December in the Desert!

Everyone we have met along the way that has been to San Pedro de Atacama has been overflowing with good things to say about it - and we have now joined them. We arrived at our hostel (Hostal Rural) to find it covered in little nicknacks, awesome artwork everywhere, 6 hammocks strung from wall to wall, and a very cool, laid back owner who was happy to greet us. We also met here our friend Raphael, who we had met in Santiago, and were happy to be reunited with him. We had a look around the tiny touristy town, and decided to book on to some tours. We booked to go on two with Raphael, the Laguna Cejas tour that day, the Valle de la Luna tour the next day, and the Geiser Del Tatio tour the following day. We were absolutely gutted to find the SpaceObs star tour closed for the entire time we´re here, due to it being cloudy and then a full moon, but grateful to have seen the incredible night sky in Pan de Azucar, and hope to see many more as we travel. 

Just as we were preparing to leave for the Laguna cejas tour, a terrible thing happened. Obviously fed up we were in the desert, the camera decided to have a moment and completely refused to work. The lens was stuck between on and off, and try as we may nothing could be done. So unfortunately right now I have no pictures to go alongside here, though Raphael did take some for us so there is evidence! We were picked up in a minivan to go to the three Lagoons. The first one was a long and deep pool in the middle of the mountains where the salt concentration is so high that you can float. We were warned not to get our heads under the water as it would burn. But obviously there is always one - I lent back to get my hair wet (apparently salt water is good for dreads) and in doing so got water in my eyes. It really did burn! It was beautiful to be bobbing around floating in the water surrounded by mountains, and the view of a volacno. After an hour here, we were hosed down (when we dried we were white with salt) and went to the next lagoon.

The second were two naturally formed plunge pools, which you had to take a running jump and leap in to the cool sweet water below. My brothers Callum and Ollie would have been backflipping off it - but I just about psyched myself up enough to do it! There was also a second pool which had a beautiful reflection of the sky and mountains in it. Then we headed to our third and final destination, a salt lake stretching as far as the eye could see towards phenomenal mountains and beautiful desert. The lake was so shallow (about 5 centimeters) we were able to walk across it. It looked like ice, but Raphael reassured us it was definitely salt after giving it a crafty lick. Here we watched the sunset over the incredible landscape and warmed ourselves by drinking Pisco Sour. 

The next morning, with a bit of fairydust and some extensive googling, we fixed the camera! So with an additional spring in our step, we set off on the Valle de lad Luna tour the following day, a tour around the Moon Valley and the Valley of the Dead. They are one of the driest places on earth, not having had any rain for hundreds of years, and the rock has been sculpted by wind (and water thousands of years ago) to make some magical rock formations and colours. It makes you feel like you're on an altogether different planet - Mars, or something out of Star Wars. We were led through naturally formed caverns in the dark on our hands and knees, and rock climbed up a mountain. 

We were then lead to the Valley of the Dead, which is actually just mistranslated and has nothing to do with any form of death - where there are massive sand dunes and rocks. The wind was ferociously whipping us, but the view was incredible, unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The final destination on this tour was high up to overlook the Moon Valley while the sunset over the mountains. This was perhaps the most surreal, beautiful, inspiring, romantic (and all other wonderful descriptive words) time I have spent here yet. We sat alone on a rock, away from the congregating tourists, and watched the fading sun change the colour of the landscape, totally in awe of everything. 

At 4am one morning we were up and ready for our tour to the Geiser Del Tatio. We embarked on a rocky road in a minibus, wrapped in our thermals and coats, and promptly fell asleep until we arrived at 4,200m above sea level. Here we were taken to the geysers; volcanic streams of steam and water which jet in to the air. We watched them bubble and spurt, and watched the sunrise while eating breakfast. Then we drove a little further, to a natural hot spring which we were able to bathe in - so surreal. On our journey back to San Pedro we finally fulfilled our mission of seeing llamas - in great abundance! We stopped several times to see them grazing, even seeing a sneaky one run across the road infront of us, and to see the volcano smoking from a distance. We also stopped at a small deserted town, Vado Machuca, which only had 7 people living there. Both Dave and I were somewhat unimpressed with that stop off, as it felt invasive to be sticking cameras in the locals faces while they were going about their llama farming. I did however like a charming rock sculpture with a smiling face, so took a picture of that.

That afternoon we went for lunch with Raphael, who persuaded us to try a traditional Chilean dish, Cazuela. It was a heartybroth filled with potatoes, pasta, corn on the cob, beef and a mystery vegetable (which we think was a pumpkin, but the skin was green). It was delicious and filled us up for the entire day!

And then it was Christmas! We spoke with our hostel friends (predominently Brazilians - Raphael, Hugo, Vanessa...!) who told us how in South America Christmas is celebrated by a meal at midnight on the 24th, and presents to follow. We decided to join Raphael at mass in the church in town - a great experience to witness such a different celebration - though Herk the Herald! and Silent Night were sung in Spanish (Glooooo-oooo-oooo-oooo-ria translates the same), the beginning of the service was started by banging drums and tambourines, and children in brightly coloured costumes dancing their way between the pews. After that we went to a local restaurant where we filled a central table with 10 residents of Hostal Rural. We raised glasses of wine, and had Steak and Chips for our Christmas dinner (and the steak came with fried eggs on it!). That evening we read 'T'was the night before Christmas' (a gift from Dave's lovely Mum) to get us in the Christmassy feel, and went to bed.

On Christmas day we awoke and swapped the gifts we had bought each other (we had a $7000 peso budget each, about a tenner, and a strict rule of tourist tat only). Surprisingly we both got each other bookmarks and bracelets, but I also recieved a sweet little frog, and a chunky wooden necklace. We got together a group of people to go on a bike ride to see some ancient inka ruins; three Brazillians and three Brits. We cycled to the ruins, climbed them and surveyed the view from above, impressed by the scale of the  ancient fort. On the way back down we, accompanied by (maybe more led by..) Amy, the other English traveller with us, sang our hearts out to all the carols we remembered - a particularly rousing version of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' echoed round the desert. 

That evening the Hostal organised a giant BBQ for all the guests, and everyone provided a dish. Dave and I provided 2 litres of Mulled wine (Thank you Padre for that excellent present!) and shared it round. The Europeans seemed to enjoy it, but the South Americans appeared appalled by the idea of hot spiced wine! The party continued late in to the night. When the Hostal began to close down the party, five of us went out to find a further fiesta. Sure enough, on the corner of our road we came across a collection of Chileans. One with an acoustic guitar, two each with bongos, one with maracas, singing and playing their music in the street. They immediately handed me a bongo set and the party continued while Dave and Brenner (another Brazilian from the Hostal) went off in search of more beer. We went to a quieter area and continued to drink and listen to their amazing Spanish guitar and harmonies, our favourite song they sang turned out to be this. Then we explored the universal language of music, with We will rock you, By the way, Come as you are and various Beatles songs. At one point the percussion was going and one guy was beatboxing expecting Dave and I to do a freestyle rap over the top - so of course we did not disappoint, and rapped the whole of the most gangsta song we know..'So....this is a story, all about how, my life got twist turned upside-down...' which they were amazed by! 

So we had a totally unique and different Christmas to any we've ever had. We skyped our families, which released the homesick feelings we have been pretending aren't there, and then raised a large glass to them in the evening. I hope all of you, friends and family, old and new, had a very Merry Christmas (and Happy Hannuka my little Seedling). We are off to Bolivia tomorrow, and will probably be without internet until the New Year - but know we are thinking of you all, having an amazing time, and will be in contact soon!

Pan de Azucar...¿Was it all a dream?

We had read in the holy text of travelling (the lonely planet) of a National Park in the North of Chile, called Pan de Azúcar (literally translates as 'Sugarloaf'), famous for white sandy beaches, llamas, mountain slopes, an island inhabited by penguins, and its extensive Cactarium. Further googling told us (mainly through travel blogs) of people that had been and camped on the beaches, and our hearts were set on it. There was one large problem though - there does not seem to be any useful information or detailed accounts of the Park anywhere - and any we did find turned out to be wrong anyway. So just incase anyone stumbles upon this wanting to find some, I'll make this post as informative as possible! So the information in the lonely planet says it is easy to get to the park from the small mining city of Chañaral, as a bus runs from there to the park. The bus, I can confirm, was not running. We arrived in Chañaral early in the morning as we had forseen these problems. The turbus office denied knowledge of the Park or how to get there, but eventually told us the other bus station (Pullmans) might be able to help. We went to the Pullman terminal, and they told us the bus runs only in January, but there is a guy with a van who might be able to give us a lift in two hours. With no other lead, we decided to wait for the man with the van, who called another lady, who eventually came and gave us a lift. There were three of us, as we'd met Danny from Spain (lucky really, as he was serving as or translator!) and we paid $4000 pesos each (but it seems the standard fare is $12000, so the more of you are the cheaper it should be). This appeared to be the best rate, as we later met people that had been quoted $26000 from their Chañaral hostels! 

When we arrived at the Park we were dropped off by a smattering of rather battered looking buildings. One was a cafe which appeared to be open, so we went to sit and have a Coffee before continuting. Here, Dave asked for a cup of tea with milk, which is unusual anywhere outside of the UK. When it came, the Cafe owner (and apparently Don of Pan de Azúcar it turns out) had made hot milk, and put a tea bag in it. One of the most vile tea variations I have come across so far! Danny got chatting to Elsa, and she said we could camp on her beach for just $3000 pesos pppn. Now as we had read in the lonely planet of prices from $3500, we accepted. She then told us that if anyone came to ask us what we were doing while we were setting up or camping, we were to ignore them and just say 'We're Elsa's!' - The first sign of of the ramshackle running of the place!

We put up our tent and all we could talk about was how amazing the view was. We were the only 3 people on the whole of the white beach, the sun was beating down on us, and we were surrounded by magnificent scenery of the desert, the mountains and the ocean. It was blissful. As we had finished and were beginning to unpack, a couple appeared on the horizon. They came over (English, Woo!) and we pointed them in the direction of Elsa in the hope of being neighbours. While they were away we went about setting up our camping stove (we bought a camping stove, gas, a bag of porridge, a bag of rice and a saucepan). This is because we panicked after hearing no news of cafes, supermarkets, fires or food at Pan de Azúcar - and a good thing it was too!  There was one restaurant, which was expensive, a supermarket which wouldn't let anyone in and after demanding you told them exactly what you wanted refused to sell you it anyway; and Elsa's hub of racketeering.  After having their own interesting experience (A rival campsite owner told them that if they camped at Elsa's they would regret it as there are wild dogs and no water...), the smiling faces of Dave and Kerryn returned, and they set up camp next to us.

That afternoon, the five of us set off on a mission to find llamas. It was unsuccessful, but we did see some truly awesome scenes, a handful of scraggly and slightly green tinged foxes, and a couple of pretty nifty lizards. The views were stunning, and the terrain mainly rocky but with patches of dried cracked clay. We also found the famed Cactarium of Pan de Azucar; with over 20 species of cactii. We returned to camp weary and hungry. We cooked a glorified pot noddle (spaghetti with a tomato soup sauce, half an onion procured by Danny from Elsa's very own kitchen, and a tin of peas) and all sat around eating it out of plastic cups. It turned out our new companions are travelling a very similar route to us, but in reverse and we were able to swap stories, hints and tips (albeit them a lot more than us, as they have been travelling for 4 months already!). The more we talked the more we realised we had in common, and looked forward to spending the coming days together. 

After a pretty sketchy night, being spooked by every gust of wind and rustle in the dark, we awoke to find Danny and all of his things had disappeared. Luckily Dave (who I will continue to call Gilbsy to avoid confusion - not Horts) squashed our speculation that Elsa had did away with him in the night by reassuring us he had seen him earlier, and he was heading back to civilisation. The four of us had a hearty breakfast of porridge, bread and a sticky sweet peachy jam, and decided to continue with our mission of the day before, and find some llamas. We passed so many signs for llamas, but again were unsuccessful in seeing any (we later found out the wild dogs of Pan de Azucar had been attacking the llamas and they had probably moved to a different part of the Park). We ended up on the trek to the Mirador (viewpoint). We climbed and walked for hours, and were beginning to feel exhausted, cheated by the lack of llamas, and slightly disheartened by the lack of obvious trail. But when we reached the top, everyone was speachless. The view stretched for miles, of mountain, desert, ocean and island, uterly untouched and unspoilt by humans. We sat at the top for an hour or so, using the binoculars provided to us by Dave's Dad (thank you so much!) to get a better look at the surrounding landscape and wildlife. 

Upon our descent, we decided we definitely deserved a cold beer, and that our evening would be improved by a bottle of wine, so we went to the woman holding us in her palm, Elsa, to see what could be done. She also had given us the incorrect key for the shower on the previous day, so we returned that too, asking for the right key as we were all starting to look a little...dusty. She reluctantly, after a lot of stalling, unlocked the shower for us, and informed us we needed to ask her every time we wanted one (presumabley so she could charge us). She also provided us with a 2l bottle of red from her very own supply (complete with a glass having been drank from it), after some great haggling from Kerryn for a decent price. That evening was filled with wine, the exchanging of all known card names and the excellent name game, and when darkness fell some breathtaking star watching. They told us of a company called SpaceObs in the Atacama desert which are known for doing knee weakeningly beautiful tours (a company also recommended to us by Jess and Hector). 

The next day was overcast, and none of us really fancied another long trek, so we decided to take it easy, and see if we could somehow organise a boat trip to see the penguins. The crumbling ancient tourist boards in the centre told of boat trips for $5000 pesos each. We asked at the restaurant how to go about booking a tour, and they pointed us in the direction of...Elsa. We went to Elsa who was having a drink, or probably more likely a few drinks towards wasted, with a man who called himself Captain Stiff. Priceless. He told us the price for a boat trip was $50,000, and if we managed to get 10 people we could pay $5000 each. Looking around the silent, desolate town it was hard to imagine us finding ten people. But just as we had given up hope, a campervan pulled up and four men jumped out yielding a bottle of wine. We approached them and asked if they would be interested in joining us for the tour in a couple of hours, and they agreed. An english and an American woman sitting in the cafe also said they'd be happy to go; so we all agreed to meet at 3pm, pay $5000 each and see us some penguins. Our excitement was short lived however, as by 3pm the Chiliean Caravanners had drank too much wine and disappeared to sleep it off. The 6 of us decided to cut our losses and pay the extra, keen to see the penguins. The boat trip turned out to be absolutely fantastic, and Captain Stiff was an excellent guide. He took us to a cove filled with Giant Peruvian Penguins, and then pointed out a marine otter swimming on its back through the ocean. We stopped by an island covered in hundreds of tiny penguins, hopping from rock to rock and waddling around, and then round to rocks where South American Sea lions were happy to jump off the rocks and pose for us.

The next day we spent on Playa Blanca, the only four people on a white sandy beach - though we did see a cheeky fox running across the sand - a very surreal image! The beaches at the Park have signs warning you that to bathe in the sea is not allowed, and we deduced that it was because of the quantity of local coppermines (the sea in chañaral is contaminated because of this). After debating the pros and cons of perhaps growing an extra arm and the benefits of humans with gils, we decided it was totally worth risking, and ventured in. We later found out (from Elsa) that the sea is actually not toxic, and the reason you can't swim in it is due to the strong current. We returned to camp to find our bag of food supplies, which had been cleverly attached to the roof of our camp space, had been ravaged by wild dogs, who had eaten most of our food. We spent our evening playing cards from a bizarre card game book, the name game, swapping details and planning to meet up again in Bolivia or Peru (which we are very excited about!). The next morning, Gilbsy and K-Wottz went on their way to La Serena, leaving Dave and I to fend off Elsa and the wild dogs ourselves. 

That morning we awoke to find our friends had left us their card game book, in the hope of us spreading wide the tales of classic games such as 'Old Maid'. After a very sorry-for-ourselves portion of porridge (I have discovered since travelling that Dave finds it very hard when we have to part ways with the awesome people we meet, an unfortunate hazard of the dream lifestyle) we went to the beach, and spent the day feeling like the luckiest people alive on a private beach. That evening we went to bed just as it got dark to avoid being spooked by any lurking shadows or laughing men. On our final day, we packed everything away and prepared to leave. We decided the only option really was to hitchhike our way back to Chanaral. We embarked on the 38km walk up and down the mountains, loaded with our bags. After an 45 of walking, running dangerously low on water, a car actually past us, ignoring our thumbs and ´CHANARAL, ¡POR FAVOR!' sign. A further half an hour on, a truck appeared on the horizon. It stopped for us, and 5 burly Chilean men jumped out. They strapped our bags on to the back of their truck, and we all squeezed in the back. They took us to Chanaral, where we waited for our night bus to Atacama.

To sum up; Pan de Azucar is one of the most beautiful, untouched and serene places I have ever been lucky enough to visit. The thrill of sleeping on a beach, falling asleep to the sound of the sea crashing around, and watching the sunset turn in to the blackest night, peppered with some of the clearest stars I have ever seen will be tough to beat. Gilbsy and K-Wottz were excellent company, and we know we will see them again, whatever country it may be in. The way in which the Park is run is part of its character. All that you need is a sense of humour and a sense for adventure (and all the food/cooking supplies!) and you can have an unforgettable time - as we certainly did. It is easy to imagine that in 20 years or so it will be full of real tourist hype, run smoothly and with real trails set out across the landscape - and we are so lucky to have seen it before it becomes that. 

Sun, Sand and plenty of Completos

Our next destination was an overnight bus journey away, and we arrived in La Serena at approximately 5am. The buses in Chile are better than any of the megabuses or national express coaches in the UK (and I have been on my fair share); the seats recline, there is ample leg room, pillows and blankets are provided - and from fellow travellers I have also heard rumours of games such as 'bus bingo', and even food being part of the service! However, we know this luxury will not last, as it seems as soon as one crosses the border in to Bolivia, the conditions are more like the London Night Bus. Watch this space for more bus updates.

So we waited until the sun came up (and our hostel opened) and headed towards it. We stayed in Hostel El Punto, a German run Hostel in a good Location. The hostel itself is a far cry from any of the other places we´ve stayed - spotlessly clean and fairly straight laced, compared to the scruffy anything goes type places we intend to frequent, but it was perfect for the beachy get away we were looking for. A holiday within a holiday if you will. We spent our days here walking to the beach, where the shores are white sand with a heavy dusting of beautiful shells along the shore lines. The sea here was much warmer, and calmer compared to that at Viña del Mar, and we managed to survive four days without any red bits! A highlight here was when walking in to the sea, as it was so clear you could look down and see hundreds of giant red crabs scuttling about. Careful footing so as not to be pinched (although the attack of Dave's toe is how we discovered them!) on the way in was easy, but on the way out the waves brought them in nipping at the back of our heels.

The town of La Serena is fairly simple, there are a lot of churches and a lot of market stalls obviously preparing for the high season (starting 15th December) when it is said the population of the city doubles due to tourists. Of course, we beelined for the Archaeology Museum as soon as we arrived (missed you Moll), and were captivated by the displays of finds throughout the ages. Our favourites included a whaling raft, Ecuadorian shrunken heads, and idols from Easter Island. Here seems like a good place to drop this reference too - congratulations to drop this news story in - I'm proud to have been a part of the Kissonerga-Skalia crew in 2009!

There isn`t much else to say about our time here, as we spent it mainly on the beach. But I must mention the local cuisine of Chile. Some say the international dish - the Completo Italiano.

Yes, the Hot Dog. A hot dog, covered with a generous helping of chopped tomatoes, mayonnaise, ketchup and avacado. Sold in any cafe, from any vendor and on every corner of all of our destinations so far, they cost about 700 CLP a pop (less than a pound) and keep you full until dinner time. Yum.

Cos I´m feeling so Bohemian like you...

We headed Northwest from Santiago, towards the coastal city of Valparaíso, affectionately dubbed ¨Valpo¨ by locals and travellers alike. The morning we arrived there we were told by fellow backpackers that there had been a ´small earthquake`a couple of hours before we arrived, but it was nothing to worry about. But even that, and coupled with walking past the sign for the ´Tsunami evacuation route` were not enough to put any doubt in my mind that Valpo was anything less than awesome at a glance. I mentioned in my earlier post that the Bellavista region in Santiago was awash with vibrant street art, but compared to every surface in Valparaíso they would look dull. It looks as though every building through each cobblestoned street is in competition with the next to have a more interesting design, be it through painting, shells, bottle top or mirror mosaics. It would have been almost flawless were it not for the loops of tangeled electricity wires looming above the labyrinth of streets (handy for a city prone to earthquakes to have all the cables above ground however, so I see the logic).

 

The city rises and falls in steep hills, and brightly coloured houses are crammed on to every available edge or slope. The sights of elderly locals with huge shopping bags trudging past me at their steady pace was a real eye opener! Despite of this, there are plenty of funiculars transporting people up and down the steepest of hills. On our second day we took Ascensor Artilleria, the oldest funicular in Valpo, (over 100 years old I think) and at the top was a spectacular view of the docks, the Pacific ocean and the city itself. Beautiful.

 

Another favourite part of Valpo was one recommended to us by a Swedish couple (who we actually travelled with to our next destination), by the pier - unmarked by any map or stated in any of the backpacker guides we read - lived a raft of Sealions! We sat by on the rocks by the Ocean, watching Pelicans swooping into the sea to catch fish, and laughing at the Sealions hopelessly trying to jump on to a large concrete block to bask in the sun. Some had already made it, perhaps when the tide was higher, but it as we were watching one would manage to leap up, either to flop straight back in to the water again, or to be slapped by another and fall back in.

We also took a day trip to Viña del Mar (literally translated as Vineyard by the Sea), famous for it's lush gardens and long white sandy beaches. We spent a day lounging in the sun, and daring each other to go in the sea - the waves were so strong I was knocked off my feet a couple of times, and the humboldt current makes the temperature shockingly cold! It was a wonderful day, until by about 4pm we looked at each other and were shocked with how quickly the sun had burnt us. We thought we stood out as Gringos before... but now we've really learnt our lesson, lobster red is even worse than white skinned - factor 30 every hour from now on!

Valparaíso has not only been protected as a World Heritage Site for its history, but has also been nicknamed 'The Jewel of the Pacific' - and it is really not hard to see why. Not only is the physical sight of the city so dynamic and alive, the feel and buzz of the place is the same. With smoky bars on every corner, live music echoing anytime both day and night, the cities famous fruit and vegetable markets (which our Spanglish allowed us to shop from!), the hustle and bustle of sailors and cargo workers alike from the port, there was a general excitement to be found wherever you looked.