Day 17: Making The 6,528.82 Miles Journey

The distance between Puerto Natales at the bottom of South America and Chicago is 6,528.82 miles. I am making this journey by 3 flights: Puerto Natales to Santiago, Santiago to Miami, and Miami to Chicago. And there is a 11 hours layover in Santiago. I would arrive at SCL at 1pm and I would not leave for MIA until 11:59pm (i.e. practically midnight) of the same day. It is all good. I cannot wait to be home, get to sleep in my own bed, get to see Shelby, get to see Abby, get to see and touch my records. It is always a good feeling to have someone and something to come home to, I think. This was a trip in the making for two years. I thought I needed something so extreme to bring me back to life from the Covid hell, so I booked the Antarctica trip. I actually don't need it afterward, but I am glad I did it. Scott was a motivation as well, I told I would go to Antarctica to fulfill our dreams to visit all 7 continents for the both of us, I am glad I have made it, I try to be man of my words.

And now I can finish the other dreams: visit all the countries in South America, visit all the states in the US, learn to speak fluent spanish and whatever else that comes to the mind of this boy. Like while I was flying to King George Island, looking over those untouched land, I also started thinking about going to Norway and navigate to the northernmost land. That may make a good contrast. Like Shelby said, I better finish this one before thinking of another adventure.

The first flight from Puerto Natales to Santiago was one of the scariest takeoffs ever, it was so windy, our flight was constantly shaking as we ascended, and as we passed the cloud line, we got knocked off course, my heart literally skipped a beat. That made me think of how beauties are often hidden in the most hostile places. Antarctica is one, Torres del Paine is another. Just to get to those places is a challenge in itself. The layover in Santiago went by slowly, there was not much to do in that airport. The custom did take me an hour and a half, like when I arrived. I made it, it is another packed flight. All the flights I have been on in this trip are all packed. Before we landed in Miami, I saw some of the most beautiful dawn scenery. Unfortunately, I did not have a window seat to take pictures. The Miami to Chicago flight was also full because of the whole Southwest's complete meltdown, all the empties were filled by frustrated people from Southwest's cancelled flights. Meanwhile, I am just glad to be home.

Day 52 : Santiago - last day in South America

Check out the hotel just before noon, I leave my backpack in the hotel, then I head out to find a place to have lunch. Just walking down the street Estados where I walk by all the time the past few days, and I always notice these street vendors selling a type of drink, not exactly sure what it is called or what it is really, but on the cart, it says "Rico Mote con Huesillos Heladito", whatever that means. It looks kind of like an ice tea but have some yellow stuffs and a piece of peach in there. It is my last day here on the South America continent, I decide to give it a try, sort of the brave act of the day. Unless it gives me a bad stomach, then it will be a stupid act! Let's see, right? :P Anyway, it tastes... very interesting, very sweet, but the yellow stuffs is something I know, but we use it in the rice dumpling which we eat around the dragon boat festival. This ought to be the first time I have that in a drink and sweet too, Very strange.

I go back to the Bellas Artes area. I saw a lot of cute little restaurants having their all-tempting menu sets, given that I only understood a few Spanish words, but it sounded tempting anyway and for an affordable price. That alone is a big reason to go back. :P I walk around the whole block, trying to pick one that looks more cozy to sit down and have wi-fi to use internet, end up I pick one at the corner of a street, sitting at the sidewalk table. The menu includes a drink (coke), a salad (which I ask olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette), a main course of salmon with some purple meshed paste thingy (I know the name in Chinese, but not in English unfortunately) and at last, there is an espresso after meal as well. I am eating, while I am chatting with a friend in Hong Kong, totally enjoying myself at that environment, relax and care free. Finish my meal and having my coffee, while I continue using my laptop, suddenly one of the waitresses comes over and spit a strings of Spanish to me. I wonder if I have been sitting too long, and if she is asking me to pay or something like that. She does not speak English, so we try to understand each other with a few body motions. Turn out she worries that someone on the streets might grab my laptop and run, she suggests me to sit inside, but I have been there for an hour and a half already, I should really just finish and get ready to go to the museum, so I ask for the bill instead.

After I pay, I start to walk to the museum of Visual Art, walk too far at first, but then come back just a block away from the restaurant, the distance on the map looks much longer than it really is. The museum is closed for lunch, the staff tells me to come back around 4pm. I have an hour to kill, so I just walk around the street by the museum, where have some street vendors having some tents selling some antiques, used books kind of stuffs. Looking at those stuffs, part of me feel amazed with all those different stuffs, they looks very interesting, but then the other part of me thinks this is the same everywhere in the world, there are always someone selling junks like that and someone would go nuts about it. Like boyfriends or girlfriends, I guess, one's junk may be someone else's treasure. About 3:30pm, decide to find another cafe to sit down and get online for a while.

Find this cafe in the side street Padre Luis de Valdivia, its setting is so my cup of tea... with vinyls, movie posters on the yellow and red walls, the table is actually a glass case where you can see through, and some foreign movie DVDs, old money, cigarette boxes...etc are nicely arranged inside. The guy is extremely friendly too. I am the only customer at first, so we talk a little bit. When I finish and pay, I give him my Chile Lonely Planet too, since there is a book shelf by the wall. It is my last day in Chile anyway, I don't need that book anymore. This seems to be the perfect place for me to get rid of it. Walk back to the Museum of Visual Art, the staff says it is still closed and I should come back at 5pm. Forget it. I try it twice already. So, I walk to another museum called Museo De La Solidaridad Salvador Allende, where is named after the former president Salvador Allende (who is the first democratically elected Marxist socialist to become president of a state). The museum is showing a lot of contemporary art works acquired during his presidency. Interestingly, the guard lady tells me no photo when I have already taken pictures of almost 90% of the museum. You are funny, lady, I thought. There is no signs though, maybe she only means the eerie room in the basement floor showing the dictator's personal effects I should not have taken any pictures.

Anyway, have McDonald's for dinner. For the past few nights, I mainly have fast foods for dinner, partly because I need to better control the leftover money, so I don't need to take out more pesos out from the bank. Get to the airport at 8:45pm, it has a long line for checking in for international flights, but I manage to get through the departure gate before 9:30pm. We start boarding around 10:50pm. I have absolutely no idea how long the flight is, but I know we will stop over at Auckland in the middle of the night before heading onto Sydney.

Photos here: Day 52

Day 51 : Santiago - a relaxing day

Does not really have any plan for the last 2 days in Santiago, just gonna lay low, take it easy. I look at my Lonely Planet guide this morning and think maybe I can go to see the Museum of Contemporary Art, I usually like that kind of museums with modern art exhibitions. Nothing's in a rush or if it is not interesting, it's no big deal either. It's near by the Cerro Santa Lucía, which was recommended to me by a Swedish woman I met on the Easter Island. So maybe I can stop by there if I have "time" left over. :P

So, I don't know, around noon maybe, I finally pull myself out the room, walk to the Plaza de Armes, where I find a place to have lunch, chicken with fries and a glass of orange juice (size grande). Then, I take the metro train to Bellas Artes, the arty neighborhood with tons with sidewalk cafes. I later find out though that I could have walked there from Plaza de Armes, just a few blocks away really. Oh well. Enter the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo with a student discount, I actually quite enjoy it. And the best of it, I can take as many pictures as I want. There are many rooms in the museum, and usually goes with a different theme in each room. In one particular room, it has theme of homosexuality or cross-dressing, I am not quite sure. But it has a time line goes all the way back to like 900 BC or something like that. Very interesting.

Cerro Santa Lucía is a small city park I guess, kind of remind me of the Hong Kong Park actually, a beautiful green land embedded in an urban area. There is a little castle in the park too, though it is closed when I are there, some film crews are doing some filming. I might end up appearing in some Latino film one day. It is around 4:00pm, I stop by a cafe, having a piece of cake and latte, using my laptop to connect to the internet. That cafe is so relaxing. I actually stay for almost an half and hour. The girl at the cafe is also talking to me. Kind of telling her where I am from, about my trip and about Hong Kong...etc. So far, honestly, I do find Chileans are quite friendly.

Walk in a supermarket as I am on my way back to the hotel. I walk every aisle as if I am in the US. I think I can live in this city, they have everything I need in the supermarket. Dinner with some takeouts in the hotel room, watching VH1. Tomorrow my flight to Sydney is scheduled for 11:10pm in the evening, so I basically have another day in Santiago. I might visit the museum of visual art and try another sidewalk cafe in the afternoon. Eat something before I'll head to the airport.

Photos here: Day 51 (Contemporary Art Museum), Day 51 (Cerro Santa Lucía)

Day 50 : Easter Island to Santiago

My last morning in Easter Island is all about shopping. My flight wouldn't depart until 2pm. So, after breakfast, I go to the handicraft market, I am really looking for a stone statue and plan to make a small decor in my room for the Easter Island. The thing is that there are many craved stone or wooden statues, available in different sizes. The bigger the more expensive, the wooden ones are also more expensive than the stone ones, the volcanic rock is more expensive than the ashy rock...etc. At moments when it involves money, I'm certainly not a size queen. Never claim to be one anyway. I am only looking for a small statue, smaller than my palm would be fine. However, I have a problem, I am out of cash, both Chilean Pesos and US Dollars. Well, the truth is that I have US$12 in my secret pocket for emergency, but I don't want to use it. So, I try to find somewhere I can use a credit card. Walk maybe 6-7 shops, nothing's really calling my name and crying out loud "Buy Me Buy Me", so I go back to the shop I got the postcards the other days. In there, I know there is a tiny stone craved moai with the topknot for CHP3000 (US$6), I planned to buy that if I cannot find anything more appropriate. So, I get the stone statue. All happy. But once my wallet is open, the money is like draining off. This silly Easter egg is kind of interesting, good for this friend; that magnet for refrigerator is cheap compared to everything else. Before I know, I get 3 things already and there are more coming...

When I get to the airport, I have to wait for 3 hours, after writing my blog entry and have nothing to do, and what do I do? ...buy a few more things at the shops at the airport. I get a nice little plate with a moai on it (so touristy I confess but it does look nice). It's for a friend of mine, who will be giving me a big help next week. And then coincidentally, the first ever printed newspaper (publication) - Premier Edition - on the Easter Island is out today, it's for CHP$1000 (US$2), with a local CD, it's CHP$4000. I get that too with the CD. Now, my task in Santiago and Sydney is to find a tube thingy so I can protect the newspaper, gonna put it in a frame or something. Maybe it will worth something many many years later. I have no idea what that tube thingy called in Spanish though, so no idea how to find it.

At 2pm, the runway is covered by fog, I hope inside, please don't let me get stuck in Easter Island. This is a bloody expensive to get stuck at. Our flight get delayed, but we do start to board around 2:30pm. The return journey to Santiago is an hour shorter than the journey coming to Easter Island, probably because of the current. I start to watch this movie call the Family Stones, a Xmas'y kind of movie starring by Diana Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dermot Mulroney (the guy in My Best Friend's Wedding). Anyway, I am kind of enjoying it, but before the movie ends, the flight already arrives at Santiago, so I have no idea what happens at the end. Don't you get hate that? I mean, give me 15 mins more, I will be done with the movie.

Because of the time difference, when I pick up my backpack and walk out the arrival gate, it is already past 9:00pm. I have committed the stupid act of the day: withdraw money from an ATM that is not related to my bank, the transaction fee is CHP$2500 (US$5). I get the money so that I can take the cheap airport bus and the metro train to the hotel. My initial idea is to save some money by doing that. And then after I am already on the bus, I realize with that US$5 fees, I really haven't saved much. I might as well take the transfer bus (which costs only US$10) which takes me directly to the hotel quicker and more comfortable, and I can use a credit card. Dummy! Oh well, guess we often need to make an error in order to learn.

The hotel I am staying is called Hotel Paris, at 813 Paris St. I love my room, it's cheaper than the hostel I stay here last time, the room is smaller but nicer. It has a balcony, cable TV, comfortable bed and hot water. That's all I need. No breakfast included though but that's ok.

Photos here: Day 50

Day 46 : Santiago - In search of the Virgin Mary

Wake up at 8am, take a shower and have breakfast at 9am. There are a new group of travelers arrived in the B&B already, this round is all German. There is still an American couple who I got to know the past few days there at the breakfast. This two are actually quite interesting, I can tell you that the guy is either madly in love with his woman or he is just enjoying being the subordinate one. The woman kind of makes all the decision where they want to go everyday. Sometimes he would have some ideas what to do, but at the end, the woman gives a look, and then he will be like, or you might want to do something else, let's do what makes you happy. They are actually nice people, it is just something I notice.

After the breakfast, I pick up my backpack and head to the bus stop. Taking my return bus back to Santiago is easy and faster than the bus coming from Santiago. It takes less than 2 hours. My new hostel is in the Paris-Londres neighborhood, where is famous for its tiny street, perhaps like Paris. Taking the metro train to Universidad de Chile, walk for maybe 5 mins, I am there at the hostel. Easy. The room is not ready though, so I have to wait for another 15 mins before I can get in. After settling down, and get ready to go out, it is already 2pm. I am getting very hungry and need to find something to eat.

The busy streets of Santiago centro, people coming out from offices are hurrying in and out of restaurants, cafes, shops and buildings. Avienda Estados, the walking road, is as crowded as the Michigan Ave (in Chicago) on a Saturday or Causeway Bay (in Hong Kong). I look at a few restaurants, filled with people. I intend to go into a quiet one, so I can try to order without making a scene for not knowing what I am saying. At 2:30pm, nothing is called a quiet restaurant. It is getting into 3pm, at the end, I just satisfy my hunger at McDonald's again. My second McDonald's meal in South America.

Today's plan is to visit the Parque Metropolitano where has a small hill with the Virgin Mary statues at the peak, from there, there should have a clear view of the city and the snow cap mountains behind it. Santiago is a big city, and is surrounded by a good number of snow cap mountains, they look really majestic and dramatic almost. From Lonely Planet, I learn that there are two cable cars to go up to Virgin Mary (actually the place is called San Cristobal). It is recommended to take one way up and the other way down. So, I decide to go to the Providencia entrance, to take the cable car up and come back down to Bellavista entrance. First of all, getting to the Providencia, I get lost a couple times on the roads (because I try to hide my lonely planet map to pretend I am not such a tourist even though I really am). I just always pick the wrong directions to go and have to turn back after walking past 10 blocks to the opposite direction. Get to Providencia entrance, find out that the cable car on that side is not working today. Oh shit.

Don't want to head back to the metro, so I decide to walk to the Bellavista entrance along the side of the hill, on the map, look like there is a road, I keep walking and it gets to a point there is no sidewalk anymore. I keep walking on the road for a while, at least the road is kind of quiet, so I can walk on the road and no one bothers me until a bridge where looks more like a highway, I turn back and ask a guy standing under the tree if I am on the right direction. He said Si, just keep walking 6 more blocks going down that bridge thingy and then turn at that corner and 3 more blocks, you'd be there. He is very friendly and seems to be giving helpful advice, except when I walk further, there is really nothing to walk on, until I am walking with the car flying by. Instead of going down like he has suggested, I turn into the park area, and there is a gate locked, occassionally the guard let some cars to get through. I take out my Lonely Planet, and ask the guy how I can walk to the other entrance. He let me through and says walk down this path, 15 mins I will find it. I keep walking and walking, pass by a zoo and see no cable car for which I assume it is hanging on the sky. Turn out the cable car is on wheel over at this side, and I totally miss the cable car station. When I walk back to it, it's almost 4:40pm, I must hurry since I want to visit the Pablo Nerude's second house in Santiago too, which is just near by the park. Get my ticket to go up, see the views I expected to see, and there I am, right next to the immacculate Virgin Mary. The views up high is amazing, I have a coconut popsticle and then I head back down already. Get to Pablo Neruda's house, the daily English tour is over already, and one is only allowed to get in with a tour. So, I cannot visit the house after all.

It's getting onto 6:30pm, I am heading back to the hostel, hitting all the after work crowds on the metro, this woman with a hot and sweaty back (in a bad way) just stuck herself against my arm. Want to tell her, lady, this isn't cool, but I keep my mouth shut. Just get off at Universidad de Chile, find myself something to eat and then back to the hotel. Oh, I have also taken out CHP120,000 from my checking account for Easter Island too. That amounts in Pesos look huge but it's really only equivalent to US$220, probably not enough for my 3 nights in Easter Island, still have some US dollars left in my secret pocket, so hopefully I will spend less than US$300 on Easter Island. Flight to Easter Island is scheduled for 9:30am, I must get up at 5:30am and try to get to the airport before 7am by the airport bus.

More on Easter Island, I supposed.

Photos here: Day 46

Day 42 : Atacama Desert Day 3 : El Tatio Geysers

Off for an early start, at 4am, I am standing with two other guys from the same hostel on the street waiting for pick up. In fact, down the street, from other hostels and hotels, there are other people waiting as well. Every night is like this, apparently. For a second, I feel like we are some garbage standing outside the door waiting to be collected in the middle of the night, or a second thought, We are up some indecent business. The whole deal of individual or group of people standing outside of a hotel in the middle of the night, it just looks weird. At 4:15am, our van arrive, the same guide and driver again, I have had them 3 days on a row. Does this town only have this guide and driver?! Comparatively a smaller crowds, that may explain why it arrives sooner than I expected. It's a long ride to the geysers, almost 2 hours. As we go up the hill, bumpy roads, I can definitely feel the cold. Very cold. I have a down jacket in my backpack in the hotel and I have not brought it along!! I start to regret. I have 5 layers of clothes though, so my body is ok, only my fingers and my toes are freezing!

At the crack of dawn, we arrive the El Tatio geysers, the sky has just started to change colors, from a bruise purple to a little pink, add a hint of blue, some white... no one can stop it nor care really, since it's freaking cold on the geysers field parking lot. We pay the entrance, I am still using my student ID and get a discount. I have saved a lot of money from bringing that ID with me in this trip! In the greyish dark, I can see the smoke coming off the steam holes in the geysers field. It's rather interesting. At 4310m, one of the highest geysers field in the world, we are waiting for the sun to come out. Get back into the car, since my fingers and toes are getting numb. We wait for a little bit and then we drive into the field and stop at another parking lot, where we get off. The guide leads us into the field. There are not much explaining really, some basic stuffs like how it is formed, and the kind of steamholes there are. A huge geysers hole can shoot up burning water at 85C to 10m height. We witness some. After we walk pass one side of the field, we have breakfast, hot coffee with cheese sandwiches, and crackers and stuffs. The hot coffee is good even though they are instant. I need to inject some hot liquid into my body at -8 C.

We get to another field where we stay for an hour, some people jump into the hot spring and bath themselves for fun. I wish I bring my swim trunks. But it's too cold really. I do have felt the water, the temperature is very comfortable. In that hour, I wander around the field on my own, try to be super careful, since we are warned some places may look solid, but it's very fragile and underneath are water that can burn you alive. I am warned by whistle once by a guard to tell me not to go any further. It's an interesting site to visit after seeing many ruins, and churches in South America. In Atacama Desert, I am seeing something more natural, deserts, valleys, lakes, volcanoes and now geysers field. Before we head back to town, we stop at a few places on the way to take pictures and at a tiny little town where we wander around for like 20 mins. Get back to town before noon actually. My backpack has already been moved out of the room. The check out time is 11:00am, that's why. Anyway, I have lunch, at the same place I have lunch the first day, since I want a good and a big meal. Doesn't look like I will have time for dinner, with the bus and flight today.

Successfully find my bus to Calama at 2:20pm. That bus is actually heading to Santiago after making a stop at Calama, I could have stayed on, and will still get to Santiago 20 hours later. On a second thought, I should have done that, so I can save US$150 or more. I just need to sleep on the bus tonight. But oh well, decision to fly to Santiago was made and I should just feel content that nothing has gone wrong thus far. At Calama bus station, the official taxi to the airport is super expensive. I notice that there are two Germans or Scandinavians (a guy and a girl) trying to catch a taxi to the airport as well. So, I just ask if we can all take a taxi together. At the end, thanks to the fluent Spanish of the guy, we find a taxi for one-third of the cost if we have taken one of the official taxi. Sweet. Calama's airport is small, but rather clean and modernized. Off the runaway, it's the desert and some naked hills look like potatoes (badly deformed ones). Sometimes, looking at views like this, I wonder where have I got myself into. On the other hand, it feels pretty cool. The flight journey from Calama to Santiago is calm at least. The northern part of Chile is completely dry, just desert and bare rocks, no green, don't know how people live there. But they do.

Get to Santiago, the transfer bus to the hotel is easy. Back to the big city, feel familiar with its convenience and but at the same time feeling a bit out of place with my backpack. The hotel is not cheap, although it is centrally located and its exterior looks expensive, inside is another story. Not sure if I like that kind of old style. No, actually, just old, no style. It is getting hotter as I go south. I want to throw away some heavy clothes off my 19kg backpack, not like I am going to wear them very often in Hong Kong. But the frugal part of me still says No, at least, for now. It has been a really long day. Off to bed. Tomorrow, Valparaiso!

Photos here: Day 42 (El Tatio Geysers), Day 42 (Sunset y Hotel)