mountains, thermal baths and carne, oh my

So B, G and I piled in with Mindy and Andy into their 4x4 for a 1.5 hr drive to the mountains and thermal baths. As we got closer to the mountains, the sun grew hotter as the air got colder.

We passed a few mountain cowboys.









The sun was burning Andy´s driving arm and head, so he hid under some clothes. Asians aren´t common in this area, so imagine the stares we got from passing cars--4 Asian girls and a pink Scottish dude with a striped Urban Outfitters tee draped over his head.









Thermal baths running down snow-capped mountains









Boy and nature










Mindy and Andy´s friend Mauricio invited us all down to his cabin for hot tea. Ten minutes later, 7 or 8 more guys showed up with beer and party favors. They broke out huge slabs of beef and started up the wood-burning stove. ´Twas quite a feast.









We leave for Machu Picchu tomorrow. We´re also practicing our sun salutations.

Some pics of Valparaiso and surrounding areas...










Yummy street food: doubling up on the hot dogs, guacamole and mayo.



























Bec, G and I making pizzas at home with our hosts Andy and Mindy:

we´ve arrived

So the three of us arrived in Santiago safely. In the last two and a half days, we managed to hit two beaches (Valparaiso), drive up rocky, snow-capped mountains, and bathe in healing thermal baths and pack mud on our faces to tighten up them pores, and hang out with Chilean mountain men who cooked us carne and offered to share their recreational plant life. pics to come.

jungle adventure checklist

So we leave for Chile in less than 24 hours. Our supportive coworkers created this checklist, and we can obtain points if we accomplish these tasks:

10 pts Spit on by a llama
20 pts Altitude sickness
10 pts Sun salutations on Machu Picchu (per cycle)
10 pts Cuy for dinner
10 pts Stoned