Valparaiso is an incredibly colourful city. Almost every building is covered in art.
Though often the colours are only used to make the misery there more bearable. Many of the buildings are derelict or just built from materials found in the harbour.
One prominent feature of the city are the stray dogs everywhere. The people actually take care of them. You can buy maps with their territories marked and their names listed. All of the dogs are harmless and nice. Some of them will decide to join you on your trek through the city.
In Los Andes we accidentally booked an accomodation that is inside a closed off valley. Despite being in the middle of the desert the owners have an impressive selections of trees there. We ate fresh fruit from the garden every day. They refer to it as "Mi Refugio".
Since there are not many hiking paths in that area we went ahead and forged our own. Got to see my first hummingbird on the way up 🙂
When hiking off the path we learned that most flora in that region is spiky. Not just the obvious example in the picture...
There were very strict speed limits in that valley...
Drove up this crazy mountain pass. Hard to see in the picture, but it snakes up most of the mountain like that.
This pass led us to this beautiful lake. It is part of a ski resort high up in the Andes. According to the legend the colour of the lake is the colour of the eyes of an Aztec princess who died there during her wedding.
Biggest hotel in the ski resort. Now in the summer it was empty and gave off a strong "The Shining" feel. During winter the Austrian ski team trains there and their signed photos decorate the hotel hallways.
This is a bunch of hot springs in the middle of the mountains at ~3000hm. The locals were setting up tents and bbqs in the parking lot. So they enjoy some nice meat, cold beer and then hang out in hot springs.
Instead of spending the entire day soaking in the hot springs we ended up going for a hike to enjoy more of the beautiful scenery high up in the mountains. It always boggles my mind to consider that the random mountain in the back is >5000m high.
Next we travelled to the Atacama desert. The dryest desert in the world. Except for when we are there. The week before our arrival the desert has seen the most rainfall in recored history. Though this enabled us to see what remains once the water evaporates: salts!
All the glimmering white material you see there is actually salt (though not the edible kind, I tried...)
Even the houses in this area are made of salt. As you can see on this wall, each brick is mostly comprised of salt. Over the years the individual bricks melt back together into one big rock.
We got to watch the sunset in the dessert. Right when the sun touched the horizon a sandstorm hit us. This made me feel like I was on Mars.
We got to prepare a little bit once we saw the sand storm approaching rapidly.
We got up very early and then drove a long way to see geysers at sunrise. This geyser field is actually the second largest in the world and it is situated at 4200m. I've never been this high up before. Was quite the experience trying to run even a little bit when the air is that thin.
Got to spot some local wildlife. This is vicuña, the wild relative of the alpaca. They mostly live above 3500m and look very cute.
Some more vicuñas enjoying a marsh on the high planes. The sheer size of the mountains in the back make me long for a long trek across that plain towards one of the mountains in the distance. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time allocated for this. So I guess I'll have to go back there....
Tho add to the "everything has spikes" theme: these grass bushes are actually not soft at all and indeed very spiky.
I like how you can easily spot where exatly there is water in the desert. Oh and the mountain peeking out at the right corner is one of the biggest volcanoes in the region. You can actually go and climb it. According to a guy we met you "can just walk up there". Though he climbed Mont Blanc three times, so his frame of reference might be slightly different..
This llama is guarding the other animals scatterd around. They can be brutal when threatened and are thus often used as "guard dogs".
Everywhere you go you see these red pickups. They are used in the many copper mines in that area. We got to rent one for two days. Got to really appreciate it on the rougher roads round there. It was fun to see the engine struggling high up in the mountains because there was just not enough oxygen.
No, there was nothing else round this part that would warrant that sign. This picture sums up the country for me. Beautiful landscapes, vivid colours and Christianity at every corner.
Just more beautiful landscape. Pictures can't really do any justice here.
The cactus I'm leaning on is protected and not allowed to be cut down. This is because it only grows one cm per year. So that one must be around 300 years old.
These holes were for two dogs to stick their noses through. I like that they are even customized to the two slightly different dogs. A third dog was on the outside and always checked in on his buddies behind the door.
After the mountains we ended up going to the ocean. Got to see some walrusses and penguins there. Tried to go swimming too, but the Pacific is rather chilly it turns out.
Though we did get to spot c'thulu hanging out on the beach.
After that we went to a famous wine region. It is still located in the desert. The grapes there were specifically bred to endure the heat and dryness. Again you can clearly spot where the water is.
This is the entrance to a vinery in that region. Gotta admit, quite different from what we're used to here in Styria...
All the trees are this dark because they are burnt. No idea if that was on purpose or not, but it looked interesting.
We found a nice café there. You can see, we weren't in a rush to leave.
Took a city bus from the captial. Then hitchhiked a little bit (30km) and ended up in a national park that is lined with glaciers. I'm always amazed how fast you get from a city of 14 million to serene nature.
Unfortunately my phone camera is not good enought to truly capture this. The mountains and rocks are so colourful. There are reds, whites, greys and even greens on the same mountain.
What a bargain!