When traveling to Santiago Chile, you can do a lot worse than staying at the Marriot. You could place this in any location in the world and be completly satisfied with the level of service.
Hotel Lobby...
Rooms are clean and welcoming...
25 floors give you a great view of the city....
A little hazy in the morning upon arrival...it cleared up completly by lunchtime.
Lunchtime at
El Otro Sitio a Peruvian resteraunt in Santiago. Specializing in
Cerviche and a new drink which has become a new favorite
Pisco Sour which I believe can clean engine parts. Matt, Manuel and I.
Cerviche....yes, I know what you might be thinking I am back eating meat.
After this, for the next 5 days I would travel from the ocean to 4300 meters above sea level and witness what can only be described as the surface of the Moon or Mars while traveling 1700 Kilometers by car and wearing gear that would make Darth Vader jealous.
Salt Mines outside of San Pedro....it is blindingly white as far as the eye can see.
Another mine. Notice the lack of anything that resembles life.
Salt as hard as rock and as sharp as razor blades.
Along with bathing in Sunscreen, this was the typical Star Wars looking safety gear we required. Edguardo in this photo.
Every now and then, you will see pockets of life.
and a memorial to where life had ended. In 1700 Kilometers of highway you are constantly reminded the dangers of the road. I counted at least 200 of these. This one was about average, others are as ornate as a small home.
After hours of driving sometimes you realize how far you are away from home. Matt and I at the Tropic of Capricorn.
After a visit to the mines a two day stop over was at
Hosteria San Pedro de Atacama. Beds were clean, nothing fancy but, well positioned for our trips to see customers.
The grounds are a throw back to a couple of hundred years ago and are withing walking distances of everything in the small town.
Great town to get away and relax. Tons of visitors from everywhere on the planet.
Dirt streets and lots of people backpacking. Many good resteraunts and outside cafe's. Recommend checking out
Adobe. This resteraunt has an open ceiling to the stars and an fire pit. I guess you can have an open ceiling when you live in the desert.
On our trek from San Pedro to Iquique the terrain began to change into more and more hills and mountains.
Indiana Jones would be at home...
or a Bedouin tribe.
In the background....snow capped mountains....an extreme in every view.
A pitstop outside of Iquique....Empanadas.
One of the most amazing views I have seen. Ocean to the left of our car, mountains to our right and clouds pouring over them.
another shot of the mountains and clouds...
When staying in Iquique, make sure your reservations are for the correct week, that you at the correct address or your only hope is the
Hosteria Cavancha. Bugs will welcome you to the room and carry your bags up 3 flight or possibly 4 flights of stairs, outside with no elevator. Notice the lovely 70's decor and fold out bed.
The view out the back door however, was something more inviting. I kept the sliding door open all night and slept like a rock to the sounds of waves and the singing of cockroaches.
Right outside the hotel parking was a huge chess set. I imagined cockroaches after having a few beers went to show off their prowess while we slept.
You haven't breathed until you have been over 4000 meters. Not to mention that we ended up around 4300 and were told about people dying while panting around taking photos.
Llamas on the other hand dance and laugh at this height. The locals decorate them very ornately.
This Llama seemed to be requesting a Coconut Cookie, it however did not like the fact that the cookie struck him in the rear, causing him to gallop away.
One Fancy Llama
One very pregnant Llama.
Some other Llama relatives....the Vecuna. Look like deer, run like a cheetah.
3 men smiling in front of a smoking Volcano.
A local lizard...posing for the camera.
A last look at the smoking Volcano and the salt flats at 4300 meters high.
A final photo from Santiago....Is this Gringots Bank from Harry Potter?
Thanks for reading.
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