Everything is closed...

Tis Easter weekend here in Santiago, and everything is closed. Being such a Catholic country, it isn't surprising. Yesterday I rode my bike up Cerro San Cristobal, which has a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city. It was full of people visiting the church at the top, even a few impersonating Jesus. I was some what impressed, it is a bit of a hike, a long ways to carry a cross, but I guess that's the point right? Chile seems to enjoy consumerism, as the Easter bunny isn't an unknown figure here. Not the same level as in the US, but there are those who pursue the Easter egg hunt. Sometimes it is odd for me, someone who wasn't raised with any Christian influence, to be around such a Christ crazy country.

cerveza

I wanted to dedicate a little bit of time to the beer that I drink the most, Escudo. When deceiding on a good beer, one has to consider many different factors.

1. How much is it? The price can't break my bank account, Escudo is relatively cheap, averaging around 650 chilean pesos for one liter.
2. How easy is it to get a hold of? Escudo is sold everywhere, usually cold, one only needs an empty bottle to exchange for a full one..(or you pay 200 pesos extra, Chile's version of a bottle deposit)
3. Does it taste good? Escudo is much better then some of the other Chilean beers such as Cristal, Baltica, Austral, while it can't even begin to compete with Kuntsmann, it is suffcient on a hot day.

One can find draft Escudo, but usually I have a beer at the house, where it is far cheaper and I can choose the music.


Now, sometimes I want something a little better quality. When this feeling hits, I turn to Kuntsmann.




Kuntsmann is brewed in Valdivia, which is in the south of Chile. It is an indicator of the influence of German culture here in Chile, good bear (guten bier?). It is a little more expensive, but reminds me of some of the microbrews availible in the US, (which I am always missing...)

got a few classes....

So the routine of being in one place for an extended amount of time can sometimes be a burden for me. So much easier when you can just get on a bus and head to the next town when things get dull, but there is plenty about being home bound that I enjoy. It is nice to have friends that you know, that you don't have to explain who you are, that you can just relax with. I don't have the same range I had in Santiago but I have a few which is good enough for now. On Friday I went out with a bunch of other English teachers, it was the first time I have gone out with other English speakers in over a month. So different to be able to just talk without any thought process, but not nearly as interesting. A lot of times when I am with Spanish speakers, I am so interested in what they have to say, but if I had the same conversation in English it would be so boring. Talking about clothes, or some stupid television show. I still have a long ways to go with my Spanish, but I can see that I have improved over the last few months. I could hardly finish a sentence when I arrived, now I can go on a short rant in Espanol!

Back to Santiago....

Returned to the bustle of the city. When I arrived the bus terminal was packed, everyone was returning from their vacations. Last Sunday the news reported around 200,000 people returned to the city! I took the metro home and found myself walking down Vicuña Mackenna, the roar of the micros and the bustle of the street was a bit overwhelming. It has been a while since I've been in a city.

Returning to Santiago was like coming home. I got in touch with some friends, met new people living in my apartment. Louisa, from Brazil, a strong willed 25 year old girl who goes out every single night of the week. She is a Brazilian so is full of energy and sass. Much different from the German, Jans, who was living their before I left. Also a guy named Mickey, from Japan. We have quite a blend of personalities in the house right now.

I am waiting on classes at my school, right now there is nothing. I think March will be very slow as everyone is still adjusting to regular life after the holiday season. It is very hot in Santiago right now, last week it hit around 37 C, who knows what that is in F, but it is incredibly hot. All the cement heats up and around 5 pm it is almost unbearable.

I am also looking for some other things to do with my time, maybe volunteer somewhere or something like that, but don't know as of yet. Photos of my trip soon to come...

Pushed on through to Chile...

In a bar called La Luna, I spent the night chatting with a Peruvian from Lima I met named Javier. A couple of girls from Buenos Aires were putting on some sort of theater, entertaining though I didn't really understand what was going on. I met some Italians there, an entertaining group of three, Max, Vincent, and Marco.

The next day I went by bus to Uyuni, a 11 hour or so passage on unpaved roads in a packed bus. I arrived around 5:30 am, found a hostel, took a long nap. When I woke I walked outside, and there sitting at a table in front of my hostel were the Italians. We talked for a while in a mix of Spanish, Italian, and English, had a beer, then went looking for a tour company for a passage through the salar de Uyuni. After checking out several, we decided on one recommended by another Italian couple we ran into. The driver was experienced, and a mechanic as well.

The next mourning we set out for the salt plains. Being the rainy season, the whole of the salt plain is covered in water. This allows for some amazing reflections, it feels like your in a plane or something, other moments it is like being in a boat. The Land Rover we rode in was well equipped for the rough ride. Also along with us was an Israeli couple from somewhere near Tel Aviv. They spoke no Spanish, so were always asking me to translate into English, which I enjoyed at first but soon grew slightly annoying!

I had heard a lot of people talk about the Salar, about how amazing it was, and so forth. I figured it was cool, but had no sense of what it was until I arrived. It was like being on another planet, rocks formed by wind that looked like sculptures, a scale that boggles the mind, mountains of many different colors due to the mineral content, turquoise lakes, salt crystals floating in water that form perfect pyramids, high desert with no life, lagoons with pink flamingos flying in formation. Geysers spewing steam into the air, bubbling volcanic sulfur pools at 15,000 feet, hot springs, rocks used by Salvador Dali in his paintings, it was a place that sparked the imagination, made you think about this world and how complex, diverse and amazing it is.

I came to the Chilean border, passed through without incident, and found myself back in San Pedro de Atacama. That night I made the 18 hour passage to La Serena, and just a day after wearing my warmest of clothes, I was sitting on the beach, staring out at the Pacific Ocean in a bathing suit.

On the bus I also met a guy named Alexandro, a Chilean who worked as a guide, played music, recreates ancient native musical instruments for museums throughout Chile. That night I met up with him and we traded CDs, copying several on his brother's computer. Him and his girlfriend took me on a little tour of La Serena, and we ate some fresh fish in a small food stand next to the beach. It feels strange to be back in Chile, it is so western, so different from the world that was Bolivia and Peru. You can walk on the beach and hear people listening to Sublime and AC DC (Ug!) plus the accent is so different, so much harder to understand from Bolivia.

Now I have a little time to reflect on the last month and a half, all those places that I found myself, from the Pacific to Lake Titikaka, Machu Picchu to the markets of La Paz, it has been a journey I will never forget....

Uyuni

So I left La Paz at around 10:30 am, got on a bus for Oruro, a three hour ride that took me to the train station. I had bought a train ticket in advance because I didn't want to have to endure the long, very bumpy ride to Uyuni in a packed bus. I arrived at the train station and found out that everything was shut down, that because of the rain, there wouldn't be another one for about a week.

So I got on a bus.

It was jam packed full of people, some sitting in the aisle on backs next to me, no bathroom for 10 hours. Plus the bus didn't leave until 8pm, and I arrived around 1:30 pm. So I had some time to kill in which I wandered about some of the streets by the bus station in Oruro. Oruro isn't much to see, I ate at a restaurant and met some Brazilians who were in the same situation. Finally after killing a lot of time, the bus left. It was one rocky, bumpy, unsettling ride that lasted until 6 am. Finally I arrived in Uyuni, and was swarmed by people working for different tour companies. I did what I could to get out of there, found a hostel, and dropped off into a deep sleep.

After I found a tour that will take me back to San Pedro de Atacama, thereby skipping the rest of Bolivia, and Argentina. It would be quite the ride, and I think I will be ready to sit on the beach for a while before returning to Santiago...

Don't want to leave La Paz

Somehow almost a week has gone by since I arrived in La Paz, time is just flying. I have never been to a city quite like this, it is so different from Santiago. Music is an important part of the Bolvian lifestyle, in Penas, different groups perform, from dancing to drums, to guitars, they are a fun place to be. I went to two the other night, the first one was for tourists, you could only sit and watch. The second however, was full of Bolvians and you could dance (though I don't know what I'm doing. I met a fun group of Bolvians, and danced with them until about 4:30am. We were quite a site, I didn't have an idea of what I was doing, and they were all too drunk to dance well, so we swayed about and had a good ole time.

climbed today

Well maybe you wouldn`t call it climbing. I took a bus to this research station today, then we hiked to the peak of this mountain near La Paz, it stands at around 16,000 feet. I`m sure the view would`ve been amazing had there not been so many clouds. It is raining right now, and I`m mulling doing a bike excursion tomarrow. The rain doesn`t make it to appealing, so maybe I`ll go out and hear some music instead. Aw, the dilema of traveling, sounds horrible doesn`t it!

front gate

front gate
Originally uploaded by deambular.

some photos I've been meaning to post, will have more from the rest of the trip when I get back to Chile...

from above

from above
Originally uploaded by deambular.

Climbed up the mountain next to the ruins for this amazing view...

inside

inside
Originally uploaded by deambular.

an amazing place to be...

arriving

arriving
Originally uploaded by deambular.

shortly after getting there...

2nd night of the Inca trail we camped here

2 night
Originally uploaded by deambular.

Sleepin on the bus ain't easy...

Got on the bus last night, a couple from BA from my hostel was also along for the ride to La Paz. It was a pretty empty ride, everyone had a couple seats to themselves, such change from my last bus experience. Still I found it hard to get more then a couple hours of sleep. We arrived at the Bolvian border around 7:50 am, got out and had to wait in a line in the rain to get our passports checked. The border was so weird, there were all these people just bringing all sorts of stuff across the border in carts, even though officially the border was closed. After getting my stamp I had to cross over, by climbing over a small gate, and then another on the Bolvian side. It was so so strange.

Arrived in La Paz a few hours later, it is one hell of a city. Every inch of where I am at is crawling with activity and life. Vendors peddling everything from toe nail clippers to llama fetuses, taxis cruising through crowds waiting to cross the street. Street lights that have a cop deceiding when the light changes on the spot. La Paz is a very interesting place. Tomarrow I am going to try to go to the witches market, they have everything there, everything and anything the imagination could possibly conjure...

Cusco...

I was only going to stay for a few days, maybe four or five. I didn't know if I was going to even do the Inca trail. So started my stay here, and now, two and a half weeks later I have finally bought a bus ticket for La Paz Bolivia. It doesn't surprise me now that I stayed longer then I intended. I think I could easily stay in Cusco for several months. There is just something about walking about here, meandering through narrow streets, past elaborate cathedrals in the plaza de armas. Maybe it was the night circuit, filled with all the people tickets for free drinks at various clubs. Each place playing the same strange mixture of disco, Latin, 80`s rock, techo, and hip hop. Songs like YMCA would come on and it would remind me of junior high.

Then there is the area around Cusco, all of it steep, and hard to get to. I got back from the Ausengate on Sunday. That required a 4 hour horse ride, followed by a short wait, then a bus at 10 am which didn't leave until 10:45. Got to another small town and had to wait two hours to get onto another bus. This one left 50 minutes after that. At around 6:45pm we arrived in Cusco. My nerves were worn thanks to the constant shifting of the bus, rocking back and forth and a narrow road which at points, seems too small for buses.

I was worn out but enthralled by the trip. The Inca trail was filled with tourists, but the Ausengate was officially closed, but our guide knew the right people. So myself, my friend Assaf, who I hiked with on the Inca trail, and our guide, Martin, set out.

The Ausengate is one very cold place to be. The wind chilled the bone, and when the sun would disappear, the temperature would drop around 15 degrees. It took a toll and I got sick after a couple of days. Assaf was sicker, couldn't even get out of bed on the day we went to the mountain. So I made the trek with just the guide and two horses. We rode out early, around seven am. I got my first look at the Ausengate at this point, it was a clear mourning without any clouds. We rode through swamps that filled the small valleys. The horses didn't like swamps, and would try their best to avoid them. We tied up the horses and hiked to one of the lower glaciers. I washed my face in some of the fresh, cold, glacier water.

After the day's hike was over we gathered Assaf, who looked a little better, then headed for Aguas Calientes, or hot springs. It rained for awhile, which ended up clearing the view up. I relaxed in the hot springs with a panoramic view of rocky crests covered with glaciers, the Andes.

When I finally made it back to Cusco, I was dead tired, and sick as well. So I lounged and enjoyed some of the cheap but good food Cusco has to offer. Tonight I will start my 13 hour bus ride into a new country,

La Paz here I come...

walking along....

gatheredrain
Originally uploaded by deambular.

I was in a group of 15 people. It was one of the cheapest deals, so it attracted an interesting and fun group of people. To hike on the Inka trail you have to have a registered guide, and usually porters go as well. These guys haul so much stuff, they wear sandals and just care everything using a blanket. The food was excellent, lots of soup, cocoa tea, popcorn, and high carb meals. A gregarious group of Argentines were part of the group, they played all these crazy but addictivly entertaining card games. An Israeli, a group from Colorado, people from California, Australia, Italy, and of course Iowa were also along.

After the end of the hike, the Argentines hiked from Machu Pichu, all the way back to where we started. Most people take the train to safe themselves from the 30km hike. However it is very expensive, around 40 dollars for a ticket. So they walked all the way, through train tunnels, past rivers, towns, mountains. I saw them the next day, they all looked so beat.

another world

another world
Originally uploaded by deambular.

Peru a place to behold. From the culture to the land, it is a place of incredible history and a place that will change you...

hiking at 3200 meters, in the clouds...

first pass

first pass
Originally uploaded by deambular.

The first pass was the worst, we started up early in the mourning on the second day. It was 10km straight up to 4200m. There were quite a few tourists on the trail, though it is really the off season. I made it to the pass after about 3 and half hours of hiking. By the end I was just thinking "left foot, right food." The combination of the altitude and the grade was tiring. I chewed on cocoa leaves to help with the altitude (works wonders!)and took a good rest at the top.

Inkatrail

Inkatrail
Originally uploaded by deambular.

The Inka trail is a small leftover slice of what once was a 30,000 km network of trade, culture, and life. I covered the last 33 km of the way to Machu Pichu.

One hell of a walk...

Four days on the Inca trail, meandering over stones, steps, stairs, and ruins. The mountains of Peru are unlike anything I have ever seen any where else. They rise straight out of the ground and touch the sky. Steep is an understatement. I could see how the Incas could consider them gods. I went with a group of 15 people, made up of travelers from Argentina, Colorado, California, Italy, and Israel. We all got along great, no one was complaining much. It rained everyday, but only for a few hours at a time. On the fourth and final day, we rose from the sack at 4 am to get a wonderful view of a cloud at sunrise. The classic Machu Pichu view from the sun gate was completely veiled by the clouds. So we walked to the ruins, and as the day progressed the clouds lifted, slowly unveiling the complex and the awesome views around it. By the afternoon there was blue sky and some of us hiked up to the temple of the moon, it is probably one of the highest places I have ever been. There I found a panoramic view of the ruins and the mountain on which they sit. I have no idea how they made this place, it seems to be cut out of the mountain. From above it looks like a lego set, so perfect, so different from the feel within. It was a view I will never forget....