Alright, I have half a class free and since Javier doesn´t go to my school, I have a little peace to continue my San Pedro story.
After the Valley of the Moon, me and Olivia met up with Lisa, who had ust arrived and decided to eat a late dinner where our tour guide suggested. Despite the fact that we were exhausted, me an Olivia decided to tough it out since Lisa had just arrived. Dinner was fantastic, but we were very tired throughout and were ready for bed, but decided to stop in for one drink at the place we were the night before.
We sat down around the fire and Olivia swore she heard a Texas accent and decided to explore. Turns out that two older men were talking with the owner of the bar at a table behind us and invited us to have a drink with them. So we started chatting with these people. who it turns out work for Vertex, an American manufacturer of antennas. Apparently, they were in the process of setting up the first antenna in a series of 24 antennas which will comprise the largest telescope in the world. Furthermore, they had just been interviewed by the discovery channel for some show (Probably Modern Marvels) which will air once the project is complete in five years. The conversation was great and the vino started flowing. Before we knew it, the owner was feeding us and giving us free tee-shirts and offering to take us to the Bolivian border and other non-touristy places. Ultimately, our quiet night turned out to be one heck of a party and the owner (or the foreman from Vertex) picked up the entire tab and we went home thoroughly exhausted to another difficult night of sleep.
The next day, we slept in again and made it out of the room around 11 to book tours and to find some horseback riding (This was the trade off I had to make for going sandboarding). Anyways, it turns out Lisa is allergic to horses so we booked a horseback riding tour with the same person we booked our full day excursion the next day. (If you´re ever in San Pedro book your tours with Fernando, who is close to the central plaza but kind of off the beaten path. He will get you places the other typical gringo tours won´t go.)
Ultimately, we decided on a three hour tour through "The Valley of the Dead" and departed. We met at the agreed upon destination and were met by a cute, petite Chilean woman who helped us into our saddles. After we mounted our horse, she tried a smooth entry move onto her horse and fell flat onto her face. That made me a little nervous, but at least the saddle wasn´t as painful for my manhood as I had made clear I was worried about.
After the initial hiccups, all I can say is that the ride was pure magic. The trails we traversed, went through sandy dunes and rocky trails strangely reminiscent of Mars, Star Trek, and the Planet of the Apes. The reds and browns made me wonder "Why do people consider deserts to be barren wastelands when there is so much inherent beauty in them?" Anyways, the ride was beautiful and the vistas amazing as I can hopefully show once I get my computer and can upload pictures to the blog.
So upon return, we decided to call it an early night, because we had scheduled a 16 hour tour that started at 4 in the morning and would even make my Papa´s tours proud.
4 came too early after another restless night of sleep and Olivia, Lisa and I piled into a small, rundown van with 4 Chileans to make the 2 and a half hour ride to geysers which also were the highest point of our trip at somewhere around 12,000 feet. I really thought by the time we arrived that my body was going to shake apart due to a lack shocks in the van and a lack of padding on the seats. But, the first thing we noticed when we got there was how slowly we were moving due to the altitude and the bitter cold conditions (I think our guide said it was -8 degrees celsuis, which none of us were prepared considering we thought we were going to a desert). Anyways, being from Michigan I´ve been cold before, but this might have been the coldest I´ve ever been other than the first couple of rainy days I spent during my NOLS course in Alaska. Even though we weren´t supposed to get very close to the geysers, we put all of our freezing appendages as close as possible to feel any form of heat we could. (Unlike New Zealand, where the paths around the geysers are clearly fenced off, Chile doesn´t seem to worry about tourists being consumed by superheated water). Meanwhile we could slowly see the sun creeping over the hills to save us from the freezing conditions.
After a scrumptious breakfast of cake and mate (A tea which gives you a little pick me up) we moved on to the natural spring baths next door. Being the adventurous and frozen gringos as we were, we looked for our first opportunity to jump in while the other tourists looked at us like we were crazy. I´ve never felt such relief from the cold as we found the opening where the water came from and warmed our freezing bodies). Interestingly, soon we were surrounded by half of the intrepid tourists who decided the springs were probably a good idea.
Anyways, by the time we finished in the hot springs the weather changed from frigid, to pleasant, and soon would be very hot. Soon we departed and stopped in a small pueblo with only about 15 houses but a precioso church and our first exposure to brochettes de llama. We couldn't get enough of these kabobs made with llama meat as well as probably the sweetest, best tasting cheese empanadas I have ever tasted. Following this diversion, we headed back to town to recover for our afternoon tour.
Around 3 o'clock we piled in the van again and headed out to the salt flats to hopefully see some flamingos. But first we headed to a salt lake. I have never been to the Great Salt Lake, but I would imagine the lake we visited was very similar. We literally floated on the lake with little effort as each paddle stung any open wounds we had acquired through our adventures. After about 15 minutes in the lake, we washed off with some fresh water although the salt would turn our bodies bright white and thoroughly dry our skin for the rest of the day. We stopped at one other salt lake and it was on to the salt flats.
Since our tour guide was not your average, Mercedes driving tour guide, he seemed to have a unique point of the salt flats to take us. Only one other van driven by locals was at this point of the salt flats. When we arrived, he said we're leaving in an hour and a half. Go find flamingos. I'm not really sure this was environmentally sensitive or even legal, but I figured "When in Rome"! So we started out on the salt flats to find us some flamingos. After a fairly easy go at the beginning, I saw something flying in the distance and we decided to brave a little less stable part of the flats in search of these great pink birds. As we continued, I fell through the salt into mud up to my ankles. As the sun began to set in one of the most magnificent sunsets I have ever seen, we came close enough to view several flamingos flying across the lake.
As we sat next to the van eating snacks and sipping on a pisco sour, we watched the sun set on this unique and beautiful corner of the world.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Ah San Pedro...
So I know I´ve been bad about writing in my blog, but what am I going to do. I´ve got other things to do with my time, especially since my little brother Javier Ignacio Araya wants to play with me all the time. (He´s sitting next to me right now, and apparently he wants to kill me in the night with a knife [I don´t know about his crazy sense of humor.])I guess now he really want´s to kill me, because he read this and my door doesn´t lock.
So anyways, last weekend I went to San Pedro de Atacama one of the driest places in the world. Some places in the desert haven´t recorded rain since the Spanish inquisition. Its also at about 8000 ft. above sea level so the air is very thin. During the day it probably anywhere from 80 to 100 degrees and at night can go down to below freezing.
The unique climate of the area made my trip really surreal. (OK enough of a travel log and lets get to the nitty gritty)
Anyways, me and my friend Olivia arrived after a crazy debacle trying to organize a trip for a bunch of gringos. Ultimately, after several people backed out and several others ditched us in San Pedro only three fearless adventurous gringos remained: me, Olivia and Lisa. (Side note: My house brother just jumped through the window and attacked me, kind of like Kato used to). And yes, my ego was feeling pretty good after spending the weekend with such fine companions.
So anyways, we arrived at around 10 o´clock and immediately noticed the difficulty breathing from the thin mountain air. Many times, we were warned that we would be unable to find a place to stay, but the first place we went to had openings and gave us a great room for the duration of our stay.
Once we settled in, we decided to wander the mean streets of San Pedro, which consists of about three blocks of gringo filled streets catering to gringos with restaurants and the most tourists agencies per capita in the world. Since San Pedro is basically a ghost town, most of its money comes from tourism. Since Lisa wouldn´t arrive until the next morning, me and Olivia found a great restaurant with an open roof and a fire in the middle. We enjoyed some of the best food and wine we´ve had in Chile and unbeknownest to us, had a picture taken by the propriator of the restaurant as we would later find out.
After dinner, we decided we would check out the local night life. We went into this night clubish place called adobe (Which by the way has a great lunch, just don´t wear any bracelets with Chile´s best club futbol team, Colo Colo on or the service will be less than stellar.) Basically, this looked like your typical gringo turista horror movie with unjulating gringos dancing around a fire acting like they´ve taken some illicit substances. To complete the ax wielding maniac scenario, we turned around and stood face to face with a man dressed in some sort of white tribal robe and what looked like a white paper mache mask and black matted hair down to his derriere. Needless to say, we jetted to the next establishment post haste.
The next bar invited us in for happy hour at approximately 1:30 and the bars close at 2. (For those interested, happy hour in Chile is usually 2x1) Evidently, the bartender failed to tell us that and we never saw our second drink that night. Anyways, as soon as we sat down, the white guy as we lovingly called him burst into the bar and started dancing with a bunch of people at the table next to us. (Later, we would discover this was some sort of promotion for a tourist agency and is some ancient tribal figure of some sort).
Anyways, after the bar, we decided to call it a night. We were warned about the altitude in San Pedro, but its real teeth didn´t show until we tried to sleep. That first night I barely slept a minute as every time I would fall asleep I would be jossled awake by what seemed like a panic attack but was merely a lack of oxygen in my lungs. So as daylight came around, I finally fell asleep for a couple of hours of awkward sleep. Around noon, Olivia and I decided to find something to do before Lisa arrived.
Walking down the street, we found a sign for sandboarding and decided to give it a try. The best deal we found included a trip to the valley of the moon after the sandboarding so we took it. A couple of hours later, we were greeted by our friendly guide Rodrigo, who could have passed for any gringo but turned out to be from Santiago. We took off in his truck but abruptly stopped next to another truck of gringos who all hopped into ours. We started the usual touristy banter and I asked the girl next to me where she was from and she said you´ve probably never heard of it, but I´m from Alto, Michigan. I just died laughing and it turns out she went to Forest Hills Central a few years behind me. Small world.
It also reminds me that the day before we ran into a couple of gringos from Fort Worth, Texas where Olivia is from and discovered there are 35 Americans working at the International School in Antofagasta, whom we had never seen. In contrast to San Pedro, Antofagasta has very few gringos, because it is more of an industrial town with fewer tourist options.
So we arrived at the hills where we were going to sandboard and realized lugging ourselves up and down these hills in the altitude might be more of a chore than we thought. To make a short story long, the boards were interesting. They basically looked like a fraternity paddle out of Animal House with a couple of straps to hold you in place. There really isn´t much support like a snowboard, so it is much more difficult to carve. The other problem I had was that, you really can´t try to use your edges because once that edge hits the sand you sink. Ultimately the only way I could get down the hill was by going straight and getting as much speed as I could for about half the way down the hill, then I could do some wide turns.
After sandboarding, we departed for the valley of the moon, which is one of the most breathtaking sunsets in the world (Apart from those seen from 1669 River Oaks Dr.) Although the cerra or hill gave a great perch to watch the sunset, 100´s of tourists lined the crests to see the purples and mauves which can only be recreated in the desert.
So anyways, last weekend I went to San Pedro de Atacama one of the driest places in the world. Some places in the desert haven´t recorded rain since the Spanish inquisition. Its also at about 8000 ft. above sea level so the air is very thin. During the day it probably anywhere from 80 to 100 degrees and at night can go down to below freezing.
The unique climate of the area made my trip really surreal. (OK enough of a travel log and lets get to the nitty gritty)
Anyways, me and my friend Olivia arrived after a crazy debacle trying to organize a trip for a bunch of gringos. Ultimately, after several people backed out and several others ditched us in San Pedro only three fearless adventurous gringos remained: me, Olivia and Lisa. (Side note: My house brother just jumped through the window and attacked me, kind of like Kato used to). And yes, my ego was feeling pretty good after spending the weekend with such fine companions.
So anyways, we arrived at around 10 o´clock and immediately noticed the difficulty breathing from the thin mountain air. Many times, we were warned that we would be unable to find a place to stay, but the first place we went to had openings and gave us a great room for the duration of our stay.
Once we settled in, we decided to wander the mean streets of San Pedro, which consists of about three blocks of gringo filled streets catering to gringos with restaurants and the most tourists agencies per capita in the world. Since San Pedro is basically a ghost town, most of its money comes from tourism. Since Lisa wouldn´t arrive until the next morning, me and Olivia found a great restaurant with an open roof and a fire in the middle. We enjoyed some of the best food and wine we´ve had in Chile and unbeknownest to us, had a picture taken by the propriator of the restaurant as we would later find out.
After dinner, we decided we would check out the local night life. We went into this night clubish place called adobe (Which by the way has a great lunch, just don´t wear any bracelets with Chile´s best club futbol team, Colo Colo on or the service will be less than stellar.) Basically, this looked like your typical gringo turista horror movie with unjulating gringos dancing around a fire acting like they´ve taken some illicit substances. To complete the ax wielding maniac scenario, we turned around and stood face to face with a man dressed in some sort of white tribal robe and what looked like a white paper mache mask and black matted hair down to his derriere. Needless to say, we jetted to the next establishment post haste.
The next bar invited us in for happy hour at approximately 1:30 and the bars close at 2. (For those interested, happy hour in Chile is usually 2x1) Evidently, the bartender failed to tell us that and we never saw our second drink that night. Anyways, as soon as we sat down, the white guy as we lovingly called him burst into the bar and started dancing with a bunch of people at the table next to us. (Later, we would discover this was some sort of promotion for a tourist agency and is some ancient tribal figure of some sort).
Anyways, after the bar, we decided to call it a night. We were warned about the altitude in San Pedro, but its real teeth didn´t show until we tried to sleep. That first night I barely slept a minute as every time I would fall asleep I would be jossled awake by what seemed like a panic attack but was merely a lack of oxygen in my lungs. So as daylight came around, I finally fell asleep for a couple of hours of awkward sleep. Around noon, Olivia and I decided to find something to do before Lisa arrived.
Walking down the street, we found a sign for sandboarding and decided to give it a try. The best deal we found included a trip to the valley of the moon after the sandboarding so we took it. A couple of hours later, we were greeted by our friendly guide Rodrigo, who could have passed for any gringo but turned out to be from Santiago. We took off in his truck but abruptly stopped next to another truck of gringos who all hopped into ours. We started the usual touristy banter and I asked the girl next to me where she was from and she said you´ve probably never heard of it, but I´m from Alto, Michigan. I just died laughing and it turns out she went to Forest Hills Central a few years behind me. Small world.
It also reminds me that the day before we ran into a couple of gringos from Fort Worth, Texas where Olivia is from and discovered there are 35 Americans working at the International School in Antofagasta, whom we had never seen. In contrast to San Pedro, Antofagasta has very few gringos, because it is more of an industrial town with fewer tourist options.
So we arrived at the hills where we were going to sandboard and realized lugging ourselves up and down these hills in the altitude might be more of a chore than we thought. To make a short story long, the boards were interesting. They basically looked like a fraternity paddle out of Animal House with a couple of straps to hold you in place. There really isn´t much support like a snowboard, so it is much more difficult to carve. The other problem I had was that, you really can´t try to use your edges because once that edge hits the sand you sink. Ultimately the only way I could get down the hill was by going straight and getting as much speed as I could for about half the way down the hill, then I could do some wide turns.
After sandboarding, we departed for the valley of the moon, which is one of the most breathtaking sunsets in the world (Apart from those seen from 1669 River Oaks Dr.) Although the cerra or hill gave a great perch to watch the sunset, 100´s of tourists lined the crests to see the purples and mauves which can only be recreated in the desert.
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