Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
I want to start this blog by making mention of a fiew notable skills that must either be honed or developed when one is backpacking, no matter the locale. First - sleeping on a bus. This applies to day time scoots over short distances or the long arduous sleepers. I was once unable to perform such a feat but have learned that a blow-up neck pillow is an incredible addition to my already full day-pack. Two - enjoying the wonders of other countries on a limited budget. While some may be blessed with heavy purses, most backpackers are not, yours truly included. Sara and I have learned that camping and or couch surfing, using places with kitchen access and laying off hard-to-deny luxouries are important practices on the road. Although the occassional store bought beer is needed, as I am so fulfilling as I write this blog. Third, containing your gas in very public places. You are hardly ever alone. Thank god I grabbed that sleeping bag. Now the question is how many farts can a sleeping bag contiain before the situation is compromised?
This next stop allowed us to practice said skills and since then improvements have been made.
After a night in Calama that left a lot to be desired (I would have rather drank Mad Dog 20/20 with a homeless man under the Key Bridge) we made a short trip over to San Pedro de Atacama, a small desert down in the Calama desert. We had heard it was quite the tourist destination and so it proved itself. We were immediately swarmed by hippies on bikes who wanted to pitch us their respective accommodation. One struck us and we walked with him to a camp site. Turned out he didnt work there so who knows how that works. From the looks of the townies, I am sure it involves pot and back rubs. The camp site was just what we had in mind and we set up Sara's tent in Ford-like order and fashion, driven by our immense hunger for lunch. The camp site included bathrooms, a small kitchen and grills at each site. We were pleased with the idea of cooking and so we went out to grab some goodies at a nearby market. With a sandwich in our bellies, we investigated some of the tour agencies in town only to discover they are incredibly expensive. With our tight budgets we made the wise judgement call to avoid the chaos of the in-town tours and found a map of the area so we could explore on our own. We ended up walking out to some ruins built by indigenous Chileans, the Mapuche people. We climbed to the top and had a great veiw of surrounding mountains and volcanoes. Back in town we picked up additional groceries for supper and with excitement to use our grill, we returned to the site. Did I mention that we bought some wine? The lighting of the grill proved to be a bit of a struggle but we finally managed it. Sadly the chicken patties we had bought did not survive an hour out of the freezer and then went to the garbage bag hanging from a nearby tree. That left a pile of vegtables, which we marinated in some of the spices we so wisely brought with us from Cocha. They were quite delicious but we were still hungry and in need of more alcohol to drug our bodies for the night of sleep on hard ground. We therefore decided to waltz in to town in search of some controversial Pisco Sours, a drink made from pisco either originating in Chile or Peru, hence the controversy. Per the usual we were overwhelmed with locals asking us in to their place of work for drinks, dinner, any and all of it. It is as if you dont say yes they will pull an armed saringe from their breast pocket and drag you in involuntarily. We settled on a place with a fire pit and cozied in to a corner. After two pisco sours and a pile of free bread we were more than content and two-stepped our way back to our camp site. I remember looking up at the stars before we squirmed in to our sleeping bags and felt awestruck by the site of it. It wasnt until later, however, after I had to escape my gassy sleeping back to use the bathroom, that I really had a full-on look at the wondrous Chilean sky. Damn. I would personally guess that you can see every star that exists. Ignorance is bliss. The next morning we went in to town to investigate bus fares and learned that one was leaving for La Serena, a 15-hour stretch, at 1 pm. Since we werent feeling the touristy overload of San Pedro we went for the tickets. We did some strolling, used the net and packed up our stuff before then. Overall a lovely pit stop and our fairly rocky night of sleep prepared us well for our overnight bus ride. I may have slept the entire time. Sara was less fortunate but we arrived to find ourselves in a very lucky couch surfing spot. Read the next entry to learn more.
PS The pictures attached are rubbish and have nothing to do with our travels in most instances. We are simply forced to add a picture and often havent been proative enough to load our own. See facebook for detailed fotos.
- comments
mommashook I laughed out loud about containing the gas - so true. Can't wait for the next post.
Devan Glad you are enjoying it. I am afraid I made a few spelling mistakes but that can only be expected when attempting to write a blog after hiking an active volcano and with a few beers in your belly.
Mama Rhonda It's so nice to keep up with your journey through your blog. The stars had to have been a highlight.