Ceviche che (Gujarati joke... 'che' means 'there is' in Gujarati...)
Writing from Cusco, Peru

We flew from Santiago to Lima primarily as a stopover en route to the Inca Trail and Machu Pichu. Unlike Chile, which has a relatively small native population (about a million Mapuche in the South), Peru embraces and flaunts its Incan and Quechua heritage. Nearly half the population considers itself indigenous. In the main square -- Plaza de Armas -- Lima recently tore down the statue of Pizarro and replaced it with a fountain. Pizarro, you´ll remember, defeated the Inca leader Atahualpa with only 180 men.

Two photos from the Colonial part of the city. Lima´s known for wooden balconies, but we liked this one along the main pedestrian thoroughfare...

And this one underscores why they call it Plaza de Armas...
Our second day in Lima we taxied out to Miraflores, a hip neighborhood on the ocean. After a silky ceviche lunch, we found what Bella has called ´the greatest mall ever´ -- Larcomar, built into the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Bella had a backrub, a Starbucks coffee, and salted roasted peanuts. These are a few of her favorite things...

Nearby we lounged in the Parque de Amor. Mosaic tiles spell out love drenched Spanish quotations. Bella liked this one, and asked me to pose by it.

Santiago, Spain... er... Chile
writing from Cusco, Peru

Glad to be off the Navimag, Bella and I hopscotched north to Santiago (by bus), then Lima, and now Cusco (both by plane).

A few photos and thoughts from Santiago. We took the bus from Puerto Montt to Santiago with Natasha, new friend from Navimag, and a surgery resident from UCSF. Her family is from Goa and Pune -- so we chatted about international health, the diversity of Patels, and wine. The three of us toured the city a bit the next day -- very mellow. Stopped at a hostel´s cafe during the day to grab a cup of coffee, and learned it was run by a group of Hare Krishna converts. I guess you can leave the subcontinent, but the subcontinent never leaves you...

Santiago felt 2 hours north of Madrid. Very modern, very cosmopolitian, with bicycle lanes, well maintained parks, and a compelling art scene in the Bellavista neighborhood. Two photos we picked...


Walking through downtown, we felt a bit underdressed -- like strolling the Champs Elysees in ripped jeans and a concert T-shirt. Even the street signs reinforce the business chic dress code. Check out the woman´s stylish hat and flashy skirt!


We took the funicular up Cerro San Cristobal to get a panoramic view of the city. The smog lightened a bit for us and we could actually see the Andes cradling the metropolis below us.

A THREE HOUR TOUR
writing from Puerto Montt, Chile


We boarded a ferry at Puerto Natales called the NaviMag, and looked forward to 3 days of lounging on the deck, watching snow covered peaks ease by.



Too bad it was overcast. And cold. Ah, but three days would leave us on land again, and we could mosey up to Santiago and stroll through Valparaiso. Except that we had to cross the Gulf of Penas first. The morning we neared the Gulf, the captain opted to wait out a brewing storm, guided us into the safety and calm of a shallow bay, and dropped anchor. 65 mph sustained winds, 100 mph gusts, and 40 foot waves in the gulf kept us in the bay for 2 days. Bella and I played a lot of gin rummy.

Finally, off to the gulf! "Ahora, toma su pastillas!" came a friendly reminder over the loudspeaker. I´ve never been sea sick, so I thought to ride it out. Mistake for me. So after a few unpleasant minutes in the head, I downed a few zofran and a milligram of ativan. Bella and I spent the day unconscious in our bunks, soothed by the rocking (sometimes violent) of the sea.

Met some fun people, practiced our Spanish, only two days delayed, but we´re more than happy to be back on terra firma...

Bella liked this sign. Would be nice to have this option in the office/hospital...

FLATAGONIA
writing from Puerto Montt, Chile

Wetook a ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, both in Chile. We´re hanging out now waiting for a bus to Santiago, and have some time to update the blog.

Story from Patagonia. We had a fabulous road trip as the pictures Bella posted can attest. The penultimate day we relaxed in a small town Lago Posadas, Argentina. After gorging ourselves on Argentinian meat and Chilean fish, the hotel managers soothed us with vegetarian fare. Home grown tomatoes, home canned fruit preserves, and spinach lasagna reminded us of life beyond carne carne carne. We left the next day at 4 AM to make sure we´d get back to Calafate on time for our bus the day after to Chile. I slid into the driver's seat ready to tackle the rocky roads, and Bella snuggled into the back ready to catch up on sleep.

All smooth for the first 2 hours. Sure the car fishtailed a few times on loose gravel, and once we made close aquaintance with desert shrubbery... but with a flat road on a flat plain with no cars for a hundred miles in either direction, we felt fine fine.

Until the road got really bumpy. Galump galump galumpy. I got out and consoled our right front tire, which had suffered a 3 inch deep laceration perpendicular to the rim. Channeling my hidden Nascar, I fished the spare (a full spare, not a donut, thank god...) pumped up the car, replaced the tire, and balanced the tension of the nuts with the greatest of ease. I was really proud of myself, I gotta say.

Bella took over at the wheel (she suggested that now without a spare we should avoid future encounters with shrubbery) and I cozied into the back, dreaming of Calafate.

An hour later, galump. Galump galump galump. The picture below is of our *left* front tire. No consolation to give -- this patient had expired.


Elisabeth Kubler-Ross describes five stages of grief -- shock, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We felt them all in a moment, but quickly moved to what Kubler-Ross must have forgotton. Laughing. Mostly laughing. Because when the nearest town is eighty miles away and you haven´t seen another car for four hours, laughing feels like the right choice.

We consulted our map, and decided we were too far away from anything to hope for a timely rescue. The road to the nearest town turned off 15-20 miles ahead of us. We spent a few moments with the front right rim, remembering how nice it´d been to be round, and then we started the car and galumped our way south.

The rest of the day exceeded our expectations, to our delight. We reached the intersection and headed toward town, and after maybe 2 hours a truck finally appeared in the rear view mirror. We hitched a ride to town (Gobarnador Gregores, Argentina), found an ATM and a mechanic, bought two new tires and rims, and actually made it back to Calafate in time for a late dinner.

Check out the fabulous map Bella made of our trip.

More Patagonia Pics!
El Calafate, Argentina
(writing from Puerto Natales, Chile)

Here are some more pictures of our Patagonian Parambulations. The exciting roadtrip adventure story is coming soon, Zach promises...

Perito Moreno Glacier, or the Inspirations poster for "Determination"


Did we mention that James Bond joined us briefly? Yes, his resemblance to Stephen is striking.


Badasses on the Glacier near Cerro Torres


What did you do last weekend?


Mirador at Mt. Fitz Roy--also a plug for Casual Adventure!


The epitome of the Patagonian roadtrip:


Artsy shot of an abandoned observatory by the side of Ruta 40, Argentina


Cuevos de los Manos, posing with 9000-year-old handprints:


Marble grottoes near Rio Tranquilo, Chile--or Patagonian Smurf Habitat?


Best Road Sign Award: Watch out for exploding volcanoes? (Seen on the side of the road just over the border into Chile)


Guanacos and Craggy Peaks--South American Safari


Crazy Clouds over the Chilean-Argentine border

Hiking Photos!
El Calafate, Argentina
(writing from Puerto Natales, Chile)

We´ve made it in one piece to Puerto Natales, and are headed out on a boat tonight. We had some excellent road trip adventures, which Zach should fill in shortly. But first, since we´re failing miserably in uploading photos, I thought I´d share some hiking pics courtesy of our amazing hiking companions, Margaret y Stephen:

Setting out for 5 days of backpacking around Mt. Fitz Roy:


It´s Fall here!


Zach tests our ice climbing harnesses...


Vanna, show us a glacier please!

Pascua Feliz!
Coyhaique, Chile

We´re not really sure if Jesus loves us, but Chile is certainly treating us well. After Margaret and Stephen left us for the Northern Hemisphere, we decided the best way to overcome our post-partum sadness was to rent a car and drive the wild roads of Argentine and Chilean Patagonia. We spent Good Friday bumping along Ruta 40, a ripio road that is Argentina´s dirt & gravel answer to US Route 66. After 10 hours of rattling our way through absolute and sublime desolation of desert scrub, rocky mesas, and signature Patagonian winds, we ended up eating cheese and peanuts for dinner (washed down with some grapefruit-flavored Tang), and sleeping by the side of the road--gloriously fulfilling our trip ambition of doing things that will be much more difficult when we´re older and infirm. Saturday, our brave little VW Golf brought us slowly but surely over the border into Chile, where we were astonished to see long expanses of pavement, tall green trees, and the glowy golden lights of cabins dotting the mountain roads. We woke up this lovely Pascua morning in hearty little Coyhaique, the scrappy capital of central Chilean Patagonia. The skies are cloudy-but-bright, and there are snow-capped Andes on the horizon. Soon we´ll get back on the road, headed down the mythical Carretera Austral--Chile´s wild southern road (paved for at least a little ways)that runs until the glaciers and ocean cut it off.

We´re hoping to be back in Argentina on Wednesday night, and then we´ll go down to Puerto Natales (the southern tip of Chile) to catch a boat that navigates the fjords and glaciers of southwestern Chile for 3 days to bring us back north to Puerto Montt--a 15-hour bus ride south of Santiago.

It´s amazing to see so many fall colors in April. We really are in the Southern Hemisphere. Orion looks upside down in the night sky. The moon is waxing and waning from the opposite directions. I haven´t noticed that the toilet flushes the other way, though. And we have yet to figure out which of the kite-shaped constellations is the Southern Cross...

p.s. Interesting language experiment with "Pascua Feliz" -- if you put "Happy Easter" into Babelfish, and translate from English to Spanish, you get "Pascua Feliz." But if you put in "Pascua Feliz" and translate from Spanish to English, you get "Happy Passover." Language and religion are funny things. Happy Eastover!

Blog, Resurrected
El Chalten, Argentina (Patagonia)
Just in time for Easter, our long lost travelogue is making a miraculous return from the dead. The past six months in India were a whirlwind of work and sensory overload--we´ll have to fill in that (large, gaping) hole later. Meanwhile, I am happy to report that we are alive and kicking in wild and windy Patagonia. Our amazing friends Margaret and Stephen decided to fly down to the far south of Argentina to join us for an other-worldly backpacking adventure around the Fitz Roy Glacier. We spent five days tramping through gorgeous fall foliage, negotiating switchbacks along steep scree of bouldery moraines, and scaling sheer cliffs of ice on the glacier (complete with ice axes and crampons!). We got lost on the last day of our hike, and ended up on a dirt road ten miles out of town--fortunately for us, there was a lovely little rustic B&B just down the way that served up a lovely Malbec and outrageous views of the mountains. They also helped us get a cab back to the little frontier town of El Chalten, where we´re happily sipping mate in a cozy hostel. Margaret and Stephen head back to the northern hemisphere tomorrow, while Zach and I will try to figure out the best way to get to Chile. Here we are after being lost and found on the last day of our trek...