Chile: San Pedro de Atacama & The Desert (Day 214-219)

Valle de la Luna

As soon as we took the turn towards inland, leaving the coast behind, the scenery became soon desertic. Nothing around for miles, just sand dunes. Yes, we were definitely going towards the driest desert of the world: Atacama. A stop in Calama, a mining town and not a place you wish to really visit, before boarding another bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Tourists are everywhere in this small town - it looks like it was made for us tourists and backpackers but still very charming and local with dirty little streets... There we met Jeje & Romy (who we first met in New Zealand) and with who we spent then a nice few days having fun in La Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Muerte where you can believe being on the moon. We also ate quite a few 'pollo y papas fritas' and partied a little... When French meet - what do they do? Long aperitifs were indeed au rendez-vous. 

While we were planning  all our activities for the next few days, the weather decided to temper a little... It snowed all over ' La Cordillera de Los Andes', blocking the road to Bolivia and Argentina and making Las Lagunas Altiplanicas and El Geyser del Tatio unreachable, which were on our list. We were told everyday that tomorrow will be ok but we left without seeing them after waiting for nearly a week. We still managed to go in the Atacama desert to see the flamingos in the salar at sunrise (amazingly beautiful), enjoy a snow fight also later that day instead of admiring the Lagunas. We also went to soak very quickly (only 5 or 6 degrees) in La Laguna Cejar, so salty that we floated without any effort. The water is seven times more salty than the sea!

We then finally decided to change our itinerary by going up straight to Peru, leaving Bolivia behind for a few months. We did not know but soon realized that our itinerary will have to be very flexible while discovering South America. 

I should end our story about Chile by mentioning my discovery of the local treat ' Super8' (Chocolate waffle bars)... I cannot and should not count how many I ate... Muy Rico!!!!!!!!!! My sweet tooth was back in track! 

Chile is a country which we will for sure return when not so much on a budget... The south of the country is waiting for us... with La familia Courbis House by the lake!

Chile: Valle de Elqui (Day 211-213)

Pisco es muy bueno en Pisco de Elqui!

Our first steps alone in South America, trying to get understood. A peaceful place which is Valle de Elqui and particularly Pisco de Elqui where of course we went to visit 'Los Ninos' for a Pisco tour & degustation! Only guests in the hotel, we had a quiet & lovely time. Very hearty locals who are up for taking the hitchhikers who we were for 1 day. The only shame is that we did not get the chance to go to the Mamalluca Observatory to admire the moon from closer and Saturn with its white rings... Blue sky but not clear enough... 

Pisco (from Quechua: pisqu, little bird) is a strong, colorless grape brandy produced in Chile and Peru. It was developed by Spanish settlers in the 16th century as a cheaper alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain.

Where we stayed... The only guests in the hotel!

Valle de Elqui, where Pisco is made...

Always a dog with us...

Learning Spanish while waiting for the Pisco Tour...

Yes, we highjacked... First time...

 

Chile: Santiago & Valparaiso (Day 203-210)

La Familia Courbis

After realizing 1h before departure that the 5t of June will be the longest day of the trip, as after 12h flight we arrived on the 5th of June in Santiago 3h earlier that we were at that time. We managed to contact Juan, our Chilian friend who we met in the south of Thailand to let him know that we will be arriving sooner. And here we were in South America with the best welcoming ever! Juan, who we barely knew was waiting for us at the airport with his sister coming back from the US. First time we did not have to worry about getting some cash, finding out how to get to the city (cheapest way)... We ended up staying a week in Santiago (longer than expected) as it felt so good to be in a home, feeling part of 'La Familia Courbis' - sweet home. Week-end lunches drinking Pisco Sour (the traditional drink) and some good wine too of course, discovering the city in company of Juan & Vane, tasting the local dishes such as 'pastel de choclo' and 'plateada con pure picante' (the list is long!), imitating the locals by drinking a 'cafe con piedras' (meaning 'coffee with legs) in one of the shop where the ladies were accepted (but still no toilets for Damas though), enjoyingthe nightlife drniking Piscola (Pisco Coca)... We even went to see the opening of a play at the GAM (Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre) even though our Spanish level was more than basic at that time.

Our amazing hosts even drove us to the famous city of Valparaiso, 2h away, city ful of life and well-known for its graffitis all over the colorful houses. We could have spent quite a few days there wandering around, taking hundreds of artistic pictures... The city of Pablo Neruda, who was living on one of the hill where he could get a great view all over the city and the ocean. The house called 'La Sebastiana' can be visited and is intact, interesting... No wonders how he was getting such a good inspiration to write his poems. A night out again in 'La Piedra Feliz' and siscovery of the coast - Vina del Mar and Con Con - where we had wonderful seafood! Locos are a must... We ended our journey in the family by cooking the 2 last evenings, first night for Caro´s birthday where we made homemade pizzas and pancakes, and the second and last night, Thierry cooked what he knows best - Thai food. A big thank you to all... We will come back...

There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. Chile may derive its name from the native Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends,"the deepest point of the Earth," or "sea gulls;"or from the Quechua chiri, "cold", or the Aymara tchili, meaning "snow". That is, in these theories, the name Chile come to mean "Endland", "Coldland" or "Snowland". Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a bird locally known as trile, before common in the central valleys.

Cafe con piernas (litterally, Spanish for " coffee with legs") is a coffee shop style popular in Chile where normal bartenders or waiters are replaced with females dressed in scanty clothing. Coffee shops with waitresses serving in miniskirts and heels to businessmen had long been popular, but bikinis and similar attire accelerated the trend by the mid-1990s.

Santiago from San Cristobal... Lucky that day as it is usually foggy...

Pastel de Choclo - Thierry´s first Chilean dish... Delicious!

La Piojera - next to the Mercado Central... Popular place to drink! Such a thing we have not done, especially in Chile!

Valparaiso... Oh such an amazing vibe in this city!

Graffiti representing the Selknams...

Graffiti among thousands around the city...

Even the bins...

In Con Con

La Sebastiana... Pablo Neruda´s house which can now be visited...

Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda wrote in a variety of styles such as erotically charged love poems as in his collection Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, surrealist poems, historical epics, and overtly political manifestos. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language." Neruda always wrote in green ink as it was his personal color of hope.

Humm, Jaibas! But they did not like the 2h in the car so not so good! We had some choritos though instead!

Our dinner in Algarrobo in Juan Pablo´s grand-parents house... drinking some wine of course!

I love cactus!

Thank you to our amigos Juan Pablo (Klotz) and Vane - we have been welcomed like kings for over a week!

New Zealand: Christchurch to Auckland in 4 days (Day 198-202)

Our motorhome for 4 days... What a change! 

Natural hot waterfall spring! How was that?  Perfect... and not even too smelly!