Letter from Michael
You know, It's great when patience pays off.
I've been practicing the guitar now since 1994, and many times wondered and still do if I'll ever be able to play the damn thing properly at all. Last night I played so well (in my own study) that even I enjoyed listening. (Singing was even good too) I couldn't stop, until eventually I got too tired and had to hit the sack. I feel very rewarded.
Another great day out on the tai chi playfield, I had so many ideas about what to blog .... cos I listen to ABC news radio all night (during wake and sleep) and so much fertile material. Anyway while I was supposed to be concentrating entirely on the movements part of my mind was blog composing.
When I got home and checked the in- box there was a letter from a friend of mine who's roughing it in South America.
So my ideas had to be put on hold coz I wanna share this email. with ya'all
First Letter, received on 7 April 2006:
O.k. I´ve been quiet for a couple of days, not for lack of internet cafes (there´s heaps! And very good quality in Santiago (not getting my hopes up for the rest of my trip!)). I was waiting to speak to Fiona before I let everyone know what happened...Here it is... I got robbed.
I´m o.k. I´m not at all hurt. It was a submissive robbery from under the table. Luckily only three things got taken, no, four and not my passport, mastercard, or cash. Unluckily one was the camera, which had the photo from the plane that was my first view of South America.
Guess I can just take the last view from South America with my new camera... which I haven´t got yet... Another was, (and this hurts quite a bit) the mini tape recorder ´the girls´ gave me with about 10 tapes, one with their best wishes on it, and another tape with alot of my experiences so far. Guess I can just bore you all with my written instead of spoken word...
Another was the CASE of my hearing aid. (I almost wrote hearing aid case but you would have started to read that and think "shit! His hearing aid!" but I was wearing that at the time. I guess they must have thought it had a ring in it. Whenever I take it out in front of someone I say "such and such, I have something important to ask you..." hehe... well, no such fun now... And the other was my mini binoculars. Hope the little bastard is looking through them when I´m coming at him sideways because I´m on the prowl in Santiago. I may be able to track down who I THINK it is.
The police were not very helpful, although quite happy when I settled for just a statement for my insurance. They were pretty keen on making fun of the stupid gringo. Far out I´m so very much more aware of how it feels to not know the language and everyone laughing at you (or worse) thinking that you´re stupid. ¡¡I´ll show them!! ¡¡I´ll learn fluent Spanish and then they can know for sure!! By the way, "on the prowl" is kinda more like on the crawl, because the blisters on my heels are so bad I think one´s infected.
Yep, taking care of that so it doesn´t get bad. Can´t wear shoes at the moment, sandals with the back strap tucked in... yep.So, there´s my last day or two in a nutshell (they have nut stalls on the street called "nuts for nuts". Not sure if anyone gets the pun...). Other than that, I LOVE Chile. So much so, I want to see more of it! On the way OUT that is. Don´t listen to me. I´m having a weird day or two. Of course it´s too cheap to go to the trouble of looking for food myself so I´m experiencing alot of restaurants.
More expensive than I thought but once out of Chile it´ll be much cheaper.Everybody smokes in Santiago, which is funny that I say that for the first time here... this is the first internet cafe place that doesn´t have ashtrays next to the computers, and I wondered why it felt cleaner in here...A lovely owner of a cafe today (where I had my first chocolate calienté) was very proud of his country, and said I shouldn´t leave for those more dangerous climes.
He wanted me to explore the south, where he´s going to go when he can afford to buy a 4WD. There are alot of them here too, or it could be my connecting the blanket of smog with something that I hate. And I´m surprised that I haven´t seen anybody killed on the road - there´s not much patience for pedestrians (and that´s the peds who know which way the cars are coming!!)
It´s crazy out there, and there are scratches on all the cars and I often see people backing their car into a spot and bumping the next car.Um, the Cerro Santa Lucia is a wonderful escape from the CBD, right on the edge, it´s got a 630mtr peak (its a hill by the way) with a whole castle-like structure on it, which was used first by the priests, then by the nuns, then by the military. I had some photos of the place but...I was going to try to head off on Saturday on the 5 day, 10 seater Pachamama tourbus (which seems to visit some great places) to Calama (near Bolivia) and then the train across through the Uyuni salt plains and then to Cochabamba, but the bus is full and only runs once a week.
Not sure if I can hack another week here... There´s a regular bus that just goes up the guts for much cheaper and faster, but it´s not at all comfortable I hear, and there´ll be no multilingual tourguides... I could fly for about twice the price of the bus apparently (thanks 4WD cafe guy), but there´ll be no flying for this little chickadee... hmm... if I were a chickadee there probably would be flying... yep. So not sure yet. This little chickadee will see.I love you all. I´ll be fine from now on I´m sure *his hands rest fully on wood as he types* and I´ll get another camera (cheap! (the camera, not the chickadee...) and I have a webcam!! Let´s see how it works!!Love yas,Miguel
Next Letter:
Thurs 12 April...Hi all,It?s too darn expensive to do ANYthing in Chile. That?s why this email is so short. Outback tourist trap Chilé ©s not cheap!However, I?ve fallen in love with San Pedro de Atacama, just inside of Chile, and near the Bolivian border (it hit me last night about how incredibly close I was to Bolivia!!)
It runs almost primarily on tourist money (tours, internet, more tours, restaurants, hostels, tours). I was going to go back to Calama (where I travelled through to get here) tomorrow night and catch the train to Uyuni in the Bolivian Southwest where the salt lakes start from, but they finish here near San Pedro, and I heard that the train has wooden seats, broken windows, drafty floorboards and outside toilets (??)
so I?ve bitten the bullet and decided to go from here, in... a... *reconsiders momentarily but has already paid* a 4WD tour across the salt lakes to Uyuni. I know I know. I SAID I wouldn?t be sucked into such touristy stuff, but it?s ... well, no. I just want to see the lakes.But I do love San Pedro, with it?s unpaved streets, clay buildings(I?m sure it?s made of something else, but I?m no builder) little historic square and ... church, it?s very VERY colourful market (I bought a simple wide brimmed hat that fits!! (but I think I chose a pink one...), and it?s towering Andes mountainscape as a backdrop.
Just grand!I think I?m getting used to being the odd one out here. Giggles still whenever I have to walk under a doorway (which is EVERY doorway!) but more words to communicate with which only means more words that I don?t know! My camera (new) has been getting a workout and I think there are some real framable ones in there! (*feels it with his feet for security*) You wouldn?t have believed this until I told you (now) and I didn?t know until I got to South America, but Chile has such an anvanced space program that I was able to take a quick trip to ... the moon yesterday!
And not only that, but they?ve really pumped money into technology and have discovered the practical theories of time travel, so I went back to paleolithic times this morning. A real eye opener I can tells ya! Anyhow I´ll explain more when I can send some photos...I saw my first wildlife this morning (in space travel mode, and in that I didn?t count the countless dogs (which do count as wild for they aren?t owned and life for they are alive), the blue dragonfly, or the lizard that I don?t think was a lizard at all).
A bunch of prancing (or were they running from our big tour bus??) vicuñas(which are wild still), llamas (!! Finally, they aren?t wild), and a rabbit with a long tail, called something else... OH! And some Wyatas, which are big blanco y negro waterbirds and, and, and... flamingos!! Cool. But going now, cos I don?t have a Mercedes Benz to trade for this email time.Right. Adios. Love to you all,Michael.p.s.
Thank you all so much for you wonderful thoughtful and heartfelt words. They keep my going (as much at LEAST as the mountain range behind me does.) More personal one´s next week... promise!! No, I don?t promise. But I?ll try. Love yas.Sat 15 April.I´ve just arrived in interesting-to-say-the-least Uyuni.
What a few days! Where to start...Well, San Pedro will remain with me forever as a wonderful place of curious contrasts, but the Uyuni salt plains today (Salar de Uyuni) were a pleasure to behold. That photo that I was showing everyone from the lonely planet? Nuthin!!! Compared to the real thing. I put my blistered feet in the salty water (that was only present at ankle deep in some parts of the "lake") and didn´t scream but it helped I think!
We got there before sunrise this morning from Hotel Sal (a hotel made of Salt!! the tables, chairs, all the cutlery is made of stone from the moutainous edges of the lake) and I took photos. Nobody´s photos will compare to being there. Walk out onto the plains and it´s as quiet and comforting as the deepest clouds of a heaven that may or may not be there.Suffice to say, the last three days has been in non-internet country...
ANd suffice to say (only if you´re me) that flamingos can fly off to ... anyway, I´ve seen too many now, I´m sure they taste good... Active smouldering (!!!) volcanos, frisbee where there´s no such thing as a borderline (thanks Palmzie!) and some good friends made, both Chileans (there ARE some!!) and French/Belgian/South African/English/and even a New Zealander!Oh, Nick the NZer and Jane are moving to Melbourne soon.
Melbourne crew MUST make them welcome, especially cos they want to move to Brunswick!!I head to Cochabamba tomorrow night, after being in Uyuni for the day tomorrow. I´ve been surprised by the fact that, yes, older Bolivian women DO wear those bowler hats! All of them, nearly. Yet I haven´t seen any younger women in the same garb. Is it only for older women (I don´t think so) or is it a tradition that will die out in the next generation?
My new camera has caught some fantastic sights, including my chewing on coca leaves... don´t panic family, it´s really fine, and it really helped my altitude issues (topped 4000 metres on Thursday!!!) and it´s 3669 here in Uyuni. Didn´t get sick at all, just really scatterbrained (haha, for the impending comments) and tried to trot up a hill with the crew on the 4WD to see a sunset but we all nearly died! It took about 25 minutes to stop heaving for breath and it was only a little raise in the ground! Learnt my lesson...
Saw a wild fox (sly, they really are!) and a .... CONDOR!!! Two of them! I´m very happy about that. I have to download some photos I think... lots of photos. Lots of incredible montañas, lagunas, and me looking deep as red roses into the sunset while sitting on a 3 metre cactus...Can´t go on... I LOVE YOU ALL!!!Anyway, again, it´s really costly here *watching his bolivianos* and really slow so I can´t email more personally as yet.
I love ALL your contact with me. It really does make my day to see you in my inbox (that sounds Soooo impersonal in a group email, but I really really mean it.) Thank you all.More soon,Love, Michael.p.s. Rob Bednall, where ARE you? (I forget, I know you´re in Peru somewhere... sorry, altitude. You can blame alot on this you know!)p.p.s. Don´t need to get that free car from my travel doctor now... but all better, if you know what I mean... i.e. my doctor said he´d buy me a car if I didn´t get the shits.
I've been practicing the guitar now since 1994, and many times wondered and still do if I'll ever be able to play the damn thing properly at all. Last night I played so well (in my own study) that even I enjoyed listening. (Singing was even good too) I couldn't stop, until eventually I got too tired and had to hit the sack. I feel very rewarded.
Another great day out on the tai chi playfield, I had so many ideas about what to blog .... cos I listen to ABC news radio all night (during wake and sleep) and so much fertile material. Anyway while I was supposed to be concentrating entirely on the movements part of my mind was blog composing.
When I got home and checked the in- box there was a letter from a friend of mine who's roughing it in South America.
So my ideas had to be put on hold coz I wanna share this email. with ya'all
First Letter, received on 7 April 2006:
O.k. I´ve been quiet for a couple of days, not for lack of internet cafes (there´s heaps! And very good quality in Santiago (not getting my hopes up for the rest of my trip!)). I was waiting to speak to Fiona before I let everyone know what happened...Here it is... I got robbed.
I´m o.k. I´m not at all hurt. It was a submissive robbery from under the table. Luckily only three things got taken, no, four and not my passport, mastercard, or cash. Unluckily one was the camera, which had the photo from the plane that was my first view of South America.
Guess I can just take the last view from South America with my new camera... which I haven´t got yet... Another was, (and this hurts quite a bit) the mini tape recorder ´the girls´ gave me with about 10 tapes, one with their best wishes on it, and another tape with alot of my experiences so far. Guess I can just bore you all with my written instead of spoken word...
Another was the CASE of my hearing aid. (I almost wrote hearing aid case but you would have started to read that and think "shit! His hearing aid!" but I was wearing that at the time. I guess they must have thought it had a ring in it. Whenever I take it out in front of someone I say "such and such, I have something important to ask you..." hehe... well, no such fun now... And the other was my mini binoculars. Hope the little bastard is looking through them when I´m coming at him sideways because I´m on the prowl in Santiago. I may be able to track down who I THINK it is.
The police were not very helpful, although quite happy when I settled for just a statement for my insurance. They were pretty keen on making fun of the stupid gringo. Far out I´m so very much more aware of how it feels to not know the language and everyone laughing at you (or worse) thinking that you´re stupid. ¡¡I´ll show them!! ¡¡I´ll learn fluent Spanish and then they can know for sure!! By the way, "on the prowl" is kinda more like on the crawl, because the blisters on my heels are so bad I think one´s infected.
Yep, taking care of that so it doesn´t get bad. Can´t wear shoes at the moment, sandals with the back strap tucked in... yep.So, there´s my last day or two in a nutshell (they have nut stalls on the street called "nuts for nuts". Not sure if anyone gets the pun...). Other than that, I LOVE Chile. So much so, I want to see more of it! On the way OUT that is. Don´t listen to me. I´m having a weird day or two. Of course it´s too cheap to go to the trouble of looking for food myself so I´m experiencing alot of restaurants.
More expensive than I thought but once out of Chile it´ll be much cheaper.Everybody smokes in Santiago, which is funny that I say that for the first time here... this is the first internet cafe place that doesn´t have ashtrays next to the computers, and I wondered why it felt cleaner in here...A lovely owner of a cafe today (where I had my first chocolate calienté) was very proud of his country, and said I shouldn´t leave for those more dangerous climes.
He wanted me to explore the south, where he´s going to go when he can afford to buy a 4WD. There are alot of them here too, or it could be my connecting the blanket of smog with something that I hate. And I´m surprised that I haven´t seen anybody killed on the road - there´s not much patience for pedestrians (and that´s the peds who know which way the cars are coming!!)
It´s crazy out there, and there are scratches on all the cars and I often see people backing their car into a spot and bumping the next car.Um, the Cerro Santa Lucia is a wonderful escape from the CBD, right on the edge, it´s got a 630mtr peak (its a hill by the way) with a whole castle-like structure on it, which was used first by the priests, then by the nuns, then by the military. I had some photos of the place but...I was going to try to head off on Saturday on the 5 day, 10 seater Pachamama tourbus (which seems to visit some great places) to Calama (near Bolivia) and then the train across through the Uyuni salt plains and then to Cochabamba, but the bus is full and only runs once a week.
Not sure if I can hack another week here... There´s a regular bus that just goes up the guts for much cheaper and faster, but it´s not at all comfortable I hear, and there´ll be no multilingual tourguides... I could fly for about twice the price of the bus apparently (thanks 4WD cafe guy), but there´ll be no flying for this little chickadee... hmm... if I were a chickadee there probably would be flying... yep. So not sure yet. This little chickadee will see.I love you all. I´ll be fine from now on I´m sure *his hands rest fully on wood as he types* and I´ll get another camera (cheap! (the camera, not the chickadee...) and I have a webcam!! Let´s see how it works!!Love yas,Miguel
Next Letter:
Thurs 12 April...Hi all,It?s too darn expensive to do ANYthing in Chile. That?s why this email is so short. Outback tourist trap Chilé ©s not cheap!However, I?ve fallen in love with San Pedro de Atacama, just inside of Chile, and near the Bolivian border (it hit me last night about how incredibly close I was to Bolivia!!)
It runs almost primarily on tourist money (tours, internet, more tours, restaurants, hostels, tours). I was going to go back to Calama (where I travelled through to get here) tomorrow night and catch the train to Uyuni in the Bolivian Southwest where the salt lakes start from, but they finish here near San Pedro, and I heard that the train has wooden seats, broken windows, drafty floorboards and outside toilets (??)
so I?ve bitten the bullet and decided to go from here, in... a... *reconsiders momentarily but has already paid* a 4WD tour across the salt lakes to Uyuni. I know I know. I SAID I wouldn?t be sucked into such touristy stuff, but it?s ... well, no. I just want to see the lakes.But I do love San Pedro, with it?s unpaved streets, clay buildings(I?m sure it?s made of something else, but I?m no builder) little historic square and ... church, it?s very VERY colourful market (I bought a simple wide brimmed hat that fits!! (but I think I chose a pink one...), and it?s towering Andes mountainscape as a backdrop.
Just grand!I think I?m getting used to being the odd one out here. Giggles still whenever I have to walk under a doorway (which is EVERY doorway!) but more words to communicate with which only means more words that I don?t know! My camera (new) has been getting a workout and I think there are some real framable ones in there! (*feels it with his feet for security*) You wouldn?t have believed this until I told you (now) and I didn?t know until I got to South America, but Chile has such an anvanced space program that I was able to take a quick trip to ... the moon yesterday!
And not only that, but they?ve really pumped money into technology and have discovered the practical theories of time travel, so I went back to paleolithic times this morning. A real eye opener I can tells ya! Anyhow I´ll explain more when I can send some photos...I saw my first wildlife this morning (in space travel mode, and in that I didn?t count the countless dogs (which do count as wild for they aren?t owned and life for they are alive), the blue dragonfly, or the lizard that I don?t think was a lizard at all).
A bunch of prancing (or were they running from our big tour bus??) vicuñas(which are wild still), llamas (!! Finally, they aren?t wild), and a rabbit with a long tail, called something else... OH! And some Wyatas, which are big blanco y negro waterbirds and, and, and... flamingos!! Cool. But going now, cos I don?t have a Mercedes Benz to trade for this email time.Right. Adios. Love to you all,Michael.p.s.
Thank you all so much for you wonderful thoughtful and heartfelt words. They keep my going (as much at LEAST as the mountain range behind me does.) More personal one´s next week... promise!! No, I don?t promise. But I?ll try. Love yas.Sat 15 April.I´ve just arrived in interesting-to-say-the-least Uyuni.
What a few days! Where to start...Well, San Pedro will remain with me forever as a wonderful place of curious contrasts, but the Uyuni salt plains today (Salar de Uyuni) were a pleasure to behold. That photo that I was showing everyone from the lonely planet? Nuthin!!! Compared to the real thing. I put my blistered feet in the salty water (that was only present at ankle deep in some parts of the "lake") and didn´t scream but it helped I think!
We got there before sunrise this morning from Hotel Sal (a hotel made of Salt!! the tables, chairs, all the cutlery is made of stone from the moutainous edges of the lake) and I took photos. Nobody´s photos will compare to being there. Walk out onto the plains and it´s as quiet and comforting as the deepest clouds of a heaven that may or may not be there.Suffice to say, the last three days has been in non-internet country...
ANd suffice to say (only if you´re me) that flamingos can fly off to ... anyway, I´ve seen too many now, I´m sure they taste good... Active smouldering (!!!) volcanos, frisbee where there´s no such thing as a borderline (thanks Palmzie!) and some good friends made, both Chileans (there ARE some!!) and French/Belgian/South African/English/and even a New Zealander!Oh, Nick the NZer and Jane are moving to Melbourne soon.
Melbourne crew MUST make them welcome, especially cos they want to move to Brunswick!!I head to Cochabamba tomorrow night, after being in Uyuni for the day tomorrow. I´ve been surprised by the fact that, yes, older Bolivian women DO wear those bowler hats! All of them, nearly. Yet I haven´t seen any younger women in the same garb. Is it only for older women (I don´t think so) or is it a tradition that will die out in the next generation?
My new camera has caught some fantastic sights, including my chewing on coca leaves... don´t panic family, it´s really fine, and it really helped my altitude issues (topped 4000 metres on Thursday!!!) and it´s 3669 here in Uyuni. Didn´t get sick at all, just really scatterbrained (haha, for the impending comments) and tried to trot up a hill with the crew on the 4WD to see a sunset but we all nearly died! It took about 25 minutes to stop heaving for breath and it was only a little raise in the ground! Learnt my lesson...
Saw a wild fox (sly, they really are!) and a .... CONDOR!!! Two of them! I´m very happy about that. I have to download some photos I think... lots of photos. Lots of incredible montañas, lagunas, and me looking deep as red roses into the sunset while sitting on a 3 metre cactus...Can´t go on... I LOVE YOU ALL!!!Anyway, again, it´s really costly here *watching his bolivianos* and really slow so I can´t email more personally as yet.
I love ALL your contact with me. It really does make my day to see you in my inbox (that sounds Soooo impersonal in a group email, but I really really mean it.) Thank you all.More soon,Love, Michael.p.s. Rob Bednall, where ARE you? (I forget, I know you´re in Peru somewhere... sorry, altitude. You can blame alot on this you know!)p.p.s. Don´t need to get that free car from my travel doctor now... but all better, if you know what I mean... i.e. my doctor said he´d buy me a car if I didn´t get the shits.
And, can't resist a little bit of politics at least.
See Yez later
posted by tetmupco2 | 10:40 AM
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