The Andes

These are pictures taken from the balcony of the apartment I'm staying in, which offers me a really impressive view of the Andes Mountains, or as they are called in Spanish, La Cordillera de los Andes. The Andes are the (almost) omnipresent backdrop for any postcard view of Santiago, towering over the city in a way that can only be described as imposingly majestic. I say "almost" omnipresent because thanks to the smog, sometimes you simply can't see them. The smog is due to the fact that in the wintertime, atmospheric conditions push the level of smog much lower; also, the past 2 winters, Argentina has periodically cut off Chile's supply of natural gas, and so factories must run on gasoline, diesel or even coal, which are much more polluting. But on clear days that immediately follow rainy ones, they are sharply visible.

This first picture was taken this morning; it rained the past few days, which cleaned up the air quite a bit, and today it's sunny.





This one was taken at sunset. For some reason I find myself fascinated by the red sunlight that falls on the mountains from the west on waning afternoons. Often when the city is completely in shadow, the mountains are still illuminated by the sunset, and it's a beautiful effect (again, when it's not too smoggy).

This last one is maybe a bit avant-garde, but whatever. A more prosaic view of the Andes, with my boxers in the foreground, drying on the line strung along the balcony.