Stuck in Santiago Okay, fine, the city grew on me. At the beginning of the trip, I met one single backpacker who had anything positive to say about Santiago. Three weeks later, I had yet to meet another. One group of backpackers was yelled at by con artists until they got confused and their bag with two passports and… Read More
Day Trip: Sandboarding The Dunes Of Concón For backpackers, a desert means sandboarding, and sandboarding means obnoxious tour companies that try to turn it into a party with tank tops and pop music. Las Dunas de Concón is a precious exception nobody knows about. Loved it. It’s cheap, the slopes are on the beach, and it’s cheap. Getting There From… Read More
Four Incredible Stories From My Santiago Couchsurf Host Francisco. Born and raised in Santiago, in the land of hot dogs and empanadas and mountains of mayo, he was everything I don’t associate Chileans with—very tall and slim, eat’s so healthy, and cooks with a wok. And coconut milk. And curry paste. He puts on American blues while carrying out said cooking. Makes juice from fresh apples with… Read More
Easter Island: Dum Dum Give Me Gum Gum The entire plane was buzzing with curiosity as we landed, craning our necks to look out the windows. Every morning I woke to one screaming rooster, followed by all the other roosters across the island. The only reasonably priced food was bananas. My departing flight was full of friends I’d made. I’ve had… Read More
Valparaiso I love a city that can stand out from the rest. Instead of the classic central plaza with a cathedral, Valpo was 42 hills of never-ending colors, chaos, and crap (on the streets from the copious amounts of stray dogs). Once a crucial shipping port, this UNESCO site has been largely ignored government funds since the construction of… Read More
Valle Del Elqui And La Serena The Elqui Valley is strange to me. The mountains are so barren and deforested, like mounds of stone and dirt. Below is tons and tons of fruit trees like figs, and of course endless vineyards. Fields of yellows and reds greet the cars on the highway and visitors often stop to watch the dam, which… Read More
San Pedro de Atacama On A Budget The Atacama desert is another world. Stark valleys and high-altitude geological wonders that are nothing short of mesmerizing. Night skies clear enough to see other galaxies with the naked eye. The popular town of San Pedro is isolated and overgrown with tourism, yet it remains the optimal base for excursions, especially when connecting to Bolivia by booking… Read More
Border Crossing: Peru to Chile ft. Arica In An Hour Day 8 Fresh of the bus from Cotahuasi, I bought a ticket for Tacna, the southernmost city of Peru, which never showed up. I looked through all the bus ramps, went back to the office where the staff whipped out my refund out of no where and shoved it in my hands, and switched… Read More