Day 45 - Rapa Nui

Saturday, 27 September 2014

After 3 full days in Santiago, I actually grew quite fond of the city, mainly because as I said, it reminds me a lot of Kuala Lumpur. Maybe I was too quick to judge Chile, there are bad, nasty, rude, lazy people all around the world just as there are kind and generous people all around the world. Just because I had a bad experience in Chile doesn't mean the country is bad. But my favourite country thus far in terms of the people is still Ecuador, followed by Peru.

This morning I woke up at 6 am, showered and re-packed all my stuff for my 5 day stay in Rapa Nui. I am very good at packing, unpacking and re-packing because I change my mind about things about a million times per second. I decided to take a small bag with me and leave my big suitcase in the hostel, the hostel was kind enough to allow me to do so. At about 7 am I walked to the Metro station, and took the Metro to the bus station where I took the bus to the airport. The Santiago airport had a self check in and baggage drop counter, just like KLIA. Then it was time to wait for my flight to Rapa Nui at 9.10 am. The locals call it Rapa Nui, in English it is Easter Island, in Spanish it is Isla de Pascua. 

On my ticket it said I was due to arrive in Rapa Nui at 1.30 pm so I thought it was a 4 hour flight. I was wrong. Rapa Nui is actually 2 hours behind Santiago (13 hours behind Malaysia) so the flight was closer to 6 hours. As a result, I watched a movie (The Monuments Men) and 2 documentaries on board the flight to kill time. I couldn't sleep although I woke up very early this morning, I think it was because I was feeling extremely sad for reasons I am not yet prepared to divulge at this moment and the in flight entertainment was a welcome distraction for me to avoid crying and inviting weird stares from strangers.

I arrived in Rapa Nui at approximately 1.15 pm, and there was a guy waiting there for me at the airport with a garland of flowers. This is part of the tour I booked. The garland of flowers is so Hawaiian, and I was told that the people of Hawaii and Rapa Nui probably had the same ancestors, their language is somewhat similar and they are both Polynesians. Then I was taken to my hotel which looked really posh, but it was the cheapest hotel on the list of hotels offered in the tour. And the tour I booked at the tour agency was much cheaper than any I could find on the internet. The most expensive thing on this tour is the flight tickets, which is monopolised by LAN airline company. I guess I could've come to the island and booked a hotel but I didn't want to take the risk. 

Then there was nothing for me to do for the rest of the day! Part of the tour included 3 meals at a restaurant called Kuki Varua (there are a lot of weird names going on here) but this was in town, and I had to take a taxi to town as it is not walking distance. Everything on this island is so expensive, a bottle of 1 litre water costs 2,500 pesos (in Santiago it is 850 pesos) (about RM13!) and the taxi to town is 3,000 pesos (about RM16!). But anyway I had nothing to do so I took a taxi to town and I think I really walked the entire town.he town is called Hanga Roa and the beach or port area is called Playa Pea. I bought some souvenirs, and I went to this place called Tahai where there are 5 moais, it is a good place to watch the sun set. I was so excited to see my first moais I took a million pictures! The sun here sets at about 8 to 8.30 pm but it rises quite late too, about 7.30 to 8 pm. I found the restaurant where I had a free voucher but they only opened for dinner at 7 pm so I waited until the sun almost set at 7.30 am, then walked to the restaurant for dinner, and then took a taxi back to the hotel.

Altogether I must have walked for about 4 hours, and I didn't get enough sleep today, so after showering I fell asleep almost immediately.

Day 44 - Santiago

Friday, 26 September 2014

My last full day in Santiago! It's a good thing I decided to stay a day longer here too, what with the mix up at the tour agency yesterday that took forever to sort out. I wanted to go to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar yesterday, but there was not enough time so I used yesterday to see as much local things as I could, and today is my excursion to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

First I took the Metro to the bus station, and at the bus station I bought a bus ticket to Vina del Mar. The trip was for about 2 hours. When I reached Vina del Mar, there were many tour agencies there offering day trips to see both Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, and I went with one of the tour agencies for my own ease of movement.

Vina del Mar is a small town with about 450,000 people, and is a sea side village which is now becoming bigger and bigger as more and more people move here. It is a nice, quiet town, pretty and pristine but not cheap. In Vina del Mar, we saw the flower clock, which is a clock made of flowers. We also passed by the Quinta Vergara, which is the house of Vina del Mar's founding family, the Vergara family, Vina del Mar's Casino and the Vergara Pier. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the beach but I did not eat anything because the price was exorbitantly expensive. I walked along the beach instead which was nice.

After lunch we visited the Fonck Museum, where I saw a real moai from the Easter Island! I was actually quite keen on visiting the museum which had a section on the history of Easter Island, but unfortunately there was no time.

After this we went to Valparaiso, which is known for its bohemian culture, colourful houses and sea side views. It is a very hilly area, and the houses are built along the hills. I cannot imagine walking up and down the hills everyday to my house. There are about 15 funiculars going up the hill, but they are scattered all over the place so even if you take a funicular, your house may still be far away and you may still have to walk uphill. No thanks! There are about 350,000 people living in Valparaiso, and the main occupation is fishing. We passed by the University of Valparaiso, which is the oldest university in Chile.

Then we stopped at Plaza Sotomayer, which is the gateway to the Muelle Prat Wharf, a bustling port in Valparaiso. The headquarters of the Chilean navy is located here as well. The most famous monument that stands here is Monumento de Los Heroes de Iquique, which honours Arturo (Arthur) Prat, who was a captain when Chile went to war with Peru and Bolivia in 1874 (after these countries declared independence from Spain). According to the guide, in one battle, The Peruvian navy overpowered the Chilean navy, but offered to spare their lives if they surrendered, but the Chilean naval force, led by Arturo Prat, refused to surrender and chose to fight till their deaths. Hence, the tribute to them. 

Finally we went to the house of Pablo Neruda. He is a Nobel prize winning poet from Chile (in 1971) who had 3 houses - one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso and one in Isla Negra. At the gift shop I found a book with some of Pablo Neruda's poems translated to English. I had been trying to look for such a book in Santiago but everything was in Spanish, so I bought a book although it was expensive. I was told by Felipe, the guide from the free walking tour in Santiago that books in Chile are very expensive so you have a lot of second hand book stores in Chile. I should open a bookstore in Chile and sell all my books, I will be a millionaire!

Here I met a fellow Malaysian who is travelling alone all over South America too! What are the odds! It was really good to meet someone from back home and speak Malay again! His name is Fahmi and he is from Penang. But he told me that he goes by the name Bob here, because whenever he says his name, the people here think he is saying 'fuck me'. I thought that was hilarious. I was in a happy mood for the rest of the day due to this chance meeting.

Then we were dropped off at the bus station, at about 7 pm. Here I bought some snacks and water for tomorrow, and then I took a bus back to Santiago, and then the metro back to the hostel; I only reached the hostel at about 10 pm, but before showering and going to bed I had to pack my bags as I leave early for the airport tomorrow morning. 

Day 43 - Santiago

Thursday, 25 September 2014

In the morning I went to the tour agency to sort out my tour to Easter Island. I thought it would be pretty straight forward but I ended up spending almost 3 hours there because the guy wrongly booked my flight ticket for me; as a result I had to go to the LAN office near the plaza de armas to change my flight. When I left the tour agency it was already past lunch time so I decided to walk to the local fish market to try some typical local dishes, as recommended by Felipe yesterday.

It was about a 20 minute walk. At the restaurant I ordered 2 typical local dishes, a seafood soup and a seafood chowder made of 7 different types of seafood and 2 different types of cheese. Both were simply delicious, and cheap too! I don't usually eat shelled seafood such as clams, muscles etc but this was too delicious to forgo. For some strange reason the waiter, a very pleasant, jolly round man, kept giving me free pisco sours but I said no more after the second pisco sour; I needed to walk to the LAN office and sort my ticket out!

After lunch I walked to the plaza de armas, and took many photos with my new camera, to my heart's content! I am a tourist for sure, can't live without my camera! After sorting out my flight ticket, I had just enough time for one hill, so I had to decide between Santa Lucia Hill or San Christobal Hill. I was a bit tired from all the waiting and walking, and since San Christobal Hill had a funicular and was higher than Santa Lucia Hill, I decided to go to San Christobal Hill. There I took the funicular up the hill. The view from the top of the hill was very beautiful, you could see the entire town of Santiago, with the sun setting in the background. There was also a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the hill. 

I took the last funicular down at 6.45 pm, and then I walked to the nearest Metro and went to the bus station to buy my ticket to Argentina. Now that I know the rest of my schedule in Chile, I can start planning my trip to Argentina. After purchasing my bus ticket, I took the Metro back to Manuel Montt station, and thereafter back to the hostel. With all the walking I did today, I was more tired than I realised and fell almost immediately to sleep.

Day 42 - Santiago (continued)

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

This led to a military coup in 1973 led by General Augusto Pinochet. He ordered the Palacio de Moneda to be blitzed, and when they entered Allende's room, they found him dead with a gun shot to his head. For years and years there were conspiracy theories about how he died, whether he was shot by the military, or whether he committed suicide. In 2012, a team of experts exhumed his body and determined that from the angle of the bullet entry, it was suicide, but scepticism still remains.  When the Palacio de Moneda was being blitzed by the military, Allende was giving a speech to the people via radio, his famous last words were "I have faith in Chile and its destiny". Apparently you could hear the guns and bombs in the background when he was giving his speech on the radio. And then he shot himself, probably before the military could get to him, with a rifle given to him as a gift from Fidel Castro. Quite a sad story!

After this it was the reign of Pinochet. He was a dictator and ruled with an iron fist. For 10 years there was a curfew in Chile, one couldn't walk on the streets after 8 pm, otherwise one would be shot, for no reason other than one was outdoors. Although the economy became better and people had food to eat, the price that was paid was high, there was no liberty and freedom for the people; teachers, artists, singers and anyone who ever talked about the government were killed, there are still more than a thousand people missing, nobody knows what happened to them or where they are. 

The end of Allende and the beginning of Pinochet marked a division in Chile; some were strong supporters of Pinochet and some were not. Pinochet ruled for 17 years, and then there was a strong movement towards democratic elections, and Pinochet, who was over confident after years of suppression and oppression of the Chilean people, agreed to a referendum, thinking that the people would not dare to vote him out. But 56% of the population voted against him being President, and for democratic elections to take place. Following this, Pinochet stepped down as President of Chile in 1990, but remained Senator for life pursuant to an article in the Constitution that he put in place. This meant that he could never be prosecuted for what happened during his reign as President. However, he made the mistake of going to London, and whilst there, he was arrested pursuant to an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed during his reign as the President of Chile. He was supposed to have been brought back to Chile to face a trial, but he died in 2006 before facing justice in Chile. 

Today, there is a statue of Allende with his famous last words inscribed, at the Constitutional Square which is adjacent to the Palacio de Moneda. There are no statues of Pinochet.

After this we walked to a street call New York Street, said to resemble the streets of New York. I have no idea whether this is true because I have never been to New York. The architecture was quite nice, and the Santiago Stock Exchange is located here. From New York Street we came to Alameda Street, the main avenue in Santiago, which is a street dedicated to one of the founding fathers of Chile. We passed by the Opera House, which was restored after being partially destroyed by an earthquake in 2010.

Then we walked through a park, known as Parque Forestral, and on the way we passed by the Museo de Bella Artes which is the Museum of Fine Arts. The Parque Forestral runs parallel to the Mapocho river, and the guide told us that if we walked along the river, we would come to a fish market selling all sorts of fresh local seafood, and there are restaurants offering traditional dishes there such as seafood soup, chowder and crab cakes, but they are only open until about 4 pm. We saw the Santa Lucia Hill, it is beautiful but we didn't have time to go up the hill. This hill was originally called Huelen by the Mapuches inhabiting this area. The Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia later changed its name to Santa Lucia. It was at the foot of this hill that he founded the city of Santiago in 1541. In 1872, Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna decided to make the hill a new attraction, and he ordered that the hill be decorated with different types of trees, plants and other vegetation planted along a labyrinth of stairways and paths, with fountains and numerous look out points in between. Apparently the hill was decorated by prisoners. 

Then we stopped for coffee at the Lastarria neighbourhood, I had my first Chilean pisco sour. Honestly I can't tell the difference between the pisco sour in Peru and the pisco sour in Chile, apparently in Chile they don't use egg whites and they use a bigger, less aromatic lemon because the smaller, more aromatic ones used in Peru can only grow in cold climates, and Chile's climate is not suitable for that. But I really couldn't tell the difference.

Then we continued through the park, there is a place called Plaza Italia or Italy Square just at the border of the park, and it is apparently the dividing line between the rich people who live in one direction of the square, and the poor people who live in the opposite direction of the square. 

Through the park, we came to a place called the Bellavista neighbourhood, which is a bohemian town full of bars, restaurants, handicrafts and all sorts of artwork. There are a lot of street musicians, painters and people selling handicrafts along the street here, and the stuff here is pretty cheap too because there are a lot of students around due to the nearby universities here. In this neighbourhood, the guide recommended a tour agency that offered cheap packages for various tours, and I noticed that they had tour packages to Easter Island, so I decided to come back here once the walking tour ended.

From the Bellavista neighbourhood, you could see San Christobal Hill over the distance, you could take a funicular up the hill and see almost the entire city of Santiago from the top. But of course, there was no time for that! 

The last place we visited was the house of Pablo Neruda, Chile's most famous poet who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1971. He had 3 houses in Chile, one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso, and one in Isla Negra which is the most beautiful, overlooking the sea. He loved the sea but could not swim, and the story is that he would sit in a boat for hours just watching the sea for inspiration, although he never learnt how to swim. 

After the tour ended, I walked back to the tour agency to enquire about my trip to Easter Island. The price was much cheaper than anything I found on the internet, so I decided to book a tour but as it was already late in the evening, they told me to come back tomorrow morning so that they could contact the hotel and tour agency in Rapa Nui to confirm availability, etc. So I took the Metro back to Manuel Montt and went back to my hostel. After the walking tour in Santiago, I decided that I liked Santiago.

Day 42 - Santiago

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Breakfast at 9 am. Again, I was pleasantly surprised; for the money I am paying for this place (USD33 per night) it was quite an abundant and delightful breakfast.

After breakfast I first gave some of my clothes to a nearby laundry. Then I walked to the nearest Metro station (Manuel Montt) and bought a Bip card, it's something like our Touch n Go card but you can only use this card for the Metro and town buses. Very luckily for me, the Metro is very similar to our LRT in Malaysia so I didn't have any problems figuring out how to use the Metro and where to go. Pursuant to information given to me by my hostel host, I stopped at a station to go to a mall to buy a camera. At this mall, it was like being in a mall back home. The same brands, the same layout, in fact, Santiago reminds me a lot of Kuala Lumpur - the roads, the buildings, the Metro, the people (city people). Here I bought a Canon camera but I had to charge the battery for 8 hours so no photos for today. Then I walked around the area that I was in, and went back to the hostel. 

The weather in Santiago is not that cold, about 18 to 21 degrees Celcius during the day if it is sunny, and about 16 to 18 degrees Celcius if it is cloudy. At night it gets pretty cold, about 12 to 13 degrees Celcius but thanks to the minus zero degrees that I have been in, Santiago weather is manageable for me.

At about 2 pm I started out again, to take the Metro to Plaza de Armas to join a free walking tour, they only survive on tips. The guide, Felipe, was very nice and full of stories about Santiago. He told us that 40% of Chileans smoke cigarettes. I think in Malaysia it's probably about the same. 

Unfortunately the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral was closed for restoration, for almost a year. It is due to open again in December or January. When the Spanish took control of South America, the first thing they always built was a plaza de armas, with a Cathedral overlooking it. This is why everywhere in Ecuador, Peru and Chile there is always a plaza de armas in every town. The Spanish used to use the plaza de armas as a place to keep their weaponry, in case of an attack by enemies this was sort of like their command centre. Chile has a very wide income gap, the third widest in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. The plaza de armas is a place where the rich and the poor mingle together, so you can see businessmen in suits walking around, and also artists, street musicians, students etc. This place is really the heart of Santiago.

There is a statue of Pedro de Valdivia, the Spanish conquistador who arrived in Santiago in 1541 and founded the city. He was not a nice man, he killed many of the native people and ruled with an iron fist. But he founded the city of Santiago so there is a statue to remember him by.

Across the road from the main square or the plaza de armas was a building long ago inhabited by the rulers of Chile, but now has been turned into a post office. It must be the fanciest post office in the world, it looks like a palace! Next to this building is the National Museum, and next to this building is the City Hall building. A few steps away is the Pre-Colombian Arts Museum, which was highly recommended by Felipe to be visited, as it showcased the life, history and culture of the native people of Santiago before the arrival of the Spanish. The biggest native community in Chile is a tribe known as the Mapuche, there are still some pure Mapuche people in Chile still fighting for their native rights against the government, such as land disputes etc. This is parallel to the plight of the natives in Malaysia. 

From here we passed by 2 other buildings, the Old Congress Building and the Ministry of Justice building. Here we also passed by several coffee houses, known as 'coffee with legs' or 'cafe con piernas' because they close at certain hours, and only male customers are allowed, where lady baristas dressed in revealing outfits serve coffee to these customers and the men get to flaunt their ego while talking about their jobs, life and flirting with the baristas. There are still some coffee houses that practice this today, but it is an open secret.

Next, we walked to the Palacio de Moneda, which is the seat of the President of Chile. Moneda means coin, and this place used to be a minting house for coins, hence Palacio de Moneda. During the reign of President Manuel Bulnes, it was converted for use as the presidential seat. 

In 1970, a man named Salvador Allende became the President of Chile through democratic elections, although he was a communist sympathiser. He was also a doctor and was well known for his big black spectacles. During his reign, he made many good social changes to the national policies in Chile, such as nationalising major industries such as copper mining and banking, government administration of health care system and education, giving back land to the natives, giving scholarships to the natives, and restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, among others. However, there were economic and racial turmoil during Allende's reign, suddenly the economy was bad, everyone went on strike, and the people were calling on the military to do something about their plight.

Day 41 - On the road / Santiago

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

At about 11 am the bus stopped in a town called Serena. I got off to use the toilet and to stretch my legs. When I got back there was some hustle and bustle going on, and I asked some of my fellow passengers what was the matter, and they informed me that the bus that I was on was taking a longer route to Santiago, and if I wanted to take a more direct route to Santiago I had to change to another bus. Why the bus conductor would not tell me this when I was standing right next to him, I will never know. Maybe he can't communicate in English but I think he should at least try and tell me what is going on.

Anyway, then I changed buses, and thanks to all the delay I only arrived in Santiago at about 5 pm. I tried to get a taxi to my hostel but no taxi driver seemed to know the address of my hostel. Finally a taxi driver agreed to try and find this mysterious place, but he had to stop many times to ask for directions. Finally I arrived in one piece at my hostel, it is actually a house converted into a bed and breakfast. There was no reception area and one of the guests let me in, so I just waited in the hall. Luckily there was free wifi, and while checking my email I found a mail from the owner of the hostel asking me what time I would be arriving. I replied and told him I was already there, and he sent someone to sort me out. 

After getting some information as to how to get around Santiago and where to buy a camera from Alan, the person sent by the owner to sort me out, I went to my room which is actually quite a cosy place and I think good value for money. Because it was already getting dark, I didn't go out to look for a camera, I just walked around my hostel area, bought some food and water, showered and went to bed.

Day 40 - San Pedro de Atacama / on the road

Monday, 22 September 2014

I had a lazy morning, waking up late, taking a long shower, having a slow breakfast, and walking slowly to the bus station to catch the 2.35 pm bus to Santiago. At the bus station, while waiting for the bus my tears just flowed when I thought that I would never see my camera and all the beautiful pictures I took, ever again. I know there is no point crying but sometimes that is all one can do.

Then my long journey started. At about 9.30 pm, the bus stopped at the side of the road for no apparent reason. Neither the bus driver or the conductor could speak English so I had to rely on the information given to me by some of the other passengers, and I gather that there was something wrong with the steering wheel of the bus that we were in, and we had to wait for another bus to arrive and we would continue on that bus. We waited altogether for about 3 hours, at approximately 12.30 am another bus arrived, and all our luggage were transported onto that bus. I double checked all my belongings, I'll be damned if I leave anything behind this time around.

And then my journey to Santiago continued. So did my bad impression of Chile.

Day 39 - San Pedro de Atacama

Sunday, 21 September 2014

I only had a tour booked for 4 pm today, so in the morning I decided to walk about 4 km to a place called Pukara de Quitor. I could've rented a bike and cycled there, but the last time I rode a bike was more than 20 years ago and I wasn't confident enough to ride one now, I cannot afford to fall down and be hurt as there is no one here to take care of me. And besides, I like walking, so I walked about 4 km to this place.

The Pukara de Quitor was a fortress built by the original settlers in San Pedro de Atacama, known as the atacamenos. Nobody is sure when this fortress was built, but it is estimated that it was built some time in the 10th century, in the year 900. It was built mainly for defensive and strategic purposes. The Spaniards then invaded and conquered the atacamenos peoples, and apparently all the native chiefs were beheaded. I walked all the way up to the summit of the fortress, where the view was just gorgeous, one could see all the volcanoes in the region, the entire town of San Pedro, and cliff sides. The entire walk up and down the fortress alone took 2 hours. The walk to and from Pukara de Quitor took me about 1 hour and 15 mins in total. I think I must've walked about 12 km in total. To think that I was actually worried about missing body combat classes in the gym and jogging in the park!

When I came back to the hostel I was quite tired from the walking, and today I drank a lot of water but I still feel dehydrated. Then I had to walk to the agency again for my next tour, which is to the Moon Valley and the Death Valley.

The first place we stopped at were some salt mines, where we had the chance to walk into the salt mines, which were like caves, shaped naturally by water and wind. At some point we had to crawl, the walls were so low, and at some point it was pitch black (luckily I remembered to bring my torch light), and at some point we had to climb upwards to get out of the cave. That was quite fun, I enjoyed this very much. We saw the salt in 3 different stages, one when it is formed on the surface of the rocks, one where it blooms almost like a cauliflower when it comes into contact with water, and one when it has crystallised. Until 1985, the salt mine was actively mined for commercial purposes, but now salt is produced from the sea so the mine is not used anymore. It's funny how when I travel I learn a lot about the country I am in, and it makes me realise that I know so little about my own country, like where do we get our salt from? I don't think we have salt mines in Malaysia, I think we get our salt from the sea but I'm not sure. What kind of a Malaysian am I??

The next stop was the Moon Valley, it is named as such for 2 reasons, one because it resembles the surface of the moon, and two because there are rocks here known as cellulite which is used to make plaster, and cenulite translated into Spanish means lunar or moon. There is also a rock formation nearby which is said to resemble the Colisuem in Rome; it does in a way if you use your imagination. Then we also stopped at a place called Tres Marias, or the 3 Mary's, it is a rock formation with 3 figures said to be that of Mother Mary, although one cannot be seen anymore as a result of erosion. Of the 2 remaining figures that can be seen, one figure is standing up with her hands in prayer, and the other figure is kneeling with her hands outstretched to the heavens. Again, one has to use one's imagination. According to the guide, this rock formation is a result of millions of years of water and wind erosion. There are beautiful sand dunes all around the Moon Valley, and it is intriguing to think that one day these sand dunes could also take the shape of various formations as a result of wind and possibly water erosion.

From here, we stopped at Valle de la Muerte or Death Valley. There are 3 theories as to why it is named the Death Valley. The first is that there is no water here so there can be no life. The second is that the wind is very strong here, about 50 to 70 km per hour, and the legend is that in ancient times people used to walk on the top of the sand dunes with their llamas or horses, and the strong winds blew them to their deaths. The third is that there was a famous priest from Belgium who came to Chile, who could only speak French. He asked a local guide to translate what he spoke into Spanish, and the legend is that when he came to this valley, he remarked that it looked like Mars, and the local guide mis-translated this into Muerte which means death. Here my phone ran out of battery as I had been using my phone to take photos all day. I was sad. Already I am limiting the number of photos I take, and now this.

The last place we went to was a view point on the Salto Mountain Range to watch the sun set. It was really beautiful to watch the sun set over the mountain range, but I could not take any pictures. I guess I will just have to rely on my memory which is the best camera, according to Amma.

We then returned to San Pedro at about 8 pm, and I bought some cookies and drinks for my long journey on the bus tomorrow to Santiago. Then I had dinner and a beer and back to the hostel to update my blogs and finally, to sleep.

Day 38 - San Pedro de Atacama

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Today I did another tour, to the Salar del Tara. Pick up was at 7 am. After about 1 1/2 hours drive on the bus, we reached a place called Laguna Diamente which means Diamond Lagoon. Because it was the end of winter and beginning of spring in Chile, the surface of the lake was frozen, but there were some ducks and birds walking around on the surface of the lake. It was minus 2 or 3 degrees Celcius, but because the sun was up it didn't feel as cold as yesterday at the geysers. We were at approximately 4,900 m above sea level, which is higher than our Mount Kinabalu. How cool is that! Another thing that was quite cool to see was how the waves at the edge of the lake froze in place. If only I had my camera with me, I would've taken a thousand photos but with my camera I had to limit the number of photos I took because I am worried about the battery life as well as the space in my phone. And yes, I am lamenting but it's my bloody blog and I'll do as I please thank you very much.

After this we went to another place where there were weird rock formations, the most peculiar is a singular piece of rock standing at between 20 to 25 metres high, and is known as the Pakana or the Guardian of the Pakana. According to the guide, about 300 to 400 million years ago, this entire place was underwater. Due to the site which sits on tectonic plates, as well as volcanic activity, this place was formed, with rock formations as high as 25 metres. The evidence of volcanic activity can be seen upon closer inspection of the rocks, one can see bubble like indentations on the rocks, which were apparently bubbles from the magma all those years ago. The panorama here was just beautiful, there was also snow here for me to play in.

Then we went to another site also with rock formations known as the Cathedral. This place also contains rock formations, and they continue to be shaped by soil and wind erosion. These formations were also a result of volcanic activity.

From here we went to the Tara salt lake, home to the James flamingoes which grow to about 90 cm high. The entire Salar del Tara is a reservation area, under the Los Flamencos National Reservation. We walked along the salt lake to where our guide was waiting for us with lunch, which was rice, salad and tuna. Along the way I noticed small holes in the ground, and the guide informed us that there is a small mouse like creature known as the 'chulola' (not sure of spelling) that burrows through the sand and lives underground. I never saw one, though. After this we headed back to San Pedro and I reached the hostel at approximately 5 pm, I had a shower and went to bed early. 

Day 37 - San Pedro de Atacama (continued)

Friday, 19 September 2014

I stormed out of there, and as I was walking I saw a police station and I went in there to lodge a report. Here's the thing. At this point, I had already lost all hope of retrieving my camera and my photos. I also know that it was entirely my fault. But the attitude of Lazy Man and Lady Lame was really just too much for me to handle. I mean, at least try and DO SOMETHING for fuck's sake! I tried as best as I could to explain my real grievance to the police, but I could see and semi understand that they thought my camera was lost. I tried telling them it's not about the camera anymore, but the attitude of the bus people, and I think just to please me they took down my particulars. And then they had the cheek to tell me that they're sure it's the same in Peru and Malaysia as well. I very firmly told them that the difference is, in Peru and Malaysia at least they will TRY! Here they do nothing. Maybe I should've reported a missing bus instead of a missing camera since no one seems to know where this damn bus is.

Needless to say, I don't have a good impression of Chile at all. I find that the more I travel south, the less and less I like the people. The best people thus far are in Ecuador, Peruvians are by and large nice but not as nice as Ecuadorians, Chile sucks! And to think that I actually thought Chile was more advanced than Malaysia or Peru. It's all rubbish. They have no right to feel any kind of superiority, and whereas I was friendly and kind in Ecuador and Peru, from now on I have decided to be a cocky tourist in Chile. They deserve it, and I deserve respect. I drank a beer to celebrate my decision.

Before all this drama happened, when I was at the bus station I bought my ticket to Santiago for Monday at about 2.30 pm, because that is when I would've finished all my tours here in San Pedro.

At approximately 8 pm I walked into town again to join an astronomy tour which starts at 8.30 pm. I enjoyed this very much. The guide spoke excellent English, and apart from being a certified astronomer, he is also a physicist so he really knew his stuff. He showed us Saturn and Mars which you can actually see with the naked eye in the sky (they look like stars but they don't twinkle), the Southern Cross and how to tell which way is south, the Alpha Centauri which is the nearest star to us at 4.5 light years away, the Milky Way galaxy, how to recognise constellations, and many other interesting information about stars, planets and galaxies. It has inspired me to buy a pair of binoculars, but I'm not sure if the Malaysian sky is the most suitable to watch the stars. Here in the Atacama desert it is perfect for astronomy because it is desert area so it is dry, it is approximately 3,400 m above sea level, there are not many people living here so there is not much light to get in the way, and humidity is low. I think the most expensive and biggest radio telescope in the world is located here in a research station named ALMA and astronomers around the world are stationed here because it is just perfect to see the sky. The tour ended at approximately 10.30 pmand it was freezing cold but I had no choice but to walk back to the hostel where I fell asleep immediately because I got up at 4.30 am today!

Day 37 - San Pedro de Atacama

Friday, 19 September 2014

I started the day at 4.30 am this morning to the El Tatio geysers. This is located about 1 to 1 1/2 hours away from San Pedro, and situated about 4,300 m above sea level. I was warned about the cold weather in the morning, so I put on a long sleeve shirt, 2 sweaters, a windbreaker, 2 pairs of socks, a snow cap and gloves. It was negative 10 degrees Celcius when we arrived. This is by far the coldest place I'd ever been to. It was so cold my eyes and nose started watering on their own and I had no idea what to do or how to react to this kind of weather, and I was seriously contemplating staying on the bus but I wanted photos! Oh of course the view was splendid and all that but I swear I couldn't feel my fingers and toes at various times, I think my finger was frozen at one point and I had great difficulties in pressing the button on my phone to take a photo. Seriously. 

The geysers are products of underground hot water rivers that generate the El Tatio volcano. I was quite intrigued by the fact that there was hot water coming out of geysers in negative temperatures. I mean, wouldn't it freeze? It was quite beautiful watching the sun rise over the mountains, and for a while I forgot my troubles. Just until I had to take another photo, and then it all came back that this stupid fool left her camera on the ghost bus that seemed to have disappeared.

On the way down, we saw some vicuñas, ducks and flamingoes, and I was thinking, "oh but I already saw that in Peru" and then I remembered that I didn't have the pictures anymore so I took some more pictures. We stopped at the Puritama hot spring, where some of the people in my tour group went for a swim, the water is about 30 degrees Celcius. I just walked around and watched the geysers boiling and bubbling away. After this we stopped at a small village named Machuca, it is really small with only about 50 people living here. There was a man selling grilled llama meat and I tried one. It's quite delicious.

Then the bus dropped us off at the main plaza at about 12.30 pm. I had lunch, then went back to the hostel to take a nap but that didn't happen. At about 3.30 pm I started walking to the bus station to see the returning bus. Today on top of Lazy Man there was also Lady Lame, and together they told me quite a different story, today they said the bus did not go to Salta, but back to Arica and would be returning to San Pedro tomorrow. When I asked them whether they then checked the bus for my camera as the bus did not leave for Salta, because by then they already had the details of my camera and how to contact me, they said they did not. I noticed that the piece of paper with my details on it that I gave to Lazy Man yesterday was missing. When I asked them why they did not immediately inform the bus driver / conductor of my camera on the bus, they said 'no say' which means don't know in Spanish. I lost the plot. This is the first time I have lost my temper when on holiday. I yelled at them in both English and in Malay, because they wouldn't understand me anyway and I really had it with their attitude, and for some strange reason I find it comforting to yell at them in Malay, in my head I think it makes them think that I am a real person from another country. I ended up telling them that the bus company was no good, Chile was no good and they were especially no good. No good is the only thing they seem to understand. And yes, I caused a scene but I didn't care.

Day 36 - San Pedro de Atacama (continued)

Thursday, 18 September 2014

So I rushed back to the bus station on foot (because there are no taxis in this bloody town) and went to the counter of the bus company whose bus I took (Frontera Norte) and explained to this oldish man at the counter as best I could about how I left my camera on the bus, and I gave him all the details of the bus. It was like talking to the wall. This old man who was manning the place, was extremely unhelpful and lazy to the point where I felt like strangling him. He further irritated me by refusing to make eye contact. When I asked him to contact the bus driver or the bus conductor, he said he couldn't do it because he didn't have their numbers. Really! What kind of bus company does not keep the numbers of their drivers and conductors? What if there was an emergency? I think this was a lie. He was just being lazy. He informed me that the bus had gone to Salta, Argentina, and will be back tomorrow at 4 pm, and I can talk to the bus driver / conductor then. In the meantime, I left a description of my camera and my hand phone number so that he could contact me if he heard anything, and I saw him keeping these details on his desk but it looked as if he was prepared to do nothing. But there was nothing left for me to do except wait.

So then I walked back to town, and stopped at hostels to ask for vacant rooms but it was all either full or extremely expensive. On the way I also stopped at various tour agencies to enquire about stuff to do while I was here. Of all the agencies I went to, there was one that gave me a good price to do 4 things, provided that I pay in cash. Having sorted that out, I must now look for a hostel. I think I walked the entire town of San Pedro, and then I don't know where I was walking and I chanced upon this hostel about a 10 minute walk from town, and they had a vacant room for a good price, but a shared bathroom. I didn't mind that so I agreed to stay here.

When I went into my room I just had to cry, for my own stupidity of losing my camera, for the lackadaisical attitude of the man at the bus station, for my luggage being so heavy, for the sun being so hot but the wind being so cold, for being alone in Chile, for life being unfair, and for everything in between. After this, I went back to town to find an ATM machine, paid the agency for the 4 tours, and then went back to the first hostel to collect my luggage and dragged it all the way to my hostel. I don't even want to think about dragging my luggage all the way to the bus station. That's a problem for another day.

At about 7 pm I went into town again to have dinner because by then I was starving again, and I had a beer to calm my nerves. It is damn cold here at night, typical desert weather. I told Amma and Philip about losing my camera, and I was bracing myself to be nagged at but they were quite kind, they said the best camera is my memory and that can never be erased. While true, I still wish I hadn't been so careless, there were over 1,000 photos in there! But such is life. There is nothing I can do about it now.

Day 36 - San Pedro de Atacama

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Chile is 11 hours behind Malaysia time. The bus stopped in Calama at about 6 am, and we had to disembark together with all our luggage and wait for the next bus from Calama to San Pedro. It was really cold but there was no choice. The next bus to San Pedro was the very same bus that I was on from Arica to Calama, so I had to load my luggage onto the same bus again. Talk about being disorganised! I mean, should they not know which passengers are travelling on to San Pedro and just allow us to stay in the bus, out of the cold? Instead of unloading and loading my 20 kg luggage out of and onto the same bus?? I really don't understand.

I reached San Pedro at about 9.30 am. A man at the bus station asked if I wanted a taxi and I asked him to take me to the main plaza. Later I found out that there are no taxis in San Pedro, you either walk or rent a bicycle, and the man who sent me to the main plaza was just making money ferrying people around, he wasn't a real taxi driver. I went to the first hostel I saw and asked if they had rooms, and they did but it was really expensive so I asked the man there if he knew of any cheaper hostels, and he pointed me in a few directions. I had breakfast at his hostel because I was starving, and I asked him if I could leave my luggage there temporarily while looking for a hostel and luckily he was kind enough to allow me to do so.

It was while I was having my breakfast that I realised that I had left my camera on the bus. From Calama to San Pedro, the scenery was beautiful, the sun rising over the desert sand dunes and wind mills in the horizon. So I took a few photos, and I must have forgotten to put the camera back into my bag, and I fell asleep because throughout the night there were 10,000 stops to check this and that so I didn't have enough sleep. And then when we reached San Pedro I must have forgotten that my camera was not in my bag. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, losing my camera was not the problem, but the pictures! My beautiful pictures of Ecuador and Peru! Blue footed boobies, frigate birds, sea lions, the Nasca lines, Machu Picchu etc! Oh my God! I wanted to cry but that had to wait, I had to do something about this first.

Day 35 - Tacna / Arica

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Today is a waiting day, BORING! In the morning I went to a small cafe for breakfast, a chicken empanada and coffee. Then I read up on some news in Malaysia (same old, same old), had a shower and off I went to the bus station, where I had to wait some more because my bus to Arica is only at about 4 pm. 

My 'bus' to Arica wasn't really a bus at all but a car who took 5 people (including the driver and me there were altogether 6 people in the car) across the border into Chile. I was quite sad to leave Peru, after almost a month in Peru I have grown fond of this country, its people, customs, traditions, language and all things Peru. Luckily I didn't have any problems with customs or immigration at the border, and then I was in Chile!

And then the problem started. I was supposed to take another bus from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama, but when I presented my bus ticket at the relevant counter, they told me that they had a booking in my name but the money has not been transferred to them. I told them that I had already paid for my ticket in full, but they said this was between me and the agent I booked the ticket from in Tacna. I gave them the agent's number in Tacna but they said they cannot call because it is an overseas call, and anyway this is between me and my agent. For some strange reason my hand phone would not reach the agent's number, so I had to use a public telephone to make the overseas call, and for that, I first had to get Chilean pesos, so I had to find an ATM machine. The agent in Tacna told me that he had already transferred the money to the Chilean agent, and asked me to give the Chilean agent's number to the people at the bus counter. I did so, and luckily they were 'kind' enough to contact the Chilean agent, probably because it was a local number, and it was their bloody agent! And then it was all sorted out and I boarded the bus which would stop in Calama for 2 hours and then to San Pedro de Atacama.

I was quite put off by the people at the bus counter who were extremely unhelpful and apathetical. In the end, the problem was in Chile and not Tacna, and if they only bothered to make some enquiries, I would not have had to gone through the hassle of finding an ATM, making an overseas phone call, etc. Because I was irritated I told the people at the counter that their organisation was no good, and they had the cheek to tell me to relax, after all the problem has been sorted. Yeah, no thanks to you lazy morons! Immediately I did not have a good impression of Chile. 

My life - Part 31

After my exams, it was a confusing time for me because my serene everyday life as I knew it, was fast coming to an end and I wasn't ready to face the next stage in life. Not just yet. My richer friends went off to do A-levels in private colleges. My father made it clear to me that he did not have enough money to send me to a private college. I found out later that this was a lie, because when my younger brother the Pest wanted to go to a private university, my father paid for his entrance fees and what nots, before he eventually applied for and obtained a student loan. My father could have done the same for me, but he must have thought I was not worth it. 

My poorer friends, who were in the same boat as me, applied for public universities, there were a few public universities that offered courses after Form 5, although at that time most public universities would only take in non-Malay students after Form 6. I didn't like any of the subjects offered by these universities, as they were all science based subjects such as engineering, computer science, robotics, gadgets, R2D2, C3PO, and other nonsense like that. I had to choose something, so I chose computer science. And then, a lot of my friends got accepted into university, including friends whose results were worse than mine, but I didn't get accepted. So a majority of my friends were all going away either to college or to university, leaving me behind with no plan and no clue as to what to do next. I had 3 choices - do Form 6, find a job, or get married. None of these options appealed to me. 

So at 17, I truly and sincerely believed that I was a failure. My parents certainly treated me like a failure after my Form 5 results, they tried to avoid me as much as they could, as if I had brought great shame to the family or as if they were housing a contagious leper. I had a feeling that after my results, my parents had written me off as a failure who will not amount to anything in life.

I used to joke with my friends that if I died, my mother would probably grieve for 3 days, and then she will remember her sons and be happy again, quite forgetting that she ever had a daughter. This is probably not true now, because my mother has changed over the years and so have I. But even now, I still think that this was true then. 

I failed my parents. No college for me. I failed to enter a public university. Most of my friends had left. I was all alone. I was the ugliest girl in the world. No one could ever love me. Even my own parents were ashamed of me. I had let everyone down. I felt trapped, like I had no where to go, no one to turn to, no happy ending for me. 

And so, one clear night towards the end of 1995, I tried to end it all. It didn't work.

My life - Part 30

Also at the age of about 16 or 17, I became enemies with this boy named Joshua. I really had no idea how it all started, I think in true Tamil movie fashion he liked my friend Yamuna but they were enemies first, that sort of stupid thing. And then of course, because our friend was enemies with him, he was also our enemy, and the same with his friends. 

We used to do all sorts of things to one another, but somehow the friend who started it all (Yamuna) never got it quite as bad as this other friend of mine, Jeanne and me. His weapon was really words, he used to say the most spiteful things you can ever imagine, mostly about my skin colour. One thing in particular that he said to me, and which I will probably never forget for as long as I live, is that I am so dark that my husband would need a torchlight to find me down there to make love to me (in more vulgar language). Like a fool I wondered for years thereafter whether this was true, and if so, whether any man could ever love me. Words hurt. His words further damaged my already fragile self esteem so that what little hope I had that maybe I wasn't that bad looking, was gone. To me, I was the ugliest girl in the world.

Of course Jeanne and I retaliated, not with words, but with action because at that time  we were still young and mischievous and naughty and full of angsty energy and who wants to waste time with words? Some of the things we did bordered on the illegal so I will not mention it here, and there was this one thing in particular that we did that got him into trouble with the police, and then suddenly this entire war came to an end. I'm sure Jeanne will agree with me that we won the war. But the best part was, after all Joshua and his friends did to us, when it wasn't even our battle to begin with, Yamuna started going out with Joshua thereafter. Jeanne never spoke to Yamuna again after this, I think until this day. I, on the other hand, am softer hearted than Jeanne so I remained friends with Yamuna but it was never the same again, we were never really that close again, till to date. Betrayal will do that to a friendship.

When I was in Form 6, I gave up my entire mischievous and naughty side to focus on my studies. Joshua didn't understand that, and started with his spiteful taunting again. I did not retaliate this time because I had more important things to undertake, so what I did was to cut Joshua out of my life, mentally. To me, he was dead. And the dead cannot hurt you. I was in such a strong mental state of mind at that time that it worked. 

Years later, when I was out with Reuben, we bumped into Joshua and of course, like the hypocrite that human beings are, he said hi and attempted to hug me but I walked away without so much as a glance at him. Reuben would then tell me that I was being childish. I would laugh and tell him how does he expect me to greet a dead man?

Even now sometimes I can do that, cut someone out of my life completely. But it is very rare. Usually they have to properly piss me off, and then they can be truly dead to me, so that if they were dying by the side of a lonely road and I happen to pass by, and all they wanted from me was a sip of water, I would walk away with a smile, without feeling any guilt, regret or remorse. That's how ruthless I can be.

My life - Part 29

After scoring straight As in my public exam at the age of 15, I was forced by my parents to go into the Science stream, although I really wanted to go into the Arts stream. I have nothing but respect for science. But my passion is the Arts, and I would gladly study it at any time. Whereas science to me is more like a hobby, I will read about it when it suits me, but I did not want to be forced to study it. I could not imagine a career of a scientific nature like becoming a doctor or biologist or chemist. My ambitions throughout the years changed from wanting to be Superman, to a pirate, to a jet fighter pilot, to an astronaut, to a policeman, to a fireman, to a soldier, to a teacher and to a lawyer. Nothing to do with science (or so I thought). 

But no one was interested in knowing what I was interested in. My parents even asked one of my uncles, a science teacher, to 'advise' me to go into the Science stream. I was very upset about this because this particular uncle cared about no one but himself and his family. So I knew it wasn't good advice, he was just helping my parents out. And besides, he does not even know me well, so what gave him the right to dispense advice to me? I know my parents thought I would probably have a brighter future if I studied science. Well and good. Except. I was, and am not, interested in science as a vocation.

Be that as it may, against my better judgment, I went into the science stream. It was a disaster. I didn't study at all, I became even more engaged in school activities especially in the debating society, I rebelled against all my science teachers, I cut classes whenever I could (I got my driving licence as soon as I turned 17 in February and sometimes there was an extra car for me to drive to school, these were the best times as some of my naughty friends and I would cut classes and hang out by the beach). This is what happens when your heart and soul is not into something. 

As you can imagine, the results of my public exams after Form 5 was disastrous. Well actually, in the bigger scheme of things, it really wasn't that bad, but considering that my Lord Brother, and unfortunately me myself and I, had both been straight A students up to this point, the results that I obtained were disastrous. I think I had only 3 As, for English, Malay and Moral, and the rest were all Cs. Even more surprising to me was that I did not fail anything. But of course, my parents saw it differently. This was the first time I saw them really embarrassed about me, and I knew that I had let them down really badly, and suddenly life was not fun and games anymore, but a ton of bricks on my back because I had disappointed my parents when all they wanted was the best for me.

Day 34 - Tacna

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

It's Malaysia Day! But I am half way around the world. Truth be told, the only thing I miss about Malaysia is my long pillow (bolster). Sure, I think about my family, friends and dogs but I'm constantly in touch with them so I don't really miss them. 

Today is a half past 6 day. I tried looking for hotels / hostels in San Pedro de Atacama but either they were all sold out on the dates I arrive, or they are extremely expensive. I had my eyes on one hostel in particular, it's called Hostal Candelaria, it's quite near the centre of town and reasonably priced. But yesterday when I checked it was fully booked. When I tried again this morning they had a room, so I quickly booked it. Then I went to the bus station to buy my ticket to San Pedro de Atacama, but the guy at the station, who is really very nice, said all the tickets are sold out, and I will have to take a bus to Arica, and then another bus from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama. It was fine by me so I bought the ticket.

Then I retuned to the hotel and Philip asked me which hotel I booked and I forwarded the confirmation email to him, and he then pointed out that the hotel I booked was in Argentina and not in Chile! In my haste, I had booked a hotel with the same name but in a different country! Sweet mother of lord. I cancelled the booking, checked out of the hotel at about 12 noon and went to the bus station.

And guess what? My bus ticket is for tomorrow, not today. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. It's a real problem trying to understand Spanish and making them understand English. But the guy at the station was really nice, his name is also Carlos, he let me leave my heavy suitcase at the station, and recommended a hotel for me to stay in for tonight for just 15 soles but with a shared bathroom (beggars can't be choosers) and here I am now. I also asked him about a place to stay in San Pedro de Atacama, and he said he had a friend working in the tourist information centre in Arica, and I should go and see her about a hotel once I arrive in Arica. I have exhausted my internet search for hotels / hostels / bed and breakfasts / specialty lodging in San Pedro de Atacama, so I will just have to see what happens in Arica.

What an upside down day. But I am not upset. In fact, I am damn proud of myself for taking it easy today and going with the flow. The Sheila before leaving for South America would've gotten so upset with what happened and felt so sorry for herself. This is the difference when one is stressed out in life and when one is not. Currently I am not. And now, I must figure out what to do for the rest of the day until my bus in the evening tomorrow.

My life - Part 28

I met a sailor in Ecuador, who told me that he has been sailing for 15 years, since he was 20. I asked him whether he had ever considered doing something else besides sailing, and he said no, because he loves the sea.

It's one of 2 things - either he does not know what the world has to offer so that sailing is the only world he knows, or he does know what the world has to offer but he is content with what he has. If it is the latter (and I suspect it is), I think that is real happiness. Knowing that there is so much more that you can achieve, or have, but being content with what you have now, no matter how little that is. 

It is very difficult trying to find this balance. I grew up in a middle class family so I did not have a very luxurious upbringing. I remember one of my uncles taking us to a posh restaurant when I was maybe 13 or 14 and I did not know how to use a knife and fork, because we always ate at home, with our hands, and sometimes, very rarely, with a fork and spoon if we went out to a Chinese restaurant. Fork and knife? Never. And then when I started earning my own money, at first it sort of remained the same because I wasn't earning that much, but the more money I earne over the years, I found that I wanted more and more things - Astro, clothes sent to laundry, Internet, iPhone, a car, a house etc when I didn't really need any of this before and I was doing just fine.

In a way my decision to leave everything and travel is forcing me to confront what it is that one needs, and what it is that one wants. The only things that are truly necessary for survival are food, shelter and clothes. The rest are a bonus. I think the less one has, the happier one is. Unfortunately I live in a society where we are judged by how much we earn and what we have. I remember my relatives asking when I was going to buy a car, a house, etc but nobody ever asked me if I was happy. Why are material possessions more important than one's happiness? And why am I bothered about society's standards anyway? Because unfortunately, I am a part of that bloody society.

Sometimes I wish I could be a sailor who loves the sea. Whether he is poor, or single, or old, or has nothing else, at least he will always have the sea which he loves and which makes him happy. 

Day 33 - Arequipa / Tacna

Monday, 15 September 2014

I write this while on the bus from Arequipa to Tacna. The time now is approximately 3.15 pm and I should be arriving in Tacna very shortly. I have not brushed my teeth or showered since yesterday morning, and I have not had breakfast or lunch. I feel like a real traveller!

I arrived in Arequipa at 6.30 am and there was no one waiting for me. I didn't sleep so well last night on the bus although it was comfortable enough, I think I was feeling sad about leaving Cusco. Anyway, there was a tourist information counter at the bus station and I asked them for help, and they informed me that someone will come for me in a while. When he came, there was some confusion as to where I was going next, so he brought me to the tour agency. By this time I had decided to stay a night in Tacna just to get my bearings right, I needed some sleep and a bath so that I could figure out how to get to Chile in one piece. So when I arrived at the agency, I asked them to reserve a room for me in Tacna, and they informed me that my bus to Tacna was at 10 am, and it is about a 6 hour journey. I am glad I am going to stay in a hotel tonight and not travel some more to Atacama. 

They sent me to the bus station at 8.15 am, nasty creeps and I had to wait there for the bus until 10 am. Finally I arrived in a Tacna at about 4.30 pm, and I decided to take it easy and look for bus tickets to San Pedro de Atacama tomorrow. So I just walked around the hotel, Tacna is quite a big town but there is nothing to see or do here. I bought dinner, washed some clothes, took a long hot shower and looked for hotels in San Pedro de Atacama which is proving to be more difficult than I thought because they are either all sold out or too expensive. I have met many travellers who arrive at a destination without booking any hotels, and then they just ask around. I think this is a bit too risky for me, being alone with a heavy suitcase and all that.

But now to sleep! I will continue my search tomorrow.

Day 32 - Cusco

Sunday, 14 September 2014

My friend Carlos agreed to take me to see 2 places on the outskirts of Cusco, Maras Moray and Salinera. We took a bus to Urubamba (they call it buses but it's really a van) but we stopped half way at the town of Maras. Here, we had to hire a taxi to go to Maras Moray and Salinera. There were 2 other people who wanted a cab, so we negotiated a fee for the 4 of us, which was pretty cheap, and we went to our first destination which was Maras Moray. If I had gone on a tour, it would've cost me a bomb so once again, luckily I have a local friend to show me how to go about it the local way.

Maras Moray are pre-inca terraces built in circular form, it is really beautiful. There are 3 'moray's altogether, which was supposed to symbolise the 3 parts of the world - the sky (condor), the earth (puma) and the underworld (snake). Of this, the puma was the biggest and nicest, having 13 layers of terraces altogether, because the earth was the most important of the 3. The other 2 had 7 layers of terraces altogether. So it is terraces built in circles, and it was for agricultural purposes. Each circle had a different crop, such as corn, potatoes, onions, etc. At the centre was the most important crop, probably plants that are hard to find from the jungle, which are cultivated here. The depth, design, and orientation with respect to wind and sun apparently created a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and the bottom. This enabled the ancient peoples to grow different crops of different climates, at the same time and same place. It is also possible that this place was used to create hybrids of wild vegetable species for the purposes of human consumption. The products are then reaped and kept in warehouses made of stone, and was used as food for the people. Possibly various rituals and ceremonies also took place at the centre of the terrace, such as sacrificing llamas and rain dances. The circles have a sophisticated irrigation system.

There are stone steps built by the ancient people to go all the way up and down into the morays. It is quite scary to climbing down because the depth from one circle to the next is quite high, and I quite liked the simplicity of these stone steps.

After this we went to Salinera, a natural salt formation. From a nearby salt mine, a river carries the salt to this place where it is naturally deposited, since ore-Inca times. I tasted the water from the river and it is damn salty. The people here have divided the salt formation into plots, and there are more than a thousand plots. There are about 50 families working here, and each family has about 5 to 7 plots. There are 3 types of salt produced here, white, black and rose. I have no idea what the difference in taste is, I can only see the difference in the colour. I bought a small packet of salt for 2 soles, I want to experiment with it for cooking purposes.

Then we took a bus (van) back to Cusco and I bought Carlos dinner for showing me around. Then my tour agent came to pick me up at the hotel at 7.30 pm because I had to take the 8.30 pm bus to Arequipa, I will only arrive the next morning. Before I left, Carlos gave me his flute, the one he was teaching me how to play. It is probably his most prized possession but he gave it to me, and I was so touched. I gave him my Stephen King book partly because he was learning English, and partly because I am running out of space in my bags. When I left Cusco, I felt as if I left a piece of my heart behind.