Northern Chile



Kara says:

Chile! Civilisation! Oxygen! Magnum ice-cream! Wine! Ocean! A prom!

Crossed into Chile at a border in the middle of the desert and stayed at gringo central San Pedro de Atacama - a little town that serves only tourists. But it was warm, except in the pool of our hotel which i swear had some sort of built in refrigeration mechanism. And Karl was quoted US$1 per item of underwear for laundry!

Very exciting to arrive at the coast. Did absolutely nothing for days apart from thaw and relax in a very pleasant (relatively speaking) town called Iquique and walk up and down the prom gazing in amazement at the waves. It's still basically desert - the hills just plunge down to the sea without bothering to get green. It's a colonial town with a pleasant plaza (and restaurants ON the plaza for lingering over long lunches and people-watching) and colonial houses made of wood with footpaths of wood giving it a wild west feel, especially with the desert hills looming at the end of every street.

But don't let this pleasant exterior fool you - there's the constant threat of tsunami!!! Apparently.

Karl addition:
Threat of a tsunami apparently, but alas no surf. Plenty of dumpers and boogies though.

They have a very LA gym on the beach, and a not-so-big-pineapple. Karl caught his first wave since Mar del Plata - see photo. And zay 'ave kerrygold 'ere tu!

Then we went to Arica, another coastal town, the photo of the sea and the desert hill is from there. More ocean, prom, warmth and oxygen.

Karl addition:
Also, Chilenos are SUPER friendly. At first we had our what-do-you-want-from-us-suspicious shields raised (an unfortunate habit acquired in Peru and Bolivia), but after a while we learned it's not unusual for a guy to walk a short distance with you chatting about what happens to Irish skin in the sun for instance.







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