From Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama (and Back), Chile

We spent one full day in Santiago walking, eating and drinking our way around town. The highlight was when we found a dingy pub in an alley behind the Mercado Central where they specialize in serving terramotes (= earthquakes) - white wine mixed with brandy and pineapple ice cream.


famous ice cream at Parque Forestal


´coffee with legs´ in downtown Santiago


home to the infamous terramote (drunk locals come with) in downtown Santiago

We spent 2 full days in Valparaíso (or ´Valpo´ to insiders) where we shared a small room in a lovely B&B in the neighborhood of Cerro (= hill) Alegre - home to countless cafés, restaurants and street art. We spent one day frantically searching for bus tickets to ´El Norte´ and finding none. The other day we went on a free walking tour through the city, which included a ride on one of Valparaíso´s famous funiculars, a homemade cookie with chocolate and dulce de leche (something that we have all grown addicted to), and the national drink: a pisco sour (fresh lime mixed with grape brandy and powdered sugar).







In lieu of bus tickets, we rented a 4WD in Viña del Mar and drove straight to San Pedro de Atacama in the middle of the Atacama desert. Jochem and Roland managed to drive 1700 kilometers on the Panamerican Highway in 21 hours. Here we witnessed a pivotal moment in history: a flooded town in the driest desert in the world - a desert where, in some places, it hasn´t rained for over 50 years. Consequently, this meant a lot of mud and a close of all the major sights in the area. Bummer. But we made the best of it. We found a great hostel (/café/restaurant/tour company) in Ayllu, which is run by a local family. They called us ´chicos´ and fed us homemade pisco sours mixed with local trees, plants, herbs and fruits. We went on a tour to Salar de Tara - a salt flat home to flamingos, llamas and phallic-shaped rock formations that turned us into small children at the sight of it. And we went horseback riding around town - a first for Jochem and Roland. We spent 3 days in this remote part of northern Chile.












´billen voor pillen´(sorry, inside joke)





We decided to break the journey back to Viña del Mar in two by making a 2-night stop halfway at a campsite in Bahía Inglesa, a popular beach town for locals. Although the town is really nothing more than a desert ending in the South Pacific and we didn´t get any sleep during the first night because a group of really drunk Chilean boys were playing really loud and really bad disco music all night long, we had a fantastic time overall. We camped in the sand near the beach. We spent a full day on the beach - playing with the waves in the icy cold ocean, warming up in the campsite´s jacuzzi, playing cards, eating water melon and getting sunburned. We cooked our meals in candlelight on Roland and Margaretha´s tiny gas cooker and roasted corn-on-the-cob on the campsite´s barbecue while drinking cheap wine from a carton. It was a truly great way to end our time together.










our homemade ´mergpijpje´ (sorry, another inside joke - there were many)

After that, things went pretty quickly. We drove from Bahía Inglesa back to Valparaíso and had one last dinner together with the five of us. Early the next morning Roland and Margaretha left on a bus to Buenos Aires in Argentina. They´ll be on plane back home right now. Bianca, Jochem and I took a bus back to Santiago and enjoyed one more day together. But all good things come to an end and yesterday afternoon she flew back as well and she´s already back home as we speak.

It´s awfully silent now in Chile. It´s weird to be on our own again. Even though there were five of us, and considering that we´re all very different people and there were obviously some irritations along the way, I think we all tried really hard to make this trip a success and, eventually, we appeared to form a certain kind of equilibrium in between Roland´s constant farts and burps, Margaretha´s bluntness, Bianca´s planning, Jochem´s cluelessness and my bossiness. We had an amazing time and it´s quite strange to be surrounded by other backpackers again. We miss our friends terribly.

But we go on. The weather in Santiago continues to be amazing and we´re staying at the wonderful La Casa Roja hostel in Barrio Brasil and we´re taking our time resting. Perhaps we´ll go out tomorrow to see some more of the sights, but maybe not. Tomorrow evening we´re boarding a 12-hour bus ride to Puerto Montt from where we hope to explore the Chiloé Archipelago before boarding a boat to Puerto Natales - an epic 4-day trip through Chilean Patagonia past fjords and glaciers. From there we hope to travel to Tierra del Fuego before moving up through Argentinian Patagonia to Buenos Aires. We´re almost at the 6-month mark!



If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Reunited

dinner at Galindo in Barrio Bellavista, Santiago, CHILE

Easter Island, Chile

Easter Island (or Isla de Pascua in Spanish) is called Easter Island due to Dutch admiral Roddeveen (those Dutch again!) who landed here on Easter Sunday 1722, but it is also called Rapa Nui and Te Pito o Te Henua, which means ´the belly button of the earth´. It is the most isolated inhabited place on earth - 3599 kilometers removed from the closest point in South America, 4050 kilometers from Tahiti, and 2200 kilometers from the closest populated island, Isla Marquesa. It is small, just 117 square kilometers, but there is so much to see on this beautiful Polynesian island that I don´t even know where to begin to tell you about it.

We have been staying in our tent on Camping Mihinoa in Hanga Roa, the only city on the island, where almost all of the 5000 locals also live. Camping is pretty much the only way to save some money in coming here, because everything else is quite expensive due to isolation - the flight, the accommodation, the national park, the food et cetera. Our campsite was great though - run by a local family with great facilities and views of the Pacific.



February is the hottest month on the island and we have been blessed with some great weather, although we also had some rain. Luckily, the rough winds tend to blow away clouds quite quickly. Unfortunately, this also means that you should be even more careful with the dangerous sun. It also means that my hair has turned to straw. Despite it being the height of the high season, it´s nice and quiet here. The first time that we walked into town we couldn´t even locate the main street because it was so quiet! Hanga Roa has retained a small town charm and I like it.

Whenever I told people that we would be staying on the island for a week, many mentioned that they thought that this was quite long, but I disagree. Of course it´s possible to see the major sights in 3 days, but when you have the time, why rush? We liked being able to sleep in, have breakfast, and do whatever we felt like doing without having to keep to a sightseeing schedule. Some roads on the island are absolutely horrendous and even dangerous to drive on. When you´re in a rush, this is a nuisance, but when you have all the time in the world, this becomes an adventure. And when you get tired of sightseeing, there are loads of beaches, restaurants and bars to keep you occupied.

The best way to describe the island is a big, hard, volcanic rock. It has a rugged beauty to it that I like very much. It reminded me of Tongariro National Park in New Zealand, except that there are more trees, plants, flowers and wild horses here. And, of course, the island is scattered with ahu (stone platforms), moai (huge statues) and petroglyphs - the whole island is, in fact, a big open-air archeological museum. Add to that loose volcanic rocks, ancient lava tubes, caves, white sand beaches and blue ocean and you get a sense of the beauty that is Easter Island.


the landscape between Hanga Roa and Ahu Tepeu


Ahu Akivi


Ahu Tongariki


Ahu Tongariki

If you ever make it to Easter Island (and I hope that you do!) I would offer up this little piece of advice: grab a car and GO! Organized tours come in handy from time to time (we´ve been on them plenty of times during this trip), but this is not the way to see Easter Island in its best light, if you ask me. You want the freedom that comes with your own transportation. We rented a scooter ourselves because we couldn´t afford a car, but like I said, some roads are horrible and then a car is really more comfortable. Plus, you´ll stay dry when it rains.

I wouldn´t say that there is one best way to see the island, although I would recommend that you first visit Rano Raraku and then Orongo. Rano Raraku is called ´the nursery´ because this is where the moai were quarried from the slopes of an extinct volcano. There are still a lot of leftover (if you will) moai there, which makes for an amazing sight. It´s nice to combine this with a trip to Puna Pau, because this is where the red hats were quarried that were placed on top the moai. Then I would make my way to Orongo. This ceremonial village near another extinct volcano (there are about 70 volcanoes on the island), called Rano Kau, signifies a move away from ancestral worship in the form of ahu and moai and a move towards a bird man cult that had major religious, political and social repurcussions - it is really too much history to share here, albeit very fascinating. In Orongo you can see ancient houses and petroglyphs and there are amazing views over the nearby islands.


Rano Raraku


Rano Kau


Orongo


Orongo

One thing that I should mention is that February is also the month of the Tapati Rapa Nui - a festival that lasts 2 weeks and is centered around various traditional games and parties. On Sunday afternoon we decided to make our way to Rano Raraku for the popular triathlon. We found a spot near the crater lake among hundreds of locals and tourists and were quite surprised to see what happened next - a group of beautiful boys racing in thongs! First, they had to row across the crater lake in a traditional canoe, then they had to run around the crater lake while carrying a load of bananas, then they had to run again (without the bananas but higher up on the steep crater rim), and then they had to swim across the crater lake. It was BEAUTIFUL, and not just because of the boys, who were, indeed, very beautiful, but I though that it was so great that these young men were keeping ancient traditions alive during an annual festival. The locals were cheering the boys on throughout the race and afterwards girls wanted to pose with them in pictures. Isn´t that wonderful?! You really get a sense of community whenever you spend time among the Rapa Nui. Somehow I don´t see Dutch youngsters celebrating our old traditions this way, let alone in thongs! So, whenever you come to Easter Island, try to do it in February to catch some of the beautiful island spirit.


Tapati Rapa Nui


Tapati Rapa Nui

Yesterday we were a little worn by all the sightseeing, so we decided to spend the afternoon at Anakena Beach. I believe that this is the most beautiful beach on the island with palm trees, white sand and clear water. We spent a couple of hours there playing in the waves like small children and somehow our time here is almost up already.







Tomorrow morning at 8 AM we catch a flight back to Santiago and we´re spending our last day here getting organized, although I hope we can make it to the beach in the afternoon as well. You might not hear from me for a while. As you might remember, we´re meeting our friends in Santiago and we´ll spend 2 weeks with them traveling through Chile and Argentina and I don´t intend to waste any of our time together by spending hours in an internet café blogging. Like my friend Danielle once told me: ¨Life is for living!¨

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Santiago, Chile

This is just a quick note on Santiago, because we only spent 2 days here and we have to leave again tomorrow.

We boarded our 11-hour flight from Auckland to Santiago on Monday at 4.10 PM. Now, flying from New Zealand to Chile is very strange, because you're traveling back in time - we arrived the same day at 11.30 AM. This also makes for a LONG day, which takes me back to my first jetlag when I flew from Los Angeles to Amsterdam with Anna and Derek in the summer of 2003. I've pretty much been walking around in a fog for two days. Flying over a neverending expanse of water didn't do much for my nerves, so instead of sleeping, I watched no less than 5 movies and a documentary about Easter Island.



The hostel that we had booked months ago back in the Netherlands had for still unclear reasons ceased to be and we were referred to another hostel in the neighborhood of Barrio Brasil called Princesa Insolente. This hostel is a real gem - our dorm rooms surround a cute little patio, the walls are painted with funky trees in bright colors and there is always Latin music playing in the background. We sleep in a big room with 8 others on the thickest mattrasses I've seen during this trip and they are so comfortable. The internet is free, the WiFi is fast, and breakfast is served with fresh eggs. I could stay a little while longer!





When we arrived on Monday we were obviously exhausted and we spent most of the time bathing in our own drool on the couches. We woke up just long enough to buy groceries and make ourselves a meal before crashing into bed.

Today I was still extremely tired and since we only had the one day here, we decided to go on a free walking tour. The first time we did a free walking tour was in Sydney and I can truly recommend it - you only have to pay the tour guide tips (if you pay at all), the tour is usually guided by a local who knows the inns and outs of their city (where to find good local restaurants, where to score cheap drinks, where the best clubs are et cetera) and you get to see a variety of the city's sights on foot. Best of all, for me today, was the fact that I could just listen to our beautiful Chilean guide Daniela from Spicy Chile without having to design my own itinerary, read in our Lonely Planet, or think at all.



We ended our tour by riding up the summit of Cerro San Cristóbal by furnicular for a panoramic view of the city flanked in the east by the Andes. It's beautiful, isn't it? The locals like to say: "God is everywhere, but his office is in Santiago." The weather here this time of year doesn't suck either.



Afterwards we had dinner in hip Barrio Bellavista at Galindo for a typical Chilean meal. Although the food that we had was good, there is not a lot of choice for us vegetarians. I'm sure it will be okay, though. Whenever I'm having a hard time, I always remember this quote by Jonathan Safran Foer from Eating Animals and feel better instantly:

"Two friends are ordering lunch. One says, 'I'm in the mood for a burger,' and orders it. The other says, 'I'm in the mood for a burger,' but remembers that there are things more important to him than what he is in the mood for at any given moment, and orders somethings else."

This one by Darcy Cosper also helps me a lot:

"Principles don't mean anything if you abondon them when they become inconvenient or uncomfortable."

You can clearly see, though, how jetlagged I am.



Tomorrow we're off to Easter Island but I don't really feel like it. I'm still so tired and don't want to get up early to catch some plane. I definitely don't feel like sitting in an airplane, over yet more water, for 5 more hours. But, most of all, I just can't wait to see my friends. But I really shouldn't act so silly - we're talking about EASTER ISLAND for God's sake!

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

MY FAVORITE NEW ZEALAND

ACCOMMODATION Cap´n Bob´s Beach House, Paihia, North Island (although the Golden Lodge in Nelson on the South Island comes close and, overall, the quality of hostels in New Zealand is very high)

ALCOHOLIC DRINK Sauvignon Blanc from the Malborough wine region on the South Island

BAR n/a

BEACH Hot Water Beach, North Island

CITY n/a, since we hardly spent any time in cities other than to sleep or change transportation

CLUB n/a

DISAPPOINTMENT kayakking in Abel Tasman National Park - hard, cold and wet

DRINK fresh blueberry juice at Mamaku Blue, North Island

FELLOW TRAVELLERS Paihia, North Island

FOOD Difficult to say, since we mostly cooked ourselves.

LOCALS Everywhere. Anywhere. Kiwis are among some of the nicest people I´ve ever met - always smiling, always willing to give a hand, and always wanting us to enjoy New Zealand.

MELTDOWN Waking up in a wet tent at 1 ´o clock in the morning during a thunderstorm and needing to move indoors in Abel Tasman National Park, South Island.

MONUMENT Cape Reinga, North Island

MUSEUM n/a

NATURE Tongariro National Park

RANDOMNESS During our 3 weeks in New Zealand I´ve heard more German speech than English. There are a LOT of Germans in New Zealand, it´s quite shocking.

RESTAURANT Hot Waves Cafe, North Island (although Aunty Mena´s in Wellington on the North Island makes a good second)

NORTH ISLAND OR SOUTH ISLAND I´ve only seen very little of the South Island, but I really enjoyed the amazing diversity in nature on the North Island.

SURPRISE Paihia, North Island - our little paradise

WEATHER Paihia, North Island

I wouldn't have wanted to miss...
...hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park.

I could've skipped...
...kayakking in Abel Tasman National Park, and just hike instead.

I want to go back to...
...the South Island, so that I can see more of it.

[inspired by The Other Flying Dutchman]

Up North, New Zealand

WOW! It's been a busy couple of weeks - 22 days in New Zealand, of which 21 were spent traveling, or sightseeing, or both. This is the first time during our travels that I'm actually getting a bit weary of traveling. I suspect this is due to the fact that we've been racing through Australia and New Zealand and because traveling here requires more money and more planning than traveling in South East Asia. One of my favorite fellow travel bloggers, The Other Flying Dutchman, wrote about his experiences in Australia and New Zealand:

"I think this marks the first time I’m using profanity on this blog, but fucking hell Australia and New Zealand are expensive to travel in. The euro has dropped 40% against the Australian dollar, so it was easily four, five times as expensive as South America. A shock to the system, because unlike almost every other traveler I met, I am not working."

[...]

"My first experience with backpacking was South America, and it’s been pretty rough adapting to the Australian way. Here, it was necessary to plan – to book hostels in advance, to arrange transportation weeks early. The low point of this was when I spent 3.5 hours on the phone to change two of my flights. I didn’t enjoy that rigidity at all, and I look forward to being a wanderer again in Asia."

This pretty much sums up exactly how I feel at this very moment. I can't wait to go back to my aimlessly wandering ways in South America.

But first, let me tell you about our time 'up north', as the Kiwis like to call it. On Wednesday morning we took a bus from Auckland and 4 hours later we arrived in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands is, quite literally, a bay with islands and is very beautiful. Miraculously, we had managed to get ourselves a reservation at the most popular hostel in town (according to our Lonely Planet) called Cap'n Bob's Beach House. Here we were greeted by Jo who gave us our very own double room for the price of 2 hostel beds. I believe that you may not understand the significance of this - we hadn't slept in a double room for almost 2 months at that point. Hurray! No more being considerate of your fellow backpackers and back to walking around naked whenever you want! It was just the cutest little room, close to all of the facilities and with a view of the South Pacific Ocean. I couldn't have asked for a better end to our time here.


our room at Cap'n Bob's Beach House in Paihia


South Pacific Ocean

We didn't have much time to enjoy it, however, because the next day we were picked up early for our 11-hour tour to Cape Reinga. In short, Cape Reinga is NOT the northernmost point of the country (Surville Cliffs is), but it is the most sacred Maori site in New Zealand - the Maoris believe that Cape Reinga is the departing place of souls to their spiritual homeland Hawaiki via an 800-year-old pohutukawa tree. It is also the place where the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean collide, plus it houses a pretty lighthouse. We also made a visit to Puketi Kauri Forest, where we saw some really big, really beautiful trees, Taputaputa Bay, Te Paki Stream, where Jochem tried his hand at sandboarding (an experience I was more than happy to be left out of), and 90 Mile Beach, which is a highway on the beach. It was a long, but good, day.


Puketi Kauri Forest


pohutukawa tree


Cape Reinga lighthouse


Cape Reinga


Taputaputa Bay


Te Paki Stream


Te Paki Stream


90 Mile Beach

The next day we enjoyed a quiet morning before heading to the wharf for our boat trip. At this point my body really started to protest this incessant sightseeing for I didn't feel good at all and, unlike the last few days, the weather was dreadful - grey, rainy and cold. But you won't hear me complain since we saw both the Hole in the Rock and a family of wild dolphins.


Bay of Islands


Hole in the Rock


Bay of Islands

Saturday was our one and only day in New Zealand where we did absolutely NOTHING - we slept in, read some books, baked some cookies, watched some TV - no traveling, no sightseeing.

And now we're back in Auckland once more. We're preparing ourselves to leave New Zealand, board a 12-hour flight over nothing but Pacific Ocean, and land in South America. Our first stop is Santiago, the capital of Chile, where we will have 2 days before we fly over yet more Pacific Ocean to Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. We will have a week to explore the island before flying back to Santiago on February 8 where we will at last be reunited with some very close friends. Roland and Margaretha have been planning to visit us in South America for a while, but now that Bianca is also coming over, I couldn't be more thrilled (or impatient). I can't wait to sit down with them, cook some food, pour some wine, and catch up.


Sky Tower in Auckland

But first things first.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!