La Salar and the Never ending Atacama.

And here is post two.

So I believe I left off in Iquique.

I left there on Sunday night (25th of October) and made it to San Pedro de Atacama on Monday morning. Found a half decent hostel.

San Pedro is an odd little town. You can tell that it's a desert nowhere village that was surprised not too many years ago by a tourism boom its only recently learned how to handle. There are only two ATMs (only one worked on Monday...) and NOWHERE to cash traveler's cheques. Frustrating!  There are shops selling alpaca everything and restaurants that are rather expensive even by Chilean standards (Chile being one of the most expensive countries on the continent.)

Outside of San Pedro, La Valle de la Luna at sunset

It´s cute, though, for a couple of days. I only spent one there, as I managed to get a spot on a tour to La Valle de La Luna and do some sand boarding the day I got there. The floor of the valley is covered in rocks that are 70 per cent salt, and so it looks white. Moonish, even.

Sandboarding is HARD. Especially on your first day in a relatively high altitude. I'm glad I did it, though. But I´ll do some squat practice before I try again.... yikes.

I secured a spot to leave Tuesday the 27th on a three-day tour through the northern Atacama and the Salt Flats in southern Bolivia. Very cool. We saw lakes that are every colour under the sun, flamingos all over the place and some of most visually fantastic landscapes I have ever seen. We stayed in a salt hotel (outside of the actual salt flat, so it's legal... the one inside the salt flat pollutes too much and thus is illegal.) and I made friends with a young French woman, Eleanor, traveling with her family. It really makes all the difference in the world some days when you have someone to talk with.

Playing with perspective on the salt flats

As of this afternoon, Thursday Oct 29, I am in Uyuni, Bolivia. I have a ticket to La Paz for tonight, so I'll be there by morning. As much as the desert has been a very unique and rewarding experience, I am ready to head back to the mountains.... I don't think I´m a desert girl.

I don´t have many comments about Bolivia yet, except that they speak more slowly than in Chile here. YAY.

Thank you everyone for your comments. Hope you´re all doing well!

S.

Adios, Chile.

I am going to do this in two posts, one to wrap up my Chile experience, one to start up Bolivia.

So I would like to add to my last post... I ranted about the sexism rampant throughout Chile, but I neglected to add that while cat calls are constant and frustrating, the people in Chile, as a pretty general rule, are fantastic.

I felt safer in every Chilean city than I ever imagined I would, and the people I've met have been incredibly friendly and helpful. Whether I´m asking for directions, clarification as to the buses or where you buy a postcard in Santiago (more difficult than you think!) people go way out of their way to make sure I can accomplish what I need. They have been patient with my inadequate, halting Spanish, correcting me and trying to speak English back to me to make things easier.

In fact, I have noticed that when I approach someone and try to ask a question, I get the impression that they are almost embarrassed that they can´t speak MY language... which is ridiculous, given that I am the one visiting. You´d never find this attitude in North America... if you don´t speak English there, you´d better be able to communicate in hand gestures. But here, at least in Chile, people went incredibly out of their own way to facilitate at least basic communication.

And my Spanish is getting much better, gradually. I learn dozens of new words and new uses for words every day and I am understanding far more. I still have trouble with basic things sometimes, but usually I can make myself at least mostly understood. Thank goodness.

The other thing I´d like to comment on is the Chilean bus system. It´s infinitely better than I expected it to be. In fact, it´s better than the Canadian system by far. The buses are punctual and frequent, they give you juice boxes and cookies, and it´s incredibly cheap. It allows the country to rely on the bus even for longer trips, whereas in Canada, if you have the money, you wouldn't think twice about taking a plane, or at least a train.

Now that I am in Bolivia, we´ll see how it goes. I've heard some horror stories about the buses. (just kidding mom, it´s okay... haha.)

S.

Desert life, and Chilean women

I am now in one of the driest deserts in the world... the Atacama. I was in the desert in Iquique too, but it doesn´t feel so much like it when you´re flush against the ocean. The sun is HOT. I´m in the town of San Pedro de Atacama, hoping to do some sightseeing and sandboarding tonight and then head out on a tour across the salt flats to Bolivia tomorrow morning.

I have been meaning for a while to make some observations about Chile.

Sexism is the first thing I´ve got to talk about.

In 2005, a woman was elected President of Chile for the first time. That´s wild in a country where divorce was legalized only the year before. In her term in office it seems she's made some striking changes in the realm of equal rights, but good lord is there ever a long way to go. Chile is a very, very traditional, religious society, as many Latin American nations are. But sexism seems to coat things more than I had anticipated, and I was ready for quite a bit of machismo.

I think what makes the blatant sexism so... blatant... is that Chile looks a lot like home in some ways. The cities here are modern, the people advanced. These are not people who have just never been in contact with the outside. (although for many years Chile was rather isolated) They have a thriving mall culture.

And yet, I wore a skirt that reaches my knees, and the sky could have been falling in Santiago. I have never received that kind of attention, especially in a modern, metropolitan city. Cat calls, hisses (also a cat call), kissing noises. To an extent I couldn't believe. And I was totally prepared for attention, given the red hair. It´s young boys right through to 70 year old men. And they don´t pursue anything, I don´t actually feel unsafe, but they will stop anything they're doing to cat call.

The message I have gotten from Chile, and what I've heard from other travelers, is that a woman here has a role, and she should be sticking to it. I've also heard that while Peru is more traditional and old fashioned, there´s less attention, perhaps because Peru is a country more accustomed to tourism and foreigners.

Someone was also telling me the other day that it looks like Michelle Bachellete will lose the upcoming 2010 election, not because she has done anything wrong, or that she hasn't delivered on her promised (although i am not an expert here), but because she is a single mother in a position of power, and that makes the men here uncomfortable.

If you want to be modern, choose based on something more than gender.

And now I cannot remember what else I had saved up for a rant, but I will continue later. Back to wandering around this desert town!

s.

Adrenaline rush

Well, now this little redhead has a sunburn... thank you, beach town. Ouch. And only on the back half of my body... thank goodness I brought aloe vera!

Surfing went fantastically. Well. It went better than it ever did in Biarritz on the France trip, and the instructor said I did really well for a beginner. I stood up almost every time and managed to ride a bunch of waves... amaaaazing feeling. It made up for the salt and sunscreen in my eyes, the exhaustion from hitting the club the night before and totally made up for the times I just couldn't manage to stand on that board... you get so annoyed, and feel so dumb, and then you get up, you finally find that balance and OH MY GOD it worked! Exhilaration.

But it gets better.

Yesterday, Saturday, I went paragliding for the first time. It will not be the last time, let me tell you that. Iquique has one of the best sites for paragliding in the world, stemming from the warm ocean breezes and the fact that it NEVER rains here. No exaggeration. Literally never. Here, you can paraglide every day, no matter what.

It's hard to really describe the feeling of riding on the wind, weightless, adrenaline pumping, strapped to a funny little Chilean guy. Exhilaration might be the word for the second time today... so wild. It was so gentle and slow, feet dangling around, you feel so vulnerable. We flew along the hills that push Iquique against the ocean, over the sand dunes, over part of town and then landed on the beach. I didn't get motion sickness at all, which was great, and I got some fantastic pictures.  And yes, Mom, I wore a helmet. I also got to wear a jumpsuit, which is an awesome thing in itself.

Tonight I am catching a night bus to San Pedro de Atacama, a desert town near the Bolivian border. I´ll be there for maybe one night, and then I´m going to find a three day tour through the salt flats into Bolivia.

I am once more amending the trip plan... tragically, the pampas tour into the jungle of northern Bolivia is not going to happen. If I could be sure I could get in and out in three or four days, it would be perfect... however, while it might take a few days, it might take a week and a half, being Bolivia, so it won´t work. I will just have to come back to south america to see the rain forest.

It´s so hard for me to believe that it´s already been almost two weeks, and that three weeks from tomorrow I fly home.

Hope everyone is well, I miss you all.

S.

This little red head has a TAN.

.... Yes, you read that correctly, ladies and gents, your favourite super pale Canadian has a tan. And a burn, in parts. Hooooray for beaches!!

To update you:

As I said in my last post, I made it to Santiago after leaving Valparaiso. I was there for about 24 hours, so not long, but long enough to get a feel for the city. It´s nice, lots to see, but didn't have the same kind of crazy bohemian vibe that Valparaiso did. I stayed in the barrio Bellavista, which is like the trendy, funky part of town, but it was a Monday. Win some, lose some. I did go out for beers with some English guys who bought motorcycles in Bolivia and were riding through to Brazil. Wicked!



Then Tuesday afternoon I made my way out to the enormous bus terminal and caught a bus out to Iquique. And by that, I mean I spent 28 hours on a bus. Deep. Breath.

It's cool in a way though because in the course of that bus ride, I went through wild changes in the scenery. From the bushy, rolling mountains outside of Santiago we moved into the desert, where the mountains are gnarled and polished and the dust just hangs in the air... you can tell it hasn't rained out there, like, ever. I've never seen a desert before, so this was pretty stunning for me. I sat for hours staring out the window.

Iquique is still in the desert but is a fairly large coastal city with a lot of tourism. Its nice enough, but really not somewhere i'm walking around at night ever. But you don't come here for the culture, really. You come for the gorgeous beaches, the surfing, and the paragliding.

I'm signed up for surfing today and for paragliding tomorrow... it's okay mom, promise. Should be a wild adventure. I spent yesterday wandering the town and then flat out on a beach... thus the tan!

S,

Hello, pisco.

Today outside it's sunny and warm. We're going to the beach. I am never coming back to Canada.

... just kidding.

The past few days have been fantastic. Friday I went wandering again. I found a market and bought some veggies, managed to communicate somewhat. Although I only wanted one onion and somehow I got a whole kilo, so we'll call it a partial success (rice and onions! Yum. Hah.) I saw some sea lions basking in the sun out by one of the piers in Valparaiso. Incredible. They're enormous! Friday night we drank some vino and I went to bed and was a good kid, but last night we got into the pisco and danced til 5.


Pisco is a wine-based brandy, Chilean or Peruvian in origin, depending who you ask. To me it tastes like wine meets vodka with some sugar, and it has exactly that effect on me. Ayeeeeeyeye. Hahaha. Delicious. Chris and I split most of a bottle last night playing poker with some of the other exchange students and a few Chilean friends. (For the record, I came fourth out of eight or nine. Poker champ.) and then we met up with B and we all went and tore up a dance floor.

The more I wander this city the more I like it. It's scruffy but it's so flashy. Valparaiso is colour, colour, colour. From down by the water, the houses look like jellybeans cascading down the hills, all different shapes and colours, stacked on top of each other. The graffiti seems to be a national art form, it's everywhere. You can track different artists by looking at the style of the graffiti. There's graffiti on the doors of the people who live in the slightly dicier areas because, well, it's hard to stop an artist sometimes, door or no. There's hardly a wall untouched.

You go ten minutes by bus to the sister city of Vina del Mar, and it's a totally different story. The buildings are ritzy and new, the streets are clean, there aren't any dogs begging for scraps. There are two Starbucks. Wait, what country are we in?! That's where the best beaches are, too, and they're gorgeous.

As far as my game plan goes, there's been a few changes. I think I'm going to give Mendoza a pass. It'd be fantastic to see, for sure, but I think for this trip it's too far out of the way. So from Valparaiso, on approximately Tuesday I'm going back to Santiago for maybe a night. Then I'll head north, probably by bus, to Iquique. Surfing and paragliding for a couple days, and then to San Pedro de Atacama. Mostly I'm just trying to make this all happen so that I can have the most time possible in Peru. Touristy, yes, awesome, clearly. If I end up with enough time I might check out Nazca and the Nazca lines. Wikipedia that. (Piper! Wikipedia challenge: "Nazca lines" to "banana". ie what I am living on... hah.)

Well everyone, have a fantastic Sunday. I will be on a beach, missing Hartholt family dinner. A little sad about that.

PS... shout out to my Mom's office friends, who apparently are following my trip. Hi!! Thank you!! :)

s.

Valpo

I flew into Santiago yesterday morning and found B and Chris at the airport. Amazing to see them after so long. For those of you looking for updates, they have not changed all that much.... which is a good thing. As proof, Benji is sitting across the living room from me right now trying to take apart a keyboard to fuse with another keyboard to make a super-awesome multicoloured keyboard for his mac. There was dancing earlier. Love it.

Valparaiso, where they live, is neat. It's a little run down... bohemian, you could say, but still has a lot of charm in the cultural stuff going on. It's one of Chile's major port cities, so the harbour is pretty serious. You're not allowed to take pictures of naval stuff though, as the army is paranoid about Bolivian and Peruvian spies. The whole place has a lot of emphasis on military. They're clearly very proud of their military history and that orients their culture. As does soccer, clearly. We watched the match against Ecuador last night at a bar. Intense!

Chile has a lot of stray dogs. Like, a LOT of them. And they're not overly scruffy or sketchy looking. You could totally get money for some of these in Canada. They just chill out on the streets and wander around, follow you for a bit if it looks like you might feed them. They're not threatening. The cats I've seen, however, are pretty scruffy. Even the house cats. Weird. The one that lives next door to the boys is, I think, in heat constantly and yowls. Worse than the cat at home, Dan. We have it good there. Seriously.

My Spanish is definitely not adequate, but it's getting better literally by the hour. I can manage enough, if people speak slowly, to get by. I imagine it will just get better as the trip goes on, although if the accent changes, I'm screwed!

So that's it so far. I think we're going to a movie tonight (in English with Spanish subtitles! YAY!) but last night we were up late, so probably not tonight. B promised he'd take me surfing soon, too.

Miss everyone, and hope you're all well.

Goodnight!

Ready, Set...

Take-off is in four and a half hours, right now I'm sitting at home finishing up a few things and waiting for Dan to get home. I'm SO excited.

Everything I planned to bring fit into my backpack (a testament to my planning skills or to my backpack? We'll say both.). Impressive, really. I've said my goodbyes, although it's really only 5 weeks. That's not THAT long. Although it feels like it is.

I got three vaccines (and one mild reaction... thank you mom for clearing that up... hah) and have a bunch of different pills for all sorts of things. No Malaria, altitude sickness or explosive diarrhea here! Too far? Sorry.

So I'll be flying into Santiago at 11:30 tomorrow morning to meet a very excited Chris (and B??!) and then staying with the boys for a week or so if they'll keep me that long. (I love you both!) After that, I'm not so sure on the Mendoza plan, but we'll see. Maybe I'll just go straight north through Chile.

I've made it through most of the first level of my Rosetta Stone Spanish course... I'm not very good, in fact I'd say I'm terrible, but I'm over it. I have the gist of how the language works, my bumbling French skills, a phrasebook and lots of willpower/miming skill. I'll be juuuust fine.

If you want a postcard, send me your address!

So goodbye Ottawa, see you in five weeks. Here's to a safe flight and successful baggage transfers.