Santiago de Chile Mon 17/02/03   Packed up in the morning and left on the plane at 12:20, arriving into Santiago at 19:00 due to the 2 hour time difference. Since I already knew which busses to take, namely the green Centropuerto for CLP 1800 return which leaves on the full and half hour from the airport, I was able to quickly get into town and to the youth hostel in barrio Brasil. After checking in I set down my stuff and had a walk around the barrio, which is quite popular with university students, looking at some of the restaurants and pubs as well as the plaza Brazil. Found a nice bar called Bar Roco, overlooking the plaza Brazil from the 1st floor in a building, which unfortunately was closed on Monday. On return to the hostel I met a dutch woman and an american guy in the courtyard and chatted with them for a while and had some nice Chilean wine. Tour of Santiago Tue 18/02/03   Started off with an overpriced breakfast in the youth hostel and then wandered through the centre of Santiago, roughly following some parts of the walking tour outlined in the Lonely Planet. I was slightly shocked at how little I actually rememberd from this previous stay there. Spent some time in the Lan Chile office having my ticket re-issued to reflect my change in plan, visiting Brasil at the end of my travels and cutting short the Central American leg. Then wandered to the Cerro Santa Lucia and from there to the barrio Bellavista which i liked much better than barrio Brasil, so I looked for some nice places to stay and eat. Luckily I found both, with a truely amazing selection of restaurants, bars and clubs to choose from! Continued walking back towards the centre and eventually to the hostel, where I briefly stopped to relax a bit and then headed back out into the city to take some photos at dusk. On my return met up with Eline whom I had talked to the evening before and went out for dinner in the Bellavista barrio to an excellent restaurant called Mondia (or similar on Dardignac 0127). Later in the evening we were joined by Daniel my friend from the Easter Islands, who was so nice as to give us a little toure of the outlying parts of Santiago (Las Condes and beyond). Stopped on a hill on the outskirts of the city to marvel at the sea of lights and to take a photograph, before returning to the hostel.	no map Albergue Hostelling Intl. 151 Cienfuegos - Ph: 02 671 8532
Plaza de la Constitucion Palacio de la Modena Palacio Courtyard Palacio de la Modena Intendencia de Santiago Casa en barrio Bellavista Templo Santo Domingo Templo Santo Domingo Placa de las Armas Placa de las Armas Cathedral Metropolitania Tribunales de Justica Edificio en barrio Brasil Daniel, Eline, Richard @ Restaurant Mirador de Santiago por la noche
Going North to Arica Wed 19/02/03   Despite the late night could not sleep very long due to the commotion of people coming and leaving the room so got up and worked on the internet for the better part of the morning, catching the centropuerto at 12:30 out to the airport where my flight to Arica left at 14:10. Arrived at 17:40 and took a taxi collectivo into town where I spent the night at the Residencial Arica (058 - 255399) which had nice and clean rooms with communal shower for CLP 4000 and lived up to it's recommendation in the Lonely Planet. After checking in, I quickly went into town to the tourist information and found out about how to get to Bolivia, after which I caught a taxi cooperativo to the bus terminal to buy my bus ticket to Oruro. Once I had all my travel arrangements sorted out I meandered about in the not so exciting main shopping street or Arica and ended up booking a day trip to the Lago Chungara with a company called Eco-tours. Didn't fancy going out for dinner so bought some stuff at the supermarket across the street and had a cold dinner at the hostal. Up to the Alitplano Thu 20/02/03   Could not sleep well in the very hot night in Arica and got up at 6am to go on a day tour of the Parco de Lauca, a national parc situated in the uppermost eastern corner of Chile, most of it lying in the Altiplano between 3500 and 6300m. The company Eco-tours was not especially ecologically friendly but rather economical as it turned out, however not completely disastrous. The first stop we took was at a range of underground storage silos which had been used by the Incas to store maize that used to be cultivated in the region. All in all the site comprised more than 600 of these small silos, with a diameter of about 1 - 1.5 metres, however only about 20 had been restored on this archeological site. The journey continued to a range of petroglyphs which depicted the animals and people of the age, often some important person such as a medicine man or a holy animal for example a condor. Then on to the iglesia San Geronimo, where we had breakfast before heading further up the valley, stopping at a barren hillside populated by some chandelier cactuses. The cactus grows only 5-7mm per year on the moisture it can obtain from the air on days of mist and fog, similar to the two leaved plant in the Skeleton Coast Park, Namibia. Some time afterwards we arrived at a mirador overlooking the city of Putre (3700m) where we again halted for a short photo and souvenir break. Driving up the pass we finally reached the Alitplano which on the Chilean side is quite high (between 4300 - 4600m), clearly only certain animals and plants can be found at this altitude which are able to withstand the subzero temperatures and the rather inhospitable surroundings. Stopped at the lake Chungara close to the highest point in our trip, which offered an awesome view of the volcano Parinacota (6350m) and it's smaller brother Pomerape (6200m) and saw Vicuņas, Vizcacias and Flamigos along the way. Of course developed a headache at this altitude but still an incredible trip. On our return we stopped in the small village of Parinacota (carrying the same name as the volcano), where we visited a old church dating back to the 17th century. Descended to Putre for dinner, where I almost instantly managed to sort out a place to spend the night - Hostal Cali. The hostal turned out to be an excellent deal with a friendly owner family and very clean rooms and a hot shower, all for only CLP3000 per night. Hotsprings and Viscajas Fri 21/02/03   In the morning I caught a ride with a group young Chileans to the hotsprings near Putre, an arrangement of several natural baths and one larger constructed pool of varying temperatures (the higher up the hotter). Covered ourselves in mud and sat in the pool soaking up the morning sun. After this excellently refreshing morning treat got a lift further up the mountain to look at Las Cuevas a range of caves just off the main road which in the past served as stopover points for trecks of people and goods across the Cordillera. The caves also seemed to be the home of may rabbit like animals called Vizcacias of which I got some nice pictures. Got a lift back by two English folks who had been working in Chile and were using the time before their departure back to England to see some of the north. Had dinner at another restaurant just round the corner from the hostal and went to bed early, yet due to the altitude did not sleep that well (as the night before). Crossing the Altiplano Sat 22/02/03   Rose early, packed up my stuff and started walking towards the main road from where I was hoping to get a lift to the border. I really lucked out as I mannaged to get a lift with a truck of roadworkers that had to do repairs to the highway close to the border. The group was very nice and I talked for most of the journey to a Bolivian from La Paz who was working in Chile and had been all over South America and Europe, and hence was easier to understand. Got to the border early and left my stuff at the Chilean border post, wandering off around the lago Chungara for 1.5 hours. On my return I waited in the sun for the Bus from Arica to Oruro which came to the Border a few minutes earlier than scheduled! Quickly got my passport stamped on both sides of the border and rode the bus close to Oruro, changing into a flota (mini bus with religious icons, lights and many other interesting decorations in the front window, mainly used by indigenous people as very cheap) Looked around Oruro which was in the middle of preparing for the carnival, by the biggest event of year there, but otherwise did not strike me as particularly interesting or pretty. Previously I had bought a ticket on a small and cheap bus to Sucre, as the more expensive "cama" bus had already been sold out. The bus left at 8pm and soon after our departure I would learn why all the people on the bus seemed to be carrying large blankets. The trip was very cold, since the concept of calification (heating) inside this bus was obviously foreign. Tried to make myself as warm as possible but didn't really succeed and hence did not get much or any sleep that night. Luckily the bus was not very full so I could stretch out over two seats!
Arica Centro Culutral Petroglyphs de Rosario - Info Petroglyphs de Rosario Petroglyphs de Rosario Iglesia San Geronimo - Info Iglesia San Geronimo Rock Formations in Valley Candelstick Cactus - Richard Candelstick Cactus Valley with Pueblo Putre from Mirador Grazing Vicuņas Yareta Plant Lago Chungara & Parinacota Iglesia in Parinacota Interior of Iglesia Murals of Iglesia Vista of Parco National Lauca Las Thermas near Putre Altiplano vista de Nevados de Putre Panorama Alitplano Zona de Vizcachas Vizcachas a Las Cuevas Vizcachas a Las Cuevas Atardecer en Putre Banco Estado - Putre Atardecer Valle y Putre Hostal Cali y Monte Volcano Parinacota Voclano, Lago y Flamingos Volcano en Detail Panorama Altiplano Altiplano en Bolivia Read on about my return to Chile from Argentina at the end of March 2003 here.