Truckin´

"Man's experience is indeed a seamless garment, no part of which can be separated from the rest." -Cleanth Brooks

Well, a bit of time has passed since last I blogged, so I´m going to try touch on a couple of the big things without writing a novella.
We were in La Serena on the 19th of January and knew that we´d need to be in Santiago on the 21st to meet my friend Fred. The yellow line on the map shows the nearly 470 kms of our journey.

And below is how we accomplished a touch over 400 of them.


The Hitchhike - After a few short rides, Cory and I found ourselves near a beachtown 50 kms outside of La Serena, thumbs out, spirits high, and skin getting ever more pink in the afternoon sun. Soon enough, Carlos, a friendly trucker from the North was pulling up beside us and offering a ride all the way to Santiago. NICE!!! Sure, he had a stereotypical ¨Mobil¨trucker cap hanging in his cab, and was adorned with the faded jeans, and a plaid shirt, but Carlos´true calling was most assuredly as a tour guide. For hours we drove along as he pointed out things of interest, and answered our questions about the culture. After asking him about the women on the side of the highway, dressed in white, and carrying baskets while attempting to flag down motorists, he not only informed us that they were selling sweet pastries, but soon enough, pulled over and bought a bag for the three of us to share.
The Hitch - Unfortunately for us, Carlos was only heading to an industrial park 25 kms North of what most would consider Santiago. Thus, Cory and I found ourselves standing on the side of the highway at 11:30 at night in a place that takes on a striking resemblence to Commerce City. To make a long story short, we walked a few miles, realized that we were in a part of the city that falls into the category of ¨God´s blind spot,¨ and found some friendly security gaurds at the local beer distribution center that called us a cab. After about 13 hours of travel, we made it.

Once in Santiago, we met up with a friend of mine, Fred, and his Bolivian romance, Amalia. For those of you who remember an incident involving me and three broken bones, you may also remember Fred. Partly due to the unbearable heat in Santiago, and partly due to our overall laziness, the four of us didn´t do much beyond hitting up a few of the museums and a lot of the local restaurants. But nonetheless, the time we spent was...well...fantástico. As always, it was good to catch up with Fred, and as for Amalia, she quickly became a friend, and someone Cory and I both look forward to meeting up with again when we make our way back to Bolivia.

Fred and Amalia, thanks for the great time!!!