Vina Del Mar

On Sunday Emma and I splashed out and headed for the beach! Vina Del Mar was our destination and although we had to get up early (9am) it was well worth it. We caught the bus and got there in about 1 hour or so.

We were all ready with our cosis except it was a little chilly to swim so we started off with a hot chocolate and then headed for the beach.

There were quite a few people out and about and lucky for us it was feria day! There were lots of little markets on the side of the beach so Nile and I managed to spend all our money buying lots of little arts and crafts and trying out our Spanish on all the shop tenders hehehe.

I also finally bought some stripey pants which are soooo bakan (cool) I truly looked like a beach bum.

After our shopping we were a little weary so we decided we would indulge a little more and get a massage. Oh the best decision half an hour of pure relaxation, the sound of the waves in the background, the sun on our backs (the occasional sound of a screaming kid) it was fantastic. After our half and hour of relaxation we got a fresh juice and just sat on the beach, watched the sunset and felt the serenity.

We then had to trek up to the mall to draw out money as we had spent it all and needed to buy a return ticket home. We then had Mexican for dinner and then got a horse and carriage back to the bus station.
We bought our tickets back and were told to wait at terminal 15. We were waiting for around 10 min buses coming and going and about 5 min before our bus was due to depart we went down a couple of rows to check if it was somewhere else, sure enough there it was in another terminal and we were the last two on, we sat down and the bus pulled out. LUCKY! There were a whole lot of announcements come to think of it but naturally our Spanish ear didn't quite pick them up. As per usual we were just two gringas sitting in the gutter at the wrong terminal waiting for a bus.

Liga Octubre

This months Liga was great, it was a scorcher of a day so being typically Aussie i slip slopped and slapped on the sunscreen many times and managed to avoid becoming a crispy.

Naturally after playing games for half the day it was time the water balloons were brought out and they were in full force, followed by cups filled with water and then entire bottles.

Once again one of the volunteers attempted to paint a landscape on my face it was meant to be a waterfall, cascading down my nose and into a pool which was my mouth but unfortunately it turned out to look just like brave heart. Luckily i washed it off as if i had gotten the tiniest bit sun burnt i would have had a permanent brave heart face and that would have been most attractive.

We also attempted a Puma on Louise's face except this didn't really work out either and the Australian in Emma and I came out as it turned out more like a Kangaroo!!!

LIGA September!!!

Sabado was liga! Our sport day with the kids that we have once a month. This month was especially good as it was sunny as oppose to the usual freezing and wet day. All the kids were in full force, playing a mix of soccer, dodgeball and basketball.

Face painting was especially popular this time and many volunteers got attacked! I was fortunate enough to be a canvas for one of the volunteers and the result was a mountain range on my forehead! I found it complemented the background quite well, what do you think?

Children and Power Tools

On the 8th of September the new volunteers got their first taste of work when we headed to one of the institutions for a repair day! We had quite a bit to do so we all got started rather early to get the job done!

We started by moving concrete blocks and cleaning little rocks off the ground, a long task when you don't have a rake. We managed with our hands. We also had to clear weeds which i learnt after i touched them that they were stinging nettles. Woot.

We constructed picnic tables and painted fences as well as painting murals with the kids and making small garden beds for the kids to plant things. We started around 10am and finished at 6 so it was a long day but it was a lot of fun. Almost a backyard blitz without the fancy tools and ad breaks.

One problem we encountered a few times was the children wanting to drill things and use the scroll saw. We had a little girl take hold of the drill and try to drill into the ground and we had another boy grab hold of the scroll saw and try to scroll through a wooden chair. We also had children help us paint the walls and murals although i think we got painted more than the walls. My clothes are rather crusty from layers of paint but it was a lot of fun!

It was rewarding to see the kids playing with the footy goal and basketball goal we built and to see the place get a face lift.

Gringo Household

These two pics help me to remember which house i live in. The one on the left is one of the homies washing out on a sunny day. The antenna was left there by someone so it is utilised as clothes line. We often use the front fence as well for some reason we stick out as the gringo household, we still don't know why???

The other day we tried to make sopaipillas which all Chilean Mommas are good at and we managed to do it but.... When it came to deep frying them we had the oil a little hot, put a little piece in which instantly turned black and then we had to deal with all the smoke pouring out of our windows and doors.

The next pic is of our local security guard, Tubby or The Tubster. A perfect shot of him busy at work, in fact i believe there is a dent in the grass as he rarely moves except for food.
The postman came by the other day and we had all our washing our on the front fence and he had a little talking to to Tiffany saying that all Chileans were thieves and the washing would get stolen. Now we are a little concerned about our clothes and so watch them drying from the kitchen.

Just when we thought we were blending in, a student came by the other day and asked to interview someone for his English project and he assumed we all were native speakers. And so the Gringo household continues on.

Pomaire

Today we headed for a day trip to Pomaire a pottery town located just outside smoggy Santiago. The town is well known for its streets and streets of pottery but also for the 1 kilo and 1/2 kilo empanadas that they sell. As soon as well arrived we were attacked by people trying to get us into their cafes for the half a kilo empanada sensation. We picked one and did the touristy thing and ordered one.

As i tried to cut through the empanada expecting to find an egg and olive which is normal, i cut into bone which turned out to be a chicken leg inside the empanada. Very interesting. I couldn't finish mine but they were still good. After that we roamed the many streets looking at pottery which all turned out to look rather similar in the end. We both bought one or two things and then headed back.

Our Final Day

We left Elqui Valley in the morning and i have never been so happy to head home from a holiday. It was quite a drive home and we stopped in another national park, Fray Jorge National Park. This park was really interesting as it was a rainforest in the middle of the desert. It exists because of coastal fog that gets trapped by the leaves and moss of the trees and drips down creating a much greener scene. Not quite the rainforest we were expecting but there were trees and wildlife instead of nothing.

After the stop in the rainforest we headed home, we stopped at a famous cheese empanada place on the side of the road and boy were they good. We arrived in the Smog around 7pm and once again were asked to go out for a piss up at the eating machines place so that "we could have closure on the trip" yet again we declined this time with no excuse just a plain no. Our ears rejoiced as we leaped off the bus, no more annoying laugh or grinding teeth or annoying people in general we were free.

We did have a good time believe it or not it was just unfortunate that we got stuck with a rather painful bunch of people, a good experience all round.

Our Second Day at Elqui

On this day we got to sleep in as we didn't have to begin our activities for the day until 11. Tiffany and I woke up around 9:30 and began to organise our things. We went out for breakfast in the courtyard and the little old lady brought us avocado on bread, homemade jam and tea or coffee. We were not out there 10 minutes when the eating machine bursts from our dorm room. You Two she yelled to Tiffany and I. We sat there with very blank looks on our faces. Then she launched into a lecture about how we shouldn't unzip our bags while people are asleep and go through plastic bags. It is very rude and in the future you shouldn't do it. Apparently she doesn't get angry in the morning but we tipped her off the edge. We did not respond with anything, we both continued to eat breakfast once she had finished. After that we headed down the street to get some supplies and then returned to the hostel to begin the days activities.

First we headed to a Pisco distillery which was nearby. Nearly everyone in the group had a hangover so when we walked down to the basement of the distillery the potent smell of alcohol made some of them turn green. The pisco is made from the very sweet grapes that grow in the area and it has been made in Chile for centuries. Because the sun shines 330 days of the year the grapes grow really well except for the lack of water. The Chileans have set up nets to catch the morning fog and mist and then drip it down onto the grapes.

After the distillery we headed up one of the mountains to a little village called Pisco Elqui. This village was our guides favourite place as it was a hippy centre and sold a lot of pot. They were telling us to feel the energy that is in the place. Unfortunately it was midday so no one was awake in the village so no energy there. We sat in a park and had lunch and then had a wander around the markets. We had a man try and convince us that sand and water in a bottle was a natural skin product that really worked, we didn't buy it.

After a while we sat and waited for the group to finish lunch in a restaurant and we were met by the trainee guide. He then gave us his philosophy on life. We got a little confused in parts especially when he said he was a vegetarian but if someone offers him a plate of food with meat on it he will eat it as it is rude to refuse food. He then told us he smokes pot as it is a natural plant and doesn't harm the body, i neglected to tell him he seemed to have lost a few brain cells. He also told us that one day everyone is going to wake up and realise that alcohol is bad for your body, although not long before that he had told Tiffany that she should drink as she should experience everything.

After we got away from him we headed back to the bus and we drove a little way to a horseback riding ranch. We were given a crash course in learning how to ride and then given our horses, i didn't know mine horse's name so i nicknamed him Poncho. Then we got going and rode up one of the mountains. It was quite a good view. We rode for around 2 hours some people were a little petrified but we were only going 2km per hour so it was ok. Our pot head guide felt that he was the best rider in the world and would gallop up to beginners and scream at his horse to hurry up,. he also decided to have a go at Tiffany (an experienced rider) for having her hand in her pocket.

After the ride we headed back down the mountain and on the way stopped at a little village where a famous Chilean poet is buried. None of us bothered to look at her grave but we did watch a parade. Two of the churches were celebrating Saint Carmen so one was parading to the other.


After the parade passed were continued back to our hostel. Once again the others went out for dinner and we had an empanada each and tucked into another packet of cookies.

Elqui Valley

After our stay at Bahia Inglesia we moved onto the beautiful Elqui Valley. We arrived late in the evening and already the gang was planning their spot for dinner. As per usual Tiffany and went to the nearest store to pick up some supplies to cook.

We stayed in a really nice place. It was an old house that had been converted to accommodate lots of people. It was run by this little old lady who was very patient with our Spanish. There was hot water, clean bathrooms and comfortable beds. There was even a nice courtyard with flowers, hammocks and a hot guy from Europe so it soon became my favorite place.

We got home and had to get ourselves organised to head out to the Mamalluca Observatory on one of the mountains surrounding the valley. The valley has the clearest skies in the world, only 10 days are cloudy so NASA has set up many observatories and they are planning to build the best telescope there. They even have orange street lights to stop the light pollution.

We headed up for our tour on a very clear night with one of the biggest, brightest full moons i have ever seen.

After being there for maybe 10 minutes a Taiwanese American came over and told us he had heard Tiffany talking and was she American. She replied yes and that began all our troubles for the rest of the tour. This very strange man was bouncing around us telling us he was so excited to meet another American. The tour finally started and we had to continually move to avoid this guy. He was a very special dude and it was the only time that the gang were useful in cutting him off and staying away from him. He then came up to Tiffany and kept apologising to her.

Anyway the bits of the tour that i did get were very good. We looked through the telescope at the moon and different constellations as well as some clusters that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

After the tour we headed back to our hostel and the others got ready for dinner. After our social evening the night before they assumed they had cracked us and we would go out but once again we gave them the slip and headed for the kitchen. They finally left and we enjoyed our spaghetti.

That night everything was perfect except the small fact that all the freaks were sharing our room once again. Tiffany and I shared a double bed and the eating machine was beside us in a single. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking a phone was vibrating on a table but i discovered that the eating machine grinds her teeth, obviously dreaming of crunchy food.

Day 5- One Long Drive

Today we left San Pedro at 6:30 in the morning and apparently it was around -10 degrees or something, i just thought it was bloody cold. We hit the road and headed south towards another national park where we were supposed to stay the night but the gang decided it was too cold so we headed on to Bahia Inglesia again.

After many hours driving i was dozing when i awoke as we had stopped and everyone was frantically opening windows. At once i could see one of the Great Danes had been sick. Super stuff we all waited on the bus while Pot guide cleaned it up. It wasn't long before we got going again but the poor thing didn't have a very pleasant trip back. She didn't see much of the national park either but got to know the bathroom really well. The National Park Pan de Azucar is formed by 4 different beaches and one island. There is also a small fishing village where they sell fish empanadas.

Well I'm glad we didn't stay there are there was nothing there. The beaches were not incredibly beautiful and the island was a mound of dirt. There was a cactus museum displaying 15 different types of cacti, riveting.

Tiffany and I walked around the place in around 1 hour, collected some shells and were done. The others as usual went straight to the nearest food outlet and ate the entire time. It was lovely not to see them.

We then hit the road again and drove another 2 hours or so to Bahia Inglesia. Back to our little cabins. Luckily we didn't have to share with the Great Danes. We were rooming with the Brazilians which we didn't mind. We had another BBQ and we were social for a little while which gave the impression we like them.

Day Four- Exploring San Pedro

Today we didn't start our tour until 3pm so we got to sleep in and explore San Pedro. Tiffany and I rose around 9:30. I got up and organised my clothes to make my way to the bathroom. I made a large mistake however as i placed my clothes very gently on the edge of the ear piercing laugh girls bed as she was sleeping, not touching her mind you and after 5 seconds i lifted them and headed out. Tiffany and I spent the morning exploring the little town which is VERY touristy with offices advertising sand boarding etc everywhere. There were heaps of little art markets but they weren't open as it was 11am and too early. The ones that were open were VERY expensive so we bargained a few people down got some supplies for the next few days and headed back to the hostel. When we got back we had some lunch and then i went into the room, another large mistake as i was about to pay for the previous one. The ear piercing laugh girl came straight up to me and told me that i was very rude for putting my stuff on her bed, that she was trying to sleep and for future reference i shouldn't do that as it is rude. I was stunned into silence (Something that rarely happens) and i mumbled a sorry. Both Tiffany and I were quite shocked as we were all sharing a dorm room and you really cant have your own space in such a place not to mention i didn't really do anything.

After that drama we all left together in the van again to a mountain in the Moon Valley. We were told by our pot guides that we were going to be climbing and caving. we arrived to a spot that clearly not many people go to and we went into a cave and were told that we could climb with the guide and part of it was vertical, for some bizarre reason i said i would wait for an easier route just so i didn't break something.

After most of the group climbed through the caves we were all allowed to walk around the mountain, some climbed to the top others such as myself walked around for a bit looking at..... rocks.

If we were really quiet we could hear the rocks cracking which was pretty cool. many rocks have collapsed because of the changing temperature which made me feel really comfortable.

After that we continued in the Moon Valley onto the actual tourist spot where we went through some salt caves, the salt had actually formed crystals on the rock and was smooth to touch. After the caves we went and saw two rock formations which didn't look like much, you be the judge. You are looking at the broken heart on the left and the three Maria's apparently praying to the sky. Hmmm

We quickly moved on from the rocks and climbed a sand dune (above) to see the sunset. There were three lookout points so we went on the hardest one of course but it was worth it. we walked on a mountain to the very end and waited. It was very beautiful. As we were sitting feeling the serenity, Tiffany took out some peanuts and started eating them, annoying ear piercing laugh girl was sitting beside us. She looked at the peanuts and told Tiffany that the smell of peanuts makes her sick to the point of vomiting so we just stared at her as she waited for us to put them away. We waited and kept eating, she soon got the point and moved....... we got peace.

The Amphitheatre (above), created due to erosion over millions of years.

Day Three- Best Day of Our Lives

Today we were told by our tour guide was the best day of the tour therefore the best day of our lives!

We headed to Baquedano which has a train cemetery, there were a whole heap of old engines which were used to transport minerals and workers through the desert when they mined nitrate. Because of the lack of humidity and moisture the engines are perfectly preserved except for a little dirt and dust. There is also one of the only turntable's left.

After hanging out with Thomas and friends we continued on the road to the Tropic of Capricorn.
We briefly stopped to take a few pics.

Next we arrived at a lookout point for a tinkle in the desert and to take a few pics of the panorama of the salt flats and the many volcanoes in Chile. Apparently Chile has around 150 volcanoes and many of those are active.

After the view we headed to the salt flats. There are many mining operations on the salt flat mining lithium therefore there are many large hills of salt. The salt flat is not as we expected. The ground was like glass due to the changing temperature. The flat doesn't look white either as the dust from the desert covers it over.

We stopped at one of the hills of salt and went for a walk for a better view of the flat. As we were admiring the view a miner came over and the guide sent the trainee to deal with him. He then confessed that this happens all the time and he just pleads dumb and leaves but this guy knew him from a previous tour. Idiot we then had to leave as we were on private property. The whole group then got on their high horses stating that there was no sign to say it was private and how silly that we couldn't have a look. Tiffany and I silently got back into the van thinking that obviously it was Private property ad we were travelling with idiots.

After getting kicked off the salt flats we headed to a small village, Peine which was another oasis. Not quite the oasis i expected unfortunately but it was nice for a break. We had lunch traditional banana sandwiches and then went for a walk. The population was around 20 so we didn't see many people. we had a look at their main tourist attractions which were some cave art which couldn't be seen as it was faded, one of the first churches built in Chile which was closed and some ruins of an old town which blended into the desert and looked like rocks. Tiffany and I covered all this exciting stuff in about an hour and then snoozed on the rocks before a game of soccer with the gang where all the locals (all 20) came to watch, it was their first international game.

After our quick bit of exercise we headed to the Natural Reserve Los Flamencos. Its a national park in the middle of the salt flats in the desert which has a habitat of Pink Flamingos. We arrived late in the afternoon and watched the sunset, it was very pretty.

There are little pools of water where small bacteria live which the flamingos live off. There are four types of flamingo which come during different seasons throughout the year. It is interesting that they live there as the climate is not what you would expect flamingos to enjoy.

As soon as the sun went down it was freezing, Tiffany and I were over the sunset so we took some pretty exciting pics of ourselves as you can see below. But we stayed for a while longer as our tour guide tried to connect with the environment that we were destroying with our feet, i think he was probably connecting with the pot he had had previously.

After more driving through the desert we arrived at San Pedro De Atacama. This is the main centre for the Atacama desert so it is incredibly touristy! We arrived around 7pm and although we are supposed to be able to choose our accommodation we weren't allowed as it is also a hippie town so where we stayed had plenty of pot on hand.

When we arrived it was freezing and none of the pot heads could get a fire going but could light their joints so we froze. We were in dorm rooms and Tiffany and I were sharing with the majority of the freaks. Surprisingly the room was really warm as it was made out of mud brick and held the heat of the day! Once again we had to think of an excuse to fend off the freaks as they wanted us to go out for dinner. Our excuse this time was that we had food and no money as we were volunteers. This once again went down with a grind and they finally left us in peace around 8:30.

Tiffany and I headed to the kitchen with our packet of Maggi soup, pasta, potatoes and carrots. There wasn't much room in the fridge and due to the high altitude the water took half an hour to boil. I began pealing the spuds until i was interrupted by a man with broomstick like hair and very large pupils. He took the knife from me and proceeded to peel all our potatoes for us, i wasn't complaining. We chopped some up for chips and combined the rest, the soup and our veggies and pasta in the pot and waited. The trainees tour guide then came in with Matte tea which is common in Argentina. Its made in a little special cup with a special straw/ strainer. We learnt some customs when drinking the tea such as you shouldn't pass on the cup, you have to finish all the tea. So after a few cups of matte our dinner was nearly ready. BUT as we were cooking the broomstick man returned to the kitchen with a little plastic bag. He came straight up to us and held a little green dried leaf in his hand. He was chanting The Flower and then pushed in up our noses before smelling it himself. He asked us if we knew what it was, we both shook our heads but inside i had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't rosemary. He announced to the world that it was Marijuana. For the next ten minutes he held the flower up, smelt it and then dropped it and went frantic, found it and the process started again. Broom hair man is to the right.

Our dinner was finally ready so we served it up and i ducked to the loo before heading back to the room. Tiffany had her eyes on the bowls as Broom man lit up his joint. As she briefly turned her back he decided he was entitled to some of the spuds and veggies out of my bowl, i was just glad he didn't add anything.

We then settled in our mud brick room and enjoyed dinner in peace without any ear piercing laugh, eating machine, suicidal pothead or potheads in general.