Chile, the Desert and a Dedication

It´s tought to keep up with this blog buiness when we seem to spend most of our time making a beeline for the bottom of the continent. We are oficially in Chile now, and the contrast of this country compared to the two we are coming from is pretty stark. Better roads, less shanties and of course higher prices. We started in a small town just over the Bolivian border called San Pedro de Atacama--and the scorching desert heat was a welcome reprise after being pretty cold for the last month.

The town itself has a bohemian feel with its dirt streets, bike rental shops, local artisan handcrafts, lots o´ drums and dreadlocks, and outdoor restaurants that circle large bonfires. It was great to soak up the sun, and the dry, desert climate made it feel just like home. So, keeping our adventurous spirits at full throttle we rented bikes (yes, Shanon too--for those of you who know Shanon´s past experiences on a bike) and pedaled about 30 km (round-trip--about 18 miles) to the Valle de la Luna. Shanon rode her heart out, and it proved to be a great time as we were able to dodge the massive tour groups who were rolling in on their buses just in time for sunset.

Away from the masses we watched the sun drop over the desert landscape, and it felt like we were home...and we thought of you all...so I played a little song on the flute we bought in Peru and dedicated it to all our working class friends and family back in the US of A. Unfortunately, our fute only plays one, sometimes two notes, so the song was more symbolic than it was impressive--but it was for you.

Like I mentioned before, we´re making a beeline for the Southern end of the continent, heading to Patagonia via a series of overnight bus rides (almost like an airplane but with lots of layovers, lots of bouncing, and nauseating toilets). We´re going to try the Argentinian side of the Andes to see if we can cut some cost and make better time. More to come...