O.k. From the top...

20 Abril 2006

O.k. Everyone, from the top...
Hi all. I´m just giving you a look at some photos very quickly. I won´t wax lyrical (like at the rally) about the advent of my blog. Everyone just accept it´s importance and we´ll leave it at that.The first 3 photos are from Santiago where I landed, some from the ... yes... tours around San Pedro de Atacama, and others from my first forays into the hallowed land of Bolivia, and they´re also from my new camera, so you don´t get to see the New Zealand Airport (forshame!) or my first sighting of the South American continent...But you do see a rare sign in Santiago - a Bicycles Only sign down a quiet street (which is also a rare occurance).And you do see part of a great action in Santiago, near Los Heroes Train Station, an indigenous rally demanding the release of political prisoners arrested at another peaceful rally to oppose mining on indig. land. I was interviewed on this day by an English speaking local doco maker, and was encouraged to wax lyrical about our own "sorry" state of indigenous affairs.And you do see what goes on aside the presidential palace of the new Chilean President Bachelet. Everyone gets to see photos of the palace and the guards (who posed for me, nice guardies, good guardies...) and the ... palacebut these police cars are truely fascinating! The cages might resist all sorts of attacks, but those from cameras are dealt with by the officers, like the one on his way up to me in the background... he wagged his finger at me, I expostulated that I was an Australian tourist and what was wrong with taking an innocent photo, he charaded his foot grinding my camera into the dirty cement, but instead of the camera being broken, the conversation was massacred as we chatted about the necessity of such measures to resist the rabbelous masses.And you do see why exactly I got those new moon boots. I actually made it to the moon (as per the email ranting about Chile´s advanced space program. Moon Valley is as surreal as the prehistoricity (word!) of Geysers del Tatio, all around my beloved San Pedro de Atacama, the quaint little tourist village doing it´s best (and a darn good job!) to hold onto the history and culture that gives depth to the "been there, done that"ness of the swarms of cameras.And you do see my favourite place in all the world thus far (except for home) on Isle de Pescado or Fish Island. We got up to see the sunrise over the Salt Lakes (behind me). This island is literally covered in such cactus action and the horizons are either the montañas or non-existent.And I´ve just realised why the internet access here is only 2 Bolivianos por hora, I´ve been waiting for 4 photos to upload to the blog for most of the hour now... So you may not get all the photos... more soon.Love while sitting on a geyser, your Bolivian Correspondent.