La Cordillera

Home?

Yes, in the far distance is Santiago engulfed in its own pollution.

La Cordillera

Since I stayed in Santiago for the past two weekends, I opted to get out for bit and head east to the infamous Andes during this past one. With the exception of getting motion sick on switch-backs and subsequently throwing up on the way up and the way down (luckily, I had two bags :) ), the day was very relaxing and beautiful. I've never been a big skier or snowboarder, so I just hung out in a restaurant, got some homework done, read, walked around, gave some Chileans a good laugh by falling on some ice, and, most importantly, enjoyed the views. The location I spent the day at was coincidentally named El Colorado, but all similarities between the Rockies of home and the Andes of Chile ended with the area's name. In fact, the Andes are quite a different mountain range. As you can see, there are no trees, which is a bit eerie. I don't believe we were that high, so timberline didn't come into play. I think that is just the nature of the range. Even the snow was different-much more icy than the typical powder back home. But, in all, it was enjoyable to get away from the city, be in the mountains, and experience something new in Chile. And it did remind me very much of home and the infamous Harris Forced Family (Winter) Outings :)