Unfolding As I Go - Carole's travel blog

So that common cold I had in Colorado, well it was getting better, then worst, then better then on my second day in Los Angeles it got really worst again, I was coughing all night and in the morning decided it was time to go see a doctor. No fever nor dry cough - meaning no Coronavirus! and was most probably bacterial. Indeed after 2,5 hours at the Urgent Care clinic and lots of money spent, I'm on antibiotics and prescribed rest and fluids to get over that bronchitis. And to not bother Christelle I prefered to take a hostel room so I could just sleep all day until I got better. Luckily I found a great place, right on Venice Beach: the Samesun Backpackers Hostel , with a private room where I could just spend my day sleeping bothering nobody and trying to recover as much possible from this bronchitis. My schedule was: sleep, eat and walk a bit. On the beach! Perfect place to take in some fresh air, walk on the sand, watch the surfers and the birds. California Venice Beach sc...

I just couldn't get enough of this place so I went back, a long night-bus ride later, this time for 4 nights in magical ElquiTerra . My intention: just enjoying the view, the stars, the beauty, the fresh air, the nice people and mystical atmosphere. Resting from the long trip and night bus back from San Pedro de Atacama and the hustle of tourists as well as some personal emotional turmoil. The tranquility of Valley del Elqui suits me best right now. I also met up with Maria Jose and we did a beautiful walk on the hills around Vicuña at sunset. Gaining some energy and having space and time, I also started to increase the duration of my morning yoga and meditation routine, to help the healing and in preparation for the Yoga Teacher Training that I signed up for in Costa Rica in January! Oh and the best part: I saw my first moonrise! I was wondering where the moon was, since it was supposed to be almost full moon but it was nowhere to be seen in the night sky. I was lying there o...

'Hi Carole, it's Maritza. Have you already been to the Geysers del Tatio? We are going tomorrow, would you like to come with us? We have a jeep and we know the way. We can pick you up at 5am'. Yes! I'm in and I'll be ready at 5am! Earlier that day, I met Maritza and Sergio as we were on the horseback ride together. And since I had lots of pictures of them on their horses (or actually of their backs), we exchanged numbers so I could send them the pictures. And a few hours later I received this super nice message from them inviting me to go all the way up to the Geysers del Tatio with them, how perfect! I was almost about to book an organized tour to go up there but was hesitating to go on a tourist bus and be driven around with lots of people following a guide among hundreds of other tourist buses all doing the same route. And at the right time I got this invitation! Maritza and Sergio are both Chilean (all the messages we exchanged were actually in Spanish), fr...