Looking at the frequency of my previous few posts I can see that it had taken me quite a while to update. This probably has to do with, as I explained last time, that I kind of settled here with my girlfriend in Curicó. Therefore I am living quite a “normal life”. Or at least what I, as a life-long single, possibly consider as a normal life of a non-single. But I don’t plan to go too much into details here. I only want to point out that in terms of travelling and the adventures that necessarily follows the act of travelling I got no news. As Alba meanwhile had another week of vacation we used this opportunity to run north again, more accurately to Arica, the northmost city of Chile very near to places I have been before (Atacama dessert, Sajama). The goal was not, as it is normally my intention while travelling, to seek the highest number of crazy happenings and to meet the most special kind of people that tell me the most extraordinary things. The goal was more to enjoy a relaxed time in a nice hotel with pool near the beach, where we could sleep in a lot, bath our feet in the pool, take walks to the beach and eat well out.

As we were really close to Peru, we took a day trip to Tacna, the next city on Peruvian side. I didn’t expect to return to Peru that quickly, but I enjoyed it as I could eat once more “Papas a la Huancaina”. Another trip that we planned to the salt flats in Lauca National Park had to be shortened as Alba experienced altitude sickness coming from a level of zero to 4500 meter within a few hours. For the salt lakes we would have needed to reach a level of 5000 meter. For me, as you know, always a reason to cheer up, but when your beloved one has a terrible head ache you probably skip that wish as well. But this trip led us to Lake Chungará and gave me the possibility to take another glance from the other side at volcano Parinacota, the 6350 meter high mountain I climbed from Bolivian side just before Christmas. Nice to see that again.

This is my last week in Chile. I have another bus travel to Buenos Aires ahead of me. In Buenos Aires I will leave South America and head home. Well, if you ask me what the absolute highlights on my trip were, here is a list, unranked because it is impossible to determine a score for those experiences. Every experience is unique and I will remember them all my live.

  • Visit Galapagos and see the still highly untouched wildlife
  • Climbing Cotopaxi
  • Jungle trip to Manu NP! Wonderful people, the perfect guide and animals that made my heart melting
  • Climbing Parinacota
  • 4 weeks in Sucre! The place in which I met so many wonderful people and where I improved my Spanish in a way that changed my life
  • Uyuni salt flats and the trip to Atacama: just because it is one of the most special places of the world and I’m missing the words for describing it
  • Patagonia belongs to this list as well, but I probably missed the best part
  • Many, many interesting and wonderful people I met on the way. A few will remain as friends and I am happy to look back with them to what we experienced together

And of course, beside all of these spectacular highlights, the most important to me is that I met Alba. Yes! Many of you probably wonder what happens now? Am I just leaving and go back to my life to dream about the past? No! Once the greatest luck of my life struck me, I cannot just pretend nothing happened. The story goes on! What this means I will tell you once I have reached the grounds of Switzerland.

Main Plaza in Arica

Alba and me enjoying a Mojito before dinner

A few kilometers away from Arica into the mountains

Parinacota again!

Arica from El Morro

Thank you Chile!

Sunset from El Morro

In Arica it’s never boring: there always are parades, concerts or other entertaining happenings!