Las Vegas & Nevada

Max, Rachel, Thomas and I went for a 5 day hike out to a neighboring valle.  It felt great to be out in nature with a fun group of people.  We turned the corner out of Valle de Pisqo Elqui and hiked up toward Cochiguaz.

 The first night we slept in the back yard of a man named Andres.  We slept under the stars and I for one, was pretty amazed by our surroundings.

A few days before we left for out trek, Max, Rachel and Thomas had met a man named Alex who was some sort of self-acclaimed spirit guide, well informed of all cosmic theories.  After Andres`house, we found Alex, hung out at his house for the day, where he read our Mayan horoscopes.  I am `humano, electrico, amarillo` which looks something like:

Still a bit unclear as to what it means, but it looks cool.

After a long afternoon of nebulous discussion and talk of what the color green really is, and if there really is àn end`, Max, Rachel, Thomas, Alex, his friend Carla and I hiked up even further into the mountains where we found a little oasis.  The spot was nestled between several huge mountains, one capped with snow.  We camped on white sand beside the valley`s river.  A little meadow where horses came to graze bordered the campsite. 

 Alex led us in some meditative experiences which at times felt contrived and other times felt completely enlightening. We lit a bonfire, beat a drum and watched the stars move across the sky. We didn´t eat much during the first day and stayed up to watch the sun rise.  In the morning we meditated on the taste of fruits and nuts.

Alex and Carla left the next day, after we all took naps under trees.  The next 3 days were spent enjoying the environment, trying to hike up to the snowy capped mountain (failing, but enjoying the scenery), telling stories and skinny dipping in the river.

We came back to Pisqo Elqui on Saturday, gorged ourselves with delicious food and readied ourselves for the next step.  The next day all of us heading on our respective Journeys.
Max is planning on biking all the way back to California! I am very impressed.