Trek

Day 1

We met up with our trekking guide and the rest of the group, and went to the village by boat. Along the river was a giant Buddha statue. It seemed the size of the Statue of Liberty. We arrived at the village and we were off. We walked through the farmlands first. Grains were planted over rolling hills as far as you could see. Cows and buffalo had laid down in the fields. It was very hot. We climbed the hills and saw the start of a bright green bamboo forest. It was much cooler in the shade of the bamboo. The sounds of the bamboo creaking echoed all around. It was peaceful. Then, we came out of the forest and to a waterfall. The water fell down the rocks. It looked refreshing, but no one swam. Then, we walked along the road for a little and arrived at the village where we would be sleeping. The houses were made of logs, bamboo and straw. The village looked cozy. The people had plants drying out on their deck, and some people were preparing dinner. Dogs wandered around and slept in the shade. We went up stairs that led to a house. On the balcony, the floor was simple made of dried bamboo. As you stepped down, the bamboo heaved with your weight. We chitchatted on the porch for awhile and then we went in to watch the cooking and preparation of our dinner. Inside the house, there was a lady stirring something in a large pot over a fire. We went out to the back porch. Men, including our guides, were grounding up meat and preparing the sauces and vegetables. The dinner was incredible! The ladle just never stopped going to and from my plate to the bowls. It was the best Thai food I have had in Thailand. We gathered around on the front porch and listened to one of our guides play the guitar. We slept on mats with flat pillows. Not a beauty sleep, but oh well.

Day 2

The breakfast was delicious, too. I pet some dogs and then we were off. We started along the trail. We had not gone far before we realized we were being followed – by one of the village dogs! Apparently, he knew we would be stopping for lunch at a hut along the way. The trees started getting taller and more bare. Fall-colored leaves were blanketing the ground. Crunch, crunch, crunch. We always knew where Maple (our name for the dog) was because of the crunching sound. Gradually, we started going downhill. We came out of the forest and came up to a little open-air hut. A fire was crackling. Maple looked proud of himself and trotted over to the two other dogs that had laid under the hut. Our guide said this is where we would be stopping for lunch. A man was hunched over the fire laying meat out over the bamboo sticks hanging over the fire. The hut was perfect, the breeze was cool and calming. The hut looked over the entire valley and beyond. Past the valley was the river, and beyond the river was Chang Rai, even though we couldn’t see it. The view was stunning. One of our guides was carving bamboo stalks to make cups for us. Our other guide was showing my mom how to prepare the veggies. Our guide put the veggies and the sauce in a hollow bamboo stalk and smashed them up with a pounder. I was chilling out on the edge of the hut, admiring the view and petting a small, fluffy dog in my lap. After our extremely delicious lunch, we headed out again. We walked through farms and farms of pineapple fields. Finally, we were back in the village by the river again. Our trek was over. I loved it. It was so fun, and we had great food.

White Temple

The white temple was intricate and marvelous. White painted arches, spires and bridges spiraled in every shape and size. Glittery glass sparkled in the sun. I loved it, though some could definitely make the claim that it was built mostly just for tourists.

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NEXT STOP: MEKONG RIVER BOAT RIDE/ LAOS

This was our first stop in Asia. I had heard lots of things about Asia, like that it was chaotic, loud and very different. Because of these rumors, when we boarded the plane for Bangkok, I was kind of nervous. But, I did not have any culture shock at all. Because, now it seems like things can’t be different if everything is different. In other words, different is just the usual this year.

All throughout Thailand, when I see a drink called butterfly pea tea, I have to get it! It is so good. It’s a sweet herbal tea that is good warm or hot. They also have it in some butterfly pea tea lemonade. The tea is blue, but when you put lemon in it, it turns purple!

Elephant Rescue 

We knew that elephant interaction was a common and popular thing to do in Chang Mai. The only thing was, how ethical was it really? Well, my parents researched it and it isn’t very good for the elephants. However, there were some rescue organizations that my dad said were good. Like the Elephant Nature Park. We booked a visit. As we got there, we learned that there were also 400 dogs and even more cats at the rescue park. We had a good lunch and then headed out. We got to stand by the elephants and take photos. We also got to watch them and feed them bananas, squash and cucumbers. They said the elephants had been rescued from logging or tourist camps where people are allowed to ride the elephants. We saw one elephant that was physically unable to get around much, because she had broken her leg in a logging camp. One elephant was blind because she also worked in a logging camp and when she got pregnant the people at the logging camp still wanted her to work. She got mad and then they stabbed her in the eyes. The elephants were such intelligent creatures. It was amazing being so close to them. I felt so bad for them because of their past,  but I hope that they are happy now. The elephants were brown and had long eyelashes. They looked quite different than the African Elephants. It was an amazing experience. It is important we don’t participate in animal cruelty and support the organizations that are making an effort to help. Please don’t ride the elephants; they are not animals to be ridden. It hurts their spine to carry so much weight. Also, if you see a place that says no riding but you can go into the river with the elephants, please don’t book this either. The elephants at these camps are forced into the water everyday and it is bad for their skin. They need mud to act as sunscreen, and when they go in the river it all washes off. Elephants are not pets, nor selling points nor servants. Elephants are intelligent, emotional wild animals.

Temples 

The temples were incredible, and mind boggling. They were intricate. The shiny paint and jewels glittered in the sun. After a long day of temple-seeing you could get templed out, though.

Fish spa

One night, we walked by a place that said: Beary Fish Spa. Rows of tanks with little fish were swimming around in the tanks. Apparently, the little fish eat the dead skin on your feet. It sounded kinda gross but kind of cool. I asked if I could do it and my parents said yes. When I stuck my feet in, all of a sudden, the fish started biting at my feet. It didn’t hurt, though; it just tickled. A lot. 

Cultural performance, dinner, center

My parents had booked a dinner at the cultural center. We sat down on mats with our legs crossed. On the small table in front of us there was sticky rice and an assortment of bowls filled with delicious food. We ate and then the performance started. During one act, a man came up on stage and did a dance with knives balanced on his back, shoulders, knees, and arms. The cultural center was great.

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NEXT STOP: CHANG RAI

I loved the New Zealand North Island. It was very comfortable, nice, and beautiful. I especially loved this first place!

Hobbiton

Hobbiton is where they filmed, well um, Hobbiton in the Lord of The Rings. If you haven’t already read The Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit, let me give you a quote from The Hobbit that describes how hobbits live. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with paneled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.” (Quotation taken from The Hobbit by J.J.R. Tolkiens.)

I loved Hobbiton for this reason: it was cozy and fun. We took a van down to Hobbiton. Hobbiton is tucked into a grassy valley with a sea of green hills – each hill with a bright, round door. When we entered the valley, I felt immediately comforted. The puffy clouds floated over Hobbiton. In the middle of the valley there was a pond with a little bridge. Across the pond was the Green Dragon Tavern. Our Hobbiton experience also included dinner at the tavern. We spiraled down the valley. Clothes lines were waving in the wind. Each hobbit hole looked different from the last. Each one reflected the resident’s hobbies and jobs. It was magical. As the sun set, we walked across the bridge and headed into the tavern. The outside of the tavern was made with wood. Lanterns were strung across the doorway. Wheelbarrows were parked on the grass. We went inside. The smell of wood and fire swirled around me. I plopped down on the couch. The tavern felt so comfy. The bar tender poured me some yummy ginger ale and my dad and my mom some beer. As we finished our drinks the guides pulled back the curtains to the other room. Rows and rows of long tables were lined up. On them, dozens of bowls, plates and platters with food were laid out on the table. It was a feast. After, they said that there were hobbit clothes in the main room that we could try on and take pictures. I grabbed an apron and a bonnet, my dad put on on a cloak and a hat. We posed under the lanterns and skipped across the bridge. All the worries and troubles seemed far off. Hobbiton was a great experience.

Auckland

I was very excited to go to Auckland because we would be meeting my parents’ friends. We would be spending Christmas and New Year’s with them. On one of the first days, we went to a market. There were delicious dumplings at the market. Another day in Auckland, we went to a black sand beach. The sand was so warm and soft. At the beach, there was also a gannet colony. We hiked up a rocky hill and as we got to the top we could see hundreds of gannets. Dozens of them were flying back and forth to the sea. The gannets were white with yellow on their heads and had bluish eyes. I’m not going to deny though, there was definitely a smell.

Auckland was very comfortable. For Christmas, we had stuffed pasta shells, salad, veggies and bread with infused butter. Infused butter is my specialty. Infused butter is basically butter mixed with whatever herbs, sauces or spices you want. For Christmas, I got chocolates and an assortment of honey hand cream and honey lip balm, along with a book. It was a different Christmas, partly because I wasn’t surrounded by lots of family and partly because it was summertime, but it was still a good one.

Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands is a group of 144 islands that rests in a bay on the northern peninsula of New Zealand’s North Island. The weather is tropical and warm climate for most of the year. First, we stayed in Keri Keri at one side of the bay. We stayed at a cute little Airbnb that was light and had a beautiful garden. It also had a cat named Speckles. The water in the Bay of Islands was turquoise or deep blue, beautiful colors. After we moved out of Keri Keri and went on to Russell, we booked a sailboat with our friends and cruised through the bay. We stopped at one island and went snorkeling; we saw squid! The water was pretty chilly though. We also went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This place is important because this is where the Maori who first lived in New Zealand signed a treaty with the British. We watched a cultural performance of dancing and singing, visited the museum, saw the waka canoes and admired the great view. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, we walked down to the beach to watch the fireworks. First, another town on the other side of the bay called Paihia sent of fireworks. Theirs were big, wide and high. Next, Russell sent off fireworks. Because we were sitting on the beach in Russell, they seemed right above us. Russell’s fireworks were small but frequent, one after another. Boom. Boom. Boom. My heartbeat seemed to drum with the fireworks. The Bay of Islands was great.

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Next Stop: Bangkok, Thailand

For exploring the South Island of New Zealand, we rented a camper van. The van was tight quarters. It was fine, but I really didn’t like unmaking and making my bed every single morning and night. My dad liked the van, though, because he could park on the side of the road and take a nap in the back.

New Zealand felt very comfortable because culturally it didn’t feel very different. Therefore, this post will have more about what we saw rather than how it made me feel.

Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki

Lake Tekapo had brilliant blue water that glittered under the sun’s rays. It also had a little stone church that stood at the edge of the lake. We didn’t do much at this lake other than walk around a bit, take photos and eat at a Japanese restaurant. We camped at Lake Pukaki. When you are driving up to this lake, there are fields and fields of valentine colored lupine flowers. It was a beautiful sight.

Dansey’s Pass

Dansey’s Pass was beautiful. Tan, fuzzy hills stretched across the land for miles. The sun shone through the valley and into little streams. Sheep were scattered like paint that had been flicked onto the hills. We stopped at a campground near Dansey’s Pass that I thought was awesome. It had a good playground with a super bouncy trampoline. The grounds also had an awesome but terrifying rope swing. The swing’s rope attached to a very high tree branch and at the other end of the rope there was a flat piece of wood to sit on. That part of the swing dangled 15 feet above the cold river that ran around the camp. I sat down on the piece of wood and walked off the platform. I screamed; I dropped ten feet and then swung out, high above the river! It was great fun! The host also had pans for finding gold in the river. We tried once but got nothing but a bunch of bug bites.

Queenstown

I really liked Queenstown. I loved walking around on the boardwalks where the crashing waves hit the sides of the boats. There is a mountain by Queenstown that you can take a gondola up and ride down the mountain on a luge, which is like a sit-down scooter. The luge was so fun! Queenstown also had a very good restaurant named Public, which I highly recommend. Queenstown was very nice.

Milford Sound

Milford Sound was incredible! We took a two-hour cruise. Once, our ship pulled up so close to a waterfall that we were under it! We went out of the sound and into the sea. It was a pretty day; the sky was clear and the wind was whistling. We also saw seals; they were so cute! The rolling green mountains tumbled into the sound. Planes also circled the mountains and dove down towards the water. It was a great day.

Castle Rocks

I really liked the Castle Rocks. It felt peaceful. I wish I could’ve stayed longer. In fact, I would probably even like to own the Castle Rocks. It was a bright green grass hill that was covered in smooth round rocks of all shapes and sizes. Some looked like enormous eggs, some looked like the perfect rock climbing rock and others looked like anything you could possibly imagine. I loved crawling on top of the rocks, and looking out over the bright green grass that covered the ground as far as the horizon. I liked feeling the wind tussle my hair back and forth, and the sun shining down on my face. At the end of our time at the Castle Rocks I laid down flat on my back and stared up at the clear blue sky.

Unique Animals

We went to the glow worm caves. We stepped into the boat in the pitch black. The seat was cold in the dark. I shivered. Our boat pushed off the dock, and we went deeper into the cave. Then, all of a sudden, we went into a corridor of the cave that was lit by tiny blue lights. Holes in the cave? No, glow worms! Bright, tiny lights were scattered all over the dark walls. Like a perfect, clear night sky. It was so quiet that my breathing echoed in the cave. My mouth hung open. I was stunned by the beauty. The twinkling lights passed above me as the boat crept along. It was a very special experience. The second unique creature experience were eels. At one campground, we were told that we could go down to the stream and feed eels. We debated what to feed them:

“They mostly use their nose to find food. We should try something smelly.”

“We have some cheese.”

“No, they probably like something meaty.”

“We have some tortellini.”

“That will do,” I said. I clutched the bag of tortellini and we clomped down to the stream. Along the stream there was a little dock and on it we found long sticks with hooks at the end. The tortellinis were a hit. Eels as long as my arm’s length, with bright blue eyes, swam up and chomped down on the tortellini that we had waiting for them in the water, and then swam off. It was so much fun.

The South Island was great, but I was excited to see friends in the North Island along with seeing beautiful scenery!

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El Calafate 

El Calafate was our first stop in Patagonia. El Calafate is the town nearest the Moreno Glacier. On the first day, we drove down to the glacier. As the big blue white land mass peeked over above the hills in the distance an excited squeal exited our mouths. The glacier was incredible! It spiraled down valleys and mountains, freezing everything it touched. It presented a bright stunning blue that looked luminescent. By the viewing deck, the blue took a sheer drop-off into the icy waters. In the afternoon, you could hear the cracking of the glacier and, sometimes if you were lucky, you would see a large chunk of ice plummet into the water creating an enormous splash! As the sun squeezed its way out from the clouds, it would shine through the ice, making it look even more blue and chilling. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

We also saw several foxes in El Calafate. Cream and brown ones whose fur would blow in the wind. They scampered around or slept. When they slept they would use their bushy tail as a pillow. They were so cute!

Along with foxes we also saw wild horses. They stood against the horizon swishing their long tails back and forth; they were beautiful!

El Chalten

The next place we went was a little town called El Chalten. El Chalten is famous for a tall skinny mountain that towers over the already small town making the town look miniature. There are several trails and treks you can take to get a picturesque view.

During one of the hikes we had to climb up a practically sheer cliff that was covered in snow. My heart was pounding so loud it felt like it would just pop right out of my chest. We made it though and it was surely a hike I will never forget. The hikes were great until you got close to the end. Then, you just felt like collapsing on the ground, hard rock or grass. My feet felt like they were being stabbed every time they touched the earth. As soon as we stepped inside the Airbnb, I fell onto my knees. Walking on my knees for the rest of the afternoon was my go-to transportation. Also, on one hike we were just walking along when all of a sudden my dad looked back at me and said, “Ha, oh no. Oh no.” As I peeked over his shoulder to get a better view of what everyone was making such a fuss over, I saw a long black hairy body with two white stripes down its back and a pink nose: a skunk. Calm is a word I would never use to describe how I felt then. I bundled my sweatshirt together and pressed it to my nose. The little creature busily dug around for food. We scurried past. My mom was the last one to leave that area of trail. When she caught up to us she remarked at how “cute” the skunk was.

The next thing of our trip to El Chalten might be the highlight of the whole trip to South America. My dad had booked a horseback ride just thirty minutes out of town. A shuttle from the horseback ride place picked us up at our Airbnb and drove off, down to the place. We arrived on a small dirt road, and hopped off. There was a rushing river on the other side of the dirt road. We followed our guide through some shrubs and emerged on the bank of the river. There in front of us, was a skinny, wobbly bridge that hovered over the river and was only connected to the bank by ropes. We waddled along on the bridge, as the fast current swept underneath us. We stepped off the bridge and entered the stables area. There was a field of grass with a few trees that horses were resting under. There were about a dozen horses standing around the field all with their eyes closed, sleeping. We were led to a barn and given chaps to put on. Then, we were each separately shown to a horse. We were in a group of about six people or so. I followed the guide to a tree far back with two horses who were saddled up. The first horse had a tan coat with a white mane and a stocky build. The second horse was smaller but not pony size. She was white and had a long tail that swished back and forth. She had little gray freckles and fuzzy ears. I followed the guide to the white horse. I am just going to say now that this horse, was and is still my favorite horse I have ever ridden, ever! I loved this horse so, so much! She was sweet, responsive and gentle. I mounted her and stroked her neck. The guide held the reins in front of me and gestured to the right and then to the left and then said something in Spanish. I understood enough though. I walked my horse over to where the rest of the group was meeting. My mom had a white horse with a short mane and no freckles. My dad had a very large black and brown horse with a patch of white on his forehead. The guide mounted her horse and we were off. We walked alongside the mountain and came into a large field that had dozens of horses sleeping, eating, froliking and staring at us. We later called this place “horse paradise.” We came upon a stream that stretched down into the valley, forming a small lake. Our horses stopped and took a drink, and then waded through the stream. We also had the pleasure of trotting at a fair speed, half of the time. We walked across big rock formations and went down into the valley. We trotted through the valley and into a marshy forest. Our horses were a good sport and clomped through the flooded trail. We exited the forest and hiked up the mountain. Here we stopped, tied our horses to a post and had tea and alfajores (as I described earlier in Buenos Aires, alfajores are a cookie with caramel in the middle). When we finished, we went back to our horses and got ready to ride again. This time we rode on the other side of the valley. We came into a very large field that had hundreds of sheep. They ba’d like crazy. Occasionally, there were little white lambs that ran behind their parents to hide. Then, we went into another forest. There were fewer sheep here but there were some who were taking advantage of the shade that the trees provided. As we exited the forest and went into the sun again, the guide pointed up to a gap in between two mountains. In between the gap was Mount Fitz Roy, towering into the sky. It was beautiful. I was so sad when we re-entered the stables. We got to stay for a little while and un-saddle our horses, and see our guide throw alfalfa and hay into the field and the horses happily munch away. I said bye to my horse that had been so good to me throughout the ride. We walked across the wobbly bridge again and hopped in the shuttle. As we drove along the road our guide pointed out the window down into the valley and said, “Mi padre” (my father). We looked down into the valley and saw man on a tall, strong horse galloping across the valley with five dogs behind him. When we got back to the Airbnb I said, “That was the best time ever

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NEXT STOP: NEW ZEALAND

Iguazú falls was terrific. When I first saw the falls, I stopped and stared. The water cascaded downwards, struck the bottom hard and was launched into the sky creating a refreshing mist. The falls were as large as two football fields! All the water in the falls, below the falls and above the falls was white with force. On the second lookout, we were down by the lake looking up at the falls instead of down. It looked like something out of a dream. The quantity of the falls were enormous! After the white there was turquoise blue. There was a little island in the middle that had a blanket of trees and bushes of all different shades of green. There was also, as if it couldn’t be any better, a bright shining rainbow that stretched over the falls and the little island. I made a mental camera in my mind and make a “click” sound with my teeth, wanting to preserve it in my mind forever. We also went on a full moon tour of the falls. To get there, we took a train. We had taken the train earlier that day, but when we took the train in the day it was scorching hot and uncomfortable. Now, at night, the cool breeze swept across my cheeks as I leaned out the window. You could hear the falls in the distance and the sound of birds reporting our presence. When we got there, I could barely see the water fall off the cliff. It was so dark, despite the full moon. We could mostly just hear the water rushing down. Without the daytime crowds, you could relax and listen to the water.

We have been in Buenos Aires three times. It went like this: Buenos Aires p.1, Iguazú Falls, Buenos Aires p.2, Patagonia, and then Buenos Aires p.3.

Food

The food in BA is delicious. It is yummy and widely diverse. Argentina is famous for their steak and other meat. During BA p.1 and BA p.3 we went to two different steak houses. The first one was an awesome place that my dad thought was the best steak place in the world. The steak places don’t really cook the inside of the steak very much, and the first steak place set their pride on that. They cut the steak with a spoon! The second place was not as eccentric but still good. Another place my dad adored (and my mom and I also liked) was a place called Chori. No surprises here, they made chori sandwiches. They were delicious! The next place is in the category of “you must must must eat here at least once!!!” This place is called the Gran Dabbang. Every spice, sauce and herb fit together like a song or puzzle pieces. This is a place you cannot skip if you come to BA! Now, say you need something to fulfill that hope of a refreshing treat. Then, you should definitely check out Valence Ice Cream. I got mint-ginger lemonade ice cream; I strongly recommend this flavor. Valence is no large factory, fake color, buttery ice cream, it’s the real deal. Another delicious food is Dulce de Leche. Dulce de Leche is a treat I love, and so do the Argentinians. They drizzle it over everything: ice cream, cookies (a specialty called alfajores), chocolate and much more. Dulce de Leche is a carmel-like substance that comes in a variety of different flavors that you can find in dulce de leche stores.

Landmarks

The first famous sight we saw was the Casa Rosada (Pink House, like the White House) where the famous Evita Perone (Argentina’s beloved First Lady) delivered her famous speech before she died from cancer. The second famous sight we saw was the obelisk. A tall white stone structure that sticks up above BA casting a shadow all the way down Plaza de la Republica.

Performances

We went to several performances in BA, the first was an opera at Teatro Colón. The opera was about two Ancient Greek characters: Orfeo and Erudice. It was a good show and the building was classy and bright. The second performance was a Tango show. The ladies moved their legs so fast! When the show was finished, I felt so slow and sluggish.

There was so much that we saw and did in Buenos Aires, and so much I haven’t captured here. I apologize if I did not explain more about some of the pictures I have put in the gallery.

Other Little Noteworthy Things That Don’t Go Into Categories

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We survived Santiago and made it onto the plane to the Atacama Desert. We arrived with high expectations of stars, sand, salt, big rocks and sun.

Stars

I’ve collected earrings from each continent we’ve been to (the only souvenir I can fit in my backpack). We have correlated stars with Atacama for as long as we have been planning the trip; the bar was set high. I had already bought my South American earrings: they were stars. I had never really seen the Milky Way, but my parents had, including on their anniversary trip to Peru. They were excited for me to see it. We booked a viewing at the planetarium. On the night of our reservation, we waited at midnight in the dark for the van to pick us up. After being at the planetarium for a while, I discovered I wouldn’t be seeing the Milky Way. Sadly, the Milky Way was positioned below the horizon and the sliver of moon gave off too much light. Triste. With our chin still up we walked into a room with a large telescope. That’s when I saw it: Saturn. I peered through the scope: a milky cream-beige dot and around it, almost like a halo, there was a crisp solid ring. There are actually more rings around Saturn but the telescope wasn’t powerful enough to see all of them. Instead, all of the rings looked like one. The ring was only about the size of my pinkie finger on the telescope but it took up my whole mind to process what I was looking at. We saw more, too: nebulae that looked like rainbow chalk paint, craters on the moon and star constellations that included the Pleiades (a constellation that has seven stars and one of the stars is named Maia)! The stars were maybe not what we expected but they were still pretty great.

Sand (and Salt)

I don’t know what people picture when they think of the Atacama. Maybe, it’s stars or large rocks, but for me it was sand. Multi-colored sand painted the ground. It was pretty until the wind came. Large piles of sand departed into the sky, creating a very uncomfortable walk or run. One day, a huge dust storm lifted up into the sky. Dust devils spiraled up into the air and ran across the open landscape. We were driving along the road, when a big cloud of dust in front of us emerged. When we entered the cloud, we could only see as far as ten feet. Finally, we left the cloud behind us. There was also lots of salt. One of the main attractions was the salt pools. We went to the first pool and we saw 4 flamingos! The second salt pool was one that you could swim in. Supposedly, you could easily float because of all the salt. Now, let me tell you, this is true, but what they never tell you is that the salt hurts really, really, really bad! I had to get out after almost two minutes because the sting was getting so intense I couldn’t stand it any longer. When I got out, my skin was bright red and raw. It hurt sooo bad! Despite this, the quantity of the sand and salt was still pretty amazing!

Rock Formations

The entire town was made out of rock/stone walls. It looked like a desert fort in Egypt. The rock formations were outstanding! Red, tan, white and other colors were striped into the rocks. Thousands of different shapes of rock were always towering over you or you were stepping on them.

Sun

The sun was intense; it burned throughout the day, and when it set, the temperature dropped significantly. It wasn’t as cold as we had expected it to be. I had been prepared to put on five layers or more to sleep in. In the day, if you weren’t wearing sunglasses, you had to be wearing a sun hat.

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NEXT STOP: BUENOS AIRES part 1

A new country: Chile. We had debated a lot if we were going to continue to go to Santiago or if we should rewrite our plans. This was because there were violence and protests in Chile. Santiago is the capital city, so that’s where the violence was mainly happening. After much going back and forth, we decided to go. We went not for the scenery and sights, but because we would have lost or spent a lot of money if we went somewhere else. Also, we had made plans to meet up with my grandparents in Santiago. At dawn in the morning of October 22nd, we boarded the plane.

It all seemed peaceful when we arrived. We talked with the Airbnb host and she said that we were going to be fine in our neighborhood, which was good but not enough to completely forget that we were in a war zone. The president had called a state of emergency; we all still had doubts. I don’t think any of us slept well that night. Thoughts of violence, corruption and lack of food all nipped at us in our sleep.

The next day, we decided we were going to venture out and see what was happening. We stopped by a grocery store that was fortunately open, and went in. When my mom was about to buy the stuff, she said she needed another bag from dad, who was standing outside. I went out and retrieved the bag. My dad said that I better watch out because the guards were not letting people in anymore. I started walking to the door, prepared to get a “no.” Suddenly, a large crowd came out, and with all the commotion I slipped in, only to be noticed by one guard who pointed at me and cocked his head, but didn’t bother to stop me.

All of the streets were somehow marked with presence of the army, a constant reminder to the locals that their city and home was not the same. On some streets, large groups of men in full body armor and large rifles stood like statues that could awake in seconds and everything could turn into chaos. On other streets we saw many not well-loved vehicles that transported new prisoners cuffed that day, and other vehicles that sprayed the throat-burning tear gas that made you enter into a world of misery. The last vehicle was one that sprayed water on a very high blast at people who were causing a ruckus. These three vehicles had seen better days; they were covered in paint and dents from people that thought they were rebels saving the world, and in actuality they were destroying their city as they knew it.

There was a park right outside our AirBnb. We had changed our reservation to a further out, rich neighborhood, and the park confirmed that’s where we were. Unlike the rest of the city, this park remained normal. Roses towered over us like an umbrella and the grass was freshly cut. Later in our visit, we came back to this park in search of helado (ice cream). We found a little truck vender that sold “Thai helado.” Another name for them was “rollitos.” Like rolls. We found out why: the ice cream was rolled up into rolls! We ordered strawberry. He grabbed two strawberries, some creamy milk stuff and two large knives. He threw the strawberries onto a big, flat, freezing cold pan. He drizzled the cream over it, and in one big practiced movement he cut the strawberries into a million different pieces. He spread the strawberry goop across the pan until he was satisfied with the flatness. Then, he started scraping it off bit by bit into a roll shape; then, he carefully placed each roll in a cup. It was delicious!

We met up with my grandparents at their hotel called Castillo Rojo (red castle). It was a castle and it was red, and very fancy. One day, with my grandparents, we decided to go to Valparaíso. Valparaíso is a beach side city on the coast of Chile next to Santiago. We used a funicular to get up a hill to a famous neighborhood. The neighborhood supposedly had painted staircases and cool graffiti. We had lunch there, and then we got back in the car to go back to Santiago. We started driving along one road in Valparaíso. We stopped at a stop light, and I turned to look out of the window. Every other person was wearing a mask, I knew something was wrong.

I had learned what masks meant: the people wearing masks were expecting tear gas and violence. They wore masks so that the tear gas maybe wouldn’t hurt so bad, and the mask would be covering their face so no one could see who they were: protesters. In the peaceful marches not many people were wearing masks. As we pulled up to a large intersection, everyone in the car knew what was going on. Car horns beeping, pots banging and people chanting: these were all signs of a march happening, and we were right in the middle of it. At the corner of my eye, I saw the hated water cannon. People by it were fleeing everywhere, but most people just went on chanting. The pots banged in my ear. My dad, who was driving, said this was not good and we had to get out of here. People started to pick up rocks. Expecting the worst, I closed my eyes and lowered my head below the window. Finally, we maneuvered out of the large mass of people and sped down the road. With both ears still plugged I asked if it was over. My mom replied, “ Yes, I think so.”

The news was one of the main ways we saw the destruction. On the last night of our stay, my mom and I sat transfixed in front of the tv, the news blaring on about the fire that we could see out our window. Protesters had set a subway station and a supermarket on fire, along with lots of other important buildings. We could see the red glow of the subway station coming from down below and it looked even worse on tv. A video of flames towering above a supermarket was pasted on the tv. We watched stunned by the horribleness of it all. People dashed into the store, despite the flames, and carried off whatever items they could fit into their arms. Who were the criminals? Were they the president and government that the protesters were pointing their finger at? Or, was it the protesters themselves, who steal from the burning stores and who disobey the rules that make our world better?

One afternoon, when just out of curiosity we switched on the tv, we saw another incident on the news. The title said: “Miles de personas se reúnen ahora en Plaza Italia” (thousands of people gather now in Plaza Italia). We watched the immense gathering of people for a long time. Unlike our Valparaíso incident, not many people were wearing masks. After awhile we switched to a different news channel, a new number was printed on the tv: “ahora, más de un millón de personas se reúnen en plaza italia” (now, more than a million people gather in Plaza Italia). It went from thousands to millions. So far, I was fine with this march; nothing on the news indicated violence. Then, the curfew slammed in and the millions of people receded to the safety of their homes. The police could lock up anyone who was out after the curfew. Only the violent rebels and the drunk stayed.

The violent rebels were everywhere. They burned down buildings and destroyed streets. Was there some other reason for this destruction? Was it something about the excitement playing in a tag game ten times greater? Or, something about wanting to be put on a list of people that have saved the world? I didn’t know the reason, but I knew this wasn’t the way to solve problems.