24 - Run Llama Run (San Pedro de Atacama, Arica)

Salta, ARGENTINA to San Pedro de Atacama, CHILE - 21 february 2003

I would cross back to Chile today, after a 12-hour trip through the altiplano. Today, there was no annoying second layer of clouds and so it was brilliantly white and beautifully ‘salty’ as we cut right across the Salinas Grande. Oh, it was really gorgeous!

For lunch, we stopped in the middle of NOWHERE. There was just a restaurant and a gas-pump here. It was not even a village. I had made friends with the guy sitting next to me, Juan from Salta and the guys sitting behind me - Jakob from Germany and Asier from Spain. Jakob and Juan were heading to Arica to go to Peru and Asier would get off with me at San Pedro de Atacama.

We cleared the Argentinian customs in the middle of another NOWHERE and had another 4 hours or so of altiplano to clear. To my extreme delight, besides llamas, I started to spot a few vicuñas too! I was stabbing at the window and going “Vicuñas!… Vicuñas!… Vicuñas!”

Vicuñas are the rarest of the four types from the llama family here in South America.

Llamas are rather common, mostly domesticated and used for carrying loads and sadly, so tame that some are brought down to lower towns (too hot for them) for tourist photography. Alpacas are slightly smaller, just as woolly and mostly reared for their wool.

Guanacos, as seen in southern Patagonia, are wild. They are brownish in colour and do not do the ‘W’ Circuit in Torres del Paine. Vicuñas, also wild, are the smallest of the four and its colour is the sort of brown that looks almost golden. Wool from vicuñas is the softest and most precious of all and because of it, they had been killed off for many, many years by the natives. Hence, they are the rarest now.

And they look the most elegant, delicate, feathery and graceful of all.

We finally reached San Pedro de Atacama at 7pm and we had to open up all our baggage for inspection at the Chilean Customs. Entering Punta Arenas way down south, no one checked our bags. Entering Puerto Natales later, the Custom Officers went through hand luggages only. Now, here, up north, everything had to be opened up and inspected because we were closer to Bolivia, I supposed. I guess, cocaine trafficking was feared. Even having a few coca leaves was prohibited. It was a long, tedious affair.

We were more or less packed back into the bus when a Customs officer came out with a pine. Besides drugs, the Chilean Customs were picky about fruits, plants, seeds, animals and some dairy products too. He sternly announced that he had found it on the floor inside the office, so it must have rolled out from one of our baggages. Confess or everyone’s bags would have to be searched again.

Soon (I did not know how), a whole plastic bag of pines was discovered and a señora finally admitted it was hers. She was led into the office and frankly, we had no idea what happened to her after that. Back on the bus, Juan threatened to turn me in for smuggling an ‘animal’ across into Chile, my llamanita, the toy-llama I bought in San Antonio.

A change in country, a change in currency and a change in ‘language’? Nah, I will keep my Argentinian Spanish for now. It’s the altiplano, please. Not. E. Nough. Oxy. Gen. Nou. Rish. Brain.



San Pedro de Atacama, CHILE - 22 february 2003

At 4am, Asier and I were picked up by our tour to go to El Tatio’s Geysers. The geysers were best seen in the early morning at sunrise and as it was more than 2 hours away on harsh road conditions, we had to leave at 4am.

Despite the very bumpy road, I slept all the way until we arrived at the geysers at 4500m, at 6:30am. Gosh, it was TERRIBLY COLD. My thermometer, which I brought along for my year-long trip to record how much I was suffering at each place, showed -5°C! Now was THE ONE TIME to use my pretty scarf from Chiloé and I left it in the hostel.

We walked around the geysers and heard bubbling, hissing sounds everywhere. A guy told me an egg could be cooked in 1 second with the water here. Some areas were fragile and could break right through. Apparently, some tourists had fallen through and died. As the sun rose, more and more hot boiling water from the various geysers sprouted into the sky. Some holes were really deep. Some were very colourful, stained from the various mineral deposits. To obtain some warmth, we risked being scalded alive by standing amongst the sprays of the geysers.

It was so so so fantastic out here. I loved it very much but was too freezing cold then to fully appreciate it. My toes were thoroughly numb and I was wearing my boots too.

We were brought to a thermal pool and now, at 5°C, it was ‘warm’ enough to strip into our swimming gear for a quick dip. Then, we headed back to San Pedro de Atacama, making various stops here and there to view a village, some llamas, vizcachas (looked like a rabbit but with a long tail) and flamingoes.

Asier would leave for Santiago this evening but I signed up for a second tour leaving in the afternoon for Salar de Atacama. Yeah, a long day of sight-seeing for me today.

The various stops along the route to Salar de Atacama were somewhat perplexing for all of us tourists had that ‘why-are-we-here-again?’ look.

For me, the Salar de Atacama was very different from the Salinas Grande in Argentina. In Salinas Grande, the grounds were flat and white with rough crystals forming along the sides of hexagon shapes. In Salar de Atacama, the salt-pan ground was uneven, dried up and brown, all the crystals were huge, jagged, lumpy rocks. It was impossible to walk on them. A path had been flattened out for us to walk across the salar. The flamingoes, which I had come to see, were unfortunately slurping up the acidic lake miles away, tiny little dots in the distance. Then, we stayed for sunset.

Wow, I was awake to see the sunrise and the sunset on the same day today.



San Pedro de Atacama to Arica, CHILE - 23 february 2003

A day to laze around San Pedro de Atacama. The sun had finished updating my Brazilian tan by now. But wait, it might have surpassed it… but I still had not reached the heights of altiplano tan yet.

San Pedro is also a tiny desert town, with rows of adobe houses, mostly painted white. Many houses have brown adobe ‘paint’ dripping from the roofs.

While it could be charming, I felt it a tad pretentious as many restaurants had been converted into fancy theme restaurants, with cave-like seats and pretend-geoglyphs on the walls, all for the sake of tourism. I guess, it could not be helped… with such astounding sights nearby.

It is also hippie-land. Bob Marley wannabes, tie-dyes, multiple trinkets, and that wind instrument from Australia - didgeridoo, were popularly featured here.

Off to Arica on the night bus.



Arica, CHILE - 24 february 2003

Off the night bus and as you know my bus-sleeping history, on to a bed for half a day to catch up on my sleep.

Arica has a rather decadent feel of a port town and it being a border town too (with Peru), makes it a lot seedier and somewhat amusing. All border towns are amusing. I detected a nice, trashy vibe here and I liked its unpretentiousness but being near to Peru, I must stay alert.

Perhaps because it is a port town, Arica is consumer goods heaven. There are many, many, many ‘CENTRO COMERCIAL’ or covered shopping centres selling all sorts of trashy consumer goods like notebooks, towels, plastic flowers, shoes, clothes, bags, hair-curlers, plush toys, shampoo… Even away from these centres, along the streets, there are loads of shops selling these cheesy household items.

I was also delighted to see many chifas. When I was in Peru three years ago, I remembered seeing many chifas, which were Chinese restaurants, everywhere. Why ‘chifa’? No one could tell me then. Here’s my two-cents: In Mandarin, to ‘eat rice’ or ‘have a meal’ is ‘Chi Fan’. So, perhaps, it became twisted to become chifa to represent Chinese restaurants here.

In Buenos Aires’ Chinese neighbourhood in Belgrano, yes, there were Chinese restaurants but since then, I had not seen ONE Chinese restaurant in Argentina and Chile. And so, Arica, with spill-over influence from Peru, has many appreciated chifas.

I had dinner at one and it was REAL Chinese food.



Parque Nacional Lauca, CHILE - 25 february 2003

Today, the tour to Parque Nacional Lauca would ferry us from sea-level to 4500+m. All tour vans were required to carry oxygen masks to resuscitate any dying tourists.

For me, having ascended to and descended from the altiplano several times the last few days, I was alright. The tour made many stops along the way to spot some geoglyphs on the hills, visit adobe churches in tiny towns and the odd ruins, so the ascent was done slowly. Later for breakfast, we were all served coca tea. Todo bien. [Everything OK]

The ground turned very barren after we reached a certain altitude but somehow, beyond 4000m, the entire place turned green again. Here, apparently, due to their microclimate, it actually rained pretty frequently. So, the grounds were covered with a type of green moss and had shrubs all over. Gosh, I had expected dry, desert altiplano I saw coming from Salta to San Pedro but the altiplano here was different.

Because of the greenery, we spotted many, many vicuñas, guanacos, alpacas and llamas. Paradise!

We finally reached Lago Chungara, which at 4515m, is the highest lake in the world. The Parinacota volcano is set against the lake, just dying to be photographed. Behind the lake, lies Bolivia - unattainable to me.

I was previously at Lago Titicaca in Peru. It was 3800+m and was touted as the highest navigable lake in the world. Then, I had vaguely wondered which was the highest lake and apparently, I just found out now. There were some flamingoes in the distance and soon, it started to rain slush.

We visited a few bleak, isolated miniscule towns on our way down, Parinocato (4300+m) and Putre (3500+m).

It was freezing cold now, even in summer. How do they survive here in winter? Drink 96% PURE ALCOHOL.