Getting out of La Paz proved a challenge as there was yet another demonstration and road block on the main road to the airport; this time it was medical students but I don't recall their grievances. Their protest was quite dramatic though, in that some people where tied to make shift crosses to highlight their cause.
But what the zebras were about I don't know.
The flight from La Paz was amazing
El Alto
The Andes
Rock formations in the foothills of the Andes
Then the Atacama Desert
There has been a long running land dispute between Chile and Bolivia since 1879 when the former stole a chunk of land which had provided Bolivia with access to the Pacific Ocean. I'm not sure if it was because of ongoing diplomatic tensions but instead of crossing from Bolivia directly into Chile, we went via Peru. The border post between Chile and Peru, shortly after which we stopped at Arica Airport to clear immigration although Derek did all the formalities for us, so we didn't even leave the plane.
But I can honestly say it was one flight too far - we got stuck in traffic from the airport to hotel so it was gone 8pm before we arrived on Friday having travelled most of the day.
Chile lived up to its name as it certainly was chilly, they had snow on the mountains which is apparently very unusual so early in their autumn. We had a city tour Saturday morning which included
Changing of the guard at the President's Palace.
Then to a local fish market
These rather unappetising Picorocos are giant barnacles
Logically, my brain knows these are fish - but at the same time it can't help thinking I've seen them on Doctor Who.
These pedestrian traffic lights fascinated me, they count down for how long is left to safely cross and the closer it gets to the lights changing the faster the little person goes - what a good idea.
This statue in the Plaza de Armas is a monument to the indigenous people.
Finally we went up a funicular to the top of Cerro (hill) San Cristobal
To see the statue at the top of the Virgin Mary.
Where the devotees lit their candles and left prayer requests.
But as yet I can't find any reference to this statue of a young girl.
We were also hoping for good views of the city and the mountains but unfortunately there was too much smog.
As a group we went back to the fish market for lunch.
Ian and I had a simple grilled sea bass and chips but people on the next table had king crab.
And Paul had giant mussels.
We took the metro back to our hotel, had a couple of hours shut eye to try and recover a bit and then went out again to dinner. Both of us are sitting on colds so the 5am alarm call was particularly unwelcome!!!
Well we're back at the airport ready to leave Chile, blink and you'd miss it!! Looking forward to Bueños Aires.
