Pucón

New look to better show off the photos at a large size (now that I don´t have a camera anymore....good timing, hahaha)

I began my trip to the south by heading off with four girlfriends to the "Adventure Tourism" capital of Chile, Pucón, located at the top of the Lakes District. It was a 12 hour overnight bus and upon arrival we checked into the hostel then, of course, hit the lake.



Oddly, the waterslide did not reach the water



The next day, we made the big decision to climb the local volcano, Villarica.



This involved getting up at 3am to be at the base of the mountain by 5am and hiking in the dark so we could be a couple hours up by sunrise.

Hiking with head lamps


(Lisi)

First sandwich break at sunrise



What they didn´t tell us was that the sun actually rises on the other side of the volcano from where we are climbing, so we didn´t actually see the sunrise, just it´s effects



Volcano shadow



Soon after the sun rose, we put on crampons and started walking across glaciers







It felt like we were walking forever, but every time we looked up the summit still seemed far away



At least the view looking down was good



Finally we made it to the top, only to discover it was an anti-climactic sulfar spewing hole!



But, despite the fumes, we had a nice little picnic before heading down


(Nicki)

And Jolie took a well-deserved nap



We walked down part of the volcano and slide on our butts for the rest! There were actually sliding trails especially for this purpose. Unfortunately it was fall and we all got really wet!

Our fearless and fabulous treking group



And the guides



We spent the rest of our time in Pucón doing more relaxing things, like sun bathing at the lake and drinking with rafting guides. Jolly met two Hungarian guys on the plane when she flew over and we met up with them in town. They introduced us to a bunch of other guides and invited us to a party at their house where they fed us what is basically a Hungarian doughnut but eatten with garlic and cheese! Yum... And then we went out dancing.

Jolly, Lucho, Emily, Me, Nicki


We were also in town for Valentine´s Day. Didn´t do anything special, but did see this nice wish written in the sky =)



Nicki and Jolly spent the last night rafting with the boys and the rest of us took a hike in the nearby National Park. It was very easy going after the volcano and nice to be in the forest.

Another view of the volcano





There were quite a few waterfalls





Bamboo! I never knew it grew wild in South America



As do monkey trees



And these plants (fuchsia?) which previously I had only seen in hanging baskets =)



Mid-stream picnic

The first step backwards...

Until about a month ago, it was all smooth sailing.

On that fateful Friday afternoon, things changed. René and I were spending one last lovely day on the beach, soaking up the sun and enjoying the breeze. I went down to the water and he stayed to watch our stuff, but after awhile decided to keep me company as I looked lonely standing at the edge of the sea by myself (cause I generally think the water is too cold to go in). So he came down to visit and then had a swim while I went back to sit and read. When I arrived at our spot, the towels and our clothes were still there, but the backpack was missing. It had only been about five minutes and this was the only time we´d done that but, as they say, once is enough. We went immediately to the cops who were patrolling the beach and they took off on their motorcycles and made a report but to no avail. In the bag: (my) debit card, ankle bracelet, spanish-english dictionary, little notebook that I´d kept since Buenos Aires, playing cards, keys to the apartment, (his) camera!, about 30 CDs that I was going to copy at an internet cafe after the beach, his wallet (luckily without ID or credit cards), the first book he had ever read in spanish, and the notebook with all his spanish notes in it. We didn´t even have money to take the bus home. After a half hour of asking people for change and barely getting half of the $1 we needed, we gave up and walked the hour home. Since we couldn´t get in to the apartment, we went to Lisi´s and luckily she was home. I cancelled my card (the bank would only send a new one to the address on file in 7-10 days, and I couldn´t pay more for them to rush it or Fed-Ex it to Chile), we got ahold of our roommate and copied his keys, so at least something worked out.

Two days later, René took the bus back to Buenos Aires and I went to Santiago to meet with some girlfriends for a trip to Pucón, an "eco-adventure" town about eleven hours south. Lisi was nice enough to offer me her extra credit card so I could continue my travels to the south. I love that girl and don´t know what I would do without her!

First Summer Birthday!

Usually, my special day is in the darkest, rainiest part of winter, when I feel lucky to have a bit of sun at any point during the day. So I made the most of my first summer birthday this year.

Sushi on the patio, covered by a yellow umbrella--it was even tastier than it looks in these photos!





Then we went to the beach



Unlike usual, I actually went swimming this time! (Don´t worry, I took the dress of first =)



First of two cakes



Later that evening, Lisi had a BBQ for me at her house and we drank and ate all night with some Chilean friends (unfortunately, I forgot my camera)

Very lovely day!

Año Nuevo

We started the party around 8pm at Lisi´s house, having some drinks with friends



Lisi´s housemate, Alberto, brought out his airgun and we all shot some blanks--including this 12 year old neighbor kid.



Then we went to a mirador (lookout) to watch the fireworks and drink some more



You can´t really tell, but I actually am in this photo



After the fireworks and a few more drinks at Lisi´s, we went down to the Plan. Everyone was there drinking with their friends in the streets.



Even old ladies were out on the town



There were at least two stages built in the plazas and everyone danced to the live music all night. (you can kind of see the stage over my head)



Wigs, confetti, and party poppers were sold in the streets everywhere



Another view of the stage and the crowd. Everyone was there--preppies, punks (some sleeping in a big pile in the middle of the street, other dancing cumbia!), teenagers, parents...the whole city celebrated and drank together and no one fought or caused trouble (much to the amazement of René, who said that in England such a peaceful large-scale party would be impossible).



In the middle of this fiesta, the naval guards still had to maintain their vigil in front of this monument.



I went to bed at 6:30 and the band was still playing. All along my street, people were drinking and talking. Stopped for a view of the sunrise a block away from the apartment and realized what a great start this was to 2008.

The next day, absolutely everything in the city was closed. We walked around for a little while--surprisingly little mess remained from the night before--and didn´t see a single business with open doors. Good thing I made a lasagne the day before!

The stage was still in place, however

Carnival Cultural

The weekend between Christmas and New Years is a special time here in Valpo. The city puts on a huge festival with live music, visual arts, theatre, book readings, etc hosted all over the city.

Thursday, a huge stage was erected in Plaza Sotomajor. Normally, it looks like this:



During the kickoff of the Carnival, it was more like this:



Everyone was there, teenagers, families with kids, older people...even the president showed up! It was a huge citywide dance party complete with people walking through the crowd selling beer and food. First a bunch of artists played tributes to famous Chilean musicians, then a rock band closed out the night. I left around 11:30 but the music was still going strong.

Friday, there was a huge parade down the center of town. It was really great, lotsa marching bands and people-powered floats. The closest we come in Seattle to a parade like this is the Solstice Parade, which is appropriate because this is Valpo´s summer festival. However, this one started at 8pm and was full of lights and people setting off huge party poppers. Unfortunately, my camara battery died at the beginning of the parade so I could only take a couple photos. I also tried taking a lot with René´s camera, but it doesn´t take good ones at night.

Poor lighting, cool tall people



Dancing with flare



Saturday night, they set up another huge stage in Parque Italia. The show started at 6pm and was still going strong when we left at midnight. For this venue, they closed several blocks to traffic and there was more space to walk around. We bought a "sandwich gigante" and some pineapple juice floats and had a picnic during the first few bands.

Half a sandwich gigante



View from our picnic spot



Then walked around and looked at all the stuff and food for sale. Lotsa of people had special goods at this time of the year, such as various sizes of confetti poppers



Every kind of band played that night, folk with bottles of wine on stage,



Latin rock with nine singer/dancers



and Uruguayans parodying McDonalds, to name a few



View from the street while we were leaving, it was a huge great party!