The Atacama Desert, Chile
I was joking with a British girl (also a lawyer) about how my usual To Do list for work is a mile long, but that my To Do list from a couple of days ago included the item "shower". That I actually felt compelled to write that down is a true indication that my brain has turned into complete mush.
I am in the Atacama Desert in Chile right now. It is so beautiful, dramatic, and otherworldly. Stiflingly hot days, blinding sunshine, pitch dark skies full of stars, windy cold nights, barren landscapes, and colors and shapes that shock the senses.
These past few days have been satisfyingly full of gorgeous lakes, mountains, canyons, and cactus. I spent my first day here visiting altiplano lakes at altitudes of around 4000 meters. The unbelievable colors took my breath away.
Yesterday, I woke up at 3:45 a.m. to catch the sunrise over the Tatio geysers. I´m still not quite sure why it all had to happen so early. In my experience, sunrises perpetually disappoint compared to sunsets (sunrise on Mt. Sinai being the one exception), but there were rumours that it's because the geothermic activity is greatest in the morning.
The day ended in a beautiful natural thermal bath cutting through the middle of a canyon.
It´s quiet here in the little town of San Pedro de Atacama. Not just because it´s the desert, and noise seems to be sucked up into the sky, but because tourism has been slumping since the earthquake. It should be high season, but the other six beds in my room are empty. For the first time in almost two months, I'll be sleeping in a room all by myself. It seems strange not to have other bodies breathing in my room, coming in late, turning on the lights at inopportune moments, and banging about in the morning. It´s funny the things I´ve gotten used to living on the road out of my backpack! Getting dressed is ridiculously easy every morning when you have only one pair of long pants in your bag!
I am in the Atacama Desert in Chile right now. It is so beautiful, dramatic, and otherworldly. Stiflingly hot days, blinding sunshine, pitch dark skies full of stars, windy cold nights, barren landscapes, and colors and shapes that shock the senses.
These past few days have been satisfyingly full of gorgeous lakes, mountains, canyons, and cactus. I spent my first day here visiting altiplano lakes at altitudes of around 4000 meters. The unbelievable colors took my breath away.
Flamingos flying over Laguna Chaxa
It´s quiet here in the little town of San Pedro de Atacama. Not just because it´s the desert, and noise seems to be sucked up into the sky, but because tourism has been slumping since the earthquake. It should be high season, but the other six beds in my room are empty. For the first time in almost two months, I'll be sleeping in a room all by myself. It seems strange not to have other bodies breathing in my room, coming in late, turning on the lights at inopportune moments, and banging about in the morning. It´s funny the things I´ve gotten used to living on the road out of my backpack! Getting dressed is ridiculously easy every morning when you have only one pair of long pants in your bag!
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