South America

The last you heard from us we were in Pucon, Chile waiting for the weather to clear. We had to wear our rain jackets and umbrellas to get to our Christmas dinner, but the sun finally came out. It was clear enough to take a jeep trip to experience the hot thermal pools in a remote area outside Pucon. There are quite a few in the area so we chose one that is not quite as commercial as some of the others. That meant bumping over mountain roads to reach a rather strange blend of North and South American culture. Termas Panqui is owned by an American who has lived in Chile for 11 years. As well as building small concrete pools in the woods, he has erected four large tepees as overnight accommodation. We didn’t stay overnight, but the thermal pools were warm and relaxing. The four pools are fed by natural springs and ranged from 37 C to 43 C. We tried them all but the 43 C one was just a bit too warm.

What we were really waiting around Pucon for was to climb the active volcano, Volcan Villarrica. Every second building in Pucon is a travel agency with guided hikes up Villarrica, but they donut go unless the weather is clear. You climb 1000 M in the snow to reach the summit. A young French couple staying at our hostel tried to climb Villarrica on Friday but they were unsuccessful. It was still too icy and the wind was too strong to reach the top, so they were disappointed. We were lucky. Saturday was a perfect day. The sun was out in full strength, softening the snow and there was no wind. Of course that meant that everybody else was on the mountain with us, but we didn’t care.

We met our guides and 14 other climbers at 7:30 AM and put on our climbing gear. We were provided with boots and crampons, an ice act, waterproof jackets and pants, a fleece balaclava, insulated mitts and a backpack to carry everything. We all piled into a minvan and drove out of town to a ski resort on the Volcan Villarrica.

We took a chair lift up 300 M to the start of the snow field to start climbing at 1800 M. A few of the groups didn’t want to pay an extra CH$3000 ($6CAD) to take the chair lift so they had to walk up more than an hour. Most lived to regret it as the walk was long enough. We could already see other groups ahead of us snaking slowly up the side of the volcano. One of our guides, Daniel, gave us some instructions in walking with an ice act, and we set off, without crampons, following his footprints in the soft snow. We had a short break after about half an hour. I learned that you get a wet butt if you just sit on the snow. You sit on your backpack and make sure your boots are firmly braked into the hill, as it was quite steep.

We had just started up again when there was a commotion above us. A man and woman had lost their footing on the slope and had slipped together down about 5 M below their group. They stopped but when they tried to get up again, they slipped further down. The woman couldn’t stop and was gathering speed as she slid down the slope. Daniel, our guide started running towards her, dropped his pack and reached her in time to break her fall. He stayed with her while she got over her fright and then he got her climbing back up again. It was good to see that our guide was capable of averting trouble. In the meantime, our other guide, Alvaro, took the lead and we continued upwards, making sure each step was firmly planted in the snow. I was just as glad to have Alvaro in the lead as he made smaller steps, which was easier for me to follow.

Stopping a few more times to rest, snack and enjoy the view, we reached the top of the volcano. The snow remained soft enough the whole way that we never had to use our crampons. It took us almost 4 hours, but it was worth it. We could see far into the distance in all directions and the volcano was dutifully smoking.

We took photos of each other, then started our descent. That was a lot of fun and a lot easier than climbing up. You slide down on your seat, using the ice act at your side as a brake. At first I used the brake quite a bit and got slowed down by the soft snow creating mounds between my legs. Gradually I got more accomplished and the snow conditions were better. Soon we all were zooming down with the ice act held above our heads. It took less than 1 1/2 hours to get to the bottom of the snowfield. The chair lift had stopped for the day so we had to walk down to our waiting van but we were all in high spirits after our successful climb. We all agreed it had been a great day.

The next day we took the bus to Santiago to spend New Years. It was a long 11 hour trip, but quite comfortable. We watched Harry Potter (the first one) in Spanish on their video and ignored an awful Jim Carey movie. We passed vineyards and fruit orchards south of Santiago and then spied the Andes mountains just east of the city.

We liked Santiago better than we had expected. Our hostel was in an old Spanish style building in the downtown area so we could walk to everything. In Plaza Des Armas in the center of the city we watched Tarot Card readers advising their clients.

We followed a self guided tour from our Lonely Planet guide book one day and then explored some of the hillside parks in Santiago the next day, New Years Eve day. We walked up a small hill, Cerro Santa Lucia to see the view. The mountains had been very clear as were approaching the city from the south, but were just shadows through the haze when viewed from within the city. At least the air pollution was not bad enough to affect us during our stay.

We had a little coffee and Danish break, then took a taxi to the top of Cerro San Cristobal where we walked for miles over paths and paved roads through this expensive park system. We returned to the center of the city hot and thirsty after our walk and found a great little restaurant where we followed the Spanish tradition and had our main meal complete with wine.

We found out that the main New Years celebrations for Santiago were taking place just a few blocks from our hostel. After a small snack and some wine to start us off, we headed out after 11 PM to see what was going on. O’Higgins Avenue, the busy bus and car road just a block from us was closed to traffic and a large stage for live entertainment had been set up in the middle of a grassy area. Families had already started gathering and the mood was festive and friendly. The sidewalk vendors were out in full force selling drinks, hot dogs, bags of confetti and bottles of cheap champagne. We walked close enough to the stage to get a good view and enjoy the music and soon found ourselves in the middle of a huge crowd. People were wearing party hats and confetti was thrown everywhere. Just before midnight everyone burst into song, I assume the national anthem, and we joined in on the countdown to midnight. We along with everyone, were wished Felize Ano, and we even received a few kisses and handshakes. At midnight we realized that the champagne was not for drinking. The bottles were shaken severely and sprayed over everyone. Some people had brought green garbage bags to protect themselves but it didn’t do much good. Next we were treated to the longest display of fireworks I have ever seen. It lasted more than 25 minutes and was truly impressive. We left shortly after the fireworks but I expect the celebrations continued on in many of the discos and bars.

From Santiago, we took the bus northwest to the Pacific port of Valparaiso. Our first impression wasn’t very good as it was New Years Day and everything was closed up and the remains of the celebrations littered the streets, but our explorations the next day was better. The city is built up the sides of steep hills that surround a circular bay. The waterfront is rather spoiled by a railway, built in 1880, that runs right along the ocean. Valparaiso was once an important port but that business has gone to the neighbouring city of Vina Del Mar. The Navy is now the largest presence in town and the Armada de Chile headquarters have been restored to their 19th C splendour. The city wants to obtain UNESCO designation and is in the process of renovating much of the historic buildings and parks, so much of the old section is quite attractive.

We walked up one of the steep streets leading away from the waterfront to find the Brighton Bed and Breakfast. Our guidebook wrote about their restaurant with a patio overlooking the city. We enjoyed the four course Menu del Dia sitting in the sun admiring the view.

To transport the people of Valparaiso from the narrow harbour area to their homes on the hills above town, funiculars, cable drawn cars on a rail line, called Ascensors in Spanish, were built between 1885to 1916. There were originally 26 funiculars and there are 16 still in operation. We took a two minute ride up the Ascensor Espiritu Santo to reach the Bellavista area and look at the display of wall murals in the area. A local guide was waiting at the top of the funicular and offered his services, in English, for a very reasonable price. He lived in the area and was very enthusiastic about his community. He showed us the workings of the funicular, which are all original, except for the cable, which gets changed every two years. There are twenty murals on the walls of buildings in the surrounding streets and our guide took us to them all. The first one was painted in 1969 by a local artist but was destroyed during the 1973 coup and subsequent military occupation. In 1992 the students of the local Catholic University decided to restore the first mural and paint 19 more. They did a great job and current students make sure they retain their original condition.

Part of our tour included looking out over the city from various Miradors (viewpoints). I just finished taking a picture of the Naval vessels in the harbour when we were approached by two Carabineros, members of the national police force. I thought at first that I had committed a security breach, but one of the policemen just wanted to practice his English. He has an uncle living in Kitchener and just wanted to chat. He even wanted to show us all around the area, but our guide did not look too pleased at having his job taken over so we declined the offer and continued on our way. A little later we came upon him again. This time he was chatting up two Spanish girls. I donut think his job is very demanding.

The next day we took a bus up the coast to visit the town of Con Con, recommended in the Lonely Planet as a nice beach resort with good seafood. We didn’t agree with the recommendation. It was a small, rather dirty beach with a sign saying the water was not suitable for swimming. A large number of horses were tethered on the beach for rides over the sand but it didn’t look very inviting and the area was very limited.

We decided to head back to Vina Del Mar on the bus. I agree with the description of Vina in the Lonely Planet. It is more of a busy city that just happens to have a beachfront, but it was a nice looking sand beach. There were signs here too saying the water was not suitable for swimming, but that may have been because of an undertow rather that pollution. We spent some time just relaxing and watching some beach volleyball before returning to Valparaiso.

Back in Valparaiso, who did we meet again but our friendly Carabinero. He chatted with us as we walked back to our hostel and insisted we take his name and stay with him the next time we were in town. You never know, it could be a useful contact.

Our next destination was San Pedro de Atacama, in northern Chile. We had a choice of a 24 hour bus ride or the plane from Santiago to Calama, then a 1 1/2 hr bus ride to San Pedro. We took the plane. We bought a return ticket, even though we had no intention of flying back to Santiago, as it was CH$6000 ($12 CAD) cheaper per ticket. We took the bus from Valparaiso back to Santiago but got off at the crossroads to the airport. This is a common occurrence as there was a taxi stand right on the highway to take people the 5 Km to the airport. The plane ride was interesting. The desert starts not far north of Santiago and continued all the way to Calama. It is pretty desolate country. Our book said it has never rained in Calama, once a mining center, but not too prosperous now that artificial versions are cheaper than the nitrates that were mined in the desert. We stayed overnight in Calama just to break up the trip and to get money from an ATM as we were told there were no ATMs in San Pedro . I do not think it warranted a longer stay.