Hiking the cordillera

With the Andes as such a magnificent backdrop to the everyday city of Santiago (below is the view from my office, just to rub it in), we have often wondered if it was possible to get out and enjoy a day amongst them, without the need for loads of mountaineering equipment or being particularly in shape.

Delightfully, the answer is yes! There are 5 or 6 national parks dotted along the east of the city which are easily accessible, including via public transport.

Meeting our criteria of:

1. An easy to follow waymarked route without the need for a map;
2. A fairly easy-going hike that wouldn't see us hanging onto craggy outcrops for dear life; and,
3. Not requiring a succession of ever complicated bus routes (especially those scary-looking orange micros)

was a park to the east of Ñuñoa, the details for which have now disappeared off the Park Association's website. But here's what we did:

• From the Alameda, we took bus number 403 east - staying on it almost to the end after Vicuña Mackenna, Irarrázabal and Larraín
• We alighted a few moments after the aerodrome and military hospital, when the bus makes a right turn
• Back onto Larraín, we started walking towards the mountains - a slow incline that was a little tiring on the legs, for about 15 minutes until we reached the entrance to the park

The entrance fee to the park was 600 Chilean pesos each and we had to leave our details with the security hut at the entrance. From there (alongside various adventurous looking outdoor activities) were a series of trails going up into the mountains.

Our plotted route took us on paths labelled as senderismo and trekking; the first supposedly being just normal walking, while the second would have some pretty steep parts. Exhaustingly, we did nothing but go up and up and up (although I suppose we should have figured that out, it being a mountain range and all).

The first part of the walk took us through a picnic area and then onto an access road which wound its way up the mountain. Then the second part, which was trekking, involved more climbing than we were expecting. It was a dry day so scrambling in between rocks wasn't too bad, but it meant we didn't get as far as we'd hoped.

What we did get though was an awesome view of the Santiago smog in all its glory! Although I think I would have preferred to be in the thick of it and not know...

Today's forecast: sunny skies

Of course I love talking about the weather, I'm British. So I had to share this photo I took this morning. Look at the horizon of smog running across the centre of the picture! A dirty cloud obscuring the mountain and covering everything with black dust.

A horizon of smog

This is the first time I've actually been able to see the smog from down here in the thick of it. Usually, everything just looks a little hazy. Apart from the tell tale signs of sore eyes, itchy nose and black tissues. The first time I truly saw the smog was driving down the mountain from the city's most exclusive neighbourhood up in the Andes. I looked down upon a murky city of shiny high rises blanketed in a thick dusty brown cloud.

Smog is a perennial problem here. Santiago is trapped in a basin between two mountain ranges. There is no wind in the valley and the prevailing weather systems die out before they have a chance to cross the high peaks. It hasn't rained since three freakish days in mid-January when we had spectacularly unseasonable cloud, drizzle and (small) thunder storms. Rain is such an event that everyone can remember when it last happened. Since I arrived, I can count three times.

Apparently the first rains will fall in May. When they happen, I am told there will be a deluge. Perhaps then, we will be able to bask once more in the glory that is the Andes mountains. A cinematic backdrop that has been hidden for most of the summer.

But for now, despite the pollution, I shall continue to enjoy waking up every morning, knowing that it will be sunny and that I don't need to carry my umbrella.

Sunsets and smog

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook will already be familiar with my 'first sunset' photo - the magnificent sight that greeted me on my first day in Chile. For anyone who hasn't seen it, this is what I saw when I looked out of our bedroom window on my first evening in this new country.

It really is a tremendous sight; and a week or so later, I took this picture which shows-off the mountain in all its snow-capped splendour.

However, Santiago is not all sparkling skies and dramatic panoramas. Unfortunately, a lot of the time (in winter especially) the city is covered with a thick blanket of smog. Nestling as it does between two mountain ranges, while providing an unbeatable backdrop, does, however, create a trap for all the pollution characteristic of a capital city. Sadly, the mountains are often obscured, as the photo I took at sunset today shows.