Well, can´t say I did much hiking in Putre because... Arnon had troubles with the altitude and I was lazy as usually. Anyway, Putre is a good place to be lazy and have a headache, and that is what we did! Didn´t see more of Lauca park than just what driving through it in rain and oncoming fogshowed me, but I believe it is very beautiful. Just a shame that the border posts are so ugly. Hmmm, at the Chilean immigration in Chungará (in Lauca) we had to take ALL the luggage out of the bus for inspeccion (the chileans are so worried about us wanting to smuggle fruits or cheese or even semen into Chile) and somehow my walking stick fell off my backpack. As I was putting the pack on the x-ray device a guard came in with the stick in his hand, asking whose it was. "Oh, hey, that´s mine, thanks!" I said, and got a funny look from the guards: "What is this???" They had obviously never seen a Leki walking stick before so I told them the truth: "Ah, it´s for beating up my husband". This made their day completely, and as I went into the bus again the first guard blinked to me and said: "Just make sure you beat him REALLY hard". It takes so little to please small hearts :)

Now we are in Arica (Arnon needed low altitudes again, and I needed someone to see me off at the bus terminal tonight) where it is hot and humid and the cormorants nest in the palms. Note this: the cormorants nest in the palms. Hey, so far I´ve only seen cormorants nesting in cliffs in cold Iceland or next to the penguins down in the Antarctic. What on earth are they doing in palm trees in North Chile??? We got here yesterday and I am leaving for Antofagasta on a bus tonight, then I´ll jump on a plane to Santiago tomorrow morning and... uff, it´s over. The plane to Paris/London leaves Santiago in the early afternoon of the 10th. Less than 48 hours remain. Hard to believe. Where should I go next???