This is going to be a quick update because I'm sitting in a very hot room with 10 other people and computers, all of which are running over what is probably a single modem. So, I type and I type, and then a while later I get to see what comes up on the screen.
Anyway, the past few days in San Pedro de Atacama have been great -- very different from the time I spent in Arica.
San Pedro is a small, laid back town in the middle of the Atacama desert. It's on a small river, so there are lots of trees and it's rather green here, but as soon as you walk out of the town its brown and dry. I sat staring out over the road at some sand dunes for 5 minutes and saw nothing living. At all.
That said, the place is quite beautiful -- the infrequent water and the more frequent wind have made some incredible structures out of the land. Yesterday, I hiked with a friend from San Pedro to the Valle de la Luna (15 - 20km). It was hot and the land totally inhospitable, but beautiful and surreal at the same time. Today we rented mountain bikes and rode to a cave, and then through some of the local canyon country. It was a bit like canyon lands, but instead of sandstone there was primarily crusted sand and mud making up the walls. Very surreal.
I've spent the past few days almost entirely with gringos, so san pedro has been a very different experience than Arica. It's been enjoyable though. My Spanish, though improving, is still not yet good enough that I can have a normal conversation with the Chilenos. The past two nights I've gone up into the hills outside of town to watch the stars and talk with other people. Both nights my company has been two Germans, who are also traveling alone. They have a lot more traveling experience than I do, so it has been interesting talking with them.
Mostly the time in San Pedro has been about relaxing and enjoying what it has to offer. The desert is a trip. The town is great, and there are lots of travelers to talk with.
That said, I'm ready to to be someplace green again.
Tomorrow morning I'm taking a bus down to La Serena, on the coast, with one of the Germans that I met here. I may stay there for Christmas, or I may move on. I don't know yet.
It's really nice, and really strange, having no definite commitments and nop plan. But, its the way to go. Every time I've tried to make a plan, I've changed it.
Posted by vanwie at December 20, 2003 03:18 PM