May 16 and 17 - Chillin in the Desert

Chile, I love you.

I really do - the hot water is hot.  The internet is fast.  The food is guaranteed not to give you cholera or some terrifying intestinal parasite.  Everything... works.  And the people are cheerful and friendly.  It´s like some wonderful offspring of a Swedish person and Jamaican, or something.

On top of that, San Pedro is awesome.  It is a laid back little desert oasis on the edge of the Andes.  I didn´t give it justice the first time through.  It feels like a surfing colony where the ocean left but the surfers stayed.  

So I hung out for a few days to binge on internet and oxygen, contribute to the water shortage by taking long hot showers, all while doing a few little side trips to some ruins around the town.  

Chileans love signs, but they are still learning how to make them.  This one is jam packed - but what does it all mean?  Clockwise from top left - houses of varying shapes and sizes, dancing gypsies, flaming volcanoes, Greek architecture museum, women sitting on exercise balls, and hikers (ok that one is obvious).  

Again - just in case you weren´t sure, you should park your vehicle here, and not at the other parking spot across the... massive desert.

A prehistoric village (this part is reconstructed).  People used to live here, and then the climate changed and the rivers moved, and the town was abandoned and preserved by the completely sterile climate.

Ruins with some dramatic background.

Sandy entrances in the middle of the desert.

Checking out the Don from a birds eye view.

More ruins - these people survived the Inkas, but couldn´t handle the Spanish.

A little side trip... you can see San Pedro and the oasis in the distance.

Storefronts around San Pedro.  All cool and deserty.

I am obsessed with empanadas.  They are so delicious and convenient to eat.

He is not dead, just absurdly lazy.  Ridiculous.

Cheerful cafes.

Fantastic find - just like hostess cupcakes but penguin themed.  As an added bonus you can pop the packaging like a balloon because of the altitude.