Thursday, 25 September 2008
Arica and Parque Nacional Lauca
Cueca dance, View from the cerro, Vizcacha, Lllma trying to break into the van, Lagu Chugara (4,500 m you know!)
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
...and back to Chile
After a nine hour journey from Arequipa I arrived in Arica, the most northern town in Chile (which incidentally used to belong to Perú)which is a 'beach town' but has a port and there are lots of surfing opportunities. Also a few hours drive away (all uphill) is the Lauca National Park which is beautiful and there are loads of different species of birds and lots of vicuñas, llamas, alpacas and another type of llama thing. They are all from the camel family apparently.
On the journey over I met three teachers (and one of them's husband) and we all shared a taxi from Tacna (the southern most town in Perú) over the border to Arica which was fun. We all piled into an old Cadillac and drove over what seemed to be a noman's land.
I met the German girl the next day for lunch and whilst I was waiting I watched the school children performing in the main plaza, they were dancing the national dance of Chile but for some reason I can't remember what it's called. Well, it's with white handkerchiefs and it's quite cute. The mums were selling alfajores and empanadas whilst it was going on. We went up to the top of the headland which juts out suddenly and there's a statue at the top that they call El Morro. I'm sure it's just another statue of Jesus though. There was a great view of the bay and I saw where I wanted to spend the afternoon (at the beach.). We went to the beach near Anja's (the German girl) hostel and took sandwiches. I braved the sea but couldn't get warm afterwards because there was quite a strong wind.
Yesterday I went to the Parque Nacional Lauca which was a fun experience. I was pretty scared of going from 0 metres to 4,500 metres above sea-level because I'd previously had problems going from 2,400 (or whatever Arequipa was at) to 4,900 but not this time. I went on a tour with two couples. One woman had a few problems with the altitude and nearly fainted but I knew what to do this time and whilst the guide was getting oxygen we elevated her feet and made her sniff alchohol, I massaged her head which is supposed to help the oxygen reach it too. It must have looked very funny. I saw all of the previously mentioned animals and a new one to add, a vizcacha, which is like a rabbit with a long tail or like a chinchilla with long ears, whichever way you want to look at it! The lake was amazing and I had no probs with altitude sickness. I think they call it Puna here.
We had lunch in Putre a bit further down which is a small village where the only industry is agriculture. I think there is an army base nearby because we heard them singing from the mirador above and I met a group of soldiers who were on a fun day out at the lake who insisted I have my photo taken with them. We stopped at a town called Parinacota which is named after the volcano which is behind it and it stands near to its twin which belongs to Bolivia. We actually picked up an Aymara woman who needed a lift because she was tired from walking from Bolivia to Parinacota.
On the way there and back we passed through a magnetic area where it does something to your brain and instead of going downhill, you think you're going up and vice versa. Our guide demonstrated by putting the van in neutral and watching our surprised faces as we rolled (what we though was) uphill. It was pretty fun. In the hills in the valley leading to Arica there are some geoglyphs and one of the oldest churches built by the Spaniards.
Today I hoped would be a day at the beach but the sun didn't come out so I went to the archeological museum in Zapara (I think that's the name), a nearby town where they have lots of exhibits from the Inca times and lots of good information in English too put together by the university students. Tonight I take the bus to San Pedro de Atacama and I should hopefully get there in the morning.
Unfortunately I lost the cable to my camera so now I can't add any photos to the blog or anywhere else which is really irritating. I went on a search today for a cable but to no avail, the shop (or dodgy store) that sold them shut before I got there. Grrr.
On the journey over I met three teachers (and one of them's husband) and we all shared a taxi from Tacna (the southern most town in Perú) over the border to Arica which was fun. We all piled into an old Cadillac and drove over what seemed to be a noman's land.
I met the German girl the next day for lunch and whilst I was waiting I watched the school children performing in the main plaza, they were dancing the national dance of Chile but for some reason I can't remember what it's called. Well, it's with white handkerchiefs and it's quite cute. The mums were selling alfajores and empanadas whilst it was going on. We went up to the top of the headland which juts out suddenly and there's a statue at the top that they call El Morro. I'm sure it's just another statue of Jesus though. There was a great view of the bay and I saw where I wanted to spend the afternoon (at the beach.). We went to the beach near Anja's (the German girl) hostel and took sandwiches. I braved the sea but couldn't get warm afterwards because there was quite a strong wind.
Yesterday I went to the Parque Nacional Lauca which was a fun experience. I was pretty scared of going from 0 metres to 4,500 metres above sea-level because I'd previously had problems going from 2,400 (or whatever Arequipa was at) to 4,900 but not this time. I went on a tour with two couples. One woman had a few problems with the altitude and nearly fainted but I knew what to do this time and whilst the guide was getting oxygen we elevated her feet and made her sniff alchohol, I massaged her head which is supposed to help the oxygen reach it too. It must have looked very funny. I saw all of the previously mentioned animals and a new one to add, a vizcacha, which is like a rabbit with a long tail or like a chinchilla with long ears, whichever way you want to look at it! The lake was amazing and I had no probs with altitude sickness. I think they call it Puna here.
We had lunch in Putre a bit further down which is a small village where the only industry is agriculture. I think there is an army base nearby because we heard them singing from the mirador above and I met a group of soldiers who were on a fun day out at the lake who insisted I have my photo taken with them. We stopped at a town called Parinacota which is named after the volcano which is behind it and it stands near to its twin which belongs to Bolivia. We actually picked up an Aymara woman who needed a lift because she was tired from walking from Bolivia to Parinacota.
On the way there and back we passed through a magnetic area where it does something to your brain and instead of going downhill, you think you're going up and vice versa. Our guide demonstrated by putting the van in neutral and watching our surprised faces as we rolled (what we though was) uphill. It was pretty fun. In the hills in the valley leading to Arica there are some geoglyphs and one of the oldest churches built by the Spaniards.
Today I hoped would be a day at the beach but the sun didn't come out so I went to the archeological museum in Zapara (I think that's the name), a nearby town where they have lots of exhibits from the Inca times and lots of good information in English too put together by the university students. Tonight I take the bus to San Pedro de Atacama and I should hopefully get there in the morning.
Unfortunately I lost the cable to my camera so now I can't add any photos to the blog or anywhere else which is really irritating. I went on a search today for a cable but to no avail, the shop (or dodgy store) that sold them shut before I got there. Grrr.
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