Posted by: Jonathan
From Mendoza, Argentina we headed for the border with Chile - I made sure this time all foods were consumed before crossing. We had no problems getting the ink in our passports but when it came to customs they singled us out. We were pulled aside and had to dump our bags out as the officer and dog inspected them. We were clean but the dog did sniff out a couple of clementines in a fellow passenger's bag. Seems like they would focus more on drugs and guns than fruits but I guess they must protect their second largest export (fruit) from foreign insects and diseases. From the border our bus took us straight to Valparaiso.
Valparaiso is by far the hardest city to describe in words. This seedy port town is the oldest city in Chile. Its tight passage ways, winding steps, and steep streets seep history and paint - from the abnormally impressive (both in amount and quality) graffiti stained walls. We spent the better part of a day getting lost in the maze of graffiti, from time to time catching glimpses of the freighter filled bay or surrounding multi-colored house studded hills.
From Mendoza, Argentina we headed for the border with Chile - I made sure this time all foods were consumed before crossing. We had no problems getting the ink in our passports but when it came to customs they singled us out. We were pulled aside and had to dump our bags out as the officer and dog inspected them. We were clean but the dog did sniff out a couple of clementines in a fellow passenger's bag. Seems like they would focus more on drugs and guns than fruits but I guess they must protect their second largest export (fruit) from foreign insects and diseases. From the border our bus took us straight to Valparaiso.
Valparaiso is by far the hardest city to describe in words. This seedy port town is the oldest city in Chile. Its tight passage ways, winding steps, and steep streets seep history and paint - from the abnormally impressive (both in amount and quality) graffiti stained walls. We spent the better part of a day getting lost in the maze of graffiti, from time to time catching glimpses of the freighter filled bay or surrounding multi-colored house studded hills.
Eventually we made our way one town north to Vina del Mar, a much classier version of her sister, Valparaiso. Her palm tree lined streets, large plazas, thin slices of golden sand beaches, and multiple shopping malls kept us busy for hours.
Jenn's desire for familiar food drug us back to McDonald's but I was delightfully surprised to find their menu included burgers with avocado and some with salsa.
From there we went forever northward to La Serena, a historical city situated on a sandy beach. Our stop here served more as a rest stop if anything. We are making our way to San Pedro de Atacama which is more than a day straight on a bus so we are alleviating our aching bums with coastal stops along the way. We arrived at 5am (before the aged slumbering city awoke) so we crashed the bus terminal for a few hours before getting a hostel and napping. Once we recharged (well Jenn never seems to fully charge - she can always sleep more - so I have to unplug her anyway) we cruised along the beach (I couldn't find a board to rent to save my life) and raided some local handy craft markets. The most interesting part of the day was when I made the spur decision to get a hair cut in a local barber shop. The mop was getting a little out of control so I asked the barber to cut a bit off, no more than half. She got to work and was following instructions until she decided that she should go a little shorter. As my locks hit the floor so did Jenn's tears. I am not exaggerating, Jenn cried sitting in the barber shop (they must think getting hair cuts is a very emotional experience for Americans). I was going to stop her but decided that it was no use since she had already cut some at that length. Plus, you know when you are watching an artist paint and they have created something you think looks really good and then with a few strokes ruin it - you are like "you should have stopped while you were ahead - it's crap now", but then they keep working and as they finish it turns out to be more beautiful than you imagined and the "wrong strokes" gave life to the painting? Well, that was definitely not the case here... I gave "the artist" free reign on the "canvas" and she just botched it. She cut about 5/6 of the length off, it ended up being a buzz cut and she missed several pieces leaving them at the full length. On the plus side the hair slaughter was less than $4 and I won't need another one until we get back, in about a year.
From La Serena we decided to take the 16 hour overnight bus to the driest desert in the world - San Pedro de Atacama. There are places in this desert where it has never rained, ever - how can they really even know that anyway? We plan to spend a few days exploring before hiring 4WD jeeps for the four day long trip across the desert and salt flats.
In other news - all this traveling has taken a toll on my flippy floppies. They broke down in the middle of Bolivia but luckily I was able to find a shoe repairman who could fix them. However they have taken a turn for the worst and they have been deemed "totaled".
In other news - all this traveling has taken a toll on my flippy floppies. They broke down in the middle of Bolivia but luckily I was able to find a shoe repairman who could fix them. However they have taken a turn for the worst and they have been deemed "totaled".
Also, Bianca, the underwater camera, won't be joining us again. She saw more than most cameras do in her short life; may she rest in peace. Canon shipped us Bianca 2.0 free of charge and she is anxiously awaiting her trip to Asia (big thanks to Mr. GM for handling all this)!