A Jaunt to Argentina and Back Again

Well, I´m back in Santiago again. Just spent 5 days in Mendoza, Argentina which was great! Im really looking fwd to getting back to Argentina again, but it could be a while before that happens. I´m moving at a snail´s pace at the moment, and should have been in Patagonia AGES ago. Now its getting really cold and if I want to see it I need to hurry. Tried to book the NAVIMAG during the week..thats a ferry that takes you on a 4 day trip from the Lake Distrrict in Chile down to Puerto Natales which is the gateway to Tierra del Fuego. What I didnt know is that it only sails once a week, and the next available place is on April 10. So, I decided to come back to Santiago for a few days and do some serious job-hunting. Ive made quite a few friends here now and I actually missed the city for the 5 days I was away. Once I get back from Patagonia, Im really hoping to find a teaching position and stay here until August or September, so fingers crossed!

Spent a few very relaxing days in Mendoza. Its quite a big city but has a vcery small town feel and its very pretty with lots o sycamore-lined streets. Most backpackers in the city are there to tackle Acongacua or do some serious adventure sports. I spent my first day there wandering around the city and just hanging out in the hostel. The next day I booked a full days horse-riding which was fantastic! A group of about 10 of us spent hours riding in the desert and finished the day with a long lazy 3hr bbq. (the food in Argentina is to die for, especially the steak!) Met a very nice English couple that day and we decided to tour the wineries outside Mendoza the following day. We hired bikes which becmae very interesting after a few glasses of vino! The most famous wine in Mendoza is Malbec - very very good!

And so, yesterday I decided Iseen and doine what there was to do in Mendoza and got on the bus back to Santiago. At the border, there was a bit of commotion on our bus as a female passenger was taken away, her ags were searched and when she finally got back on the bus she was guarded for the rest of the journey! I think everyne just assumed she´d been cuaght with drugs or something, but in fairness, the Chileans would nearly arrest you forcarrying an apple over the border! They are super-strict!

The bus journey over the Andes is spectacular - I havce never seen anything to equal the beauty of the Andes. Its coming t the end of Summer, start of Autumn here and the colours arejust amazing.

It looks like Im going to be here in Santiago for my birthday which im glad about because a few of us are going to go out and celebrat, and im really looking fwd to it.

A Full Heart

Happiness is..

A kiss from a gorgeous guy who might love you if you didnt leave

Crossing the Andes with a lovely old woman

Silently sharing her chocolate mints,

Watching the sun set in a blush of pink

And feeling free.

A Lazy Week in Santiago

Tomorrow I leave Santiago for Mendoza in Argentina. I am sorry to be saying goodbye to Santiago. Having initially planned to stay just a night or two here, it has become difficult to leave. Its a fantastic city and a surprising one. All the guidebooks I read hadnt many good things to say about the city, but I really like it. With its leafy tree-lined streets and population of 6 million, its like a cross between New York and Madrid. Every day has been spectacularly sunny and hot and its been such a treat just lounging around soaking it up.

Ive had an eventful week and half in terms of meeting new people. For example, the HI hostel here has a resident American ex-pat called Monty who´s a bit of a character and has had a cvery interesting life. Spent alot of time hanging out chatting to him. During the week, three French men (all called Pierre and all gorgeous) arrived and caused a bit of a stir in more ways than one! Not oly were the female population of the hostel fighting over him, they got drunk every night, cuased a lot of trouble, and it ended with them getting forcibly ejected this morning but not after a huge scene at reception! They were actually very funny guys and we´ve had a hilarious week there. Also met a couple of girls from Dublin and a bunch of guys from Mayo. Paddy´s Day was great craic of course - everyone converged on the only Irish pub in the city. Whyen we got there it was pretty dead but it wasnt long before we livened it up. All the Chileans looked a bit afraid at first but we got them up dancing and singing and it was a great night.

During the week I went on a lot of city walkabouts and saw quite a lot of Santiago centre which is a great place to wander about. I visited the Mercado Central where there is a fantastic fish market and I had an outstanding lunch there! On the same day I took a funicular and cable car high over the city and spend an hour or two in the hills enjoying a panoramic view of the city with the backdrop of the Andes (which is quite obscured by the pollution cloud that hangs in the air). Many days I walked the shopping streets and visited the Plaza dArmas, ate icecream, visited the city´s churhces and museums. One of my favourite things was taking a tour of the poet Pablo Neruda´s house. He and his wife have the most amazing collection of memorabilia and books - a very cool place. I had hoped to take a day trip out to the coast to Valparaiso and Viña del Mara but Ive been enjoying the city too much to really get around to it.

Almost had my bag picked here one day. Got caught in a bottleneck of ppl all converging on a set of traffic lights, and I suddenly heard a "ziiiiippppp" sound (thats my impression of a zip opening by the way) so I WHIPPED around to find this middle-aged woma with her hand on the front pocket where the bulk of my money is. I stood right up agaisnt her and just stared her out of it and then SHE called me a bitch and took off. Other than that, no bad experiences and Santiago feels like quite a safe city for the most part.

Theres a great area here just where the hostel is situated called the Barrio Brasil which is full of interesting cafes and barsn - its very bohemian and residencial and a very nice part of the city to stay in for a while.

So anyway, thats the update on Santiago. Itsbeena apleasant surprise, if an expenisve one, and I would love to come back again some day. Tomorrow morning I cross the border into Argentina and then back again in a few days before I head south to Patagonia and hopegfully Tierra del Fuego.

The Navel of the World

Sunday morning and I´m back in Santiago. The sun is beating down, the sky is blue an I spent the afternoon sitting listening to an open-air concert in the cenre of the city. Kids are swimming in a fountain beside me and ppl are out walking their dogs. It´s a perfect Sunday .

Arrived back at Santiago airport last night after3 blissful days in Easter Island. I can see why its called "the navel of the world". Its the most remote place Ive ever been, and certainly the most mysterious! Had an early start on 8th to get out to the airport. Things run pretty well here in Santiago and it was effortless, helped by thefact that the airport bus left from just near my hostal. The 5 hr flight to the island was so comfortable (LAN are great to fly with!) and the sea below just got bluer with every hour we flew.

Our huge Boeing 767 landed at a little airport the size of Knock airport. I was metin the arrivals hall by Patti, the girl who runs the residencial I stayed at, with a beautiful garland of yellow flowers. It aws a short drive to her place, and when she showed me my cabana, I nearly passed out! It was looking right out on the Pacific Ocean with its wn little terrace. There were little yellow flowers strewn around the room and it was like walking into a honeymoon suite.

Once I got settled and had a quick shower I headed out into the 35 degree heat to get my bearings. I walked into Hanga Roa, which is the only settlement in the island, so its where everything happens really. I stood for about 30 minutes looking out at the sea with my face turned up to the sun, mentally pinching myself because I couldnt believe I was really there. All the locals were smiling and saying hi, and I felt so welcome there. This place is HEAVEN - blue blue skies, hot, sunny, totally surrounded by the Pacific, thousands of miles from anywhere. Everything and everyone is so laid back. The biggest, and maybe only drawback, is that everything is SERIOUSLY EXPENSIVE. Internet access for one hour is $US6 - bit of a shock after Peru and Bolivia! But you just hae to tell yourself that this is a once in a lifetime experience and you just have to go with it. Anyway, after walkingf around for a couple of huors and getting my bearings, I went to a little fish restaurant looking out on the ocean. There I met two really sound American guys who were in Easter Is. to climb the volanoes. Wandered home late with a bottle of wine and just sat o the terrace wathcing the sunset.

The sundoesnt rise until about 8am in Easter Island so you get a great nights sleep. I woke the next morning and found a huge exotic looking breakfast waiting for me on the table outside my cabana. I have to tell you about this breakfast because it is the best Ive eve had. First I was presetned with a weird looking black bowl of red gunk...it didnt look very appetising but "when in Rome..". Once I tasted it, I realised it was passionfruit - it was delicious! Then I was given deep-fried banans followed by little rolls with avocado, turkey and cheese. THEN came a sort of doghnut like creation with apricot jam followed by little strips of fruit, all washed down with watermelon milkshake and loads of coffee.

At 9:30 I was sort of feeling that I might be able to think about walking again! when Jerome, my tour guide for the day, arrived. He is French but now lievs in Easter Island. He landed here when he was in the military years ago and fell in love with a local Rapa Nui girl. He has been here since. So, we picked up two other girls, one English, one Canadia, and headed off for a full day tour of the island. I hugely enjoyed it, although Jerome wasnt the best guide in the world. He just looked so bored but he was a ncie guy. We covered pretty much all the island that day, saw all the important Moai sites and quarry where the photo for the Pink Flloyd album was taken (see photos!). Jerome also took us to see some pretty interesting caves. The Moai are very strange mysterious looking figures and must have been very intimidating to non-islanders when they were all standing in their full glory. The Rapa Nui people constructed lines of them at various points all along their coastline, but later tribal wars resulted in most of the Moai being knocked down from their ahu (platforms). Many have now been restored but the island is full of fallen and incomplete statutes. The islanders were also cannibals at one point, but I´m pretty sure there are none left now. So, we had a long but very interesting day seeing the island with Jerome. He dropped me back to my place at 5:30 whereupon I had a COLD SHOWER STRAIGHT AWAY!ª The heat is something else!Chilled out for an hour reading and then went to meet the two girls at 8 - we went for some food and spent the evening chatting.

The next morning I woke to the sound of a raging Pacific storm outside. I opened the door and was greeted with howling wind, big waves crahsing up against the rocks, and pouring rain. DISAPPOINTMENT! It could have been opening the door at home! Patti herded us all indoors for a communal breakfast and I ended up chatting to a really ncie Swiss couple. By the time our lazy 2 and a half hourbreakfast was over, the storm had miraculously all but gone! ANother hour later, it was like it had never happened, apart from a few grey wispy clouds fleeing with the wind. So, I decided to hire a jeep for the day and revisit some of the spots we´d seen a day earlier with Jerome. I swang by the hostal to see if Jenny and Kat were up for a bit of exploring, which they were, and aftre getting some supplies for lunch and lots of water, we headed off. We had a really nice day. Kat and myself jumped up and down in the huge waves for hours while Jenny sunbathed on an almost deserted perfectly white beac. Bliss. In the afternoon, we drove to an ancient Rapa Nui settlement for a bit of a history lesson.

Dropped the jeep back by 7 and we then went to see a screening to the Kevin Costner movie "Rapa Nui", but it was in French, which was disappointing.Instead we went for dinner to a really nice place and watched the spectacular sunset. (again, see photos to see the colours!)We got chatting to some people, so a group of the only backpackers on the island (there are very few to be found there. Its mostly rich American couples...) headed back to a hostal nearby and we spent the evening just hanging out and laughing at each other.

After breakfast the next morning, I went for a walk along the coast to savour my last hours on Easter Island. Patti drove me to the airport and gave me a present of a lovely ethnic necklace which I will treasure. The local people there are fantastic - thy are so warm and generous. I would LOVE to think I will go back to Easter Island some day, but its unlikely. It really is a once in a lifetime experience!

Soaking Up the Sun in San Pedro

And so a not so merry band of us arrived in San Pedro de Atacama - hot and tired after our 3 day off road adventure at the top of the world! When we were assailed by the hoards of accommodation touts at the door of the bus, we went easily with the first one that seemed to be offering an okay price. We were thrilled to be taken to a cosy little hostel with hammocks, decent showers, a LAUNDRY service (hurray!) and seriously comfy beds! One thing I have started to notice in what is now my 3rd month on the road is how easily pleased you become.

After a doze in the hot afternoon sun and some showers, spirits were high again. We all went for some pizza and beer and met up with a German couple who had just come from Argentina. After dinner, I really needed some ME time. Having spent about a week in the company of the same ppl, I just felt like doing some solo wandering...one of my favourite things to do when I land somewhere new.

San Pedro is a really cool, laid back place..although very tourist oriented. It also feels exteremly safe and I felt myself just relaxing after 2 and half months of really watching my own back. Stayed up quite late that night chatting to the ppl in the hostel and swopping stories. Many of them were heading the way we had just come, so we were able to help them out. Slept like a BABY for the first time in a few weeks.

The next morning some of my group went sandboarding, but myself and a Danish girl chose to go biking instead and we ended up spending a really relaxing afternoon chatting and drinking beers in a really cool restaurant. It was a good laugh, I got on really well with her and Im now going to stay with her and her boyfriend in their apartment in Santiago for a few days when I get back from Easter Island.

That night I boarded a bus for Santiago - a 24hour bus journey!! As we drove out of San Pedro into the Atacama desert the sun was setting over the mountains, and it was one of the most beautiful sights of my life. The guy who sat beside me had no English and we managed to have a conversation for 2 hours using gestures and laughing at the state of each other until I finally crashed out. The bus journey was very very long, but better than I thought it would be. We had plenty of movies and food to keep us happy. The CHilean bus services are like airplanes - the attention from the stewards is excellent and everything is very comfortable - so overall the journey was fine. We arrived in Santiago yesterday evening at 7:30 - I went straight to the local HI hostel (which I highly recommend!!). I ended up sharing a room with 2 really sound girls from England. We szpent the night in the bar chatting and we met a guy from Ireland who was great craic.

Life doesnt get much better than this.