Huh, euh, well...

San Pedro de Atacama 2440m
valle de la Luna
Toconao
Salar de Atacama
Laguna Chaxa
Laguna Miscanti 4200m
Laguna Miniques 4200m
Valle de la Muerte
Aldea de Tulor
El Tatio Geysers 4300m, highest geysers field in the world.. impressive!
Machuga village
Long piece of road to Iquique today... Iquique ahora!

I guess this is where you can find me tonight, exhausted, but alive and well, despite some rather upsetting setbacks... my computer crashed, i wanted to cry but didn´t, for i was in such a beautiful peaceful and awesome place.

I really had no idea what i was going to live-see-do here... i thought i did, but nah...it´s pretty cool although not what i had imagined... which is better anyhow... i like surprises.
had the best introduction to northern Chile with Valle de la Luna, still haunting my dreams (i´m not joking).
The Atacama desert is full of Chilean hippies, socialists and misfits, but also hard resilient working people, inspired young activists who want to redo the world and make it a better place, wonderful families and a handful of rather interesting travelers who keep on bumping into each other when least expected. Mayhem in a strange dangerous place, wonderful :) played sucker for a hot minute with a 6 year old boy in Machuga, the one and only child in that village, his name is Alexander and he´s one cool laughing energetic kid with loads more red blood cells than the rest of us, for he ran all of us out up there at 4300m! Left today for the coast, a pinch in the heart for i do love the desert and everything it means and brings, yet reaching the ocean was a sweet relief from the dust biting dry windy atmosphere we´ve been in so far.

Whatever happens, DO NOT drive route 24 from Calama to Tocopilla, it sucks! The mining industry has ravaged the land, among other things, it´s rather sad. and do not go to Tocopilla, it is aweful, entered, turned around right away, and drove off as fast as i could, it is one gross town!!!

although the coast is damaged by major industries and ugly seaports, it still holds little pockets of gorgeous mountains falling into the ocean and weird ghost-towns that are worth the long drive north...

happy to be in Iquique, although cannot wait to be in my next little dreamworld, the Lauca region at the border of Peru and Bolivia... up there...

now a few side notes:

*drove over 1000km so far i believe, although have not kept count yet
*my car has asthma, it´s cute yet cannot go uphill but in 3rd or sometimes even 2nd gear.
*i have NOT smoked a cigarette since i quit 10 days... who´s proud? come on!!! i think it actually worked and i´m becoming a non smoker relatively painlessly... so far... i´m happy.
*technology is great but life is better
*i love my new camera
*Chilean beer is pretty good, although their wines are better
*i still believe the photos i take speak more of my travels than me, even if they´re not great
*Skies full of stars are one of the coolest and best thing that´s out there

There will be more at some point, no photos since my computer chose a Chilean death, but i will keep on trying to type a few irrelevent things when i can reach the internet cafes.

loads of love and french hugs for the ones who like that