Chile & Easter Island

Tomorrow, I leave for Chile!

The plan is to fly in to Santiago, and then head north to Valparaiso, a nearby seaport city.  I’ll be spending the majority of my time, though, in one of the most remote places in the world: Easter Island.

It’s my first major trip traveling alone, and I’m really excited about it.   Over Thanksgiving, I did a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat, which was awesome.  (If it’s something you’ve considered, I’d highly recommend it.  It’s a challenging experience, but definitely worth it.)  So, I think having this time by myself in place like Chile will be invigorating.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to lots of photography (I got a new lens!), culture, spanish practice, beach time, yoga, and SUN.

Oh, and attempting to subsist entirely on empanadas and chilean wine.

I may come back weighing 300 pounds.  🙂

Quick facts:

• local time
  • valparaiso:  UTC – 3 (noon in seattle = 5pm in valparaiso)
  • easter island:  UTC – 6 (noon in seattle = 3pm in easter island)
• currency
  • 1 usd = 663 Chilean pesos
• weather
  • valparaiso: sunny, mid-70s
  • easter island: sunny, mid-70s
• easter island trivia
  • population: ~ 4,000
  • size:  63.1 sq mi
  • famous for: the legendary moai
  • remoteness:  2,237 mi west of continental Chile (a 5 hour flight) and 1,290 mi east of Pitcairn