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Published: April 14th 2005
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Hello all,
We had a good time in Valdivia, Chile. We stayed in a "haunted house". Okay, it wasn´t really haunted, but it sure looked that way from the outside. Ryan dug it from the minute he laid eyes on it. Ana´s opinion was different. To her it looked ancient from the outside and was dark and in slight disrepair inside. The house was built in 1903 and became unlevel during the huge earthquake of 1960. Ana did warm up to the place once the cat, Josefina, napped on her lap through an entire movie. Plus, the room was large and the hosts welcoming.
While in Valdivia we enjoyed some local food and attractions. We tried "pichanga" for dinner one night. This dish appears on most restaurant/cafe menus. It consisted of french fries topped with chopped ham, cheese, chorizo, sausage, tomato, avocado, hard-boiled egg, pickle, and olives. It must be an acquired taste. Though with a beer it might be the perfect snack-food for a futbol game.
We also walked along the costanera (coastal road) through the Mercado Municipal and across the bridge to the Museo Historico y Antropologico. We wandered through the exhibits on local history, including
German colonization and the Mapuche. The Chilean government wanted to ensure control of the southern part of the country and created a pact with the German government to attract immigrants to the Lakes Region. The Mapuche are indigenous people that resisted Spanish rule and still play an important role in Chilean culture.
From the museum, we headed to the Castillo de Niebla. This is not really a castle, but one of the forts built near the entrance of the Pacific Ocean. These forts were built during the Spanish Colonial period as a deterrent to English, Dutch, Portuguese invasion. They were not attacked until the War of Independence when all were taken in about a day.
From Valdivia, we traveled by bus on the 11th back across the Chilean-Argentine border to San Carlos de Bariloche, "the Switzerland of Argentina". Bariloche is set amid mountains and lakes, providing plenty of scenery. It is a world-famous tourist destination. Ryan´s Grandpa Bob, Grandma Lucille, Uncle Sam, and Auntie Mae all visited here a while back.
We had a relaxed first day here. Walked around, sampled chocolate, dropped off laundry, and got Ryan´s first South American haircut. Bariloche is known for some
its food, namely artisanal chocolate and ice-cream, wild boar, venison, trout, and Swiss food (fondue,etc). We´ve purchased chocolate from a different establishment each day we´ve been here. It has all been good and quite affordable. Some favorites: chocolate-covered figs, dates filled with marzipan and dipped in caramel, and dulce de leche truffles. We tried some local fruit-flavored(maqui=berry and mosquesta=creamy) ice-cream yesterday. Today we dined on jabali (wild boar) and trucha (trout). Pretty good!
Other activities here have included riding the bus and walking. Yesterday we took the bus to the famous Hotel Llao Llao. It is located on a hill with great panoramic views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. From here we walked along trails and roads to a forest of arrayanes, Lago Escondido, the Puente Romano, and the Colonia Suiza. The lady in the tourist office told us that there are only two forests of arrayanes in the world. The Colonia Suiza is a small town containing (You guessed it!) a Swiss colony. We didn´t have time to explore the town because the bus runs infrequently off season. Maybe next time. In all, we walked for over four hours. On the way back to town, we hopped
off the bus at the Aerosilla Cerro Campanario for panoramic views. The landscape here is quite interesting. On the side of the lake where Bariloche is it looks almost alpine. On the opposite side, it is definitely Patagonian. The contrast is quite dramatic.
Today, we awoke early again (before the sun) for more walking. This time we took the bus to Cerro Catedral (word-class ski resort in winter). We walked across the parking lot to the trail head in near freezing temperatures. Hiked over crunchy ice crystal/dirt combo and through forest. Our first stop was a refugio built into the side of a rock. This was little more than a hut with stove, log table and chairs, and sleeping platform. The highest point on the hike was Refugio Frey at 1700m. This was a more developed refugio with bunks, kitchen, separate bathrooms. Had lunch (including Patagonian lamb-flavored chips!) and hiked down. Tree-line here is composed of deciduous trees (one of the few places in the world). We saw autumnal foliage and a pair (male and female) of Magellanic woodpeckers. On the way to Lago Gutierrez (we took a different exit), we passed four horses. Two were grazing, one trotted
Hotel Llao Llao
This is the most famous hotel in Argentina. past, and the fourth walked past us. A definite first as the horses seemed to be on their own. After 22-24km or eight hours of walking, we boarded the bus back to town.
That´s it for now.
Ana and Ryan
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