Posted in Argentina, Chile, Picture of the Day on Jan 11th, 2009
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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Posted in Chile on Jan 8th, 2009
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Ascensor Monjas
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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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Posted in Chile, Photography, Reflections on Oct 18th, 2008
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In the rubble
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Not so interesting – Diamond in the rough – Welcoming people – Herd instinct – Shades of gray
There is usually a reason why certain spots are off the beaten path. Most of the time this is because there is not much of interest to be gained at that site or the trouble involved in getting there does not merit the payback in entertainment value. On the other hand, going to sites mobbed with tourists can be quite off-putting and most places cannot handle the large volumes of people wanting to see them. Rare is the site like Machu Picchu that can handle hordes of visitors and still feel uncrowded and spacious.
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Posted in Chile, Videoblog on Oct 15th, 2008
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Humberstone, Chile
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Nitrate crisis – Crumbling buildings – Magnificent ruins
I have found ghost towns fascinating but until now I have never had the opportunity to visit one. The closest I ever got was old abandoned warehouses, which are species of mini ghost town unto themselves. The northern part of Chile has quite a distribution of ghost towns, mostly related to the nitrate industry that operated in the Atacama desert from the latter part of the 19th century to the early part of the 20th. The development of the Haber process in the 1910’s provided for a more economical way to make fertilizer and the nitrate industry went into decline and eventual extinction.
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Posted in Chile, Mexico on Mar 18th, 2008
Pakal Palenque rises out of a sea of green. A brief history, focusing on Pakal. Theories on collapse. (Map this!) Temple of Inscriptions Our introduction to the ancient Maya was the site of Palenque, majestically set in the green jungles of Chiapas. Strategically located in the foothills over looking the green fields of the Yucatan […]
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