Raul
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Skiing When I Should Be Burning Up
More Details: Skiing When I Should Be Burning UpI am getting to spend a heck of a lot of time in Chile lately, as in the last few months. A great bonus is that it is winter here right now. Since the Andes are LITERALLY right there, mountains + winter = skiing! I hadn’t skied in like 7 yrs when ski season started…
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“Unsuccessful” Visit to the Geysers del Tatio
More Details: “Unsuccessful” Visit to the Geysers del TatioOne of the tours I wanted to make based on all the recommendations I got was to see the Geysers del Tatio, very close to the Bolivian border. The day before the tour, as I was visiting the Lagunas Altiplanicas, our tour guide kept telling us how some people have gotten killed and a few…
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El Valle de la Luna and the Laguna Cejar in the Atacama
More Details: El Valle de la Luna and the Laguna Cejar in the AtacamaAs was recommended to me, I booked tours with a local agency from San Pedro de Atacama. I certainly love driving myself around but this was a trip I am glad I didn’t do that in. Perhaps on a future trip I would drive but the area is not consistently well labeled and some of…
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Why I Chose to Visit the World’s Driest Desert – the Atacama
More Details: Why I Chose to Visit the World’s Driest Desert – the AtacamaVisiting a desert? Isn’t it all just like dry and sandy? Why? I had been to the Sahara desert but mainly in the vicinity of the Nile River in Egypt. And while it is likely not representative of the rest of the Sahara (opinions, readers?), I thought how different can they all be from each…
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Exploring the Atacama Desert – Getting to San Pedro de Atacama
More Details: Exploring the Atacama Desert – Getting to San Pedro de AtacamaLast weekend, I got to travel on the Chilean holiday to San Pedro de Atacama to explore the desert around it and its sights. The flight from Santiago, bought in Chile, was under $250 and I could have gotten it cheaper had I bought it earlier. Two co-workers were planning to travel with me but…
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Unexpected Opportunities in Bulgaria: the Rila Monastery and Plovdiv
More Details: Unexpected Opportunities in Bulgaria: the Rila Monastery and PlovdivGoing to Bulgaria and only seeing Sofia is a crime, in my book – Plovdiv and the Rila Monastery prove my point. Sofia has some of the key sites to see in Bulgaria for sure but it is only but a fraction of what a visitor should experience. I did not have ample time to…
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Visiting my First Eastern European Capital: Bulgaria’s Sofia
More Details: Visiting my First Eastern European Capital: Bulgaria’s SofiaAs I wrote in other entries about the trip to Bulgaria, the main purpose of my visit to Sofia was to attend a wedding. Around the various events, though, I had time to check out the city, of about 1.2 million residents (15th largest city in the European Union as of this writing) by walking…
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A Wedding in Bulgaria
More Details: A Wedding in BulgariaEarly this year, one of my cousins told me she had to go to Sofia, Bulgaria for a friend’s wedding and that she was hoping her Dad or another cousin would go with her. My ears perked up and I offered that, if neither could go, I may be able to go with her. Bulgaria,…
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My Return to Santiago Post-Earthquake
More Details: My Return to Santiago Post-EarthquakeI left Santiago the Thursday before the incredible events of that Saturday morning in late February 2010. As I woke up that Saturday morning at home, I looked at my Blackberry and I had a news alert about an 8.8 earthquake in Chile. My heart stopped. I had just left there. I have friends and…
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Mendoza Wine Tour
More Details: Mendoza Wine TourAs I said in my previous entry about Mendoza, wines are the other good reason to go to Mendoza – the capital of wine in Argentina. Wine tasting in Mendoza I had Saturday to play around so I opted for a tour of several wineries as I didn’t feel like renting a car and driving…