Valparaiso

FINALLY! A few hours to sit and write. I have a lot to catch up on, and I hope I can make it through my chicken scratch notes and remember everything in between...

On Tuesday the 10th, we had a 7am flight to Santiago, which meant a very early rise for us who have otherwise become habitual late sleepers! Bet we were up and to the airport with no issue. In fact, the whole day went much smoother then anticipated. Considering that our transport to our final destination of Valparaiso (Valpo for short!) included a flight, finding the correct bus to the center of Santiago, finding another bus to Valpo and then trying to navigate through the confusing streets to our hotel, we did pretty good for a couple of meathead Gringos! Next task - I'm signing us up for The Amazing Race!

Getting to Valpo was worth the effort! The 1 1/2 hour drive from Santiago was beautiful and entirely reminiscent of driving in California - brown rolling hills spotted green with trees, framing a lush green valley filled with various orchards, vineyards and olive groves.

And then we arrived in Chile's second largest city, and another Unesco World Heritage Site. We had been highly anticipating this visit - everyone raves about this city. Our initial impression, however, did not meet our expectations - the city STUNK! Of garbage, and lots of it. Our taxi driver tried to explain as best he could so we would understand..."Primera vez mi ciudad no es bonita!" (First time my city is not beautiful)! Lucky us, we got there in the middle of a garbage workers strike!

Once we got away from the center of the city and wound our way up the hills via a myriad of crooked streets, we finally found our hostel, and it was one of our favourites yet - clean, very colourful, and with 4 meter high ceilings. After we checked in and had a map explained to us, we ventured out. What first seemed like just a big smelly city is now a potential favourite! We could have spent hours just strolling through all the quaint little streets. It's like a cross between parts of San Francisco and St John's - streets lined with brilliantly colored conjoined buildings. Murals decorated the numerous cafes and boutiques on every corner. There are also 15 furnicular elevators to help alleviate the stress of walking up some steel hills - most being built over 100 years ago. We spent the remainder of the day just discovering the character of the city and finished with dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbour.

Streets of Valparaiso

Our friend Gill survived her 30+ hour bus trip from Arica (crazy Brit!) and joined us the next day for more sightseeing. We hopped the train for a 10 minute ride to neary Vina del Mar which is a complete contrast to Valpo - a very upscale city where all the rich Santiagoan's (sp?) spend all their money and their weekends. We found our way to the beach, and YES, I did manage to burn the last exposed piece of skin that I did not burn the first time - the backs of my knees. Very good.

Beach in Vina del Mar

While we relaxed quietly on the beach enjoying the sun, an English couple sitting only 20 feet away from us had their bag nicked when only turning their back for a second. Two "blimey jovenes" (as Gill affectionately called them - rocking her Spanglish) had been scouting everyone around us, and thankfully Pete had tied a strap of our backpack to his belt loop. Luckily, a Chilean woman close to us saw the whole thing and called the police. They were onsite within minutes. The bag and all it's contents were recovered - the police telling the couple that they didn't want them "to go away with a bad impression of Chile!" Perhaps these cops should talk to cops in Edmonton - I still have a bad impression of that trashy city after our vehicle was broken in to this summer!

The next day started off with errand running - or at least, an attempt at it. I am now oh-for-two in trying to cash a traveller's cheque in this country, thank goodness there are bank machines on every corner. The rest of the afternoon saw us ambling some more around the quaint neighbourhoods surrounding our hostel, and also included a good lengthy siesta for me! Our evening saw a little more action - one of the staff at our hostel invited us to a CD release party for a local band he was managing. They were really good! A four piece band who played a mix of jazz and rock, I urge you to check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/anicetodelpuerto

Our last day in Valpo was one of my favourite days since leaving Canada. After waiting too long to join a tour group leaving our hostel for a vineyard and other sightseeing, we decided to do it ourselves! Our hostel staff arranged for a car rental and a winery tour, and the three of us were off on our own. Pete enjoyed being behind the wheel again (and the fact that the speed limit is higher here!) and we found our way around the area without too much trouble.

Our first stop was the William Cole vineyard for a tour and wine tasting. Our tour guide was most informative, and we all learned a lot in a short time frame, including which tap to turn on and stick our heads under for tasting (ha!) The wine here is so tasty and SO cheap. We each bought a bottle and were back in the car for our next destination.



We stopped at the small fishing village of Quintay for a leisurely lunch on the beach, watching fisherman bring in their small boats and sort through their catch from that morning.

Quintay

Surrounding Quintay, there are several less visited beaches that we went in search of! The first one, Playa Grande, was quite large and unbelievably quiet - we virtually had it all to ourselves. We laid around for about an hour just listening to the waves crash in (and shivering from the cold wind that interrupted the heat from the sun!) Knowing that our time was limited before we had to get the rental car back, we went in search of another smaller beach (Playa Chica) that was a little harder to get to. After about 20 minutes of walking we found it, and while it was not much of a sandy beach (had a very rocky shore), it was a beautiful spot that was again, all to ourselves!

Playa Grande

Gill, Pete and I at Playa Chica

Overall, it was just an incredible day, exploring lesser known spots on our own - spots that haven't been spoiled by being on the tourist path.

Off to Santiago Saturday morning, which is a complete contrast to so many things we have seen so far...it is large, very modern, clean, like many a city in North America! Lots to see and do...but that will be saved for the next post...

Sunburns and Big Mac´s

After one day in agony suffering from too much sun, I made a speedy recovery, and from an unlikely source. When remedies of cool showers and aloe vera failed to provide needed relief, I dug through Pete´s bag of tricks to find some aspirin. I popped two pills and went to bed - overnight I was miraculously healed of all pain! The next day, when Pete reached into his bag for some aspirin for his own burn, he discovered that I had NOT taken aspirin, but that I had instead ingested 8X the daily recommended dosage of altitude sickness pills! Not the healthiest thing I´ve ever done, to be sure, but I do believe I might write some medical journals with my amazing discovery. Interesting to note however are the crazy side effects - repeated tingling of fingers and toes, and a very long and intense muscle spasm in my right hand. Good times!

So it´s been back to the beach for the last couple of days, albeit under an umbrella in order to save me from further agony (and because I am now out of altitude sickness pills). The beaches were much fuller this weekend so it has been fun to just people watch, listen to the waves rolling in, and play several rounds of FMK with Ruth and Gill (thanks for the inspiration Alcam - the game has now gone international!!) Pete and I have taken a couple of breaks from the sun, sand and surf in order to take in a local museum dedicated to the War of the Pacific (in which Bolivia lost coast access) as well as to do a bit of shopping (my wardrobe of 5 shirts and 5 bottoms being quite inadequate for warmer climates).

Our favourite beach is in that little cove

Today we say goodbye to Ruth and Gill - Ruth going back to Sucre and we will be meeting up with Gill in Valparaiso tomorrow. Pete and I are going to enjoy one more museum (with super old mummies!) and one last warm beach day before our early flight tomorrow morning. From Santiago we are directly boarding a bus north 1 1/2 hours to Valparaiso which is supposed to be one of the nicest cities in all of Chile. After a few nights there, we will head to Santiago to spend the weekend with a displaced Canadian friend before we begin our journey south. We still have MUCH to plan for that next leg of the journey - many destinations being undecided as we complete a cost/benefit analysis for each (Pete is trying to keep up his CMA skills). Chile is so expensive!

Culture Shock!

Now that we have been in Chile for almost two weeks, we have been adjusting to the vast differences between Bolivia and Chile. Some are welcome and easy adjustments, others have been made more begrudgingly...

Yay Chile!

- It is SO nice to walk across the street here without worrying about getting killed. The first time we had a driver slow down and waves us across the street, we stepped out very tentatively, half expecting to driver to step on the gas pedal once he got us directly in his sights. In Bolivia, you take your life into your own hands when stepping out on the street.

- In comparing the cities of Sucre and Arica, we found the Aricans (sp?) to be much more friendly and helpful, to the point of having a vehicle stop on it´s route to warn Pete and I of going the wrong way to a popular tourist destination, saving us a very long walk!

- Seafood! (Well, that makes Pete happy anyways).

- Beaches! Obviously.

Arica

We miss you, Bolivia
- The sight of a McDonalds and Blockbuster, which may be appealing to some, was disheartening to us. Chile is a very modern country and in many ways Arica feels like a North American city. We were happy to leave such capitalist mecca´s behind us, and were not so anxious to see them again. (Of note, Mickey Dee´s was one time in Bolivia, but was later kicked out by the Bolivian government!)

- So much for our Spanish lessons. Chileans speak a very lazy Spanish, often leaving out the ¨s¨in any given word. Very hard to understand.

- It costs so much more to tour through here, at least double for accomodations and a good meal. Hence our debate over what to actually do while we are here...

Lazy days in Arica

We arrived in Arica early Tuesday morning (6am) after a 9 1/2 hour bus ride from San Pedro de Atacama. I was not particularly thrilled at the prospect of a long overnight bus ride as the idea conjured up memories of my University days and the frequent trips via Greyhound from Calgary to Peace River! Howeever, we were told by several people that traveling by bus in Chile is luxurious in comparison - and boy, were they right!

Our bus was ¨semi-cama¨ which meant seats that reclined almost entirely horizontal (¨cama¨means ¨bed¨in English, and there are buses available where the seats stretch out to full beds). There was even a co-pilot who took over for the driver halfway, and also worked to provide us pillows and blankets when he wasn´t driving - service plus! I wish this all meant that I slept well, but I didn´t, being too distracted by all the snoring around me.

We went straight to our hostal on arrival, expecting to just crash on lobby couches until later when we could check into our room. Luckily, the gracious hostal manager had our room ready early and we were able to go straight to bed! Thus Tuesday was a lazy one, in between naps we did amble around the town center a bit, but stuck pretty close to the hostal for the most part.

We were excited for the next day as it meant: a) BEACH! and b) two of our friends from Sucre would arrive to join us for the week. Ruth and Gill arrived late teh night before after an excrutiating long trip from Bolivia, and as they had both been here before, led us to our first taste of beach and ocean!

There are many beaches in Arica, which is why we chose to relax a week in this city before moving south where the water gets significantly colder.

After two days of sun and sand, Arica has not disappointed! The water is clear and the beaches are beauitiful. We´ve enjoyed it so much, in fact, that we both got a little too much sun yesterday. I burned in the most inconvenient of places (the top back of both my legs...makes it super hard to sit! Also my back, and my face, despite using sunscreen) So while Pete took to the beach with Ruth and Gill today (for once, I burned more than Pete, first time that has EVER happened), I am sticking close to the cool of the hostal, likely not venturing out into the sun until hopefully feeling better tomorrow.

Four more sleeps in Arica and we are on the move again. The plan is to fly to Santiago on Tuesday where our first order of business will be to get our laptop to an Apple repair center! We have much yet to plan for the next phase of our trip, which I´ll be doing today in some sort of creative, comfortable position that I have yet to find...

(unfortunately, pictures of Arica will have to wait as the computer here isn´t working properly...)

San Pedro de Atacama

From the freezing mountains of Bolivia to the sweltering desert of Chile...we have had a very relaxing (albeit sweaty!) few days in San Pedro de Atacama, just about 50kms west of the Bolivian border.

The temperature for our first couple of days here has been in the high 30s, while yesterday it cooled off to a much more tolerable 28. It has been too hot to do much of anything, which has suited us fine as it has taken us some time (and a few naps!) to recover from our last few days in Bolivia.

San Pedro is a very touristy town, largely because of it's preserved Colonial style and it's very mellow, laid back feel. It feels very much like a surfer town - without the surf!



We did manage to muster up enough energy yesterday to take to the slopes - sandboarding!

It's funny, I can't even count how many times Pete and I have been told that we were a waste of space in Calgary - living so close to the Rocky Mountains yet never taking up skiing or snowboarding. The thought of spending a whole day in the cold never appealed to me, but if I can do the same thing in a warmer climate...BRING IT ON!!

We were a small group of seven plus our instructor, and none of us seven had ever done it before. Our instructor drove us to a sand dune in 'Death Valley'. Scary, right?

Pete and I ended up finding it super easy, we were easily the best of the seven (yes! I am always this modest!) We both decided afterwards that we think that it might have to do with the fact we are both curlers - keeping our balance on the board was not a problem. I only fell once, and Pete never did! About halfway through the morning, the instructor told me that he thought my board was too big for me, plus I think I was on the board backwards - switching my leg position around seemed more natural. I seemed to be doing okay though, so the instructor didn't want to change it.

Next time we do it, I'll be sure to get the equipment all figured out and I'll be able to kick Pete's ASS!

So today is our last day lazing around town and at 8:45pm we board an overnight bus to Arica and THE BEACH! We are both very excited to be heading back down these mountains to sea level and to spend some time in the water.


Riddle me this...In Sucre, we were only two hours ahead of Alberta. So, now that we traveled west into Chile, we should be even closer in time to home, right?

WRONG!


We are now four hours ahead! Chile practices daylight savings time, so just had their clocks spring ahead one hour (it is spring here!), and seeing as Alberta just fell back an hour, we are further apart. Makes phoning home more difficult!

Pictures!!

Here is the first album again, with a few adds of Sucre and Potosi:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145321&id=669761083&l=235dac27e9

And a brand new album! Full of pictures from our recent tour:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162820&id=669761083&l=5a183d4e36