4WD Adventure to Uyuni - Siloli Desert

We survived the night in the refuge.  It really wasn't that bad. In fact, it was a lovely experience because we checked in around 5 pm and we had no internet, phones, or other distractions and lots if time to kill before bedtime. It was nice getting to know our fellow travelers. 

Day two was a drive through the Siloli desert. Still no roads. It was open space. Here are some pictures. 

That night we stayed at the Salt Hotel.  Everything was made from salt; the floors, the beds, the tables, the walls. I have no idea why I took no pictures!  The six of us shared a room and we had showers! Not together of course. We also had electricity to power up our cameras/phones, unlike the previous night. No internet as you would expect. But that was a good thing! My fingers had stopped twitching by now as the urge to grab my phone and check email, Facebook, Internet etc. had now, without a doubt, subsided. Freedom.  

4WD Adventure to Uyuni - Bolivian Highlands

This adventure was amazing. There were six of us in a 4WD plus the driver who hadn't a word of English.  We were three Croatians, two English and me, one Irish.  We crossed the border into Bolivia. Immigration control was a shed. The bathroom was basically the rear side of an abandoned and rusted bus. This was as rustic as you can get. Did I mention, there were no roads? We were about to cover 1,000 kilometers with no roads. Sleeping arrangements were in a refuge the first night. The six of us shared one room. There were no showers. The toilet was shared with about 40 other people who were traveling with us in the other 4WD's. Rumor had it that it gets to -10 degrees at night. We were forewarned to bring sleeping bags and caps. We were 15,000 feet high. This was great!!!

The Bolivian high lands are one painting after another. Look for yourself! 

San Pedro de Atacama

I wasn't sure if I was in a post-apocalyptic futuristic desert town or somewhere in time about a hundred years ago.  San Pedro de Atacama, set in the desert in northern Chile, is at the cross road to Bolivia and full of back packers. A wonderful place. Here are some pictures.

I took a tour of Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) which ended with stunning sunset views of the Atacama desert.  

The next day was an early rise. Pick-up at 4.30 am to see the geysers before sunrise. The activity decreases after sunrise as the ice melts and the day rapidly heats up.

Followed by a visit to a National Reserve Park where the views and wildlife were stunning. 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Viña del Mar is near Valparaíso; about a half an hour by bus.  So I took a day trip there before returning to Santiago.  It was slightly off season (summer is over) and cloudy so I didn't go to the long whites beaches it is renowned for.  It's a lovely town, and a summer getaway for people from Santiago.  It's in stark contract to Valparaíso with its palm-tree-lined streets and squares. 

I love this picture ( Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path).  There are many proverbs written on the stones along the main malecón.  The symbolism here in the image is great.  

Valparaíso, Chile.

When the Marsians visited Valparaíso they put this giant glass cube in the middle of this lovely historic building. After that, and so as to prevent a repeat performance, UNESCO declared Valparaíso a World Heritage Site in 2003.

Valparaíso is probably one of the most interesting places I have visited so far because it has an overt tension between greatness and decline, vibrancy and decay, beauty and ugliness. Just taking a look around I felt such a contradiction of emotions. Did I like this place or hate it? Fresh fruit, fish and markets. But the smell of decay and litter all around. Graffiti posing as art. Striking murals and bad paint jobs. Beautiful restaurants and homelessness in the streets. Magnificent views strewn with electricity wires and telephone poles. Packs of dogs in the streets. With over 40 hills in the city, all with distinct neighborhoods and many serviced by funiculars, this place must have been spectacular in its day! 

The short version is that it was the most important port town in the 19th century as the stopover between the Atlantic and Pacific. Particularly as people were making their way to California during the gold rush. Then along came the Panama Canal in 1914 and the city lost its strategic relevance. To note how quickly and sustained the decline was, even to this day, take a look at this photo. The building was designed by an Italian architect and was supposed to be a grand hotel, and was to open in 1915. Due to the Panama Canal, it never did. It stands there in decay and dereliction in the main square right beside the Chilean Naval Headquarters.  Interestingly enough (and horrifyingly enough) the granddaughter of the original owner, an Italian old lady, lives on the second floor.

The hotel that never opened in 1915

Naval Headquarters

Graffiti is everywhere

The murals are all over the place. Some are great while others are just awful. These are some of the nicer ones.

Street life was vibrant.  Here's a quick video of Friday night street life!

Dancing In the Streets

Santiago

I had to take a raincheck on Rio and come straight to Santiago.  Flights to Rio and on to Chile were way too expensive. So I came to Santiago on air miles.  The food here is amazing.  It was so good to get great seafood after Buenos Aires (they never really acquired the skills to fish in Argentina). 

What can I say? Santiago is lovely.  I did the touristy things, such as San Cristóbal Hill with the Virgin Statue.  What a lovely spot. I lingered a while there as it was very serene and meditative. The other main highlight was the Memorial and Human Rights Museum. It covered the dictatorship period of Chilean history. I spent more than half a day there, more than I had planned. It put a lot in context for me.  It's not a great city to photograph as all the buildings are, well....just that - new buildings. And the main square where all the historic buildings are, was being renovated. Other than that, I ate lots of ceviche and went out to some hip places at night and met some nice people. I skipped the Andes hike as I'm going to Bolivia soon. So I left for Valaparaíso for a few nights. 

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento is a city in southwestern Uruguay across the river (the Río de la Plata) from Buenos Aires.  It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and is renowned for its historic quarter, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  You can go there from Buenos Aires by Ferry. It takes about an hour on the fast ferry.  The city changed hands many times between the Spanish and Portuguese but the original historic quarter retains its irregular, terrain-fitting street plan built by the Portuguese.  I went for just the day so I only visited the historic quarter.  Here are the photos.  It was a little more crowded than it looks, even though it was slightly off-season. I managed to get some "clean" shots.