hour later (Central Time) than Chile so I gained an hour today and was beat. It now gets dark shortly after 5pm. I had been a little worried about how I would feel about dealing with travel in Peru. After a long trip, I start to want life to be easier but so far, I think it'll be OK. the prices are cheaper so if I want something a bit nicer for a night here and there, it won't be a big splurge. Oh yeah... I noticed the roadside shrines have continued into Peru. In the Boston area, we have Mary on the Half-Shell or Mary in the Bathtub. These are often in people's yards. Along the roads, we're more likely to see crosses where someone was killed. Here, many of the roadside shrines seem to be Mary in the Doghouse. The shrines look like doghouses and if you look inside, there are figures of Mary and sometimes Jesus, too, and maybe a bunch of other offerings. This is just an observation of what I have seen. That said, I do have to wonder about the proliferation of these shrines. There are some people who must cross themselves every time they pass one of these shrines. It's one thing when they are passengers in buses, but for those that are driving, these shrines are often near places with dangerous road conditions, precisely the places where perhaps drivers should keep both hands on the wheel. Thursday, July 16: Moquegua to PunoI slept well last night but woke to church bells every fifteen minutes. I bought a couple of rolls for $.10 and caught a combi to Samegua and started to hitch. After a while, someone told me I could take another combi to Totora, a town 25km up the road. So I did and continued trying to hitch from there. I gave up when the bus came. Peru just doesn't have the same culture for hitching as Chile. So, by the time I grabbed the bus, I knew I had missed any of the festivities that would have been happening in Puno. I was first seated in the bottom of the overpriced semicama bus. But after not too long, we broke down. By the time we got going, a bunch of passengers had traded to another bus that passed us. So, I moved to the top floor of the bus hoping for more ventilation. The bus was hot but the passengers all seemed cold. Weird. I wondered if it was me, but later when I ate my chocolate and realized how soft it was, I knew it wasn't me. Anyway, I had eaten my bread before boarding the bus so I resorted to crackers when I got hungry. then remaining cookie crumbs from a bag of cookies I got yesterday. Then the last two cookies from Putre. Finally at 3pm, we stopped at a roadside stand and I tried the chicharon, something I had been seeing but never could get myself to try. It was grilled alpaca pieces with potatoes, these huge corn kernels with no flavor, and some other potatoes that start white before cooking but turn black while cooking. To me, they look more like something horse leaves behind on the prairie. When I pointed that out to the family I had befriended along the way, they looked and started laughing having never thought of it that way before but immediately seeing the resemblance. I did have a good time talking with this family, in almost all Spanish though my English words were largely understood by Janet, the older daughter studying Finance. By now, I was familiar with all the regions we were passing through. The lowland green valleys butting up against the dessert mountains. The mountains without a vestige of life, then as we go higher, some cactus like the candelabro cactus and others. For the first time, large groves of paddle cactus. More grassy areas as we ascended. We passed tiny villages and it was nearly sunset by the times we came close to the Bolivian border and finally got to see Lake Titicaca. We could see the huge snow covered mountains across the lake in Bolivia. And I think there must be a volcano sending up an ash plume. It looked an awful lot like the Chaiten in Chile. Anyone know if there's a currently active volcano in Bolivia near Lake Titicaca sending up an ash plume? I finally got to Puno around 7pm, shared a bicycle taxi with a cute guy from the bus. He got off at the other bus station and I continued to the plaza. 2km and about $.66 for the ride - uphill partway. I checked into a 7 soles / night hotel. For $2.33, I got a huge room to myself with two beds, and a reasonable bathroom down the hall. I'm not in Chile anymore. I walked around town which is very touristy and ate in the tourist area. 9 soles for a good sized personal pizza and another 2 for an Inka Cola. I wandered town a bit more than went back to my room to read and sleep. Friday, July 17: Puno[Date: Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:41 pm Not unexpectedly, transportation strikes have affected my travels. I've been stuck here in Puno for the last two days due to a transportation workers strike. I'm glad I have enough time to sit out these strikes without panicking as those with limited time and a lot of advance reservations might. The extra time here gave me a chance to see the town from a more local perspective rather than just as a tourist. I will resume my travels tomorrow as a tourist with a fancy bus tour with guide and stops on the way to Cuzco where I expect to stay for a week or two. I am looking forward to seeing Machu Picchu and the other sights in the area but not the crowds I'm expecting to be there. For the first time on this trip, I am traveling in an area during peak tourism season. I am also looking forward to eventually descending to lower elevations and warmer weather. I've been in cold weather for almost my entire trip. It'll be nice to not have to wear multiple layers all the time. Saturday, July 18: Puno to Isla AmantaniI woke up to the noise of fireworks at 4:30am. It reminded me of Guatemala. Then I finally got up at 6:30. I left my backpack at the hotel and just took my day pack for an overnight or four on the islands of Lake Titicaca. I tried to go back to Rico Pan for another good breakfast but though the bakery was open at 6, the restaurant was far from being ready to open. So I grabbed some bread, a couple of muffins, and an empanada and wandered towards the port. I passed a market setting up so found someone to sell me some mandarinas at 8 per soles, that's 24 for $1. I bought some for myself and some in anticipation of host families on the islands. I resisted buying puffed wheat there from huge bags almost as tall as I am and a meter wide. Without my planned breakfast stop, I got to the port very early and had to wait 45 minutes after buying my ticket to board the boat and then another 45 minutes before we finally set off. Our first stop was the Uros Islands, a series of floating reed islands not far offshore from Puno. It took maybe 20 minutes to get there. We stepped off our boat onto the floating spongy mats of tortora reeds meters thick. As they rot out from below, new layers are added on top. Their houses, also made of reeds must be easily raised every now and then. Even the beds in their houses were made of reeds and while firm, weren't too hard. Their boats are also made of reeds though some of their new ones are wood and outfitted with woven reed matting on the upper decks. I saw a floating minimarket in this format that rowed from island to island. Each little community on the islands has a tower that they climb to try to entice the tour boats to come to their landing. Ours was shaped like a whale - or was it trout? Then the tourist gets out and we get an orientation speech in Spanish but accented with Quechua to the point most people didn't get much. I got almost nothing. I did wonder, however, who ever taught the guy the joke about the "Titi" part being for Peru and the "caca" part being for Bolivia. We did have a chance to sample the edible portion of the reed and I found it tasted similar to celery. I liked it. After stopping at a couple of floating islands, we set off again for the more distant Isla Amantani - not a floating island. It took a few hours to get there. Once there, our boat was greeted at the dock by a gaggle of colorfully dressed women. They wear layers of skirts, embroidered shirts, and choco, or wide black shawls with colorful embroidery that they wear over their heads. We were assigned to a woman as we got off the boat. There was one other single woman on board, Rosie from Nottingham, England, and we ended up getting assigned to the same family. There are no roads on these islands so our host, Julia, guided us up the hill, across the bridge, through fields and over rock walls to her house. Julia spoke Spanish but the native language on these islands is Quechua. We settled into beds in our own room complete with divider so we each had a side with two beds. My side ended up having the table with the candle. Her side had the electric light that didn't work. While our lunch was being prepared, we went for a short walk up the hill and found the plaza. There were small markets so if we go hungry at our host's house, we can get munchies there. As we walked, we noticed the primary paths are often inlaid with beautiful pictures of local life. Back at the house, we had quinoa vegetable soup and a plate of
potatoes, fried cheese that squeaks like Wisconsin cheese curds, and a
purplish vegetable similar to potatoes called After lunch, Rosie and I walked back to the plaza and found a number
of tour groups there and other independent travelers. We grabbed some
cookies from the store, and set out to climb Pachatata (Father Earth),
the high point on the island. Pachamama (Mother Earth) was the other
peak on the island but we ran out of time to go to both. We stayed
almost until sunset and then knowing how quickly it gets dark in the
Tropics, started down before the actual sunset. We saw it from the
trail and just managed to get back to our house before needing our
lights.
Dinner was more soup and a plate of rice with a glutinous curry-like
vegetable meal. I could only tolerate it by eating one bite of curry
and sipping one spoon of soup. But, that was good enough. There was
another herb on the table for making Muña tea. I didn't care for the
odor of the herb but tried a little as tea. It was pepperminty and
must have been the tea I had in Moquegua during my first night in
Peru.
We knew there was some entertainment in the evening but our hosts told
us to go to sleep very early. We thought the performance was near our
house so we made our way to the building only to realize the
performance wasn't there. We could just faintly hear it but it was at
a part of the island we hadn't explored and even if we got there, we
weren't sure we could get back. So, I missed out on an opportunity to
not only watch, but participate in some folk dancing. Argh! But,
with the lack of electricity, the skies were dark and the stargazing
was great. Rosie saw her first ever meteor.
Back at the house, we talked by candlelight for a bit before heading
to sleep very early.
I woke up at sunrise with a splitting headache. With quite a while
until breakfast, I ate one of the rolls I had with me and took some
ibuprofen. It seemed more like an altitude headache than migraine so
I didn't waste my Excedrin on it.
Breakfast was a couple of delicious pancakes with strawberry jam. The
bread was superfluous. By now, my stomach wasn't feeling so hot, and
not for the same reason I was taking Ciprofloxacin (antibiotics for
tourista), so I decided to leave Isla Amantani after just one night.
It was an hour long boat ride to Isla Tequile where I had originally
planned on spending another night or two but still feeling crappy, I
decided to make the best of the three hours we had on the island. We
got dropped in one place and walked the better part of an hour to get
to the main town and plaza. We took a look at the crafts for sale,
mostly knitted by the men while the women spun the yarn or wove.
The clothing of the locals was beautiful. The ladies wore clothing
similar to those on Isla Amantani but the men here also dress
colorfully. They wear black pants, white shirts and wide woven wrap
around belts. Their hats indicate marital status among other items.
All red, they are married, some white, they are available.
Rather than join the boatload for lunch, Rosie and I bought some
cookies and skipped lunch and instead walked up the hill to see the
pre-Incan ruins. We are quite certain we ended up taking a shortcut
but got there nonetheless.
We were joined by a group studying tourism from Puno. They enjoyed
interacting with us and practicing their English.
We did not stay long as we weren't sure exactly when our group would
be getting back to the boat. Sure enough, we beat them back to the
boat by nearly an hour. We had left word with another from our boat
that we would meet at the boat but apparently the word never got to
the right person and they had waited for us for a while. But there
was a third guy who didn't bother to leave word so they would have
waited for him anyway. Our boat had moved while we were on the island
and the port where we were to find the boat was down a set of 500
stone steps. Like on Amantani, there are no roads on Tequile so
everything is carried on the backs of people. Lumber, furniture,
fuel, and small children.
Three hours later, we were back in Puno. I checked back into Hotel
Monterrey which is 7 dollars a night, not soles. Oh well. It's still
reasonable value. I just wish places like this would just list
everything in soles and not dollars. Even the price tags on the woven
good on Tequile were sometimes in dollars and sometimes in soles -
very confusing.
Having missed the dancing on Amantani, I made dinner reservations for
Balcones de Puno. There's a music and folk dance show there each
evening that's free with dinner. Just as I left the restaurant, I met
Laura from Vancouver who was also interested, so we changed my
reservation to include her. It's always nice to have company for
dinner, especially in a nice restaurant.
I've "seen" a lot of Bolivia now, having been to the border in Chile
and near one border crossing in Peru. And from the lake, we could see
quite a bit of the Bolivian shore. But since I don't have time to
spend a month or so in Bolivia, I'm not visiting at all. The US
charges a lot for Bolivians to come into the US so the Bolivians
charge a reciprocation fee of $130 for US Citizens to enter Bolivia.
For a few days, it's just not worth it. I'll go sometime when I can
stay a while.
After a leisurely start to the day, I had a very busy day. I started
with a good breakfast at Rico Pan. Then I walked up the lookout of
Cerro Huajsapata, just a few blocks from my hotel. Got a great view
of the city and the lake from there. Then I took a bicycle taxi to
the Yavari. But my driver didn't know where it was and so told me
only 3 soles when it was further. I gave him four and he dropped me
where I still had to walk quite a bit.
The Yavari is an iron ship commissioned in 1862, designed and built in
England and then dismantled to bring to Lake Titicaca. Each piece had
to weigh less than 400 pounds, the limit of a mule. It was brought
around Cape Horn, landed in Arica (then Peru, now Chile), put on a
train to Tacna, and then it was supposed to take six months for mules
to carry the whole thing to the Lake. It took six years and then four
more to reassemble. It often ran on llama dung because there's no
coal up here. Early in the 20th century, it was converted to diesel.
It ran for a while, then was left to rot, but has been rescued and now
runs again, albeit infrequently.
Because the ship is iron, we wondered about how the compass would work
- or not work. Turns out there's ways to correct for the magnetic
distortion of such a ship counteracting the local attraction by means
of bar magnets placed in suitable locations. I had
kind of figured this might be the case while on board. The compass had
a large red ball on one side and a green one on the other. I thought
they might have had something to do with neutralizing the distortion
from the ship.
I took a combi back to town and it dropped me right at the naval
museum which I had been told would be open but wasn't. They told me
it would open at 3pm. So, I grabbed a combi to the crossroads to
Sillustani and then got a collectivo to the ruins. It looked like
rain but my driver said no, it wouldn't rain.
Sillustani is a pre-Incan funerary site with a large collection of
chulpa's, round towers where the dead were interred.
I met an American couple near the entrance who wondered where my guide
was. They were surprised I was on my own and though that if they were
on their own, they would be done in 10 minutes. But, I had done my
research first and knew what I was interested in seeing. That said, I
had plenty of time and followed the well marked paths that would lead
me around the entire complex. Judging by how much I had most of the
area to myself, the tours visit just a small fraction of the site. I
visited the entire site but was rushed towards the end. The storm I
had seen brewing turned into a full fledged windstorm right as I got
to the summit and the main part of the ruins. I thought I had heard
thunder, too, and there were a few drops of rain here and there.
There was too much dust in the air to spend much time on the top
I did manage to see everything I had wanted to see, including the
three known petroglyphs at the site. I found the first on my own and
would have likely found the other two had I not asked first.
Many of the chulpas were collapsed or had been dynamited but quite a
few were intact enough to crawl into. I just went into one as it was
quite a crawl to get in. The construction techniques on some of them
were quite spectacular with accurately carved rocks that fit together
without any need for mortar leaving no cracks.
If the weather hadn't been so bad, I would have lingered longer and
then visited the nearby lagoon to take a look at the bird life there.
But, I waited at the entrance station for the next collectivo with a
group of French, by far the dominant nationality touring around Puno.
We drove through dust storms and could see lightning as we left the
area. We got to the crossroads just in time to catch a combi back to
Puno. Back in town much earlier than expected, I got off at the naval
museum only to find it closed. Anticipating my departure the next day
to Cuzco, they found someone to give me a tour. It was a tiny one
room museum and when I didn't have change I ended up tipping my guide
much too much for his "services". Oh well.
I then went to the port for a very early dinner - or was it a late
lunch. For 8 soles, I had an entire fried lake trout, with fries,
rice, and salad. Delicious. An interesting note about the trout...
These trout are North American Lake Trout that thrive in Titicaca on
their own but are also farmed here. They are rarely found in US lakes
now and only a few commercial fisheries exist in Canada for the Lake
Trout.
Back at my hotel to hang out for a while, I found out there's a strike
in the offing and I'm not likely to get to Cuzco tomorrow as planned.
Others are leaving on the night bus but I've heard the trip is
spectacular so want to travel during the day. I had wanted to take
the train, but they no longer offer a backpackers far and taking a
$230 train trip when I can bus for $10 doesn't make sense. I've got
the time so I'm going to take the extra couple of days to do not much
here in Puno. I've also decided to take a bus tour rather than just
the transport bus. It's take a few extra hours but I'll have a guide
and get to see quite a bit along the way I wouldn't otherwise have a
chance to see from the public buses. It'll cost $30 instead of $10
but should be worth it.
With no warm place to hang out at the hotel, I went to Rico Pan for
hot chocolate and cake for dessert after an internet session.
There's a two day strike on so I'm stuck here in Puno rather than on a
bus to Cuzco. I slept or rather stayed in bed late. It's warmer
there than most other places. I had breakfast in bed: the rest of
the yogurt I had found last night, a roll, and my last mandarinas. I
started out the day going to another nearby hostel in the hopes I
could exchange my book for another. Luckily they had a few books I
could choose from. Then, I was heading for the bus companies but was
told they were all closed today to try again tomorrow morning.
Normally, I don't buy my tickets in advance but with the strike, there
may be pent up demand and I would like to get on a tour to Cuzco when
I do finally go.
I finally visited the cathedral with it's ornately carved facade.
Talking with a couple from England, we went inside and were surprised
at its simplicity. To be sure, there were elements that were fancy,
but mostly it was rather plain.
An internet session rounded out the morning. Then off to the pier for
another lunch of fried trout. This one cost a couple of soles more
but included superfluous boiled potato and another sort of sticky and
hard mashed potato sandwiching a slice of cheese. The cheese wasn't
fried but it was squeaky when chewed.
Post lunch birding along the shores of a bay on Lake Titicaca netted:
Andean Gulls, Great Coots, Common Moorhens, Andean ducks with their
spectacular blue bills, yellow-winged blackbird, Puna Ibis, Spot
winged pigeon, Yellow-billed pintail and/or Speckled pintail, Andean
lapwing (smaller and less colorful than the southern ones) and other
pigeons. I had seen white tufted grebes during my return from
Taquile.
I'll probably verify this list a bit more when I see my pictures and
may add to it.
I wasn't feeling all that great as I watched so sat on one of the many
benches and sipped water to try to keep from feeling more faint.
After a while, I felt a little better so moved along to another bench
further along the long promenade. After a long break, I was able to
continue my walk around town. I had seen a huge slide yesterday and
today I visited it. It must have been 4-5 stories tall. It was the
kind of slide that would cost a lot at US amusement parks but here, it
anchored one end of a maybe 6 block long public park. The rest of the
park was a huge skate and bicycle park. It took up the huge median
strip along one street for blocks. There were stunt areas for
advanced users and smaller areas for those getting used to doing
stunts or looking for rails on which to skate. One block had another
smaller slide for the younger kids.
Of course, such a park in the US would be saddled with all sorts of
liability requirements and access would have to be restricted to those
with parental permission who had signed a liability waiver or some
such. Here, it was just plain fun.
There were also a couple of interesting statues nearby. One was some
stylized pan pipes. No surprise there. The other was strange. It
seemed to be a man trying to exhibit all that was Peru including
tourism. He was wearing a computer, a vicuña, a sheep, a plane, boat,
pan pipes, guitar, and more. Strange.
On the way back towards the plaza, I stopped in a book store and
bought a Sudoku book that included a variety of other logic puzzles,
too. It should help keep me occupied for some time to come.
All along, I've encountered game after game of volleyball. They block
off the streets to play in the streets. I was invited to play at one
point when they saw me watching, but I declined. I wasn't sure if I
would offer an unfair advantage with my height, or drag them down with
my bad knees and 15 years of non-practice. Plus, the thought of
continuing my travels with jammed fingers, stressed fingers, black and
blue forearms, or strained knees kept me at the sidelines.
Dinner reminded me of another interesting facet of life here. The
restaurants all have signs that read "Zona Segura en Casa de Sismos".
Not much chance of a tsunami from the lake, but this is an active
earthquake zone and I'm now much closer to the epicenter of the
earthquake that had woken me up in Putre.
As a tourist, the most interesting part of Puno is of course, Lake
Titicaca. As a traveler, I think the huge skate park in a town not
known for its wealth was most fascinating.
I forgot to use my sunscreen today and the combination of bright sun,
high elevation, and use of antibiotics served to turn my nose bright
red. Both my nose and ears hurt. Hopefully my base tan will serve to
mitigate any bad peeling or blistering.
Ended the day at Rico Pan, my favorite cafe where they make delicious
hot chocolate and pretty good cakes and pies. I tried the Lemon
Meringue today. The meringue was perfect but the filling wasn't the
tangy lemon curd I haven't seen since the US. Here, it looked more
like chiffon but was heavier and almost had a mealy texture though it
did have a good flavor.
With my sunburned nose and no particular needs today, I spent time
online, sitting in the plaza reading, working puzzles, and talking
with other travelers. I joined a couple of other travelers from my
hotel today for dinner and then brought them to Rico Pan for hot
drinks. I had a pancake with condensed milk that was different from
the desserts I had in Asia but with the milk reminded me of them
nonetheless. Internet rounds out the evening.
Oh yeah, yesterday, there was a large police presence in town. No
surprise given the strike. Today, I noticed a large police presence
in town but today, with riot gear and shields. I realized why the
difference while in the internet cafe. A group of protesters marched
by shouting their demands. Nothing turned violent, but it was
probably the planned march that had the police donning extra gear.
[Date: Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:49 pm Well, I arrived in Cuzco last week and have seen very little of the
sites in the area. July 28 and 29th are the Peruvian Independence
Days so every time I turn around, there are parades, concerts and
celebrations in the city leading up to the holiday. Why leave when
there's so much going on here? I was planning on spending a couple of
weeks here anyway, so I might as well enjoy the holiday and put off
the sightseeing until afterwards.
Unfortunately, there's no schedule of events so I have no idea when
and where I can find other happenings. I just run into parades,
concerts, and more from time to time.
So, here's how I got here and what I have been doing while here...]
I walked to the bus this morning and surprisingly was not pestered by
too many taxi, bicycle taxi, and tuktuk drivers. I took the
relatively expensive tour bus to get to Cuzco rather than the public
transport bus. It cost $30 instead of 30 soles. Basically three
times as much. In addition to having the opportunity to see some of
the sights along the way, I was expecting a more comfortable ride. I
was mistaken.
I got on the bus and realized there was less leg room than the other
long distance bus I had been on in Peru. I couldn't sit behind the
other seats. I could have made do with my seat because there was
nobody assigned to the seat next to me, but I would have had to sit
twisted for the 10 hour trip. Thankfully, the tiny Peruvian guy in
the front seat with the most leg room was willing to switch with me,
perhaps at the urging of this girl who was sitting in the window seat
there.
So, I ended up quite comfortable, but I definitely got very lucky.
Not surprisingly, I found the day very frustrating. I don't often
take these types of tours and with good reason. You have very little
time at each stop. We had two stops where I could have used hours and
got only minutes.
I did see a few large raptors along the way. I think one was a
Peruvian aplomado falcon. Unless there's another with a dark head and
light to white chest. The only distinguishing feature I saw on
another was white splotches near the wing tips though the wing tips
were the same reddish brown as the rest of the wing. Don't know if
I'll ever figure that one out.
We had started the day with a stop at the museum in Pocara. It was a
tiny museum. Our guide insisted on bringing us all together into each
room, pointing out the highlights in English and then Spanish, and
then we had just ten minutes to look around. Had he done the Spanish
group first, then the English, we each would have had double the time
to look around. We didn't even stop to visit any of the large ruins
site there.
Our next stop marked the highest point, a mountain pass, between Puno
and Cuzco. It also marked the transition between the high Altiplano
that I had been traveling through in both Peru and Chile and the
mountainous area in Peru. Water flowing to the south, flowed into
Lake Titicaca. Water flowing north from that point, flows to the
Atlantic. The river is part of the Amazon river basin and has to flow
across most of South America to get to the Atlantic. I would like to
travel the length of the Amazon at one point. It takes about 3 weeks
plus any stopovers so won't be happening on this trip, but perhaps
another trip.
This transition point was also the point where brown gave way to
green. Before, the only green was in the valley bottoms and right
along water courses. Now, there are trees (mostly eucalyptus) and
other grasses and brush. It's not flat any longer.
At our lunch stop, we had a buffet lunch of Peruvian foods. The lamb
was all bone. The chicken curry looked better than it tasted. White
rice is white rice. I've been eating quinoa soup for weeks now. There
was a new fruit to try at dessert.
After lunch, we stopped at another Incan ruin site. This one had a
huge freestanding wall, one column still in place and 21 other column
bases. there used to be a roof that spanned from the center wall to
the column supports but it was probably reeds and no longer exists.
We had a 20 minute tour, half in English and half in Spanish. Then
had 20 minutes to get back to the bus. I could have spent hours there
but I got back to where the bus had dropped us off and there was no
bus there. I finally wandered out in the road and the guide was
looking for me. I was the last to the bus. Oops! But the bus had
moved and I didn't know where it had gone. Oh well...
Our last stop, we toured the church which had been built partially of
Incan or pre-Incan stones. Our guide pointed out the Moorish painted
interior roof, the old portion of the church that hadn't been damaged
by an earthquake and the newer portion built after the earthquake.
The rather simple exterior belied the ornate painted and gold covered
interior.
However, with just a few minutes to look around I found a couple of
petroglyphs on the exterior stones that had been reused. Why hadn't
our guide pointed them out?
Oh well... I'll be able to tour other sites on my own from Cuzco.
In Cuzco, I shared a taxi to the center of town and then got a
referral to a hostel from a random English speaking couple on the
street. I was soon checked into The Point hostel but only for a night
because the next night was booked already. No problem. At least I
could relax for now and look around tomorrow morning when I'm not so
tired.
I grabbed a brochette, a cheese dog in a fried coating and found the
part of town where fabrics are sold but no luck finding appropriate
fabrics. Then I found a tailor who will copy my pants in 24 hours. S
I'll return to look for fabric tomorrow.
I think I've turned into one of those travelers that I used to both
admire and be slightly repelled by. I've been traveling so long that
my clothes are old, stained, and torn, so no matter how much I clean
them, they still look dirty and old. I hope I'm not offending anyone
with my presence. I have found myself being the object of others'
admiration at times. There have been a couple of times when I've
ended up making dinner plans with people who upon meeting me have
wanted to hear more about my travels. Personally, I prefer to share
stories with others who have also traveled. I learn a lot that way
and find my own inspirations there. But when talking with others not
so well traveled, I hope I prove some sort of inspiration for them.
We frequently end up talking about priorities and I often relate what
I've written about in my Priorities web page.
Dinner of a tiny pizza and glass of soda for 3.5 soles, and chocolate
cake with strawberries for 4 soles.
I was too tired to socialize much so hung out in the lobby talking
with the staff rather than join the crowd in the smoky bar.
I spent a good part of the morning changing to a hotel where I have a
private room for the same price as the 12 bed dorm in the hostel I was
in. But the social life and information exchange won't be nearly as
good. This place has green potted plants everywhere and is a site of
perpetual Halloween. It's the Frankenstein Hotel. It was started by
a German guy. There are scream masks, a dead tarantula, pictures of
Frankenstein, and the rooms are named for appropriately related names.
I'm in the Boris Karloff room.
I also visited the Info Center this morning and got information on how
to visit the sites in the area on my own, including Machu Picchu.
I took a long, much needed nap.
For lunch, I found a restaurant that only locals frequent and had the
usual soup - this time thick with lamb - and a plate of chicken and
rice with salad, plus a glass of punch and a scoop of ice cream for 6
soles.
Then I sat down at a tour agency to try to decide what, if anything I
wanted to do in this area. The Inca Trail requires advance
reservations and even though there are plenty of cancellations, by law
they are not allowed to fill those spaces and the remaining people in
the group have to pay extra as a result. It's my understanding that
the policy is the result of some short sighted legislation with
regards to passport fraud.
There are other treks in the area but they don't pass ruins along the
way like the Inca trail does. So, I would end up paying a lot of
money just to hike for four days before seeing Machu Picchu the same
way all the other non hiking tourists see the ruins. I'm pretty sure
I'm skipping the trekking and will just go to the ruins on my own.
I was heading out to explore another part of the city late this
afternoon when I happened upon the start of a huge parade. I ended up
standing in the square watching the parade for a couple of hours. It
was in honor of the anniversary of one of the local universities.
There was a lot of music and dancing so when a lady came around and
pinned a ribbon on me and then asked for money to support the dancers
and musicians, it was one of the few times I was happy to comply.
Of course, the ribbon is the colors of Cuzco. Originally used to
represent the Inca Empire, the rainbow flag is now the flag of Cuzco.
In the US, it would be interpreted as a gay pride flag but the Cusco
flag has seven colors, not six.
Back at the hotel, I found someone to have dinner with. We grabbed
overpriced pasta at a tourist restaurant. Oh well.
Watched TV a bit and then crashed with my book and Sudoku puzzles.
Caught up with my journal over breakfast at Heidi's another German
owned or operated place. My yogurt with granola and fruit was
delicious. My hot chocolate was made with milk but no sugar. I had
to add a lot to make it palatable.
I then spent the rest of the morning online researching the sites I
would be visiting on my own so I would know what I was looking for
when I got there. I found a great site with a lot of information in
one place... (qosqo.com)
Lunch was at another locals establishment. Soup, chicken and rice (I
keep trying to order other options from the daily menu but invariably,
they are out so I keep ending up with chicken), beverage, and no
dessert for 4 soles.
I spent the remainder of the after going in and out of all the fabric
stores in town looking for some material that would work for me. I
finally settled for material that is primarily synthetic but has some
cotton. By the time I showered and brought the material to my tailor,
it was dark. She took measurements from the pants, not from me. She
was making a copy, after all.
For dinner, I went to Jack's place. It was a very popular place and
with good reason. The food was good, a reminder of home for those of
us who have been traveling a lot. It's also good for those on a short
vacation who are too timid to try local food. The menu they handed me
was solely in English. It's a popular place with a line so when they
seated me, I told them I was willing to share my table with someone
else if that helped.
They eventually seated a Spaniard at my table, on a short vacation.
She had the unusual experience of entering the restaurant and being
approached in English and had to explain it would be easier for all
involved to speak in Spanish. She got a menu in Spanish.
I ordered a smoked ham and cheese with tomato sandwich and fries. It
came grilled and was delicious. They give you one and a half
sandwiches here. It was a lot of food. Of course, there was no
savings in the tourist restaurant. With my lemonade, delicious
chocolate cupcake, and tip, it came to 28 soles, or $9. Not cheap by
Peru standards.
Back at the hotel, I communed with Martin, the iguana (alive and well
and 9 years old), in front of the fire for while before crawling into
bed.
Late start after early morning booming fireworks. Grabbed a yogurt
for breakfast. Visited the Info center one more time and decided to
wait until after the holiday to buy my 10 day ticket to the sites in
and around Cuzco. If I were to buy it now, I would lose out on many
days when museums and potentially other archaeological sites would be
closed due to the holiday. I've got enough time to relax here in town
for a week before putting my tourist shoes back on and seeing the
sites. I'll probably leave Machu Picchu for last. All plans subject
to change without notice - of course.
I finally found an internet cafe with a working USB 2.0 port and
copied 3gb of pictures to my hard drive. I transcribed days of my
journal, caught up on some email, tried to phone a few friends and
family and left messages, read some news though not much seems to be
happening of major importance in the world these days, and when I
left, I had spent four hours there. At one soles and hour, it cost
all of $1.33. I visited the first hostel I stayed at to see if my
headlamp had turned up. I couldn't find it last night. It wasn't at
the hostel. I have one more place to check tomorrow when it reopens.
Just as I was leaving, the rain that had been threatening all day
finally let loose. At least today, I had remembered to bring my rain
gear. Ever since I've been here, it has at least sprinkled every day.
The locals don't know what to make of it. This is supposed to be the
dry season and it usually doesn't rain at all this time of year. Even
they are talking climate change.
With all the covered walkways, I was able to make my way to the plaza
without getting too wet. Along the way, I stopped in one shoe store
just for yucks. They carry to a 42. I wear a 47 (men's 13), then I
spotted a The North Face store. They could do better and carried to a
45 - better but no good for me. I just hope my shoes hold out for
another month.
At the plaza, it was clear the rain was getting worse so after a
while, I took shelter in one of the upstairs cafes with balconies and
window views of the plaza. It was 4:30 and I had a pancake with
chocolate and banana. Not sure if it was lunch, dinner, snack, or
what. I also had a strawberry banana juice. All was delicious. I
talked with a Dutch couple at the next table for a while.
The rain eventually stopped and it got dark. I finally left my refuge
and wandered towards San Blas. That part of the city is hilly and the
sidewalks next to the streets are stair stepped. I found a place for
dinner some other night, found the Coca Store, and stopped to take
pictures of the Incan wall that was reused for colonial buildings.
The massive stones used for the wall are carved to fit together
perfectly without any mortar. You can't slip a piece of paper between
any of the stones. One stone has a remarkable 12 sides.
Back in the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, I stopped at a market and
bought some smoked ham and some cheese to make a sandwich for dinner.
Back at the hostel, I ate a late dinner of a sandwich and Doritos and
watched TV before bed.
Notes: Other birds I've seen but hadn't IDed properly in earlier
journal entries include the Peruvian Meadowlark and the Collared
Plover.
[Date: Fri Aug 7, 2009 8:27 pm I'm finally caught up with transcribing my journal. I'll mail it out
in two pieces...
This first one details the end of the time I was relaxing in Cuzco and
when I started back on the tourist track.
I slept through the intermittent all night fireworks until 4:30 in the
morning. Then I occasionally drifted off to sleep or woke and did a
sudoku puzzle. Yogurt and bread for breakfast in bed. Then I stopped
in the tour agency to see if the headlamp I had shown the guy there
had been left there by accident. It wasn't there so I now think it's
lost for good. So now I wonder if I can go my remaining month with
just my pinch light. I'll try.
I spent good bit of time in the plaza writing in my journal. Begging
here is a real annoyance so when a ragged old man sat down next to me
and tried to start a friendly conversation and teach me some Quechua,
I was wary and mostly just tried to go back to my writing. I hate that
I can't just take people at face value but sure enough, when he
finally gave up and got up to leave, he asked for money. In the
entire time I was sitting there (hours), I don't think I went more
than 5 minutes without someone coming up to me to beg money or try to
sell me trinkets, paintings, or a shoe shine - for my ancient falling
apart sneakers.
After writing, I pulled out my Sudokus. At one point, one of the shoe
shine boys got curious and sat down next to me. I ended up spending
an hour showing him how to do sudoku puzzles and helping him work
through his first puzzle. Then I gave him some to do on his own -
later.
Last night, I noticed the McDonald's on the plaza for the first time.
With the brown M on the grey/brown stone background under the arcade,
it was well camouflaged. I went for lunch and found it was no
bargain. Then again, it wasn't any more than in the US, either.
Back to the plaza to talk with an older Belgian traveler. I hope I'm
still traveling at his age - 70 plus is my best guess. We traded
travel recommendations.
It was mostly cloudy so when the sun came out, I excused myself for a
few minutes to get some pictures of the cathedral with the sun on its
face. It soon started raining so I beat a hasty retreat to the
internet cafe. Only one machine there has the USB 2.0 port I needed
so I started on one and then switched machines when the faster machine
opened up.
For dinner, I went back to the French restaurant I had seen yesterday.
No set menu today so I got the Croque Madame. Rather than the french
toasted sandwich I expected, I got two toasted ham and cheese
sandwiches with a fried egg on top. Strange.
Back at the hotel, I watched the Mentalist and got a migraine when
someone used highly fragranced toiletries somewhere in the vicinity.
The use of fragrances has been remarkably infrequent during this trip.
Thankfully from my perspective.
No rain today. It was a beautiful day to sit in the plaza and watch a
brass band playing after breakfast of French Toast with strawberries
and bananas with maple syrup at Jack's Cafe. Delicious. Talked with
two Limans for a while. They enjoyed practicing their English, I
think. 6 soles lunch at a Peruvian place. Soup with tripe and bistek
(tough steak). Late afternoon nap. Chicken and potato on a stick for
dinner 2 soles with sweet potato chips. Three hour internet session.
Late night talk with a different, younger Belgian guy at hotel.
While sitting in the plaza this morning, I was forced to move benches
this morning by a beggar that wouldn't leave me alone. I said no and
tried to ignore her but she just stood there and kept asking for money
over and over again. Finally, I got up and moved to a different
bench. She did not follow me.
I've also started using the shoe shine boys own tricks on them. They
usually ask where you're from and what your name is. If you're from
one of the countries they've learned about, they start reciting the
capitol, the president's name, etc. Then, when asked what their name
is, they will reply Pablo Picasso or some such. So now, when they ask
me where I'm from, I usually say the moon. My name? Pablo Picasso.
That usually cuts short the discussion.
The brass band was out again today. I think listening to them must be
like listening to my middle school band. I'm pretty sure my high
school band was better. It was sort of a chore to listen to them, so
I couldn't figure out why today, a crowd formed around the band. The
music was just as bad as yesterday. Then I realized there were two
kids dancing. She was maybe 12 and he maybe 9 but both were obviously
trained and quite good. I definitely saw quite a bit of the local
traditional dances in them but also a bit of Paso Doble. I enjoyed
watching them a bit.
Empanadas on the plaza for lunch and Jack's Cafe, cheeseburger with
salad and fries for dinner. Had another chocolate cupcake for dessert
- this time heated up. Delicious.
After yogurt and cereal in my room, I finally turned back into a
tourist today. I took the bus to Tambomachay, a ruins about 8km from
town. There are about 5 or 6 ruins sites between there and town so
it's easiest to take the bus UP and walk back down to town by way of
the various ruins. I also visited Puca Pucara, a couple of smaller
sites including yet another Valle de la Luna, Q'enqo (where the zigzag
water course was off limits - argh!), and lastly, Sacsaywaman (often
pronounced Sexy Woman). Once again, I'm in the land of huge stones
moved to build things unexpected from ancient cultures. The Inkans,
however, build walls with their stones that fit together almost like
a jigsaw puzzle. The stones are carved such that when placed
together, they fit so well, you can't get a piece of paper between
them. No mortar here. This ruins site is built with huge zigzag
walls in three layers. There are two Sun Gates here and animal
patterns built into the walls. From Sacsaywaman, I walked back down
the huge stairs back to town. Got an OJ along the way. 2 soles
($.66) for 4 oranges worth of juice.
Indian for dinner. Navratan Korma was a nice change of pace though it
wasn't nearly as flavorful or spiced as I'm used to. The biggest
difference about this restaurant was the fact that after I was served,
someone came by to ask if everything was OK. That NEVER happens in
South America. But then again, I am using a cloth napkin, also a
unusual happening. Internet and another glass of juice before bed.
Started a new book, "Second Chances".
I wasn't able to sleep so I read the entire book I started last night
and ended up getting up late.
More touristy stuff today. Visited the Museum of Contemporary art in
the morning and the Museum of Regional History in the afternoon. In
the evening, I went to the dance performance at the Q'osqo Center for
Art, Dance, and Music. It was quite well done but quite similar to
other performances I've seen here and there.
Hot dog on a stick for afternoon snack. Fried Rice for dinner.
Exchanged book at the HI hostel in town. Had laundry done today.
Got a later start than I wanted. Started the day visiting Chinchero.
This town has a 16th century church built on filled in Inkan ruins
discovered only in the 1960s. The church itself has interesting
elements including frescoes depicting the war against Tupac Amaru and
the taking of the Inkan symbols of the serpent and the puma for the
two sides at war.
To me, even more amazing is the terracing. I've seen so much but the
scale of the ruins here are enormous. They go from the town at the
top of the hill to the bottom of the valley hundreds of meters below.
While the irrigation system is no longer operational, they still use
the terraces for agriculture and elements of the irrigation system are
visible here and there. I also recognized moorish elements from the
church in Andahuailillas, the one I visited on the way from Puno to
Cuzco.
Then I grabbed a combi to the town of Maras. They dropped me at the
road to town, not in town so I shared a taxi with a couple of French
women. There was supposed to be a festival there today in celebration
of Pachamama (Mother Earth). But we got there to find the most
deserted town I've seen in all my travels this year. There were
people in town, but almost nobody on the streets or in the plaza.
There were a few tiny stalls near the plaza serving food and when we
went to look for a real restaurant, we realized they were our only
options. So back we went and we ordered the same thing the locals
were eating, Lomo Saltado, meat fried with a few onions, peppers, and
tomatoes on rice with french fries. It's standard fare everywhere in
Chile and Peru but this is the first time I've ordered it.
This is the first place I noticed buildings with long sticks with red
or pink plastic "flowers" coming out the doors. It didn't take long
to find out these were indicators of places to buy chicha, the
alcoholic corn beer so common in this part of Peru. My companions
stopped to try a glass.
I found out later that the festival was canceled. I can only imagine
because of the Swine Flu.
After lunch, the girls wanted to walk but being short on time, I took
a taxi to the Moray site. This site has three large round terraced
depressions in the ground, I walked around them and down into the
deepest one. These are an engineering marvel. Even in the heaviest
rains, these never flood even though there's no apparent outlet.
They're just designed to drain properly.
Climbing from one level of terracing to the next is interesting. The
walls, built of stone, have protruding rocks at reasonable intervals
to provide a staircase for ascents and descents. No handrails though.
These aren't built in randomly. Obvious care was taken when building
them to make them symmetrical and practical. From a short distance
away, the zigzag pattern they make is quite artistic and mirrors the
terraces themselves.
They are also deep enough that the temperature variation from the top
to the bottom ensure different crops can grow at different terrace
levels at the same time and can vary throughout the year.
Back through town, my next stop was the Salenera de Maras, the salt
works. This incredible site lines the side of the valley leading down
to the Sacred Valley. An array of salt pools line the steep slopes.
An irrigation system ensures that the pools can be filled at will and
then left to dry in the open air. Once dry, these pools have a thick
layer of salt that can then be shoveled into large bags to be hauled
up to the storage shed on people's backs. Once there, some is stored
in a huge pile in the shed that looks like salt storage for road salt
in the US. Others are bagged and hauled out on burros. It was only
at the end of my visit that I realized the name of the company.
Marasal. I bought a small bag to bring home - mostly so I could have
the bag.
My driver brought me back to the main road where I could get a bus to
Urubamba. While waiting, I stuck out my thumb at passing vehicles and
managed to get a hitch. He dropped me in town and didn't even ask for
money. Sweet.
I hadn't planned on staying here but was running late so changed my
plans. But I came without any information. I found my way to the
plaza and got directed away from the sleazebag hotel to a very nice,
splurge hotel, for me. My own room with bath and hot water. Then for
dinner, the first restaurant I found open was "The Muse" so I had
French Toast for dinner. There was an expat there who I ended up
sharing a table with and we spent the evening talking. He had been
craving some more intelligent conversation and was lamenting the lack
of both critical and independent thinking that he had found amongst
his neighbors in Peru. Traveling alone, I also crave interesting
conversation so I think we both enjoyed the evening.
No cable for the TV so I just read before bed.
[Date: Fri Aug 7, 2009 8:41 pm Hi all,
Here's the journal entries dealing with the time period when I was on
a physical and emotional roller coaster. It's not over yet, but
things are slowly getting back to normal.
I will make it to Machu Picchu in a couple/few days and hopefully a
few other interesting sites in Peru in the next week but my energy
level and self-motivation are so low right now, I don't think I'll be
doing all that much more adventurous travel here in Peru. Mostly,
I'll probably just take it easy and bide my time here and there before
getting to Lima in a week or two and flying back to the US on the
25th.
I slept well for four hours before being awoken by a loud doorbell, an
argument, the doorbell a couple of more times, and finally, my own
stomach. I ended up having to run to the bathroom a few times and
started to get worried what this might mean for the next day.
I finally got up at 6:30 and made it to the bus station but needed to
use the toilet again before boarding my bus to Pisac. It was only an
hour long ride through the pretty Sacred Valley but even though I was
sitting in the front seat, I didn't enjoy the ride much. I kept
nodding off and my stomach started to cramp a bit. I was very glad to
be on the relatively straight road through the valley and not on the
twisting and winding roads that would toss me about in the mountains.
Once in Pisac, I was feeling decidedly worse and started out at a
pharmacists. Not realizing what I was about to experience, I used the
toilet and then bought some Immodium in the hopes of being able to
continue to tour the sites of the region. But, then my first bad
cramp hit. It felt like a knife in my gut and I realized I was likely
dealing with food poisoning. Thinking back, even though I went to a
restaurant that caters to tourists and advertises the fact that all
their vegetables are cleaned with purified water, I ate French toast
and the eggs were not cooked through in the thick bread. Chances are,
I contracted Salmonella.
At that point, I had no idea what to do. I was hoping to get back to
Cuzco today but I wanted to see the local sites and couldn't do it
when I could barely walk. Plus I didn't think I could handle the ride
through the mountains. After sitting for an hour or so in the
pharmacists, drinking watered down Gatorade, I finally made my way
towards the plaza. Along the way, I asked a couple if they knew of a
cheap place where I could get a room to myself with a bathroom. A
cramp struck and when they saw me double over in pain, they took it
upon themselves to make sure I got to a hotel - including a stop along
the way so I could use a restroom in a restaurant.
They got me to a hotel that said they had a room with a bathroom for
me. Then only after the couple had left, they asked if I had a
reservation. The rooms with private baths were all reserved. I
didn't think I could make it to another hotel so I ended up with a
room without a bathroom.
I spent much of the day in bed and then in the late afternoon, sitting
in the lobby. I joined a group in the kitchen area that evening and
managed to drink some bouillon and eat a roll soaked in the soup.
Other than a bite of banana in the morning, a couple of crackers and
two oranges, it was the only thing I managed to eat all day. By now,
my cramping had lessened to very infrequently but I was exhausted and
crawled into bed before 9pm.
Surprisingly, I wasn't using the bathroom all that much.
All day, I was also chilled and towards the end of the day, body aches
set in, too.
I woke up feeling much better though rather weak after the best
night's sleep I've had in weeks. I slept straight through over nine
hours. The weakness was no surprise after not eating for a day.
I left a small bag at the hotel, checked out, and went for breakfast
at Ulrike's. I managed to slowly eat a good breakfast and hoped as it
entered my system, I would gain strength. So I slowly walked to where
the taxis hang out and after 15 minutes or so, found another woman to
share a taxi. Normally, I would walk up the hill to the ruins but I
was in no condition to walk up. I figured I would take the taxi up
and walk down.
I probably should not have toured the site today, but managed to
slowly walk through, taking mostly the shortest routes and not
exploring too much. I sat down a lot. I was feeling a bit fuzzy and
a bit dizzy so I was glad the trails were quite wide and I could stay
away from the steep dropoffs.
After just a few minutes there, my camera quit. It wasn't the
batteries or the memory. I had plenty of both. It was the camera and
there was nothing I could do to get it to work again. This on top of
the food poisoning was extremely frustrating. I did eventually find
someone who was taking pictures and will send me some of the site.
This site is well worth taking lots of pictures.
I was surprised at how large it was. It had at least four distinct
regions and I could have used a lot more time and energy there. But I
had no energy and that limited the time I could spend there. By the
time I had seen all I could manage, I was in no condition to walk down
so made my way to the lower parking lot and got a taxi down.
At least my stomach was cooperating - for the most part - so I
retrieved my extra stuff and caught a combi back to Cuzco. I was
disappointed not to be able to get a room at the Frankenstein Hotel
and eventually found a cheap hostel. I napped a bit then surveyed the
local shops to see what kind of cameras I could buy in town. I
intended to get online and do some research and then buy a camera but
was disappointed that they were all rather expensive at $150 and up.
No cheapo $40 Walmart type cameras here.
My energy level gave out so I went for dinner at the place that might
have the safest food in town: McDonald's. Funny how travel gives a
different perspective. I rarely eat fast food at home, but here, it
seems like the best option for my particular situation. Turns out it
was the best decision I had made all day - for a completely unexpected
reason.
In line, I met an Irish/American expat named Anthony who joined me for
dinner. He was here in Peru to live with his girlfriend. When we sat
down, but before I could take my first bite of food, I had my first
cramp of the day. It was nothing like the painful ones of yesterday
but got me scared. But, I ate my food anyway though I could barely
finish my sandwich and Anthony finished my fries for me. Along the
way, I told him my camera had broken earlier that morning. Would you
believe he immediately told me he had a camera I could borrow for the
duration of the rest of my trip? How cool is that? I made plans to
meet him for breakfast the next morning to pick up the camera.
Internet session and then early to bed.
I should have held out for my own room yesterday. Last night, I
needed the bathroom two to three times an hour until 3am. I went
through an entire roll of toilet paper and was worried about getting
more in the middle of the night. I was going to have to disturb the
guys in my room to beg some off of them. But about then, I was
finally able to settle down and slept for a few hours.
It took 15 minutes to do the 5 minute walk to Jack's place where I was
meeting Anthony. I was able to eat most of a yogurt, fruit, and
granola for breakfast, albeit very slowly. I got the camera and it's
very similar to mine in terms of functionality. Just a bit older so
only 4 megapixel rather than 6 like mine. No biggie there. It's
saving me having to buy a $200 camera for just a couple more weeks of
travel. My camera is under warranty and will be fixed or replaced when
I get back to the US. I won't need a new camera.
At this point, being exhausted and not knowing what to expect of my
stomach, I switched to a $15/night hotel. Expensive for me, I have my
own bathroom with hot water - even in the sink - and cable TV. Small
walks exhaust me so I'm planning on just laying low for a day or two
in the hopes that I can eat, stay hydrated, and regain enough strength
to be a tourist again.
Even if I see nothing else of Peru, I'm going to hang out in Cuzco in
the hopes that I can at least manage to see Machu Picchu before I
leave. But I don't want to go there unless I feel like I'll be able to
get around and see the site.
After a day in bed, I got up to use the internet and get dinner. I
met a couple on the way to the restaurant with a similar camera and
tried their batteries in my borrowed camera and the camera didn't
work. ARGH!!! So, now I'm back to having to buy a new camera. At
least I didn't buy $40 worth of charger and batteries to find that
out.
We shared a table and I had a pizza and they ate ice cream. I'm still
trying to eat "safely" for a while. Pizzas straight out of a wood
fired oven are about as safe as food gets. When I regain my strength,
I'm more likely to go back to eating what I want when I want.
I went back to Jack's for breakfast in case Anthony showed up but he
wasn't there. I wasn't necessarily expecting him as there hadn't
really been much time for me to let him know about the camera not
working. I'll try tomorrow.
I spent another day at the hotel, napping, watching TV, and emerging
for some time online and dinner. Back to McDonald's for dinner. I
wasn't in the mood for a long dinner. Even the cheapo Peruvian places
take a while to serve you. Just carrying my small day pack around has
been trying and gives me achy shoulders. I just wanted to get back to
bed.
Met Anthony for breakfast who was going to loan me another camera just
for my time in the Cuzco area. But he had the magic touch and got the
first camera working. We figured out that the battery compartment
door doesn't always hold the batteries well so I just have to hold the
compartment closed when the power turns off to get it to work again.
Woohoo! I now have a working camera for the duration of the rest of
my trip.
I switched back to the Frankenstein Hotel now that I no longer need
the private bath. Never really needed it anyway, but I didn't know
that. It was nice to spend time in bed for a couple of days rather
than forcing myself to be more active than I wanted. Had laundry
done. I'm fighting another batch of bedbug bites. I'm not convinced
that I'm not carrying them around with me but I'm trying really hard
not to.
Bought Sony battery charger and set of four rechargeable batteries.
Got them charging at the hotel. Falafel for lunch. Plaza sitting.
Hotel for nap. Yujuu, a juice place I've been going to regularly for
a light dinner of a ham and cheese sandwich. Had an Orange banana
juice with it, then chocolate cake which definitely had orange in it
with a lemonade. All for $5. Internet and bed in time to get a good
night's sleep. I'm planning on being a tourist again tomorrow.
Visiting Tipon and Pikillacta will be a good test to see how my energy
level holds out for a day on my feet away from the city.
[Date: Sat Aug 8, 2009 1:41 pm Yesterday wiped me out so I slept late and am taking it easy today.
If I feel better later today, I may plan to head for Machu Picchu
tomorrow. It takes a couple of days to get there and I'll be in no
rush.
As it is my energy level is too low to expect to do some of the hiking
in the area. Normally, I would get up early to try to hike up Huayna
Picchu, but I think I'll be pushing it just trying to see the main
site now. I'll decide once I'm there.
Back on the tourist track today. I walked to the bus stop this
morning, stopping at a supermarket for a yogurt, bread, and pastry for
breakfast. I caught the bus out of town towards Pikillacta. A
Peruvian/French couple got on, also going to visit the same ruins. We
traveled together, changing buses at one point and then walking up to
the ruins. The lady at this particular gate was very helpful and
suggested I try to go to her office to get an extension for my tourist
ticket which would otherwise expire today. I had tried for an
extension yesterday but was turned down at the ticket selling office.
I'll try to administrative office tomorrow.
The Pikillacta ruins are pre-Inkan, Wari, ruins. The rock
construction with earthen mortar is very different construction from
the meticulous Inkan walls I've seen elsewhere. Wandering around, we
could see how tall some of the ruins were. Here, some of the
buildings had been three stories tall. Under some protective
roofing, we saw examples where the buildings retained their white
plaster-like walls and flooring. It turns out, the covering was made
of gypsum, mined from the hills above the town. In its time, the
entire town was coated in white. You wouldn't have been able to see
the rock construction under the plaster construction. It reminds me
of some of the ruins I've seen in the desert southwest in the US where
the walls there were also covered and the rock work covered in its
time.
Walking back to the road, we realized there was another part of the
ruins to visit. This time a piece of Inkan irrigation system. Built
with typical Inkan stones it had a channel across the top. It no
longer carried water.
We grabbed a taxi back to Tipon when the buses we tried to flag down
failed to stop.
The other couple left for Cuzco and I, after hemming and hawing about
whether to hire a taxi on my own, managed to get a hitch up the hill
to the ruins. Cool.
The Tipon ruins are specifically known for the irrigation system. The
terracing and water channels, still flowing, are a true engineering
marvel. One ceremonial area with four channels coming off one flat
stone is just one indication. They had to get the stone exactly flat
to channel the water properly and hundreds of years later, it's still
perfectly channeling water where it's supposed to. I was tired and
didn't go up to the high point to see the start of the irrigation
system as I didn't want to push it too much today. Climbing up and
downs terraces was difficult enough.
Back in the town of Tipon, I wanted to try cuy. Cuy, a Peruvian
specialty is better known in the US as Guinea Pig. As often as I've
seen it on the menus, I've never seen a live guinea pig here in Peru.
While I could have had it just about anywhere, Tipon is particularly
known for its cuy so I held out for my visit here. The meat is rather
meager on the animal and the preparation I had used Muña leaves to
give it flavor, but otherwise, it's comparable to chicken. I wouldn't
order it again, but I would eat it again if it were served to me. I
had somehow gotten hooked up with a Polish group for our cuy outing.
Interesting.
I took the bus back to town while the group caught taxis. I couldn't
imagine eating another meal so I grabbed an ice cream and then a
lemonade back at Yujuu. Internet followed and then back to the hotel
for TV and bed.
[Date: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:08 am
Subject: 8/8-10: Cuzco to Agua Calientes
Hi folks,
If anyone knows of a housesitting opportunity in the Boston area for
the first couple of weeks of September and/or the last couple of weeks
of October, please let me know. I've got housing lined up between
those two periods. I'll also be looking for a furnished room to rent
for an indeterminate period of time (months or more most likely)
after that.
I'm well behind on transcribing my journal but here are the entries
that include getting to Machu Picchu the back way, itself a
spectacular trip, and my day at the ruins. I'll try to get more typed
up soon.
In the meantime, I'm staying at my friend Ruth's place. This is the
same Ruth that was living in Bangkok when I was traveling in SE Asia.
She's stationed in Lima now.
I'll be heading to NY on the 25th, visiting my friend Michele there,
and then getting back to Boston sometime between the 27th and 29th.
Enough for now...
I was wiped out after yesterdays return to the tourist trail and slept
late but not all that well. I spent the day on the plaza and then in
internet cafes and other cafes while hiding from the raindrops. I had
returned to the cafe over the plaza for a salad for lunch. It's a
nice place to kill time watching the world go by below. I downloaded
pictures from my borrowed camera with no problems.
Got an early start and walked to the Peru Rail station. Turns out, I
needn't have stopped there. They told me the ticket office in Santa
Maria is open late enough in the afternoon to buy tickets once I get
there. And I should just grab a bus to Urubamba and change to a bus
to Santa Maria there. That saved me a haul across town.
Grabbed a combi to Urubamba and only after arriving at the station was
told that I should have gotten off at the bridge to get the bus to
Santa Maria. So I walked back a kilometer to the bridge.
Once there, I was told that there were no more buses until 2pm. That
would be way too late to get to Agua Calientes today and it just
didn't seem right so I asked around and found out smaller mini buses
would be leaving soon. Why do they give blanket statements that there
is no more transit when there is? Then as I waited for a minibus, a
full sized bus came along. They had no regular seats but the driver
indicated that I should take the jumpseat in the cab. Cool! It may
not be an comfortable as the regular seats for those that fit in the
regular seats, but for me, it was the best seat in the bus. I got the
views from the huge windows that the driver sees through.
There were four of us up there and then we took one more passenger to
make five of us in the cab. When we passed through Ollantaytambo, I
saw Ruth, my friend who is living in Lima now, and family in the
street but there was no way to get their attention. It turns out
we're sort of on the same schedule for a few days so I might see them
in Machu Picchu tomorrow.
The arrangement with me in the cab of the bus lasted until shortly
after the 4316m pass. We stopped to let a couple of cyclists off the
bus who were planning on riding down to town. Then, they made me go
in back to sit in a regular seat. Argh! I really don't like buses.
After an hour to Urubamba and then 5 more hours to Santa Maria, I got
off the bus and caught a collectivo to Santa Teresa. An hour later,
along a spectacular road, we pulled into town. The ticket office for
the train was there so I quickly bought a ticket for Agua Calientes
and caught yet another collectivo to Hydro electrico, where the short
train to Agua Calientes leaves from. Half an hour later, I was there.
I paid a total of 54 soles to get from Cuzco to Agua Calientes, far
cheaper than those that take the train. Plus, the ride was
spectacular.
It was so spectacular that some of the people in my bus were both
nervous and scared. They weren't used to being on single lane dirt
roads next to cliffs with no guard rails. They had planned on taking
the same route back to Cuzco and were now planning on taking the
regular train from Agua Calientes to Ollaytantambo. I was already
planning on taking that train down, if only to see a different view.
Having driven on much worse and dangerous roads in other parts of the
world, I didn't find the route we took to be all that dangerous.
That said, I recognize that the route is not for the faint of heart,
but for anyone who can appreciate high twisting mountain roads, this
one would be a shame to miss for anyone going to Machu Picchu. It
takes all day rather than just a couple of hours for the more touristy
train, but the ride was well worth it - especially if you can get the
front seat in the bus or one of the smaller minibuses.
The train from Hydro Electrico to Agua Calientes was also interesting.
It had to switchback up mountains by going forward and backward along
sidings. But it was only an hour until we got to town. It is
possible to walk from Hydro Electrico to Agua Calientes and under
different, healthier circumstances, I would have chosen to do so.
Today, it's all about conserving energy for tomorrow in Machu Picchu.
There are no roads going to Agua Calientes and once in town, there are
no vehicles going up and down the steep walkways to get to and from
the hotels and restaurants.
I quickly bought my bus tickets for tomorrow, still relatively weak
from my food poisoning, I didn't want to waste energy on the 8km
uphill walk to the ruins in the morning.
Then I bought my tickets for Machu Picchu.
I found a hotel and checked in. 30 soles a night for a room with
private bath. While the room is quite nice by my standards, the
bathroom smells like a sewer so I just have to keep the door closed at
all times.
Then I was off to the train station to buy my ticket from Agua
Calientes to Ollantaytambo. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to
find that they were completely sold out for Tuesday. I would either
have to cut my day short tomorrow or spend an extra day in Agua
Calientes. I didn't want to miss out on any part of Machu Picchu so
decided to spend the extra day in town.
I soon found a restaurant with a 12 soles set menu that included
trout. Then I spent some time at an internet cafe before heading to
bed early knowing I would have a very early start the next day.
I woke briefly to a rain storm at 3am and was very glad I hadn't
decided to try to walk to Machu Picchu. By 4:30, the storm had
dissipated but it was still foggy and a bit drizzly. I got in line
for the buses, surprised at how many people were already ahead of me.
I wasn't even sure why I was up so early. The line forms early for
those who want to climb Huayna Picchu. I wanted to climb but wasn't
sure if it would be a good idea given my recent energy level. Even
though the buses didn't start running until 5:30, I was far enough
back in line to only make it onto the fifth bus. It was unclear if
that would be early enough for one of the 400 tickets available for
Huayna Picchu each day.
Huayna Picchu is the vertical mountain visible in the back of most of
the ubiquitous pictures of Machu Picchu. There are ruins and terraces
on top of the mountain and very steep stairs going up to the peak.
It's only supposed to be 45 minutes to an hour to climb so I decided
to try to get a ticket and then see what happens when I start to
climb. If it didn't go well, I could always turn around.
We got to Machu Picchu and I, along with many of the rest of the
crowd, either walked very fast or ran through the entire ruins without
looking around to line up for one of the 400 permits available daily
for Huayna Picchu. There are two set of tickets. Given the early
rain and cloudiness, I hoped to have my choice and get the later set
of tickets to climb. But as we stood in line, we heard that the
tickets were gone. Then we heard only the later tickets were gone and
there were still spots for the first climb. Someone went along the
line and did a count. I was 133 which meant there were only 70 spots
behind me for tickets for the earlier climb.
It was 7:50 before I got to the front of the line and got my permit to
climb. The line moves very slowly as everyone has to sign in with
life history - or so it seems. The climb, while quite steep, was much
easier than I feared. Only one section on the top was extremely steep
on a very narrow set of stairs. My big feet didn't fit very well on
the steps - even when climbing sideways.
I had met another couple of women while waiting in line and we ended
up hiking together. We toured the top of the mountain and when it
started raining, I started down, not wanting to be on the slippery
steps for any longer than necessary. I had a rough time coming down
and walked down many of the steps backwards. Hiking poles are not
permitted though if you have a medical reason, they are allowed. I
had left mine behind in Cuzco and was sorry at times not to have them.
The clouds weren't clearing as the morning went along, they were
getting worse. I was glad I ended up climbing with the first group,
while it was dry and the clouds were above the peak.
Back at the ruins, I joined the other two women for a tour of the
ruins. Our guide spoke passable English but it was obvious how canned
the tour was. Then again, if you repeated the tour every day,
multiple times a day for a living, you might sounds like a broken
record, too. Questions were answered with guesses and some of the
information was disseminated with confidence that shouldn't have been
there. There are a lot of unanswered questions about Machu Picchu and
the best answers for some questions would have been I don't know
rather than guesses that sound good at the time. Our guide cost 100
soles for two hours. Split three ways, it wasn't too bad.
After our tour, the two women had to beat a hasty retreat to catch
their train. I stayed on and while taking a break on a bench near the
entrance, Ruth, Mark, and David walk up. They had walked to Sun Gate
in the morning. I joined them for lunch at the lodge - a very nice
treat from Ruth. Then accompanied them on their tour in the
afternoon. It was interesting to see how similar and different the
tours were. Their guide was more willing to tell about aspects that
were unclear but each guide had their own strengths.
Deena, who hadn't felt well that morning, joined us for the tour in
the afternoon while David, ruined out, sat and read.
I was at the ruins until almost the last bus headed back to town. I'm
glad I hadn't planned on leaving on the afternoon train.
In town, I was on my own for dinner and found an 8 soles set menu. A
not so great burger with really good fries. I was beat though and
crawled into bed by 8:30.
[Date: Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:41 pm Here are the next few days worth of journal entries... not sure if
I'll get the last of Peru up before heading back to the US on Tuesday.
I'll try...
I woke up after 9:30. After pushing yesterday, I really needed it. I
was still beat though so stayed in bed a while longer to read. Spent
some time sitting in the plaza for lunch, eating an empanada and
alfajore for lunch. It was hot in the sun so I moved along when I
finished. I found a cushioned seat in the shade at the train station
so spent the afternoon there, reading and working Sudoku puzzles. I
hit the internet cafe before dinner. I went back to the cheapo place
for pizza. Then went to bed early.
I took the 9:30 backpacker train to Ollantaytambo. This was the quick
but expensive way back at $31 for the 2.5 hour ride. Unlike the bus,
the train stayed in the valley. The ride was pretty, following along
the (Urubamba?) river with glimpses of the mountains, but not nearly
as spectacular as the way I had taken to get to Agua Calientes.
In Ollantaytambo, I ate at Heart Cafe, a non-profit that puts all
their extra cash into providing antibiotics, condoms, and other
services to locals.
Then I visited the ruins. My ticket had expired days earlier but when
I explained about the food poisoning, they offered to let me in as
long as they cancelled all the other uncanceled sites Since I had
already used up practically all of the sites on my ticket, and it was
expired and I wasn't planning on going anywhere else, I had no problem
with that. Plus, I wasn't feeling well and didn't know how long I
would last at the ruins so didn't want to pay for a one day ticket.
I managed to walk the big loop around the ruins, even with the
numerous terraces I had to climb.
Moving on, I caught a combi to Urubamba. Along the way, I could see
up one of the valleys to the Salineras de Maras, the site I had
visited last week. From Urubamba, I caught another combi to Cuzco by
way of Pisac. It seems they only go in a clockwise circle.
I had emailed the Frankenstein Hotel from Agua Calientes so had a room
waiting for me when I returned. I went to put on my old ripped pants
when I got out of the shower only they were missing. So I put on the
dirty pants and went to find Ruth and family. When they didn't show
up as expected in the 7/7:30 times frame, I left a note and went to
Jack's cafe. As I was finishing my sandwich, Ruth and Deena showed
up. So I had dessert, too, while they had dinner. Then back at their
hotel, I got some Cipro from Ruth and went back to my hotel.
I might see Deena in Arequipa in a few days and then both she and Ruth in Lima.
Slept late, exhausted once again. I now wonder if it's something
other than the residual dragginess from the food poisoning. Tourista
and the antibiotics I take for it, don't usually wipe me out, so maybe
it's just the accumulation of problems or something else entirely.
Hmm, or maybe it's my thyroid problem though both my blood tests while
on this trip have been normal.
Breakfast sandwich at McDonalds. I think I've gone there more times
in the last couple of weeks than I have ever while traveling in
foreign countries in the past. Usually, I use them for bathrooms and
milkshakes but here, I've actually been eating meals.
I brought my laundry in to be washed and found the pants I had lost
had been left there the previous wash, last week. It was nice to get
them back, even though they're garbage as soon as I get home.
I walked down (literally downhill) to the bus station and bought a bus
ticket for Arequipa tomorrow. I didn't take the cheapest ticket but I
did get a fairly cheap one that had the first row in the bus
available. it'll be more comfortable (I hope) and will have better
views. I leave at 6:30 in the morning. As it was nearby, I visited
the Pachutek tower. It had a nice display of the succession of
pre-Inkan and Inkan leaders. Plus the view from the top was pretty
good, too. I grabbed a local bus to get back to the plaza and then
had lunch at the cafe overlooking the plaza. Omelets are on the menu
almost everywhere but today was the first time I got around to having
one. Mushroom. it was pretty good, but the garlic bread, also on
menus everywhere, was also delicious.
I spent the afternoon, sitting in the plaza, retrieving my laundry,
and then taking a nap.
Internet and ravioli dinner at the corner pizza place.
Woke up early to get to the bus terminal for a 6:30 bus that left at
6:50. Had to take a taxi to get there, too. My stomach felt
"delicate" all day and I only managed to drink a couple of ounces of
yogurt and eat a couple of croissants. I might have had a few sips of
water, too. This was for a ten hour bus ride.
The first half of the ride reversed the ride I had taken from Puno to
Cuzco. I was disappointed to have not taken the more direct route but
the route to Arequipa which might have been a spectacular ride through
the mountains, but the second half of the ride was new to me and a
nice ride, too.
As we descended through cactus country, we crossed the high plains to
get back to the Andes. Along the way, I started seeing some of the
birds that I hadn't seen since leaving the Andes. Mountain Caracaras
(northern cousins of the Chimanga Caracaras), Andean Geese, an
Aplomado falcon, Ibis, and more. The Andes, far to the west of Cuzco,
now loomed ahead and got closer and closer as we drove. We might be
in the tropics, but the mountains looming over 5000m hold snow year
round. We eventually descended to Arequipa at 2300m. Life and
breathing should be a bit easier here.
I'll be meeting Deena here tomorrow but for today, the hostel we're
looking for is full so I checked into a nearby cheapo hotel and got my
own room. I made a reservation at the other hostel for tomorrow.
It's the night before the 469th Anniversary of the founding of the
city and the place is hopping. I ended up eating a delicious sandwich
for dinner at Mamut, just off the plaza. After not eating much all
day, it felt good to eat but the half a sandwich I ordered was enough.
There were huge crowds in the plaza but no entertainment to speak of.
A few buskers but nothing to keep a large crown there.
The cathedral there was quite impressive. It's huge, takes up a full
city block and like most of the major building in the plaza and
throughout the rest of the city, it's made of sillar, a white volcanic
stone or vapour-phase crystallized tuff according to Wikipedia. At
night with the lights on it, it is quite impressive though I'm sure it
will be during the day, too.
I continue to sleep late though I'm pretty convinced I'm not sleeping
well. It's so unlike me to spend so much time sleeping.
I moved to the Home Sweet Homes hostel which Deena had heard good
things about from one of her brothers. I then went downtown to see
the parade but wanting to eat first, I grabbed another sandwich from
Mamut. By the time I was done, I couldn't get back onto the plaza so
made do with standing at the corner, watching the parade go by. It
seemed many of the participants were advertisers. But there were a
fair number of dance troupes and others passing by as well. The pisco
truck came by with a man on stilts passing out pisco to anyone with a
cup to hold it. The truck itself was a huge tanker and they used the
truck to spray the audience with pisco. I ducked behind the crowd and
stayed mostly dry but was more concerned with protecting the camera.
I wasn't feeling all that great so wandered back to the hotel after
watching for an hour or two. I took a nap, did some sudoku, and used
the internet until Deena showed up. We hit a pizza place near the
plaza. I had passable lasagna and Deena had some bad pizza. Oops!
Owen, a guy who had almost shared my hotel room on my first night in
town, also moved to this hostel yesterday and joined us for
breakfast,. Deena invited him to join us for the day.
We went to the University Museum to see Juanita, the Ampata Princess.
She was found in 1995 on the top of volcano Ampata when the neighboring
volcano (Sabancaya) erupted and melted all the snow off the summit of
Ampata. She along with three others had been sacrificed during
another period, maybe 500 years earlier, when the snow had melted once
before. The were buried in the fetal position with all sorts of other
objects. Their tombs had not been raided so everything was recovered
and brought to Arequipa. Because the human remains were not mummies,
but were rather dehydrated due to the elements, they must be kept at
-19c. The Japanese donated a three layer glass storage box for
Juanita and she's on display most of the year. When not here, they
put one of the other sacrificial children on display. the only way to
see her is to take a tour through the museum. It's rather well done
and explains what all the findings are and significance, if any. Like
many others, I remember first reading about her in National Geographic
magazine.
After our tour, we were walking back towards the hostel and passing
through the plaza area when we saw a crowd forming. We soon realized
they were waiting in line to buy tickets to a dance festival. We
joined the line and got tickets for that night.
Then we stopped at Mamut for a quick lunch. We had to get back to the
hostel for a tour that Deena's mother had arranged for Deena. But we
were welcome to join in. We had a nice tour of the city, but the best
part, was the tour of the convent. There we learned how the nun's
came to be there years ago. Initially, it was generally the second
daughter that was committed to the convent. This particular convent
was frequented by those with a lot of money. The families had to pay
a dowry for their daughters to get in. It was the equivalent of about
$50,000. Then even though they were cloistered and could never leave,
they lived in relative luxury. They had large quarters, furnished
however their families saw fit, and even had servants to work for
them. The convent was huge and there was plenty of room to move
around. it was also beautiful. At one point, there were nearly 200
nuns living there. Now, it's down to 20 and they no longer have
individual quarters or servants. But, they use modern conveniences
like washing machines and since they are praying for the good of the
world, they need to know what the world knows and watch TV and read
papers.
Afterwards, Deena and I stopped for a snack, Owen caught up with us
again, and then we figured out that the dance performance wasn't near
the plaza. We quickly hopped a taxi and went to the coliseum where we
sat on hard concrete and watched three hours worth of folk dance
performances from around Latin America - and Poland. Not sure what
the polish troupe was doing there but the men performed spectacularly.
We left before it ended but three hours was enough - all for 5 soles
- or less than $2.
I had decided not to do a Colca Canyon trip because I wasn't up for
the trek, but then after hearing about the tour Deena signed up for
and realizing it was basically a bus tour, I also decided to sign up.
Deena's bus was full so I signed up for another group's tour.
My tour bus, expected at 8:30 in the morning, showed up at 7:45.
Thankfully, I was already packed and just needed to dump my large pack
in storage. I crawled onto a surprisingly large bus for the tour but
was glad to get the front seat with a bit of extra knee room - and a
good view out of the front of the bus.
We stopped at a number of viewpoints on the way to Chivay. Near
Arequipa for views of Misti, ChaChan, and P___, the volcanoes that
surround the city. We stopped again for views of the same volcanoes
from the back side. Also, we could see Ampato, the volcano where
Juanita, the ice Princess was discovered. it's now completely covered
with snow and has been since 1998, three years after the four
sacrificed children were discovered near the summit of the mountain.
We also had one stop for Mate de Coca. I don't care for it so passed.
But, I've been at altitude enough that I wasn't affected as some of
the others were. We also stopped at the high point, at 4900m, perhaps
the highest I've ever been without being in a pressurized plane.
In town, the bus stopped for lunch at an overpriced Peruvian buffet.
I took off and went to have lunch in the main plaza. I rejoined the
tour to check in to my hotel. I got a double to myself with bath.
not bad. Then I joined those that felt up for a hike. We drove to a
nearby town on the "right" side of the canyon and went for a two hour
walk. We stopped at the base of a cliff to examine pre-Incan tombs.
They were built of rock and had a lot of skeletons and skulls. The
skulls were interesting in that they were deformed in the style of the
time. Children up to the age of four had their heads squeezed between
boards and wrapped.
I skipped the next activity, a stop at the nearby hot springs and took
a nap at the hotel. I had checked out the observatory in town,
thinking I would prefer it over yet another folklorico dinner and
dance but with a 30 minute talk and only 10 minutes for the entire
group to use the telescope, I declined. So, I joined my group for
dinner and dance before calling it a night.
I slept poorly after a day that should have knocked me out and woke up
at 3:30. I didn't have to get up until 5am. LOL Breakfast at the
hotel at 5:30. We toured the church built in three different styles,
Renaissance, Baroque, and neoclassic after various earthquakes damaged the
building which then required rebuilding or renovation. In the plaza, there were the
usual colorfully dressed women in local costume trying to make money
by posing for pictures with their baby lambs and alpaca, but this
time, there was a difference. They also had large birds of prey to
pose with. Apparently some years ago, someone took in an injured
raptor and when the townsfolk realized that visitors liked to take
pictures of them, they went out and got their own. They aren't
necessarily the best kept birds. This is also very different from the Naxi
men I saw in Lijiang, China who use falcons to hunt. My journal entries from China in 1997.
I stuck to my guns and refused to take pictures for money. It's just
not something I think is a good idea. I didn't do it in SE Asia,
Nepal, China, or here. And I won't anywhere else, either. As a
result, I won't have all that many pictures of the local people, and
very few in the colorful clothes that they wear every day. Even those
not specifically posing will ask for propina if you take a pictures.
of course, the times when I've been asked to pose with locals, they
haven't given me any tips. Even when I've asked. (Just kidding...
Even when I ask, it's just to give us all a laugh - and they do laugh.
Yes, I am a tourist attraction to some Peruvians. I was in Asia,
too)
I don't have a problem with the dancers who were dancing around the
fountain in the middle of the plaza. They dance and pass the clay jar
for propina - tips. I was exhausted though and when I realized it was
the same dancing and similar costumes as I had seen the night before,
I just returned to the bus to relax in my seat.
We stopped for a view of the canyon. Then again, just shy of Cruces
del Condor for a clifftop walk along the top of the canyon where we
saw a Mountain Caracara, a few Giant Hummingbirds, and a bunch of
Andean Swallows.
Finally, we arrived at our primary destination for the morning, Cruces
del Condor. Andean condors are know to hang out in the area. Sure
enough, as we approached there were no fewer than seven gliding around
in the area.
I found a good spot to watch for a while and unlike southern Chiloe
where I saw quite a few condors very high in the air near the mountain
tops, these were below eye level and often close enough to fill the
frame of my camera. A few would roost every now and then. It was
pretty easy to distinguish the juveniles with their drab plumage. The
adults were easier to distinguish between male and female when
perched. The males have a growth on their head. Eventually, some of
them started flying over the crowd, too. It was quite a site. These
birds are huge. They have a 3m wingspan and can weigh up to 15 kilos
(that's over 30 pounds).
During our return, I was exhausted and dragged myself out of the bus
for a couple of scenic stops, one of which we saw some more tombs
built in extremely difficult to access places under cliffs up high. I
didn't bother getting out of the bus in Maca. The attraction was a
local cactus juice that I just didn't feel like trying. I dozed in
the bus and took some pictures from my seat.
Back in Chivay, I once again skipped the overpriced buffet lunch and
did my own thing in the plaza. then did some bird watching in the
plaza. Saw what was most likely a Great Sapphirewing as well as a few
others.
The bus ride back to Arequipa was quiet. Many slept. I did a bit but
actually woke up a bit along the way.
Back in Arequipa, I met up with Deena at the hostel. We met Julia, a
friend of hers from her tour in the plaza and made our way to
Crepisimo, a place with delicious crepes. We each had both a savory
crepe for dinner and a sweet crepe for dessert. My pear, manjar crepe
was delicious.
We didn't have time to dawdle. Deena had to get back to get her
backpack and grab a taxi to the airport. I had to get my own backpack
and take a taxi to the bus terminal. There, I bypassed the first few
companies that were charging 80 soles and went with one that was
charging 60 soles but the kicker was this one had a front seat
available. Plus, it wasn't a cama or semicama bus, most people's
preference for an overnight bus ride. With legs as long as mine, the
footrest just takes up room, rather than supports my legs. There may
have been cheaper buses yet, but the good seat was worth the extra
money. Can't complain about $20 for a 10 hour bus ride.
They showed "Earthquake" a 1974 movie with a star studded cast
including Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, Charlton Heston, Walter Matthau, and more. Surprisingly, it was not
only in English, the volume was loud enough to actually follow along,
most of the time.
Colca Canyon bird list - day one:
Colca Canyon - day two:
I was surprised to have actually slept a bit on the trip during the first
few hours. Then I slept more off than on, fitfully, for the rest of
the ride.
When I got to Nazca, the overflight touts met the bus. I hate the
hard sell. The first two from two different companies tried to find
ways to lure me and this one other tourist to go with them. Then a
third showed up from one of the same companies, undercutting the
other two. They started arguing with each other and us. I just gave
up and ignored them. I was ready to just hop the next bus to Lima and
skip the whole thing but figured I would try my luck in a storefront
agency if I could find one. I did and it was listed as a good one in
the Lonely Planet guide book. I went in and told them how I hated the
hard sell from the street and I would book with them immediately if
they could give me the same price. She did so I signed up with them.
I ended up taking a small walk around town then hung out at the
travel agency and associated hotel until it was my time to head to the
airport. I was assigned to a plane with a group of four others. We
went up in a Cessna 172, the same type of plane I used to fly in with
an old boyfriend. But, we usually used the plane for transportation,
not for sightseeing. This flight was interesting... It's the first
time I've been motion sick in the air. I didn't get nauseous, but it
was the same as on the cruise through the Drake Passage. I was hot,
needed as much fresh air as I could get, and sometimes just had to
close my eyes.
The flight itself went by a series of about 14 geoglyphs. Most were
on the flat plains and were so large there was no way anyone could see
them except from in the air. So, why did this ancient culture without
the ability for air travel, make these geoglyphs only visible from
the air? We'll probably never know.
To give each of us a good view of each geoglyph, our pilot would fly
by, putting each geoglyph on the right side and then do a very sharp
turn and give the same view to the left side of the plane. Each time,
he would also roll so the wing would point down to the image and we
could see it really well. I just wish we could have opened the
windows to get better pictures. It was all the quick direction changes
and rolling that brought on the motion sickness. Of course, if
didn't help that I was exhausted.
Back in town, I sat a few minutes to let my stomach settle, then
grabbed some munchies and hopped a bus to Ica. It was 2.5 hours and
I had all five back seats to myself so stretched out and slept for two
hours, only waking up once when the ticket guy wanted to see my bus
ticket.
In Ica, it took approximately four minutes to catch my next bus to
Lima. This one was 4.5 hours and there was no room to stretch out. I
watched three movies, all in Spanish. Outside the bus, I was
surprised to see us driving though hours and hours of dunes. I knew
there were dunes in the area. Cerro Blanco, the world's highest dune
at 1176m dominated over Nazca, but I didn't realize they would stretch
for so long along the coastal part of Peru.
Oh yeah, the three movies were Billy Elliot, Blue Lagoon, and
Castaway. There have to be better options.
Once in Lima, I once again ignored the overpriced bus station taxi
touts that swarm the new arrivals, crossed the street to get a snack
at the supermarket there, and grabbed a street taxi to get to Ruth's.
I settled in quickly. Ruth's Lima apartment is a bit smaller than her
Bangkok one was but just as comfortable. I got there at nearly 10pm so
soon after I got there, Ruth, Deena, and I all crashed.
I did laundry this morning. Then went to Waffles and Crepes for
brunch. I've still had no energy and felt like falling asleep over
lunch. I walked past the Inka Market and went to visit Michele, a
woman I had first met in Xela, Guatemala in November, at the very
beginning of this trip. She's now living and working at the South
America Explorer's Club here in Lima. I walked back to the apartment
by way of Larco Mar, a subterranean mall built into the cliffs
overlooking the ocean. It's just four blocks from Ruth's place.
Ruth's place also overlooks the ocean from the sixth floor of her
building.
Back at the apartment, I napped, watched TV, checked email, and went
to the store with Ruth and Deena when they returned.
Things are a little different here. First of all, I'm staying in a
posh part of town. Here, there are no street dogs, for the first time
in all my travels. That doesn't mean there aren't dogs. There are.
Most are on leash or stay very close to their owners. Most also wear
clothes. Some wear doggy coats, some t-shirts, and some even wear
shoes. It's weird. And the locals don't realize that most dogs in
the world go "naked". Here, they even shave their dogs so the clothes
fit better. It's just strange.
With the lack of street dogs, I even saw two cats hanging out in one
park. I don't think I've ever seen that elsewhere.
Plus, while I was sitting in the park on top of the Larcomar mall, I
even saw one mouse. It was perhaps the tiniest mouse I've ever seen,
maybe just 2cm long, plus tail.
Just because I'm spending time along the shore, doesn't mean it's nice
beach weather. This is fog season and it's constantly gray. It's
also winter so you usually need at least a jacket here.
Still sleeping long hours... Met Thomas for lunch at San Antonio.
Thomas is the guy with whom I visited Observatorio Tololo with near
Vicuna Chile. I had one of the best sandwiches I've had since leaving
the US there.
Once again, I was beat so I just went back to the apartment for
another nap. Then in the evening, I met Michele and Deena at the mall
for dinner. Michelle is a woman I had met in Xela, Guatemala at the
very beginning of my trip. She's now living in Lima and working for
the South American Explorer's Club here in Lima. It's nice to be able
to reconnect with other travelers along the way. After dinner, we
walked to the nearby lighthouse and then returned to the apartment.
Another day of sleeping late. After spending the morning in the
apartment, Deena and I took a walk along the cliff and watch the
paragliders here. They take off and land from the same small public
park at the top of the cliff. The winds along the coast are reliable
enough so if they don't make it, they can land along the narrow strip
of beach. We saw one guy, obvious new to paragliding, who didn't make
it back to the park and landed below on the beach. It'll probably
cost him a 10 soles taxi ride to get back up to the top.
We were walking to La Mar to meet Ruth for lunch. The restaurant is
known for it's Ceviche. We ended up sharing three dishes, one
ceviche, one tuna, sea bass, and octopus Asian dish, and one TacuTacu,
a local rice and bean dish with a large piece of Sea Bass.
Unfortunately, the last dish reminded me of all the rice and beans I
had eaten in Central America. I hope one of these years, I'll enjoy
them again. But, all were delicious, anyway.
We stopped for ice cream. They have a lot of Gelaterias here with
pretty good ice cream. then we went shopping at Wong's a large
grocery store.
I tried to go shopping after lunch but I was practically falling
asleep on my feet. I just bought some stuff for dinner and went back
to the apartment. Other than catching up with friends, Lima has been
a bust. I never even made it to see the town center. I'll be making
a doctor's appointment when I get home if I don't shake this
beforehand.
[Date: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:00 pm Hi folks,
I've finally transcribed the remainder of my South America journal.
There wasn't much more to write though.
Since I've been back, I've had doctor's appointments, a bunch of
nights sleeping on the sofas of friends and family, and two house
sitting gigs. I'll be in my current place until October 5 then off to
Pennsylvania for a week or so for the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers
Association annual Gathering. I'll be presenting talks there,
including one about my experiences on Easter Island.
Reentry has been interesting. I still have to remember it's OK to
flush toilet paper now. The showers here have plenty of hot water and
decent water pressure, too. I no longer have to look for my bottled
water when I brush my teeth. And I can walk into any restaurant and
not wonder if the food will make me sick. Eating salad is no longer a
gamble, and I can find almost anything I want in the supermarkets.
Plus, the fruit and vegetables in both the supermarket and farmer's
market are much better quality than much of what I saw in South
America. And I've managed to get to a couple of dances, an activity
I sorely missed while traveling.
On the down side, things are rather expensive here. I'm still tired
all the time but am waiting for the results of the blood test ordered
by my doctor. And I can't get the avocados I could get while
traveling for a fraction of the price available here. I've got my car
back and tend to drive everywhere so I'm not walking nearly as much.
I'm looking forward to getting out on the local trails again once I
have some more energy.
In the immediate future, I don't have any specific travel plans. I'm
going to look for a room to rent and take some time here at home to
organize the over 100gb of pictures I've taken over the last few
years. Then I need to update my long ignored web site to add the last
three years worth of journal entries, some of my pictures, and more
advice geared towards travelers rather than hikers.
Over the next couple of years, I may stick closer to home and go on
shorter trips. Eventually however, I do anticipate more long trips,
including a trip to Africa where I hope to travel the length of the
continent, a long overdue trip concentrating on southern European
countries, and perhaps more travels in Central and South America.
I enjoy receiving questions and comments about my travels so feel free
to email me by replying to this message (replies come only to me, not
the list) or use mfactor@gmail.com.
Last night before going to sleep, I started scratching. The itchy
spots were in hard to see areas but I just thought I had been bitten
by something even though there really weren't many insects out and
about, not that I had been out and about much, either.
This morning, I realized it wasn't bites. I now had some sort of rash
spreading on all sorts of parts of my body: scalp; arms; trunk; legs;
and parts in between. It wasn't so bad in the morning but when it
started getting worse over the course of the day, it was scary enough
that I contemplated finding a clinic and going to see a doctor right
away. But then as this was my last day in Peru, I didn't want to be
told I couldn't fly. The rash was only where it was covered by hair
or clothing and while it was very itchy, scratching only made it
painful. So, I just decided to stay covered up and try really hard
not to scratch.
Once again, I spent the day napping and grabbing meals. I tried to go
shopping after lunch again but was too tired and just went back to the
apartment.
I napped and packed in the afternoon.
In the evening, I left the apartment with all my stuff and made my way
to the airport. I stopped at a supermarket to get something to eat
for dinner at the airport. Then I made my way to the bus stop. But
the bus didn't come. I had seen it there earlier in the day and had
been told it was the right spot but maybe later in the day, the bus
takes a different route. Other people told me of a different stop but
the bus didn't come there, or to a third stop I was pointed to. By
then I had run out of time to take the bus and grabbed a taxi.
At the airport, I noticed a small tear in the fabric of my backpack so
had it wrapped in plastic for the flight home. Then I managed to get
exit row seats for both my flights. I had plenty of leg room but I
couldn't recline my seat. A reasonable trade off. After buying some
antihistamines to both help with the itching and maybe help me sleep
on the flight, I settled in to wait for my flight which didn't leave
until after midnight.
I had two uneventful flights to NY through Mexico City. In Mexico
City, I grabbed breakfast at an airport 7-11. Sandwich and apple
soda, long a favorite of mine from previous trips to Mexico. I miss
apple soda in the US where it isn't available in most grocery stores.
I usually only find it in Mexican restaurants or stores that cater to
Mexican immigrants.
In NY, taking public transit to my friends place in NJ was easier than
expected. I had to go to a different terminal using the air train,
then a bus, the subway, and finally another bus from the Port
Authority Bus Terminal. Glad I was traveling light.
Last time I had seen my friend Michele, I had to call just before I
visited to make sure she was still at home and not in the hospital
having had her babies. This time, I'll get to meet her one year old
twins for the first time - but that'll wait until tomorrow. They were
in bed before I arrived.
Unfortunately, my skin thing is getting worse and a bit scary. I'm
not touching anyone and trying to limit even the household items I
come in contact with. I don't know what it is and I don't know if
it's contagious. I may go see a doctor tomorrow, if I can find
someone. it was only when I got ready for bed that I realized how bad
it got. it's all over my trunk now and getting bigger. Yikes! I'm
either going to see a doctor tomorrow or I may leave for home.
After spending time online trying to help ID my skin reaction
unsuccessfully (it looked like a drug reaction but I hadn't taken any
usual medicine), I made an appointment to see a doctor later in the
afternoon and then spent the day at the Dome, Michele's parent's other
house. It's not too far from Bear Mountain, where the AT goes north
of the city. We picked up subs for lunch and then went to the nearby
lake to take the kids swimming. I didn't feel like exposing myself
much so just got my feet wet.
Later, at my doctor's appointment, he immediately assured me that I
wasn't contagious. Just knowing that was a huge relief for me and I
could finally relax. I think I presented an interesting case for him.
It may be an allergic reaction but there was no way to determine to
what. I'm to take antihistamines and if it doesn't go away or goes
away but comes back, see my doctor in Boston. He wasn't all that
worried about it otherwise. It looked like a drug allergy reaction
but I hadn't been taking anything for days before the symptoms
started.
Back at the house, Michele fed the kids and put them to sleep and then
she and I had dinner and played Scrabble using their family's special
rules. Got three of one letter? Swap at any point without missing a
turn - and other twists to the regular rules.
I found a ride to Connecticut using craigslist. A lady moving stuff
from near Princeton, NJ to Boston wanted company and help driving.
So, I drove the entire way from NJ to Hartford. I got a ride, she got
a break from driving, and we were both happy. I offered gas money but
was refused.
I met my sister Sharon, and spent the rest of the day with her, having
lunch, visiting my Mom, and then visiting another friend and having
dinner. I got my car back and spent the night in East Hartford.
I spent the morning visiting my Mom and had lunch with her. Then it
was an easy drive back to Boston.
Last updated, September 12, 2012.
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