Pica, Iquique

Still in Iquique, tonight I will leave for La Serena, only about a 16 hour bus ride. I didn't want to do really long rides, but there aren't too many places I want to stop between here and La Serena, plus I don't really have that much time, so I decided to just go for a long ride. Hopefully I will sleep through a big chunk of it since it leaves in the evening.

Yesterday I went to Pica for the day, an oasis in the desert. It's a nice little town where many lemon and lime trees grow. The big attraction there is the communal hot spring which is basically like a huge swimming pool with a little cave and a waterfall. The entrance fee was not much so of course I had to go for a dip. It was quite crowded though so I really didn't stay all that long as swimming by yourself amongst a crowd of people isn't the most fun. But I did enjoy the people watching. For some reason, many people decided to smear dirt onto their faces from the side of the spring where trees grow. Then they would continue to swim with the dirt on their faces so the result was some kind of mud face mask. Maybe it's good for the skin.

The other main attraction of Pica is the fresh juice, of course I had some, and of course it was delicious. Since I've crossed back into Chile I've had fresh juice at least once a day, but usually more like twice. I like the juice here better, I think they might put more sugar in it than the Peruvians do, plus in Peru they use a lot more water. Although I will say, yesterday I ate a mango, and any of the mangos I ate in Peru would have beat that mango in a taste competition, hands down. I miss the mangos of Peru.

I returned to Iquique after my day in Pica just in time to sit on the beach and enjoy watching the sun set. The sunset is probably the best thing about the Pacific Ocean, absolutely gorgeous.

Today is a day for hanging out, getting stuff done I need to do, and so on. I will definitely spend some time loafing around on the beach this afternoon. Then it's time to move on. I have really enjoyed Iquique though, I'm glad I came here. It has a great relaxed atmosphere which is probably exactly what I needed.

I am still missing the children of Casa Hogar tremendously. Occasionally I look at the pictures I took of them on my camera. Soon I will be reunited with my computer and will be able to share many more photos from these past few months.