Speaking of San Pedro, the back packers Kho Sarn Rd of Chile, has been wicked it that there is loads to do and see and tonnes of friendly people, only bad that I’m murdering my budget here. San Pedro, oasis in the desert, 2800 locals, 500-1000 backpackers, driest place in the world (snigger snigger), but some amazing landscapes nearby. The salt and sand dunes of the Moon Valley and Death Valley are quite awesome, the hike to the top of a huge sand dune was tiring but worth it for the sunset that while itself changed colours, changed the colours of the landscapes and distant mountains. The Tatio geysers at 4325 meters above see level and –10 degrees celcius and 6 o’clock in the morning, were well worth the 3.30AM rise. Steam, bubbles, gurgles and hot gushes of water (on ice) were a real experience and to make the experience even more memorable, I stripped off to my bikini in the –10º Celcius to swim in the thermal pool, the real trick was trying to get dry and warm before bits started to freeze over. On the trip down from the ex-volcano we saw wild geese, Vincunas (wild llamas), a fox, llamas, Andean Flamingos, other birds and wildlife and stopped in a mountain village of mud and straw huts. The only other thing I have done of note in this village, to the advice of my friend Gareth, is get drunk on Pisco Sour, the altitude makes it real easy to be cheap drunk and very difficult to get over a hangover, but fun was had and whole bunch of new friends made.

Pisco Sour is made from the Alcohol Pisco (alcohol distilled from wine) and lemon juice, sugar and egg white. I know all this because I did a tour of the Elqui Valley further south and this is one of the main producing areas for the pisco grapes, and even toured some distilleries, ancient and new. It was a great tour and I learned a mountain of things about this oasis valley, from the problems behind the new damn, the produce they grow there, how they cultivate the pisco grapes, why there is a battle between Peru and Chile over the brand name Pisco, and how a small town changed its name, right down to the idea that in this valley they have the positive polar of the world. They believe, and the tonne of pilgrims and new age hippies, that as the world has a magnetic pole running through it, and the Elqui valley is the center of the positive outlet, and somewhere in India is the negative pole. Well it was nice up there, sunny and tranquil, if that means anything. A guy I met at the very social hostel I was at, James, was going to for a road trip through the desert to have a free guided tour of one of the major Observatory’s in the area, so I tagged along for the day, and was really impressed with my first visit to such a major research place for space and planet exploration, I even learned some stuff. The other days I spent in La Serena, were just hanging out with new friends, and enjoying not being quite so lonely as I had been on the Coast.

I spent 3 days in Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, on Chile’s coast a couple of hours out from Santiago. And I hardly spoke to anyone except to order food, tickets and my room. I spent my days wandering the port town o Valparaiso, really enjoying the architecture of the houses stacked one on top of the other up steep ravines surrounding the port. Where they have these outdoor elevators, years old and creaky, but quite efficient, and more universities than any other town I’ve ever been in, making for a fantastic night life apparently – wasn’t game on my own. The wandering of Vina del Mar, a resort town grown to city status was highlighted by the trip to there Archeological museum, which has a great couple of rooms about the history of Isla de Pascua (Easter Island). This was so interesting to me, as the obvious connection between the islanders and the moaris and other pacific island groups was fascinating in that, their culture was so isolated for so many years that they kept a lot of the traditions that have now been lost by our Maoris because of the westernisation on NZ. Maybe they were not at all alike, but the possibility was interesting enough for me. The only other two things I noticed in this city that made my curious was the amount of European influence and the presence of blonde and very fair peoples, and then secondly, the curious amount of pharmacies in the city, every couple of shops, and these were pharmacy supermarkets!!! ???

The loneliness I experienced in Vina del Mar was a short sharp shock after the friendly hostel in Santiago. In Santiago I still struck out on my own each day to pace the pavement and breath in the pollution, but returned to relive the day with the friendly chatty girls in my room. The first day of my big trip, I did a walking tour of the city on my own, and the shock to my legs and feet was not only plainly obvious by the end of the day but also for the next seven days, in which blisters and muscle pain both needed to be ignored. Of course taking it easy the next couple of days in the capital were out of the question so I trudged and climbed hills of city parks and walked to an old and opulent mansion, checked out bus stations, looked for the NZ embassy (which is an empty lot these days), took the steepest tram I’ve ever seen up San Cristobel hill to stand under the large statue of the lady looking out over the city and took a ride in a dodgy gondola over forestal and garden parks, immersed well into the smog which blankets the city, as it sits in the valley surrounded by Andes and mountains on all sides. The city is huge, but I don’t know if I could live there. The food seemed to be quite reasonably priced if you don’t mind hotdogs and fries and burgers, many a male’s idea of heavan. And while the ice-cream was quite to die for, one brand did stand out and make my giggle. They have Nestle here they have what we in NZ call a trumpet and other parts of the world a cone, manufactured coned ice-cream. The humour factor in this particular brand of Ice-cream is that it has a mark on it with the word ‘Savory’ on each ice-cream and the popular type of this is called ‘Danky’, two words which for me don’t conjour up any pleasant associations with ice-cream!

Other food experiences have so far been fine, they do like there fried foods, and lunch is the main meal. Empanadas, pastry and filling, and popular and inexpensive and varying quality. What has been outstanding in Chile, is that when you are on a long bus rides they give you breakfast, lunch or dinner, included in the service, along with seats that go as far back as business class on planes and come with pillows and blankets. I have been warned that this plush service is only in Chile and will not be repeated in any other country, so not to get used to it! Instead I am to expect the locals to pushed right up beside me with with animals and produce taking up any spare space. Peru here I come.

I’ll be in Peru within the week and heading up to Cusco, to take on the Inca trail and learn about the Inca Empire. I have really enjoyed visiting the archeological museums while in Chile. Learning about the indigenous peoples of each area I have visited, and they are all different. Learning about the fact that northern Chile used to belong to Bolivia and Peru, till the War of the Pacific, over the mineral rich desert. The result of which means that Chile is a much more developed nation and more economically stable that its two neighbours which it won the land from. Learning about indigenous art and culture, from burial to war, hallucinogenic practices to hunting then farming. I find it really fascinating exploring and finding about old and ancient ways, it is kind of romantic for me, to think back and try to imagine how it was for them then.