Chilling in Santiago

Hi All,

I think both Julia and I are feeling a bit of culture shock after leaving the little villiages of the Antiplano in Bolivia and then arriving 12 hours later in Santiago...its a bit overwhelming!

When you spend time somewhere very remote and foriegn and allow yourself to connect to the people there you never look at your home of lifestyle the same way....the familiar becomes unfamiliar and you find yourself questioning things which you always accepted as normal or perhaps you didn`t even notice them at all. After spending jus a little more time with the people of the antiplano it makes most of what folks stress about really appear very very silly and really highlight what is truly important (family, friends, leading a positive/constructive life etc)

I think trying to travelling with an open heart and mind is VERY difficult but VERY rewarding. You meet some tourists that had blinkers on - they were there for the photographs - not bad people by any means but they really seem to be missing out.

Anyway...I am being way to preachy for 9am! Julia and I need to have breakfast and do a bit more exploring around Santiago before Julia (and hopefully I) get to fly back to Atlanta tonight.

Allthe best and cheers,
Neal

PS I will be do a decent job of documnting the trip once I get back to the states...there is just too many pics and too much to write :)

Save and sound in Uyunoi after an amazing 3 days

Just a short note...Juia and I are both doing great and are about to begin our long journaey back to Santiago...we got to deliver the supplies to the villiage and I was happy to see the school teacher was still there....I had promised i would return and he obviously believed me as he had been asking about me regularly for the last 6 months at the closest town we stopped at for directions...it made me very happy I wasn{t going to dissapoint him!

Any heaps of GREAT photos of the Salar, FLamingos and Volcanos and great people and and and..... to follow.

Please see Julia,s blog for more details.

Cheers
Neal

PS Hunter I have your rug covered :)

2 Great days in San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) and off for 4 days via 4x4 to Salar de Uyuni(Bolivia) to visit old friends

Hi All,

Sorry to be brief but its 9:30pm and I am STARVING!

We arrived in Atacama 2 days ago and rented very nice bikes for the last 2 days for about $20 each...yesterday we rode to some inca and pre inca ruins and today explored the Valle de la Luna - both days were EXTROADINARY :) both times we got a bit of the beaten track and explored some cave using only our camera for lighting....sadly we would have failed an AR gear cheack ;)

I have no time to upload pics but our camera were getting hot!

Tomorrow we leave for a 4 day 3 night 4x4 tour into the remote regions surrounding the Salar de Uyuni. With a bit of extra cash for the tour company I have arranged to hopefully fulfil a promise i made to a very small and poor village that were very kind to me when I struggles into the village last september when I did a 6 week solo mountain bike tour of Bolivia - you can read about the village at http://nealinbolivia.blogspot.com/2007/11/day-21-salinas-to-tahua-40km735-hours.html The old blog was very handy as I did not know the name and the villiage is too small to show up on maps...I have been able to print out the hand drawn map and some pics i have for the kids :) The local venders in Atacama have assisted with substantial discounts and Julia and i will hopefully be able to deliver some school and madical supplies in a couple of days.

Julia is a bit under the weather but nothing serious (so no posting from her for a today) but I am sure she will be back to kicking my butt tomorrow :)

All the very best and cheers,
Neal

A bloody good day back in Arica

We have about 3 hours till we catch the overnight bus at 9:30pm to San Pedro de Atacama...about a 12 hour trip :( but we had a very nice and cruisy day in Arica...heres a few pics but check out Julia´s blog for some great commentary :)



Once we get to Atacama we plan on renting somebikes for a day to check out some more of the Antiplano and then renting a 4x4 or doing a jeep tour into the Salar de Uyuni region (the massive salt lake at 4000+ meters)

Cheers,
Neal

PS for more pics from today in Arica go to the photo album below (pics 1-17)

Arica-Altiplano-Arica Photo album

Photobucket Album

Up to Parinacota (4500m), Lago Chungara(4600) on the Chilian Altiplano

Hi All,

Well Julia has a great blog going www.juliaradmann.blogspot.com so please go to her blog for the great story. I will hopefully be able to post a link to my photobucket photo album. Í brought a DSLR camera for the trip and it got red hot from overuse the last few days :)

All the best and cheers,
Neal

Hunter Leaves :( but Julia Arrives :)

Hi All,

Hunter and I had a great last few days around La Serana and inland into the Andes at Pisco Elqui before an epic return to Santiago....hopefully Hunter will post some details on his long trip back to the US.

"Hola Chile" ...Julia arriving at Santiago... 1 hour after Hunter left :(

Only a hour after saying goodbye to Hunter at Santiago airport I got to meet Julia Radmann...a friend and fellow racer from Atlanta. We´ll be travelling together for about 13 days together....I think we´ll have a blast...things will likwly pick up for Julia as soon as I get a shower and some clean clothes.

After arriving we had 20min to make a flight to Arica....a very isolated desert town at the very north of Chile...the airport was only 6km from Peru. Its the driest part of the world - its not rained "ever" here.

Its definitely another planet here!

Checking out the beach in Arica....complete with surfers and huge Pelicans

Tomorrow morning we plan on catching an bus to the lower level of the antiplano (perhaps Putre or higher) and spend our 1st night at 11,500ft....we are planning on doing some serious hiking and staying in hunts as the nights are wickedly cold.... and perhaps climbing a volcano around 16,ooo-17000ft. It should be interesting :)

It took us forever to find the small family owned bus service run out of the family home

Hopefully Hunter is now safely having a cold cervesa in Bogata right now...cheers!

All the best,
Neal and Julia

PS For the real truth about our trip....check out Julia´s blog.... http://www.juliaradmann.blogspot.com/