11 December 2010

I could not sleep last night so rather than toss and turn and pray for slumber I left at about 2:30 a.m. Or 3:30. I don’t remember. It was only a few hours after I got back from observing the night sky. I blasted off into the black starlit desert night listening to Air and DJ Shadow’s What Does Your Soul Look Like and Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s F#A#∞. Once I was far away enough from San Pedro de Atacama I stopped to pour over the intense sky. The Southern Cross and Orion and the Magellanic Clouds were high overhead now. In the distance mines with all their lights appeared as cities deep in the desert wilderness.

I was very sleepy. I made it just outside of Baquedano when I pulled over just before the railroad tracks and curled up in the front seats and fell asleep with my head on a pillow on the passenger seat. A train woke me up but I quickly fell right back asleep once more. I think I only slept for forty-five minutes. I’m not sure but I did dream about a horrible wreck. I think my mind was harkening back to the overturned oil rig I saw on the drive to Cusco.

Outside of Baquedano I took a picture of the marker for the Tropic of Cancer. A thick cloud covered the area near Antofagasta. I couldn’t see much but it didn’t cover that huge an area and was quickly left behind.  Not far from this marker there is a large statue of a hand emerging from the desert.  I drove up to it to take a few photos. Someone had left a note for a friend in front of the sculpture.

Over a hill the landscape spread out and revealed itself like baked mashed potatoes all golden with dark crispy ridges. Some of the mountains had thick chocolate stripes running through them.

I thought I was going to stop in Copiapó, location of the mining disaster earlier this year, but I made it all the way to La Serena. I searched the guide for a hotel, asked a window washer where the road was, and promptly found out every hotel in town was full. There was gang graffiti everywhere. Even a tag reading “Satan te amo.” Definitely not a good area. But across the block, across the main road, I found Maria’s Casa which was full but the guy I spoke with pointed me to a house across the street. He said the old lady who lives there rents rooms cheap.

So I rang the bell and a plump older lady opened the door with the distinct sounds of Mozart’s Requiem playing behind her. She led me up to a grand room. Huge bed. And cheap I don’t know how she got up the stairs though because her left ankle was swollen like a beached whale. 

This lady’s place is great.  She has a large open courtyard complete with rosebushes and a birdcage with about 10 canaries and she has two cats prowling around. They like to walk up the stairs to the rooms and across the roof.

A search downtown turned up a vibrant city culture. The streets were full of shoppers and several street performers had amassed large crowds. I couldn’t find a cafe or wi-fi so I headed over to the mall to use their free wireless. It was just like any typical mall in America with a China Wok in the food court and 90s rock blaring from the speakers. Even the people looked like typical mall-rats. A man came up to me to ask about the wi-fi.  He was trying to access it with his iPhone.