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Published: October 7th 2008
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From La Serena we took a bus to Santiago. In Santiago we changed to an overnight bus headed for Pucon. We arrived there in the morning, took a cab to Ruka Rayen, a rural hostel about a half hour away. It is run by Peter and Margot. There are actually two separate hostels. The other is on the land of Margot’s mother. Margot’s family is Mapuche, people indigenous to Southern Chile and Argentina. They barely survived the genocide of the invading Spaniards.
Margot and her mother work to keep their traditions and values alive. Margot is very environmentally aware and wants her daughter, Charlotte, to inherit land that is healthy and beautiful. She raises much of what they eat and prepared simple and delicious food for us, including homemade bread prepared with quinoa. They have chickens and horses on the property and sometimes other farm animals. The house was built by the family using native lumber from the family property. It is simply, but very homey. We stayed with them for four nights.
Their place is beautiful and green with the new spring growth. It is quiet and serene, situated at a distance from the highway. The nights were
dark except for the brilliant light of the constellations and glow of the Milky Way.
One day we made a trip to a nearby hot springs. It was raining on the return walk so we made our first attempt at hitchhiking in South America, but the only thing that stopped for us was the local bus. One afternoon we spent exploring Pucon while waiting for our laundry to be done. The day before we were fortunate enough to get to help Peter and Margot bring their horses from the winter pasture to their property. It was about a four hour ride. We moved seven horses. The one that I rode, Colorada was smooth gated and easy to ride.
From there we caught a bus that picked us up at the intersection of the highway and the lane to their home. It took it back over the mountains into Argentina. Most of the pass is just a gravel road with stunning scenery. It didn’t take us long to go through customs. We arrived in San Martin de los Andes that evening.
We stayed the night there and rented a car the following morning from a very kind young
Volcano Villarrica
We could see a wisp of steam that day. man with long curly hair. It definitely wasn’t a Hertz or Avis experience. When we arrived he was on the street washing one of the cars parked in front of the office. We were able to rent the car for less money and more free miles if we didn’t use a credit card. When we walked out of the tiny space that held his desk and two chairs, we were expecting to check the car for existing damage. He just smiled and shook his head pointing to a little red VW Gol (not Golf like in the States) that had seemingly countless rock ships, tiny dents and scratches. He told us not to worry about it since we’d be driving on unpaved roads, it would just get more of them.
Soon we had our bags loaded and were headed south through western Patagonia on the Seven Lakes Road. It was a bit of a marathon journey since we had already used so much of our time exploring Chile and had purchased bus tickets to Mendoza. The mountains and lakes were incredibly beautiful warranting many photo stops and a nice walk in the woods along a beautiful river.
We
arrived in Bariloche in the late evening, spent the night, and drove out to Llao Llao the next morning where we enjoyed another beautiful walk among the trees to the lake shore. Here we got our first look at Arrayanes trees, some of which are said to be up to 300 years old.
After that we made a quick stop at a market and purchased food so that we could prepare a lunch to enjoy while on our way south through El Bolson to where we had reserved a room at Hostel Refugio del Lago. We were blessed with pleasant breezy weather for the walk, but it evolved to a steady downpour as we drove. It cleared some by the time we reached the hostel, but it was cold, windy, and clouds still hid the mountains from view. Still the place was beautiful and our hosts warm and welcoming. Sophie and her husband, both former ski instructors from France have lived for thirty years on their farm which also houses some cabins, about 50 campsites and a small restaurant where we the only dinner guests. Maybe we had cool weather, but we certainly missed the high season crowds.
We had time for a morning walk and beautiful view of the lake before driving back toward Bariloche where we took a side road that lead to Nahuel Huapi National Park, the foot of Cerro Tronador and the Black Glacier. As you will see from the photos, the top of Tronador was as well hidden as El Bolson. If you want to see the tourist brochure views, you will have to find them on the Internet. We can only provide the spring snow flurries photos. Still we had a great time.
That night we drove back to La Angostura and left early the next day so that we could return the car at the agreed time of 11 a.m. and get on the bus back to Mendoza at 12:30. Tonight we begin our journey home, but I plan on making at least one more entry when we return tomorrow.
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Jayne
non-member comment
Beautiful
Simply put, Awsome! Thank you again for the glances into your beautiful spiritual trek!! (I M.M.S.)