Hello once again to all my amigos y amigas,
Yes, it has been months since I've posted anything here, but now I want to let you all know that the silence ends here. I've decided to once again return to my vagabonding ways with another Argentina/Chile adventure tour in another one of my friend/agent André's sturdy 4x4 extended cab pickup trucks.
I will leave my home here in Nevada two weeks from now to drive up to Oregon, where I will do the Thanksgiving holiday with my son Peter. Then, after we have somewhat recovered from gorging on turkey and dressing, we drive up to Portland from his home in Ashland for a bleary-eyed 6:30 a.m. flight on the morning of Nov. 25 to Atlanta for an overnight non-stop connecting flight back to Santiago, with my arrival there scheduled for 8:35 a.m. Nov. 26, Chilean time.
I'll admit that before I made the decision to make this new journey, I spent a big stretch of my summer grappling with dark personal issues relating to the pros and cons of doing a 4th extended South American journey a mere eight months after my return from the last visit. And although I consider myself to be a very private person who does not make a point of broadcasting my personal situation in general, I have to admit that for me, the year 2007 after my return from the last trip im March has not been a time of brightness. But it is not worth dwelling on all the discouraging personal issues here on this public forum because that is not the purpose of the blog here. We all have good years and bad. Now I am looking forward to this new adventure with anticipation and the sort of measured excitement of a relatively seasoned South American gringo traveler.
As I've noted, I'll be arriving in Santiago on the morning of November 26th. I'll be spending my first days again enjoying the friendship and hospitality of my buen amigo and agent, Andrés Gabor, there in the Chilean metropolis with his family, before heading out on the road on the 29th. I admit that after purchasing my ticket I grappled with the question of whether or not I would aim my rental truck south or north, but finally to go north won out, and I am sorry if my decision was a disappointment to my friends in Patagonia, who had received a preliminary message from me saying I was going to go that direction.
I will miss seeing them. But in the end, I decided I had to decide what would be the most meaningful direction for me, and in the end, I have to say, that the parts of Chile and Argentina that I have connected with most profoundly have been to the north of Santiago: meaning the northern Chile Atacama desert and the trans-cordillera route into the most northwestern provinces of Argentina, namely Jujuy and Salta, especially the towns of Susques (Jujuy) and Cafayate (Salta). I also think that this time I need to book some significant time in the city of Salta (not just traversing through to get to Cafayate this time) because it is such a cultural hub, and I remember it was originally going to be my "point of rendezvous" with my then-long-distance South American traveling friend, the wine expert from Holland, Claudia Van Dongen back during my 2006 mega-trip. But on that journey I found myself logging in an extremely long drive from the northernmost Chilean city of Arica (on the Peruvian border) to Salta for that planned reunion, but before I got there, she e-mailed me to tell me that she had seen enough of that city and was heading on to Cafayate to check out their vineyards.....
Well, that meant I had to do a couple hundred extra kilometers to re-connect withn her, but in the end it was worth it. Of course, It was great to reunite with Claudia, but even more so, in retrospect, it was worth it to discover the wonderful town of Cafayate and to experience the beauties of the region there. So you can be damn sure I am going back there! Watch for stories and images from there and other ports-of-call from now until my return to the USA on January 20, 2008.
So now that I have this imminent pending trip on tap, I am hoping that you can take some time to visit this blog once again to see where I am and to read about what I am up to. I welcome you aboard for a vicarious jump, once again, into the lands far below thre equator, where spring is happening - right now!!!
Cheers,
John M. "Smokey" Koelsch
The Atacama Viajero
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