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Monthly Archive for January, 2009

Food for the stomach…

And food for the brain.

Vinay joined us today and brought all kinds of goodies. Indian snacks, which we have missed a lot…and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of them. And books. Good books in English are hard to find (understandably so) in Central and South America. The pitiable English section in most bookstores contains bestsellers and sometimes translations of the most famous Spanish authors. Now we have a supply that will last the trip. Thanks Fred, Ada, Lakshmi and Vinay!

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Camping in South America

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Frutillar

A regret – Camping in Central America – Expensive campsites – Camping in style

Our only regret on this trip is that we haven’t camped much. Camping because its beautiful, not camping to save money, that is. There’s a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ about setting up the essentials in a place of beauty. Eating fine food in the shadow of the Andes. Sleeping on the shores of a turquoise blue lake. Some things are just better appreciated outdoors. I don’t particularly care for peanut butter jelly sandwiches, for example. But, have them on a hike after a few hours of exertion looking out over mountains fringed by araucaria trees and they are like manna from heaven.

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Border Crossing

The worst border crossing of the entire trip – The Chile-Argentina border close to Parque National Aconcagua.

Six hours waiting in line just to get to the customs and immigration post – this has got to be the worst border crossing that we have encountered. At least the touts and con men in Central America are of entertainment value! Here, at about 10,000 ft, we had to provide our own entertainment; which we did by watching “Scanner Darkly” and “Life of Birds“.

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The worst border crossing so far

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Dark Ages

“There was a time when religion ruled the world, it was known as the Dark Ages.” – Friend, diarist and thinker, Fred Gault

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Paradise Valley

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Ascensor Monjas

Colorful maze – Port on the Pacific – Poets and artists – Yummy seafood

Colorful. Maze. Steep. Food. If we had to pick words to describe Valparaiso, these come readily to the mind. Valparaiso is Chile’s major seaport on the Pacific ocean. With a narrow strip of land and many hills with colorful houses forming a dramatic backdrop, it reminds me a little of San Francisco.

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