Long Bus Rides, Plus Lava and Geysers

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OK, since we ate a late lunch today which provides plenty of time until dinner, I am dedicated to getting up to date so. . .I´ll try. Currently we are in San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world. The task: catch up on three bus rides, Pucon, Santiago, our current location, and an update as to where we are headed next. Additionally, we finally know where we will be next year: Raleigh, North Carolina! Sara got her first choice, so we will be visiting my relatives often. Now, to pick up where Sara left off, in San Martin.

We awoke early to catch the 6am bus to Pucon, carrying all of our heavy luggage to the bus station, which means that I arrive sweating heavily due to the 100 lbs or so of stuff I´m carrying. Not a pleasant way to begin, feeling dirty before the day even begins, but a 4 hour bus ride will seem quite short in a few days. Well, the four hour bus ride, as indicated by the clerk at the station, was only partially right. We were moving for 4 hours, but both Chilean and Argentine customs were extremely inefficient, costing us two hours. On the plus side, the customs offices were directly next to Volcan Lanin, the second highest peak in Patagonia (though some don´t consider this to still be in Patagonia). The clouds were swirling around but it was a very attractive mountain, though the men walking around will guns and dogs detracted from the scene. The Chilean side is very concerned about fruit, and ended up searching all of our bags, only to confiscate. . .nothing. We personally held the bus up 10 minutes. After an uneventful remainder of the trip, we arrived in Pucon and headed to our hostel in the much warmed, and more humid, city of Pucon. Though the maps showed that Volcan Villarrica was in the area, the clouds prevented us from seeing it. Since the only reason we visited Pucon was to climb said volcano, we crossed our fingers and hoped for a change in the weather. We checked into our hostel, Ecole, based on recommendations from both guidebooks and, more importantly, the fact that the hostel restaurant was well known for its vegetarian cuisine. After a nice lunch, during which time we booked what we hoped would be a tour up the volcano (the agency was also at our hostel), we spoke with several of the guests staying at the hostel. Many had been in town for 4 days, booking tours every day, only to wake up to a cancelled trip. Our luck, however, was usually very good and we convinced them, though perhaps not ourselves, that tomorrow would be different. Just to reinforce our believe, we bought bus tickets to Santiago for the following night. After a dinner of mediocre (and highly inaccurate) Mexican food, we packed for the following morning and hoped for the best.

Waking at 6am was a sight better than any we could have hoped for. Not only was Volcan Villarrica visible, but the smoke rising from the top was glowing bright red. Perfect conditions, and our guide was eager to get us up the mountain. After grabbing crampons for all and boots for Matt (I´ve been hiking in trail running shoes), we drove to the national park to begin the hike. As in Nahuel Huapi, the park had a ski lift for winter which eliminated much of the upward climb through loose scree. By the time we reached to top of the lift, we had only a short hike before stepping onto the icy snow and moderately steep slopes. The crampons were much better than those for the previous glacier hike on Perito Moreno, similar to those Sara and I have at home. Other than some ad hoc fixing of Matt´s crampons, which both happened to be left-footed, we got off to a smooth start and were the first group up the mountain (though several individuals were ahead of us). Like any mountain, it consisted of several false summits (there´s still that far to go!), but everyone in the group was enthusiastic and in good enough shape to keep up with our guide´s admittedly (that´s me admitting it, not him) slow pace (most likely for us not for him). The guide was excellent at filling us in on the local mountain lore as well as conversing with those of us who are stuck with just English as a language, and we quickly reached the summit crater. After seeing pictures of lava spurted directly behind people at eye level, we were disappointed to not see much but the same smoke that we had been seeing for the past 3 hours. What we didn´t realize was that we had to make a sacrifice. Our guide suggested Jill, but we decided that probably wasn´t worth it, especially for Jill. So we tried our guide´s second idea: wine, crackers, and olives, provided by him. After walking around the crater rim (and choking on the fumes blowing to the opposite side), we returned to our original location and were well rewarded. Every few minutes the lava would splash onto the opposite side of the crater, with it often possible to feel the heat from where we were. Sara screamed everytime the lava exploded up, not from fear but from excitement. Some of our group was as entertained by her as by the volcano, though both Sara and Jill concluded that it was the best day of the trip so far (I am on the fence, as the Torres del Paine hike was amazing almost every day). We hiked back down in double the time and took some ice sections to avoid the crowds on the main route. We arrived back in Pucon one piece (actually three), and had an late lunch / early dinner at Ecole which was kind enough to store our bags for the day, which I´m sure they regretted after having to navigate around them all day behind the front desk. After grabbing clean clothes, we decided to have a look around Pucon, with Sara picking off another couple species of birds on Lake Villarrica as well as looking at wooden flowers, which the area is famous for. These are not the thick wooden tulips but are actually designed to be used where silk flowers might otherwise be used. We couldn´t believe that some of them were not real, and considered buying some, but they probably would be trashed by the next bus ride since we had no good place to store them. Since our bus ride was only an hour from then, it seemed like a poor investment, so we picked up our luggage, lugged it four blocks to the bus station, and soon were on our way. Volcan Villarrica left us with one last view of its glowing top as our 9pm bus left the city. Yes, it felt like several days to us as well, but was an amazing day.

Bus rides sometimes help to breakup the trip, and on this one we slept most of the way, with all of us wiped out from the volcano trip. We arrived bright and early in Santiago, with our 12 hour trip actually 11. We went to several bus companies to find our next bus, only 36 hours later, to San Pedro de Atacama, our current location. We were only able to book to Calama, but unlike Pucon there were several buses every day from Calama to San Pedro so we were not too worried about getting stuck. We took a taxi to our hostel, the Bellavista Hostel, and, after much grumbling about our luggage from the cabbie, we arrived at what we though was the location. Hmm, there is 192, and 176, but where is 184? After searching around, we found that it was the next building down, which seems odd and must confuse many cab drivers. Regardless, this hostel has consistantly been ranking one on the top ten in the world and though you can´t expect too much for $12 per person per night, we could see why. They let us check in to our room at 10 am in the morning, internet was free, and the staff was very helpful. Also, there was a laundry service which seemed like a good deal though it did not turn out to be, but it was a necessary evil. We check the map for our first stop and found it to be only 2 blocks away! The Bellavista area has been frequented by many of the Chilean artists and writers over the last 40 years and its most famous resident was Pablo Neruda. His houses are open to the public for a small price, and fortunately the tour was in English. Each house has a theme and a collection of the items in the house from when he was there. The theme for this house was the ocean, with many of the windows looking like ship ports, and alot of old ship furniture. I admit it doesn´t sound that exciting, but the tour and the house itself were very different from what I expected and quite captivating. They didn´t gloss over the seedier details of his life but he sounded like a very interesting person to know, though quite eccentric. After heading back to the hostel for a short rest, we went out again and saw the Plaza de Armas, several parks eating a lunch of leftovers from the bus trip by the zoo, and heading one of two museums on the slate for Santiago, the Precolumbian Art Musuem. The artifacts were from all over Central and South America and had a great deal of history for the objects which varied from 500 to 15000 years old, including a intact tribal outfit of llama wool with the colors still intact. Of course, it was from nearby where we are now, as the Atacama, with some areas not getting rain in recorded history, preserves almost all archeological artifacts intact. We took the subway, which is probably one of the nicest in the world for speed and cleanliness, to the vegetarian restaurant Sara picked out in the Provedencia district, and had an excellent meal. We walked back to our hostel through several nice parks including a sculpture garden, which was closing just as we arrived. After our long travels and in preparation for our bus ride, we decided to turn in early and planned to get up late the following day.

The following day, we planned on visiting the Salvador Allende Museum, filled with art made during his term in office the early 70´s and some after the military coup which led to his suicide and a long period of dictatorship that only ended recently. First, Sara and Jill were intent on attending a Bikram Yoga class, which was identical in both substance and price to the one she goes to in Sacramento. We then headed to the Museum, only to find that it had moved since Jill´s guide book was printed. OK, we check our guide book, found that the new location was within walking distance, and headed over there. Apparently, this museum is not much more stable than the Allende government, as it was once again in the process of moving. After another attempt at a Mexican restaurant which was closed for siesta, we headed back to our hostel for a little free time of reading and shopping for groceries. There was a nice Italian place down the street with excellent juice drinks, and we ate quick since our bus out of town left in 1 hour and 20 minutes. A cab was called, but after seeing several pass, after 30 minutes we began to worry. This was well founded, as the traffic was horrible. It was 8:05 when we reached the 80 terminal bus station, only 5 minutes to go, so I sent Jill and Sara to hold the bus while I paid the cab driver and once again assumed my 100 lb burden. The station was packed so I, illegally, cut through where the buses were parked and made my way to the nearest Pullman Bus office, where I was pointed in the right direction. Due to my disobedience to the rules, I actually got to the bus at exactly the same time as the other two, with several minutes to spare. Sara was a bit ruffled by the whole experience but it all worked out in the end. After all that, what do we have to look forward to? Twenty three hours on the bus, straight! Fortunately, the bus was a nice one, no where near the bathroom (it seems every one makes at least one trip per hour), and we were all tired and ready to sleep.

After an uneventful night, we spent the next day travelling across the Atacama. It´s not like most desert where you see cactus or shrubs; there is nothing but dirt and rock. Interesting, but a bit monotonous. When we were on the coast it was always cloudy, and inland not a cloud in the sky. Sara picked up a couple more birds on the coast, but as best I could tell the only life inland was that brought by vehicle. We arrived in Calama, the center of the copper mining industry in Chile, which accounts almost half of all exports and is the largest in the world. It´s also the worst city we have been it. We headed straight to the bus station that went to San Pedro and got three of the last ten seats. We waited at the bus station but short trips to the bathroom or other locals quickly showed the character of the city as every male had some rude comment to make to Sara or Jill (I was busy watching the bags or this might have been kept in check). After two hours of waiting, the bus was due to arrive shortly, but before that could occur there were some excited youths chanting down the street, apparently in celebration of a soccer (futbol) win. Well, fans of the other team apparently did not appreciate the chant, as they followed close behind with cinder block pieces behind their backs. Though we didn´t see the culmination of that scene, a fight did break out between a 30 something man and 60 something man just down the block from us. Needless to say, we were glad to leave town. Before doing so, we managed to book a room in San Pedro for the night and after a short 2 hour bus ride, arrived in town at 10pm, 26 hours after we began. Jill and I headed for dinner, while Sara showered and went to bed; we followed shortly.

The next day, we headed out to explore San Pedro de Atacama and book tours in the area and to Uyuni, Bolivia. San Pedro is a very small town of about 1000 people that caters almost exclusively to tourists, most foriegn. It, along with San Martin, is the safest town we have visited with, per our guide book, the highest ratio of tour operators per capita in the world. This was quickly confirmed, as every store is either a restaurant or a tour operator. We went to the one that our book recommended (Cosmo Andino Expediciones - they are worth the extra money for a fabulous experience) and booked a tour to the Valle de la Luna and the El Tatio geyser field. After inquiring about tours to Bolivia and being told they were all the same (many even had identical signs), we picked one that the person could explain the tour in English and paid, for the first time possible, with travel´s checks. These seem to be on the way out, but San Pedro only recently aquired a bank, so money changing is big buisness here. Unfortunately, we were unaware of the new bank and have way too much in Chilean money to exchange. Oh well, hopefully this will prevent some other traveller from making the same mistake. Our Valle de la Luna tour was at 3pm, so we got some lunch and headed to our tour office to catch the bus. Our tour guide was very good, explaining all the places we went, with the best being a salt canyon where the rock was calcite, or pure salt, with some gypsum, talc, and volcanic ash thrown in for good measure. It had caves and arches and due to a rain only two weeks previous, all the surfaces looked like fresh snow due to precipitation of the salt to the surface. Very cool. We also got to run down a huge sand dune which was awesome. We ended the day looking over the Andes range and the Valle de la Luna, with a beautiful sunset, followed by an expensive dinner in town to get rid of some pesos. By 10pm, we were ready for bed, not so much because we were so tired but because our tour to the geysers would start at 4am. Yuk.

Well, we were prepared for cold weather, as the El Tatio geyser field is at 4300 meters, or a little over 14000 ft. We were prepared to be a bit winded, as the air is MUCH thinner at this elevation. Our bus ride over rocky roads was about two hours, during which my iPod died. Oops, I forgot that about 10,000 ft, there is some issue with air pressure and the hard drive. Fortunately, back here at 8,000 ft in San Pedro, it is once again functioning, as we would lose 80% of our pictures if it dies. Better back that up with a DVD, soon. Anyway, we arrived at the geyser field at about 6am in the pitch black dark. The reason this is done is so that the steam from the thermal features is at its most impressive. Unfortunately, that requires cold, and man was it. After leaving San Pedro with short sleeves, I had gloves, and warm hat, two pair of thermal tops, and my rain jacket and was still cold. Though not as impressive as Yellowstone, it was a very good morning, included breakfast, and unobstructed views of the geysers. If fact, one lady decided to stick her hand right in one. To clarify, one very stupid lady. It is going to gain national park status in the next fews years, so hopefully with that will come some regulation. On the way back with stopped at a second geyser field with the three largest, one where three people have died and yet people continue to walk around the barriers put in place. Additionally, there was a thermal pool which all three of us decided to try. It was not that much fun as the temperature varied from cool to scalding hot in the exact same location, but I suppose it will be the only thermal pool at 14,000 ft that I ever visit. The last stop was at a village of locals with llamas and on the way we observed vicunas, a wild relative of the llama. Sara also, inexplicably, had her best birding day of the trip. The results are not all in yet, but at least 9 different species were seen, possibly as high as 12. In the driest place in the world. Anyway, we made in back into town and visited a museum with local archeology, including perfectly preserved mummies with hair and skin still intact, up to 1000 years old. Weird, but very interesting and complete. So that brings us up to date. Finally. For tomorrow, we leave for Uyuni, Bolivia on a tour of Salt Flats, colored lakes with flamingos up to 16,000 ft, and strange rock formations. Wish us luck (as I wish you luck in reading all this in one sitting)!

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Photos

Red Sky
From our hostel, we had this view of the top of Villarrica, with the smoke glowing red.

A Long Climb
This is a view from one of the steeper sections of the climb. It wasn´t dangerous at all, but a bit exciting and got our lungs working.

The Crater
This is the first view we got of the smoking crater, prior to the onset of fireworks.

First Views of Magma
The molten rock flew out of the crater, cooling on the opposite side. The overcast sky really accentuated the glowing lava.

Perspective
If you look closely, you can see a small figure on the opposite side of the crater.

Wooden Flowers
Since we were not purchasing any, we felt guilty taking pictures, so we took this from some distance. You get the idea.

Volcan Villarrica
A great photo of Villarrica at sunset, taken from the town of Pucon.

Pablo Neruda´s House
Jill and Sara standing by the poems of Pablo Neruda. The house is directly behind them.

Valle de Luna
Valle de Luna´s salt canyon, with the snow like salt coating all the rocks.

In the Canyon
This is view from in the canyon, which was similar to slot canyon in the US, except with quickly eroding salt.

Sunset on Valle de la Luna
Sara and Jill watching the sunset and bathe the valley in red light.

El Tatio
Taking geyser pictures was difficult, since the light was very low while we were there. This was one of the more interesting features.

Geyser at Work
One of the thermal features blowing out water.

Llama
During Carnaval, all the llamas are dressed in elaborate colors. This one did not seem to enjoy it, as it took to scratching its head.

Comments

[Kat]

Congrats!
Hey guys- Enjoying reading your adventures. Waiting 3 days for a bus- I can't imagine having that kind of time to spare. Congratuations on getting into NCSU!!! I'll have to come down and visit.