it’s nice to be back on the road…i feel refreshed and confident after my long break in santiago. surrounding santiago is a toll road which works on those electronic devices you put on your windshield. if you don’t have one, you’re not supposed to go on the road. i tried to avoid it, but i think at one point i may have been on the road…and there may now be a fine on the sentra — oh well.

it’s incredible how different the environments surrounding santiago are. to the north, you have the atacama desert (the driest one in the world, i believe); to the west, the pacific ocean with ports, fishing villages and penguins; to the east, the andes and some fun skiing; and to the south, forests, waterfalls and glaciers. along the way, i decided to stop by salto del laja, a waterfall which was much nicer than i expected…and a great introduction to my renewed journey.