Okay, I didn't actually get much sleep on the overnight bus from Iquique to Calama, but I did get about an hour on the Calama to San Pedro de Atacama bus. That lyric's been looping around my brain, though, for better or worse -- I'm sure the sleep deprivation has had something to do with that. After a couple days in the beach town of Arica, I spent about a day and a half in the much larger beach town of Iquique. I think I've had my fill of beaches for the time being, but I did find a pretty great restaurant in Iquique -- El Tercer Ojito. If you ever find yourself in Iquique, Chile, make sure you check it out.

A little gem of a place I stumbled into was the Teatro Municipal of Iquique (I like saying Iquique), located right on Plaza Prat. It's been around for some time, and at the moment they're assessing what all needs to be done to restore it. While this is going on, you can go in and roam around to your heart's content, completely unsupervised, for only 1000 pesos (about $1.50). Pretty cool, and I was able to sneak out a vintage wall sconce in my daypack -- awesome souvenir! [Okay, so I didn't actually do that, but there's really nothing stopping you...]

Looking down at the Teatro Municipal stage from the top of the main aisle -- Iquique, Chile

Looking out at the balconies and the ceiling.

I liked the composition of this shot of the top of the stage and the two parts of the ceiling, but it was a hard one for me to get with my little Elph.

Close up of an angel painted, with shadow, above the stage.

Different faces from what I assume is Greek mythology lined the ceiling above the balconies. Maybe this is Zeus? Maybe a muse?

This one's for the theater geeks -- the wooden stageworks below the stage. Pretty much every area of the theater was open for wandering around.

So now I'm in San Pedro and will be spending the next few days roaming about the altiplano, checking out lakes and volcanos and birds and dunes and cool rock formations and geysers and other fun stuff like that. Maybe even some ruins. But no beaches.

¡Feliz año nuevo! I made it to Chile for New Year's, and it was pretty fun. Lots of live music in one of the downtown plazas, and then a splashy fireworks display from the top of El Morro, the town's iconic headland and former Peruvian military fort. Yeah, there's a lot of history between Perú and Chile that I'm only now starting to learn about. Anyway, my first impressions of Chile are a little odd, but it's probably just the transition from Perú to Chile. I'll see how it goes in the coming weeks. But so far, Peruvian food seems better, and there are a lot more overweight Chileans than Peruvians. Chile is much more safe, though. Blah, blah, blah -- enough with the generalizations! Here are a whole lot of pictures from Perú. Sorry about not getting them up earlier, but better late than never, eh? First six are from the three-day Colca Canyon trek. The trek part was actually just two days -- the third day was some condor-watching and a visit to some hot springs.

Colca Canyon, Perú

The hike down into Colca Canyon

Donkey driver, Colca Canyon

Village church, Colca Canyon

The Oasis, a little slice of tourist heaven at the bottom of Colca Canyon with natural spring-fed swimming pools. Note the switchbacks on the left -- that was the start of the hike out.

One of several condors I saw in Colca Canyon

The next batch are from the Santa Catalina convent in Arequipa. It's a lovely complex with all sorts of picture-taking opportunities. Had a hard time picking out the following five. There are still some nuns living in the convent, actually.

A fancy door in the Santa Catalina convent -- Arequipa, Perú

Big ol' pot in a garden in the Santa Catalina convent -- Arequipa, Perú

I loved this little bell -- Arequipa, Perú

The area between "Cordoba Street" and "Toledo Street" in the Santa Catalina convent -- Arequipa, Perú

Did I say I loved this little bell? Here's a more general view of it.

And finally we come to the "half-day" rock climbing trip. Supposedly it was to last from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, but we didn't get back until 4:00, which was perfectly fine by me. Climbed a two-pitch 5.8, which seemed a little stiff for the grade, then from the top of that walked over to a dry waterfall/slot canyon -- three falls, each with a rappel anchor. At the bottom of the third rappel were three more climbs, a 6a (10a), a two-pitch 6b/7a (10c/11c or thereabouts), and a new 6b. My favorite was the 6a -- great holds and fun moves.

Here I am, happily rappelling down a dry waterfall. Don't worry, my left hand was my brake hand. Arequipa, Perú.

Climbing Choco Loco, a very fun 6a (5.10a) -- Arequipa, Perú

Just after making the crux move on the first pitch of La Hierba. First pitch is 6b (5.10c), second pitch is 7a (5.11c or so), which we didn't climb.

Approaching the anchors of the first pitch of La Hierba. As you can see, this was a lovely little place to climb.

Well, what to say about Colca Canyon? It's a gorgeous area with steep cliffs, soaring condors, and less steep valleys covered with terraced farms and dotted with villages. I think the first day -- hiking 1000m down -- was the hardest. My feet were pretty sore after that. The hike up wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, probably because it was all clouded up, so we weren't subjected to direct sunlight. Got a bit of rain on the way up, too, which wasn't helpful, but hey, I live in Seattle -- hiking in the rain makes me feel at home, right?

Saw several condors, and even got a few pictures that weren't completely blurry. I'll post a few photos tomorrow. Next up is a morning of rock climbing here in Arequipa. Whee!

This one night last week in Lima, I walked into a little restaurant, and an older gentleman sitting alone brusquely motioned me over. "My name is Antonio," he said. "I am a poet. Please join me." He indicated the seat opposite. Turns out he was Antonio Cisneros, and he's a really funny, smart guy. Spent the evening drinking beer with him and talking about (or, actually, listening to him talk about) everything from politics to women to travel to language, etc. It was also interesting to see random people walking by recognize him and tell him how much they love his poetry. He also introduced me to the former Peruvian ambassador to the U.N. who happened to walk by.

As for the present, I signed up for a three day trek into Colca Canyon, which should be fun if the weather holds. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I also found a little agency that does rock climbing trips, so after the trek I'll get in a half-day or so of climbing on some Arequipa rock. Now I just need to pack a few things for the trek...

I'm happy to say that this morning I woke up, got high, and did some lines. That is, I went on a scenic overflight in a little Cessna 6-seater and saw the Nazca Lines. I have a few hours to kill before my bus to Arequipa leaves, so I decided to upload a bunch of the Nazca pictures -- lucky you!

Whale -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Dog -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Monkey -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Spider -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Condor -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Hummingbird -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Albatross -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Hands -- Nazca Lines, Peru

Tree -- Nazca Lines, Peru

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