Not many highlights from this trip. It was a short trip (8 weeks) with the goal of visiting the 8 countries in South America that I hadn't been to before, and to hitch as much of the route as possible. I didn't bring a proper camera with me on this trip and tried not to take any pictures on my iPod either. The pictures I did take where therefore definitely the highlights.
The Ferrobús that runs the Sucre to Potosi route. Bolivia has some of South America's only surviving passenger rail service. The route to Potosi is spectacular and stops in many villages that aren't served by roads.
Hiking in the Atacama desert in Chile. The driest place in the world. No rain has been recorded here for as long as Europeans have been keeping track, over 400 years. I did a 2 day trek, alone, near San Pedro de Atacama.
The ghost town of Santa Laura. Also in the Atacama, Santa Laura was a Saltpeter (nitrate) mining town abandoned in 1960.
This part of Chile was previously a part of Peru until Chile decided it wanted the nitrates for itself, a conflict known locally as the Guerra del Pacífic.
The Santa Laura extraction plant.
Nitrates were of major importance in early 19th century agriculture. Chilean nitrates were the finest in the world.
Carrefour in Colombia! My 28th Carrefour country.
Meeting Juan and Laura in Colombia. Juan aka Acrobat of the Road, has been a major influence in my travels. I've been reading his blog for 5 years now and his stories inspired me to add hitchhiking to my travel repertoire back in 2006. Five years later and I'm pretty much a full time hitchhiker.
