I shouldn't be surprised that it's cold but it's way cold, below zero cold and they don't have heat in the mini buses because it will be 35C in 3 hours. The airport is small and newish and unheated but sun is almost hitting the waiting area now. The security guys didn't take my orange juice away even though it NO liquids at all on board in Chile and the airline didn't charge me for my extra bag. I booked online with Sky, a cheapie Chilean domestic carrier with no english on their web site. They charged $147 for CJC-SCL, with LAN it was close to $500. I didn't want to pay an extra $350 for LAN's english web site. I have seat 6F so there are at least 6 rows, hope the plane is heated.
Yesterday after el Taito I managed to get to the local museum which was a real treat. It was established by a rather rebellious Jesuit priest with a strong interest in archeology and respect for indigeneous cultures. Belgian by birth, he was assigned to the Congo where he annoyed the church by incorporating local african practises into the liturgy to win over more people.
Needless to say the church relocated him far, far away - to South America. In San Pedro de Atacama in his spare time the good priest conducted numerous amateur excavations seemingly to collect fine examples of art and artifacts. But he also had a sincere interest in the Atacamenian and other local cultures and thought it was important to preserve there history. He is considered to be the father of archaeology in Chile.
Nice exhibit design and a beautiful collection of stone tools, vessels, basket weavings and many intricately carved trays and tube-y things for snorting psychotropic hallucinogens, or as they said in the english version, "snuff box" or "snuff utensil." The desert does a great job of preserving things, including bodies. Father La Paige also excavated a number of ancient tombs and cemeteries - this was a bit at odds withethe Holy Se. Mummies formerly on display in the museum have been put in protected storage or returned to communities that have requested them.
In the afternoon it was off to Death Valley and Valle de la Luna for a couple of dusty hikes through a canyon and up a sand dune. The west side of the Andes here is fairly monochromatic and the sky hazy. I find the mountains a bit disconcerting, like someone lurking in your blind spot. They almost disappear in the haze then suddenly, boom, there they are. Our guide was a very affable guy who lived in Toronto for 5 years. He said that after he returned to Chile he guided, by chance, a group of Canadian first nation leaders and Adrienne Clarkson at some indigenous sites closer to Santiago.
One of the stops in the Valle was called the 3 Marias but the iconography was such a stretch that I got bored pronto. The Jesus on the side of Tim Hortons in Nova Scotia was more believeable. Instead I tried to video the screaming people in shorts, tour guide included, when the wind blasted us with sand - even I found it a bit tingly through multiple layers.
To end the day, it was a hike up a sand dune to watch the sunset over the moonscape.
I arrived back at the hotel hair and clothes caked and shoes full of it. Glad there is a real laundry at my next stop!
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