i drove some more in the atacama desert today (the driest on earth). it’s beautiful or boring, depending on how long you’ve been driving. one nice thing, though, is that there’s cell phone and radio coverage just about everywhere (better coverage than the us). and, the radio is actually quite good (…for some reason, chileans love 80s music). i also drove through my first sand storm — it was pretty crazy. at times i had less than 10 feet of visibility, with pretty strong cross winds.<\/p>\n
i’m now in antofagasta, which is the capital of the region. lonely planet says it’s not much of a place to visit…and they’re sorta right. although the entrance to the city couldn’t be prettier: a few clay soccer fields (being used) overlooking the ocean below. for the first time since my travels, i walked around a city at night, by myself, with no restrictions of dangerous places, no cops, etc. it’s a nice feeling. i also ran across a small place selling cheese empanadas: delicious cheese, in delicious dough, deep fried in delicious grease, until the cheese is melted and the dough blistered. later, i found a huge supermarket….actually, more of a super-walmart, selling everything from lumber to kiwis. speaking of which, kiwis were about 80 cents per kilogram….and they weren’t even on sale.<\/p>\n\n\t\t