Our tour left the hostel around 9:30 and our first stop was a weird little place in the back of a butcher shop where we got pants and jackets to protect our clothes and big rubber boots as well as construction helmets.  We then drove to a place called the miners market and it was here that we bought gifts for the miners that we’d see working.  Its sort of a respect thing and despite that the gifts aren’t really things that I would normally give, they make the miners lives more bearable and for that reason I don’t object because these men really don’t choose that life.  They have very limited options.

So we purchased little packets with bags of coca leaves, cigarettes, dynamite and crackers, also 96% alcohol which is what the miners drink.  We also tried coca leaves.  The miners are contractors that work for themselves so they have to buy all their own supplies, including dynamite which is essential.  As a result they are very thrify with it and use just portions of each stick for every blast.

So once we stocked up on gifts we headed to the mines.  Our van took a bump ride up “Cerro Rico” (rich hill).  The mines were founded in 1545 and right now there are over 5000 separate mines with 15,000 workers.  Some are larger and more industrialize but many, like the one we visited, are “collectivos” of about 100 workers, mostly from a few families.  The mine areas are sort of handed down through the generations the same way farmers work the same land and pass it down from father to son.

When we arrived at the mine we were given lights for our helmets – the guy that tied the battery belt around our waists asked all the girls “baby? yes?”  I think that was his little tourist joke.  Once were were all suited up we headed underground.

The darkness and narrow passages immediately made me feel a little uncomfortable.  Not enough to really be concerned but it was definitely not an environmennt I could last a long time in.  The first miners were met were a father and son, along with another young guy.  They filled up wheelbarrows at lightning speed and the father who had to be at least 40 was running out with the full wheelbarrows to load the truck.  Each wheelbarrow weighed around 80 kg and they did not stop for a break.  Some of the guys in our group tried to lift the wheelbarrow and roll it out – only Toby made it all the way out and he was wiped out.  The reality of how taxing the work was really hit home and it was clear that the coca leaves they chewed were actually pretty essential to their work.  As unhealthy as it is, the coca allows them to do the hard labour and given that they start in the mines as young as 12 they need to have stamina.  The two younger men were only 20 and 25 and had years of experience.

Next we went to this location in the mine where there are statues of Tio Jorge (Uncle George – aka the Devil) and Pachamama (the indigenous Mother Earth).  The statues dated back to when the mine first opened in the late 16th century and had been featured in National Geographic. Each Friday the miners go down and have toasts to Pachamama and Tio Jorge by dropping some of their 96% alcohol on the ground for Pachamama and dripping some on the Devils arms and legs (to keep strong and fit) and on the statue’s huge penis (for good luck and good production – both in the mines and in the family).

We saw another miner chiselling a hole to lay dynamite – he was just using a hammer and chisel.  Our guide said it would take him about three hours of chiselling to get a good hole for a piece of dynamite.  He was already sweating hard and the hole was just about 1/2″ deep.  We then met another miner who was just about to set off his dynamite – he was working his sector alone because the member of his family that had been working with him had died.  He was only 17 but had been working in the mines for 4 years.  Our guide said he’d be alone for the next 6 months or so.

He set off his blast using some dynamite we bought so we all had to go into this little cavern to keep safe and turn out our head lamps.  Being in the complete darkness underground was kind of scary but the explosion really surprised me.  It wasn’t really loud but it shook everything and reverberated through my body.  Really crazy.  At that point we had to leave the mine but to get out we had to climb down these rocks, across a narrow log and then lower ourselves down this rock face on a pretty sketchy looking rope.  I was completely terrified but it wasn’t like there was a second choice so I just did it.  When I got onto solid ground I was totally shaking and just ready to cry with relief but I held it together.  Then it was just a narrow passage to get out of the mine. 

It was then that these two little kids accosted us to get us to buy rocks.  David gave the little boy 20Bs for his rock so we had to give the little girl something too – even though they just pick the rocks off the side of the hill. Their smiling face were grateful and really 5 Bs is like 75 cents so its not like we’re parting with a lot.  It makes a huge difference to them and it barely even registers for me… so in that way I’m fine with it.

Its a huge moral dilemma, the tourist thing.  One could argue that without tourists the families would make more effort to let those rock selling kids go to school.  But if the families can’t pay for school anyway and this gives them some extra income, is it really bad?  Others say that maybe without the tourism there’d be more reason for a large company to standardize labour practices, but then the collectivos would be gone and many of the men would lose their jobs to machines – like the traditional vs factory farm.  These mining areas, like farmland, are these mens birthright so to change their labour practices just because it offends our western sensibilities isn’t all that fair.  I’m definitely glad I went and I think it will be on my mind for quite awhile.

When we arrived back in Potosi most of us were ravenous so we did a quick clean up as we were filthy from the mines (gloves would have been a particularly good piece of protective gear) and then we headed for a late lunch.  This was lesson 1 in Bolivian restaurant service – we had been warned it would be slow but until we experienced it I don’t think any of us thought we’d wait over 1.5h for lunch.  Our order were super simple and there were 3 people working for only 9 customers.  I guess that can be filed under “idiosyncracies”.

As we got back to the bus from the cactus walk, our guide (Davide) came over to me and whispered in my ear “what are you doing tonight?” I was really flustered and was all blushing and I think my response was something lame like “oh, it’s our groups free night” and I just got on the bus.  About 5 min later as we’re ready to go I was just getting comfy in my seat and was bent over stretching my back when he leaned over again and whispered “ok tonight I have plans for you.”  Um, what?! So he goes to do his tour guide thing and Katie who is beside me was curious about what he’d said and so I told her and the ride back to town was a lot of discussion about he meant by that.

When we arrived in San Pedro and we were all getting off the buses, Davide says to me “you meet me in the plaza, 10 pm” and walks away.  Less of an invitation than a command… hm.  I’m thinking, ok this guy is really really good looking and he’s a tour guide so he’s probably hooking up with foreign girls constantly, so I’m not going to go.  But then I’m thinking, this guy is really really good looking and it could be fun to have  a little date – not like I’ll ever see him again.  But at this point its just 1pm and 10 pm is a long way off.

So we all go back to the hostel and clean up and then Toby, Katie, Lucy & I decide to take some stuff to the laundry and then spent basicaly the whole afternoon on a patio having lunch and drinking beers.  I loved San Pedro and could definitely have stayed longer but unlike Valparaiso it’s not a place I’d want to go back to.  Once you’ve done the tours and seen the sights there’s not much going on in the town.  That said, it was a great place to chill out and relax.

That evening we all met up at 8 to discuss the following day’s border crossing and the upcoming desert crossing.  Everyone was pumped about the coming days and we all went out to eat feeling very excited.  A few of us hit upa really neat place that appeared to have been carved out of a fossilized tree.  I couldn’t tell whether we were sitting on stones or a big carved tree stump but our table (that comfortably seated 5) was definitely a tree stump.  I enjoyed another very interesting set meal. There were a few translation problems but nothing major.  Food was really tasty and really reasonably priced (for San Pedro, that is).

After picking up laundry and having dinner everyone went off to do some errands for the next day.  Since it was just 10 I thought “well, I’ll go to the plaze and if he’s there we’ll see what happens” so I went over and got out my camera to take pictures and look like I wasn’t waiting for someone.  After 10 minutes I decided he wasn’t going to show so I left.  Probably for the best becase while I figured his plans would be going to one of the zillion bars and having a drink, he may have had other things in mind, so again probably for the best.

I ended up meeting some of the gals and we got some supplies for the next days journey to Bolivia because heading back to the hostel.  Well believe it or not this bus ride is done! Its just 4pm andwe have arrived in Potosi.  I am shocked that I have only managed to catch this record up until Sunday morning – I’m still 4 days behind.  Although the past days have been unforgettable I’m going to jot down some key words to remind me when I do a proper recording:

• border visa surprise for H&A
• flamingos
• meeting our drivers
• little Lady
• lagunas
• real thermal pools
• meeting the Ottawa family
• altitude sickness part I (the headache from hell)
• day 2 desert crossing
• rocks shaped like trees
• unbearable heat and resultant heat rash
• the party 4×4 with David’s iPod
• salt hotel
• 5L of red wine (and then some)
• day 3 desert crossing
• hangover & altitude sickness part II
• skipping most of day 3 to sleep (me & Katie, knackered again)
• Samay de Wasi, our palace hotel in Uyuni
• talking with the lady who sold me peach juice
• Minuteman pizza
• amazing scenery from Uyuni to Potosi
• big debate between private bus and chicken bus
• Philip taking the chicken bus
• Potosi: the highest city in the world

Ok, so it’s later on and I’m all settled in to our hotel in Potosi. The highest city in the worl.  So far everyone has been feeling fine and my stomach has completely settled (see note re: altitude sickness, round II) which is fantastic.  Its amazing how hilly it is and how bustling the streets are.  Certainly far less traditional than Uyuni.

I have made the executive decision that the point form notes will suffice to cover the 3 days of desertcrossing (aka “everything you always wanted to know about altitude sickness but were afraid to ask”).  As much as I as looking forward to the crossing and as many great things that I saw, those few hours on Dec 6 when I thought my eyeballs were bleeding from headache and the entire day yesterday (Dec 8 ) of throwing up SO violently, really kind of coloured the trip.  I definitely am glad that I’ve seen the Atacama and the Salar but I think that it would have been a more pleasant experience to do it as a series of day trips, so you are always sleeping lower than your highest altitude that day.  However, I have truly learned a great deal – probably the biggest lesson was how alcohol impacts at altitude.  I know that Toby and David still are not convinced that were that sick from the drinking because it really wasn’t that much (in fact for David I’m sure it was light night!) but as we’ve learned altitude does crazy things.  Us with stomach issues, Steve with the scary fever – even iron stomach Heath was having tummy troubles.  In fact the only people in the group that I can think of who weren’t affected were Darrel (Mr Fitness) and Tom, who I just think is impervious to pain (being Swiss and all).

Despite that it’s only 20 to 10 I’m going to sleep.  I really want to be fully rested and ready to party (ie see the sights) tomorrow.  Hopefully I’ll get the money situation sorted out as well. I figure that I’ll take American out of the ATM on my Visa and just suck up the bank fees. Then I’ll just keep a big stash of American in my money belt and convert as necessary.  Things will work out – I have ten days left and I won’t spend one minute of that time fretting about issues that will be solved when I get back to London – just taking it a day at a time.

No sooner did we get off the bus and get to our hostel then most of us were on another bus taking us out to Moon Valley.  We barely had time for a shower as we only had 40 min to spare, but I felt so scrungy after over 24 h straight in the same clothes.  I mean, I know when travelling you have to expect to be kind of grotty, but seriously, there’s only so much grime this little lady can take.

Our bus to Moon Valley showed upand we were writh another large group.  The tour guide was a super hot local guy named Davide and he was definitely an impressive part of the tour for many of us girls.  We walked around the first stop taking pictures but the heat was so strong that all of us sort of wilted.  I think this is where we began to notice the altitude as it was really hard to catch my breath walking up the sandy hills.  I don’t htink that first stop had a specific name but the photos don’t capture how amazing it was.

Our next stop was Death Valley, apparently the driest place on Earth.  Davide sad that many of the areas hadn’t seen rain for 47 years and in San Pedro they only get about 20 mm spread out over several days.  Amazing that people live like that – but they probably think our changing season are super crazy.  Death Valley was cool, and it was where we started to notice the salt in the rocks.  We paused at this one areas and Davide asked us all to just be silent and listen.  All around us there was cracking, as it the rocks were going to come crashing down.  Very creepy.  He told us bcausethe salt heats up and expands during the day the cracking is caused by contractions when the temperature goes down at night.

Our last stop was Moon Valley and this is where we climbed a sand dune to watch the sunset.  Wow that was hard work!  We ended up wlking out further onto this rocky area, which was cool but kind of dangerous.  I glanced beside me at one point and got a bit of a head rush because the cliff just completely dropped off.  I was a bit more careful with my steps after that.

The sunset was beautiful but I think that everyone saying how amazing it was going to be built up my expectations so that I was a little unimpressed.  Not to be a cynical tourist but I think I’ve seen nicer sunsets at the cottage, or even from my old apartment.  However, the experience was still cool.

When we arrived back to town all of us were starving and we really needed to get something to eat quickly because we all had to be up at 3:45 am for a 4 am tour of the geysers.  We found a nice little place that had a set menu for a good price and I enjoyed a really nice veggie lasagna.  My camera ran out of power during the Moon Valley susnset so I had meant to track someone down to lend me a charger but unfortunately I didn’t manage to have the camera ready in time so I have no photos of the geyser tour.

4am came very fast and all of us were pretty groggy.  Katie and I were very focused on the hot springs we were going to get to swim in so we thought that flip flops would be the best choice of footwear.  It was a cool morning in town, but not terribly cold so we figured we’d be fine… well, not so much.  After 2 hrs on the bus we reached the geysers just after 6am.  We were quite a ways up, about 4300 m, and the temperature was -6 degrees.  Flip flops = not so smart.  Both K and I were having a rough time and we got a lot of weird looks.  I mean, there were people with full on parkas and hate and mitts and here we are in flip flops?!

Our tour guide was the same as the day before and he was really having fun teasing us about our feet, pretending to go and warm them up and stuff.  Nice guy – from Easter Island (he calls it Rapa Nui).  Amazingly fit – you’d have to be the Energizer bunny to do tours one after the other like that – and a total clown, always showing off with back flips and things.  He said he’d been doing the tours in San Pedro for 7 years – wish I’d asked how old he was (could have been anywhere between 25-35).

Anyway, the geysers were pretty cool – they only erupt early in the mornin which is why we left so early.  Again, because of the talk beforehand I kind of expected the eruptions to be huge and crazy, but they were still really neat as I’d never seen anything quite like it before.  Part of the price of the tour was a picnic breakfast and I so grateful for the warm coffee and the Chilean version of grilled cheese.  Definitely welcome warmth for many of us who didn’t quite get the message about dressing smartly.

Our next stop was the thermal pools and all of us girls were very excited to go for a warm swim.  These were somewhat lukewarm, but every so often some super hot water would come in and you had to watch not to burn your back.  Of course there were not change rooms so getting out of bathing suits was an adventure.  Since there were lots of us it was just a big laugh, making sure we watched out that no one showed their bums or boobs too much.  I still think that several strangers got a good look at both my butt and breasts.

We had a chance to walk around that area for a bit after our swim and see more geysers, only these were much smaller – more like little pools.  After that our next stop was on old Mapuche village where were were able to walk around and buy llama kebabs from this old man who was cooking them over an open fire.  That was really tasty; although the meat was chewy the spices and marinade were incredible.  At this point a couple of people on the tour (no one from our group) were really suffering from the altitude and very sick to their stomachs.  I felt quite fortunate not to be affected, that is for sure.

As this entry is getting up over 1200 words, I’ll quit for now.  Staying tuned for the next entry which will cover the end of my time in San Pedro, our infamous desert crossing and our first few days in Bolivia.

When we awoke yesterday morning we found out that the nightbus we were supposed to take to San Pedro had its departure time changed so instead of leaving at 4pm and arriving in SP at 9am we would not be leaving until 10pm.  This gave us an extra full day in La Serena, which was unexpected but fun – we all ended up just chilling out.

I just waled around the neighbourhood on my own in the morning then met up with the group for lunch at the supermarket (cheap: tasty empanadas). We checked out the museum of archaeology and the artisan market. Toby nearly bought a very cool Indiana Jones hat but decided at the last minute it was impractical.  We watched a street artist make a really cool painting using only spray paint and some putty knive.  That was incredible – I don’t think people will believe me when I describe it.

We did some more walking through market stalls and Dawn, Lucy and I bought scarves for a good price.  We went to the post office and gof out stamps and mailed our cards, which was good timing.  At that we were pretty worn out and stopped for coffee on a patio.  Next we check out a department store and found some really great bags.  Dawn had seen them in Brazil for a lot more money and they were 40% off.  She and I both bought one – hers had butterflies and mine had those little Russion stacking dolls.  Very cute.

Our next stop was the ATM and a couple of us got out some more money to ensure that we’d have enough in case the ATM in SP was not working (apparently this happens a lot).  This is where I learned that Chilean ATMs work differently from those in Canada (and pretty much everywhere else).  In Canada (etc) ATMs give you back your card before they spit out the money and they usually beep at you if you’re not paying attention.  In Chile things work differently and the money comes out first, then the machine gives you the option for another transaction and THEN you get your card.  Well, I gues I was distracted and not paying close enough attention, so I took the money the machine spit out and just walked away, completely unaware that my card was still in the machine.  I didn’t realize until much later…

After hitting the back we went to get groceries for our bus ride and to stock up on wine for our time in San Pedro.  When paying I didn’t notice my missing card.  Then we dropped everything off at the hostel and I went to send some emails. Again, when paying (because I used small change) I didn’t notice my missing card.  We headed out to dinner as a big group for our pre-night bus supper at a place with a lovely courtyard that some of us had passed earlier.  I was only when we were showing differences between passports and drivers licenses that I noticed my card was missing.  I thought back to the bank and thought that I might have put it somewhere else in my bag but after taking everything out it was clear my card was gone.

With 1 1/2 hours until we got on the bus I really wanted to get everything sorted before something bad happened so Renata showed me where a phone was (across the street luckily!) and got in touch with TD to cancel the card and try to arrange for another to be sent.  Unfortunately because I’m moving cities so much there was no safe place to send the card so I am now without a debit card for the remainder of the trip.  Oh well – I’ll just pay the cash advance fees I guess.  Or maybe I can just put the group dinners on my credit card and get the cash from people. That actually might be a better strategy and I just came up with that!

Anyway, that dinner, after getting all the banking sorted, was my best in Chile so far.  It was  a really tasty cheeseburger with tomato and avocado.  With homemade chips on the side.  I was very happy as I ate (part of it was probably knowing that I wouldn’t have a proper meal for quite awhile – unless we have time for dinner after our tour tonight, which could happen).

Following dinner we headed to the bus station to get on the bus to San Pedro that we’ve now been sitting on for nearly 14 hours.  I’m really hoping tat the next couple of hours consist of some sleeping for me – didn’t get enough last night at all.  But I’m feeling fine.  Guess I just need to make sure to keep eating healthy and sleeping when I can.  We’ve got lots lined up for our day and a half in SP and then our 3 day desert crossing goes from there.  The next 5 days will be pretty special and I will hopefully get a chance to write soon.

Before I finish I should tell a bit about my travelling companions.  Of course there is Renata our tour leader from Brazil who is awesome.  Then there’s Darrel the other Canadian.  Toby & Katie & Lucy from England and Lyn from New Zealand.  We all joined the group in Santiago.  Dawn from England has been travelling on a series of toure with Renata since Rio.  David from Ireland, Philip from Australia, Steve from England, Julie from Cypress and Tom from Switzerland as well as Heath & Amy from Texas have all be travelling with Renata since Buenos Aires [ed: in fact all except Tom started in Rio].  Many of them are continuing on after La Paz to do the Inca Trail in Peru and some are continuing to Quito.  David is going to go through central America with Gap as well after Quito and then fly to San Francisco.

A lot of the others have already been travelling extensively.  Lucy has been gone for 9 months through India, SE Asia, Australia & NZ; Heath and Amy have been on the road since August I think and Steve & Julie since April.  Tom has been travelling for almost 2 years, including over a month on a cargo ship through the Pacific and Lyn has been all over the place – Egypt, Ethiopia, in many, many place.  I think she plans to return home to NZ after doing the Inca trail. Philip has also been travelling since February including 6 months in Japan and doesn’t really have a plan after his Inca trail trip ends.  Toby & Katie have been working on farms in Australia and they both seem to have been away from home for quite awhile.  All are extremely nice – well, a couple of the guys are kind of aloof – and I think its a really nice group.  Probably because so many have already been together for so long.

Ok, just over three hours left.  Hope I make it

I think that I’ve confirmed that I’m an extrovert.  I need to recharge my batteries by being around people.  Yes!  Which brings me to thing 2 that I’m really excited about.  I have finally started going to yoga class.  Yep, there are some lovely teachers at this studio, again about 50 steps from my front door (serendipitous, no?), and I feel very at home there.  The first class that my friend Angie took me to was a ‘yin yoga’ class.  Not a practice I’ve taken before but one that I think I really like. It’s all about opening the heart space and all about being open to good things.  I am aware, all the more acutely after a conversation with my good friend Jessica, that I am carrying around a lot of anger. The reasons for this, I am aware of, and aren’t really relevant for this blog.  What is relevant is that I feel very empowered to not only deal with this anger, but deal with it in a way that will enrich me and who I am.  And probably benefit other people in my life.

So.  There that is.  Also, I finally bought a guitar.  After years of talking about it, I now have my musical game face on and have purchased this instrument that I think will be really helpful for me to channel more ‘feelings’.  Oh emotions… I am reminded of something AV used to say: “eat it emotions!”  He’s right – sometimes we need to just shelve them.  Sometimes though, for the benefit of ourselves and of the people we care about, we need to cut through the bullshit and help ourselves out.  I’m ready.

Also, I’d like to start planning a summer trip.  I hope we get to go down to MD for a 2nd “small” family reunion.  The big one was last year, and will come again in 2011 but I hope that the immediate 4 families get together again.  It was awesome to be down in the States and save the Fs some travel.  We’ll see.  Of course I would plan around it, but I’d like to go to England and do a train journey all the way north.  See the C-Ts and the GAP girls… yeah, let’s looks into that.

PS -

1. Movie recommendation: Manic (with my favourite actor,  Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, and the incomparable Don Cheadle).  Totally excellent, and anyone who has ever dealt with anything mental health related will probably be stunned at how accurate it is.  I wept. 
2. Book recommendation: Finnie Walsh by Stephen Galloway (Cellist of Sarajevo, Ascension).  This was his first novel and it is brilliant.

A strange thing – and this is kind of an aside – that a couple of us noticed, is that there seemed to be a really high proportion of disabled people in the town.   I noticed specifically blind people and kids with Down’s Syndrome, but quite a variety of palsies and problems.  Will have to do some reading and find out if there is a specific issue in La Serena that would cause this.

Anyway, once we got checked in to our grotty hostel and had a chance to clean up after our 7 hr journey (which now seems like a complete walk in the park as I approach hour 12 on this godforsaken bus!) we were visited bu this sweet little tour guide, Andrea who told us about some tour options.  As well, this local gentleman came to tell us about his restaurant and practice his English.  He was a real character and we decided to go and eat at his restaurant later that evening.  I really wish I’d taken a picture with him because he completely embodied this idea of barrier free engagement that, from what I’ve seen, the Chilean people really care about.  This fellow, and many others, didn’t care that we didn’t speak Spanish and he was just going to communicate and try and make an effort.  It seems like most people are really keen on tourists, which is cool and I’m happy that I’m with  group that is respectful and also tried to engage just as well.

Dinner was all we really got up to on our first night in La Serena (we also waited in line to buy soccer tickets for the next night) but the next day was super packed.  Many of us went on the full day tour of the Elqui Valley.  We left with Andrea, our very sweet tour guide, at just after 9 in the morning and stopped to pick up 2 more women from another hostel.  They were doing a really similar trip to ours with a different tour company, but in the opposite direction, so they were giving us some tips about what to expect in Bolivia (and in Peru, for those on our trip going further afterwards).

The first stop we made was at a papaya factory to see how the Chilean papayas grow.  They are really small and yellow and very fragrant. They have to be cooked before being eaten (I guess they are usually boiled) which seems funny because they smell so tasty, as if you could just bite right into them.  Very different from the large orange papayas they sell back home (and in the States and England from what my fellow travellers said).  We got to try some papaya jam and many of us bought bottles of papaya juice before heading to our next stop.

We travelled for quite a while through Elqui Valley before arriving at a dam.  I never got the proper spelling and Andrea always said the name too quickly for me to catch it.  It was really amazing to see how big it was and the huge lake on one side contrasted with the dry valley below.  We were able to walk right across the dam and I took loads of pictures.  It reminded me of something out of Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, all the steep cliffs and cactuses everywhere.

After taking pictures at the dam we headed to the pisco distillery for a tour of the grounds and to have a taste of the finished product.  Seeing the vineyards was really neat and how they grow the grapes in sort of a canopy is really neat.  The distillery we went to is very traditional and they make the pisco using very few mechanical processes, doing as much as possible manually.

When it was time for the tasting the first cup we were given was 80% alcohol – wow, was it ever strong.  I could only manage one sip.  The other was an oak aged pisco that was an amber colour.  It was far less harsh but still really strong.  It was cool to see the difference between the liquor but I think I’d prefer it mixed in pisco sours or with mango.

Our next stop was lunch at a really cute restaurant in the hills.  We got a full three course meal and got to spend some time relaxing in the beautiful backyard of the property.  The day was very very hot so getting to dip my feet in the cool swimming pool was great.  There were hammocks as well and a beautiful little swingset/slide.  I think I could have spent the whole afternoon just chilling out there!

Oh! I forgot something – before we stopped at the distillery we visited a little town called Vicuna.  Like La Serena it had a really pretty park as its town centre and I loved taking pictures of all the trees and flowers.  The reason I remembered Vicuna is because the next place we went after lunch was another small town called Pisco de Elqui.  It was basically the same as Vicuna.  A park, a church and places to buy crafts.  I did buy a few postcards so that I could mail one to John & Kel and give a bunch out back home.

After Pisco de Elqui we stopped along the road at a lookout/mausoleum dedicated to the local poet Gabriela Mistral, who won the  Nobel prize for literature many years ago.  She’s a bit of a hero in the Elqui Valley.  At several other points we stopped at various lookouts to take pictures, and at a roadside stand to taste some fresh Chilean grapes – super sweet and cold. From there we headed back and got in about 6:30pm.  It was a long day but we were able to see a lot – I loved the experience.

After a quick shower (refresh break) the soccer watching gang head out to the 2nd Colo Colo v La Serena game of the series.   The La Serena stadium was much smaller and “rustic” than the stadium in Santiago.  Through coincidence we ended up sitting in the Colo Colo section, which was huge.  I couldn’t believe that so many people would make the 7 hour trip from Santiago… or maybe the team has a wider appeal around the region.  Either way, the Colo Colo cheering squad was out in full force – not the same as the paltry number of La Serena fans at the match we saw in Santiago.  This game was much more exciting and the energy of the crowd was even more electric – probably because we were packed in on concrete bleachers instead of chairs.  Colo Colo won 3-0 nd we all had a great time cheering them on again.  Getting home was far less of a problem too and since the home team lost, the streets were pretty subdued.

We were able to do some sneaky work, thanks to our tour guide, Renata, who came with us to the game.  She fast talked the gate guards so that we could sneak Lucy, our friend who thought she could buy a ticket at the game, inside.  It was awesome to walk Renata work it in Spanish   Once inside, our timing was perfect – the bus carrying the Colo Colo players pulled up and we were in the front row to watch them enter the stadium.  Two things stuck out for me about this: a) those guys are SUPER hot, like REALLY and b) I’ve never been somewhere that sports heros are just able to walk through the crowds.  Security for these guys was pretty lax and many of them were laughing and shaking hands with people who were wishing them good luck as they walked into the stadium.  There was something special about that for me – made me think of the purity of sport and how here in North America we “value” players and teams and stuff monetarily but there’s pretty little heart in it. In Chile, soccer is literally IT – they don’t have other sports to distract them – so the fact that there’s still this essence of purity about going to a game is really great.

Ok – I am aware that reading a 15oo word blog post is not exactly fun.  So this is getting split up.  Part 2 b) is coming… Let’s hope I can maintain (increase?) readership??

Trip has been 3 days now and I was planning on being a lot more strict with recording things so that I am able to tell all the stories.  However there are just not enough hours in the day.   Since we’re on a bus for the new whole day today, heading to La Serena, I thought I would take the opportunity to ot some memories down.

Landing in Santiago was amazing – the sun coming up over the mountains was so beautiful.  The Andes are truly breathtaking from all angles.  Coincedence – saw Shirley Lee and her sister Cindy on the flight! Thought Cindy looked familiar but deplaning Shirley called my name – turns out they were heading to Buenos Aires to be with family.  So funny to have seen her – she’s in Toronto at a bank and Cindy is a doctor.

The airport itself was chaos after gettng though customs.  So much so that I needed to sit down and collect myself.  I couldn’t believe I was actually in South America – it was really sinking in!  My trip was on!  I found a shuttle to take me to the hotel and was the only foreigner – the reality of my lack of Spanish really hit me at that point!!!

Taking a shuttle instead of a direct taxi was really smart as it gave me a greater sense of the “real” city.  From the various places people got dropped of, you could really get a sense of the diversity.  Very narrow hilly streets gave way to busier roads and more modern buildings.  The first thing I noticed was the hundreds of stray dogs lying about.  I thought it might just be a low income neighbourhood thing but those dogs are everywhere. They aren’t scary at all either – completely sweet and really indifferent to humans.  I wouldn’t touch them thought as they’re completely filthy.  Not something that would go over in Ottawa, but I think it’s neat.   They ar REALLY smart too – look both ways before they cross the street and everything!!

Got settled in to the hotel – tiny room, very European.  Just a single bed and could barely turn around in the bath.  But so grateful for a shower and a chance to change clothes.  Was just about to head out exploring when Renata, our group leader, showed up with a much better map andtold me that her current group was having their goodbye dinner that night and she invited me to join them.  I was so pleased to feel so welcome.  So thoughtful and perfect timing.  Guess that with this tour there are many travellers doing it as a leg of their journey because it connects with other tours at either end.

Some of the folks started in Rio and some into Buenos Aires and then there are those that are continuing on after La Paz to both Lima and Quito.  I’m so impressed with the prople that are just making this leg a part of their travels – there are folk that have been travelling for months and months – Tom from Switzerland has been on the road for almost 2 years!

After meeting Renata I headed out for a walk round the area, looking for food.  Being Saturday afternoon, everything was busy but I was being wary, as I didn’t want to begin the trip eating something off the street but I was nervous to go into a restaurant due to my lack of Spanish.  My indecision led me to walk too far and I was too hungry so I ended up just getting a pastry that I really didn’t want and eating it in a park.  The sandals I’d been wearing had really done a number on my feet, so I headed back to the hotel for a nap and to get band aids.  Should definitely have taken many more of those from home!!

Met up with the gang for dinner and was very much welcomed.  A really nice girl named Kate kind of took me under her wing and introduced me around.  She was from England, as are many of the people on this lef.  Diner was at a really cool restaurant with all sorts of graffiti on the walls.  It was really traditional Chilean food which was cool.  Many of us had pisco sours, the traditional drink in Chile, very tasty.  I was dying for seafood so I got this casserole type dish with fish and shrimp, clams, etc. It was quite tasty.  They brought us out a round of shots on the house as well.  I had something called “pisco con manzanilla” (not sure about the spelling) which was neat.  Very strong and tasted herby.

After dinner we headed out to a local bar for drinks – was quite a search as we were a large group and places were fairly full.  I just had one beer, as most of the group was leaving and I wanted to be fresh for the following day.  Some of us agreed to meet at 10am to go exploring and then we set off for the hotel.  It as a little confusing at first but we made it.

Not very long after settling in for the night, I felt quite sick.  The nausea woke me right up and I have no idea what caused it, but as soon as I got sick I felt much better.  Very strange because I felt fine so quickly but I was grateful to not spend all evening hugging the toilet.

Meeting up the next mornig we headed out to find “real” coffee (not Nescafe, which is everywhere).  We walked over to this big hill call Cerro San Cristobal, which had many restaurants near but being Sunday morning nothing was open.  Finally we came upon a place in the street which seemed a bit budget but it had food so I couldn’t complain.  Over priced for a salad and a juice but when travelling you do what you can

After eating we took the funicular up the hill and got a great view of the city and mountains.  We climbed around for awhile and the nmade our way down.  Travelling down took quite a long time but it was really neat to people watch as the park was full of families out and people biking and running.  We had another coffee on another patio and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with more people to go watch a soccer game.

That was the highlight of the trip so far – soccer was fun! We took  packed subway to the stadium which was surrounded by vendors selling everything from very sketchy looking food to flags to clothing.  Since we were really early we got excellent seats and they also happened to face the mountains which were gorgeous to watch as the sun set.  That didn’t happen until well after 8, nearly 9!!  So different from home.  Had some sub-par empanadas but they kept me fueled throughout the game.

The crowds were crazy – one section was called “Gatta Blanca” and they were the home team’s official cheering section.  The team was called Colo Colo and the fans were so devoted.  The chanting and music and cheering started about 1/2 an hour before the game and did not stop during the game at all.  The whole section was like a wave of people – jumping and singing, playing trumpets and drums.  Granted, it was a semi final game but I have never seen that kind of cheering in person.  During the one goal (scored by the home team) the whole crowd went nuts.  One of the guys in my group, Heath, had bought a flag and was waving it with the tons of other flags, people were hugging and jumping – total mayhem.

Getting home on the subway was crazy as well.  Very packed and lots of pushing and shoving.  Chris and I linked arms to stay together but it was a challenge to avoid getting crushed against the walls.  I got completely groped and I’m still not sure if it was intentional or just due to the crowding.  I’ll go with accident just because it is less sleazy.  Again, once on the subway, it was jammed – we were like litte sardines.  By the time we got back to was after 10 but I was starving so a few of us went to patio.

We tried ordering several times but each time the waitress would say something wasn’t available.  We ended up just ordering a bunch of stuff and sharing.  Things took forever and we weren’t back to the hotel til nearly midnight.  I felt so badly because I’d been assigned a roommate and I was sure I’d wake her.  Luckily she wasn’t asleep and I was able to get organized for bed without trouble.

My plan had been to charge my camera so that it would be all ready for our day trip to Valparaiso the next day but the adapter from Novacks did not fit into the plug.  I was so worried, thinking that I would be stuck with a dead camera so I went to bed feeling really unsettled and worried.  However, after our morning group meeting I asked Darrell, another Canadian, about it and he said it would work in Bolivia and he loaned me his charge for the day!  So nice!

While I was worried that my camera would run out of battery in Valpo, I decided to take it anyway instead of leaving it to charge during the day.  We got off to the bus station and the bus was only $10 round trip. It took just 1 1/2 hours and was a good opportunity to nap.  We couldn’t have picked a more beautiful day to explore the port town.  Everything was perfect!

Valpo is extremely hilly and we got a real legs/butt workout climbing up and down all the hills.  It is also very artsy and there is beautiful street art (paintings, not graffiti) everywhere.  The houses had murals everywhere and often mosaics too.  Lots of really funky cafes and art stores were all over – definitely a great neighbourhood for backpackers and students.

I couldn’t get over the colours and how amazing the ocean was.  We had lunch on a patio in the centre of the square near the water and probably paid more for the atmosphere that anything – lovely strawberry juice made it totally worthwhile.  That is something Chileans do very well – fresh tasty juices!

We took a cable car up to the top of the neighbourhood again and spent another couple of hours strolling around before meeting up with everyone to return home.  Just a really completely perfect day – despite adding further blisters to my feet.  I think it’s because they are soooo sweaty that sandals just rub them too easily.

Back at the hotel our group met up to head to Bellavista for a really lovely dinner.  We ate on another patio in a sort of courtyard that had shops and art an just a really nice ambiance.  Had some super tasty pumpkin pasta and a really good local beer (from Valparaiso actually) called Calle-Calle.  The area was really neat after dark andthere were lots of very hip looking places, all colourful and lit up.

Once we got back to our area – Santa Lucia – it was time to hit the bank and stock up on some snacks for the bus trip to La Serena.  This morning we packed up and left the hotel at 7:45 to get on an 8:30 bus.  The trip is supposed to take about 7 hrs and so far it has been comfortable.  The landscape is pretty barren – quite dray with a wide variety of trees - some are really shrubby and some are fir trees.  There’s also lots of cactus and palm trees took which makes an interesting combo – weird for me to see cactus and palm next to what I think of as Christmas trees.  We were driving beside the coast for a bit and that was lovely – water so perfectly blue.  As well, there have been horses, cows and goats in the hills near the road.  It’s pretty rugged but really beautiful.  I’m looking forward to being on the beach in La Serena by this evening (fingers crossed!).

So fortunately, I was able to disappear for 6 weeks – part of that was just chilling at my parents place in London for the holidays (Christmas, etc) but a larger chunk of the time was an amazing vacation to Chile and Bolivia.  I have now realized the benefits of vacationing and resolve solemnly to do it more often. It certainly didn’t break the bank as much as I’d anticipated and, in fact, did a lot for my sanity   I was well on my way to “little black rain cloud” and now I feel decidedly more positive, rested and ready to actually contribute to both my work and my friends & family.  This realization about taking time for me has led me to feel that I need to write more.  I love to write and I never do.  It’s that whole ‘blank page nervousness’ thing I have… for some reason I feel pressure that anything I write down in a book has to be “good enough”.  This space is different and for that reason I think that I will dedicate some real time to it (1 post per week) this year.  You read it here, people – I have made a 2010 resolution.  Not that anyone is actually going to call me on it, but this is public enough, so please feel free.  Who knows, I may develop a following.

The first thing I’d like to do is transcribe the travel journal I kept during my time in South America last month.  Not super creative, but I felt very free to write in that little notebook and did end up writing almost 80 pages.  I would like to record it here, uncensored (well, spelling errors will be corrected but beyond that, nothing) and then add any current reactions as footnotes or as a separate section of the post.  So that’s job one – and the beyond that it’s anyone’s guess.  Buckle up, dear readers.

News in the world of my knitting… the blanket exchange has proven to be a ton of fun.  Only one blue block turned out picture worth, but I’ve made 4 so far.  5 actually but the one turned out all off in dimensions so I’m just going to keep it and turn it into something for myself… or maybe incorporate it into a gift?  Another great purchase was a ball winder – seen above with some gorgeous brown yarn that is on its way to becoming a sweater (for me!).  The ball winder just takes so much less time to use than making balls by hand.  I thought it was overrated but wow, was I wrong.  Other projects on the go right now – a really sweet pink baby sweater and the sweater that will not finish, the terra cotta hemp monster that I’ve been working on for way too long (just keep getting distracted with other cooler projects… I like “new”, what can I say).

The knitting has just been such a lifesaver… I’d like to make MORE time for it, actually!  It’s just keeping my mind really chill.  Meditation in motion, I’m telling ya!!

Travel is also on the horizon, which is exciting… not sure exactly what the details are going to be.  Originally the plan was to visit my VSO friend in Cameroon.  But I’ve been repeatedly hearing about the danger level in that country – the DFAIT website confirmed for me yesterday that it really is not a place I should be travelling, especially for my first time in Africa!!  Now I’m leaning towards either Senegal/Mali or Namibia/Botswana/South Africa.  Or taking it easy and heading to SE Asia… I’m getting a lot of good “propaganda” from a new friend who spent a lot of time in Thailand.  Definitely one common denominator is that my new favourite website is GAP Adventures – they honestly have something going on everywhere.  And even if I don’t spend my whole vacation on a tour, it might be a good way to start and meet people right off the bat.  Then, if there are folks who are continuing on, there’s always the chance that we could hook up and travel together… but I suppose that will happen eventually anyway…

Ah, lots to think about.  All I know is that Nov. 20 will be my last day at work for 2009 and that in itself is VERY good news.  Given that my last holiday was over five years ago now… I need to get out there and enjoy the world!!

Knitting stuff has been the solace and getting some good time in on all these plane trips. I’m sure its bc I’m so non-threatening, but I’ve never had trouble getting needles on the plane. And I have a 7 hr train ride coming up to get to London for Easter weekend so lots will get done then as well.

Just because I know everyone is interested, here are some finished (and in progress) objects…