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Published: April 8th 2006
"Don´t Cry for me Argentina..."
On to our next country but as is typical with Latin America, our run of luck with the buses continued, as we were stalled on the highway by female protestors who refused to allow our bus to continue until sufficient annoyance and media coverage in terms of foreign photographs had been taken..
We prepared a packed lunch fit for kings for our 10 hour trip but 2 hours in we realised that no food can be taken over the Chile border so we ate the days rations in half and hour! Heard some funny stories about Chilean border guards taking a banana being smuggled pretty seriously. We managed to cross the border unscathed, however, under the awesome summit of Volcan Lanin, which is 3800m high and dominates the primordial landscape.
We arrived in Pucon which is a trendy "adventure-kid" haven. Extreme sports and tours are advertised everywhere, so we booked our nocturnal summit to the active Volcano Villaricca (the Devil's House, according to the Mapuche injuns). It has been fairly active in the last centuary, erupting in 1971 and pouring out larva in 1984. Still the Chileans put up ski lifts and organise tours
for the gringos!
The idea is to start climbing in the dark so you´re on the mountain when the sun rises and start to descend before other groups drag themselves up. It wasn´t an easy climb requiring crampons (steel spikes attached to our boots) and ice picks for support, up pretty steep ice covered slopes, with the crater occasionally glowing like a lit cigar. When we got to the crater eventually, we couldn{t see the lava due to the smoke, but the sulphur gas emitted from the crater was stong enough to clear any sinuses! The view was well worth the energy expenditure however, as we admired the glacier peaks of surounding volcanoes and peered down the 2800m summit, next to the bubbling crater of an active volcano. Truly awesome.
To soothe our aching muscles, we stopped over at some thermal baths on a Mapuche farm. It was truelly blissful as we soaked and meditated in the 37' pools.
My greatest day was a trip horseback riding through the Chilean mountains towards some undiscovered waterfalls. Our guide was an East German "Mountain man" who was working for the Mapuche family as all his belongings, money and passport
had been stolen. He has been travelling for 15 years and had some fascinating stories about living with the Native American Indians in Teepees, riding harleys with the Calafornian Hells Angels, body guarding Fidel Castro and trekking through Borneo. I like to think I can diagnose delusions, this guy was eccentric but he certainly wasn´t mad and exhibited some astounding wisdom and philosophies.
We heard about a romantic spot "Thermas de Panqui" in the country that is only accessble by 4X4. This American hippy who is now in his 60s, bought the land about 20 years ago for $50 000 after having a dream that he would be the guardian of some hot springs. Low and behold, he discovered a fantastic source of boiling hot water amongst an ancient forest of Monkey puzzle trees. It is wonderfully rustic and mystical place set high in the mountains, and was a perfect ending to a day of hard horseriding. He has now had a dream to import Elephants which funnily enough sounds viable! So we hope to return for elephant riding in 5 years time!
After Pucon, we set off for Valparaiso, a UNESCO World Heritage site - a varied
and crazily interesting colonial port city, sitting erratically on the hills overlooking the sea. An eclectic mix of vagabonds, transvestites, artists, sailors and dogs, wandering around the cobble-stoned streets amongst shacks and houses perched precariously on steep hills was bliss.
We stayed with a very chilled out, somewhat eccentric chap in his charming little guest house on one of the Cerros (hills) surrounding the city. Accessible by a century-old lift-car, the Cerro is home to many artists and craftsmen, so is has a real bohemian feel to it, with the cafes and art galleries lending real sensory stimulation. Our stay at this varied and interesting colonial city ended with a dinner with our host, Reñe, at this wacky little local place in the heart of the city...
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Joanna
non-member comment
Spectacular
Lovely to see all the places you've been to. Some interesting characters about! You both look happy and healthy.We miss you.