Flamingos and moonscapes

Returning now to our desert trip, after a brief jaunt to the Elqui Valley (in a literary sense that is).

Sightseeing in the Atacama Desert requires booking tours, of which there are hundreds. That is, there are hundreds of companies (or at least it feels that way) but the tour content of each is much of a muchness. Going by a recommendation, we opted for Desert Adventure and reserved everything before we left Santiago.

Our first tour of the trip was to the Salar de Atacama to see some flamingos. But we were left dangling tantalised for a while; first we were taken to a nearby river oasis, where fruit grows in the middle of the arid wasteland; second, to the village of Toconao, with an interesting church and bell tower and a handicraft shop. Finally, as the sun began to set, we were taken to the Salar.

The Salar de Atacama is a vast salt flat, formed when rivers coming down from the mountains simply dry up in the desert heat. We were surprised to discover that the Chilean flats aren't the dazzling white expanses we were expecting; instead, the wind and the sand of the desert churns them up into a brown, knobbly texture - a little like the top of a crumble!

It's a stunning view, with salt and sand as far as the eye can see on one side, and volcanoes on the other. And plonked right in the middle, are a series of lagoons created by underground water sources, on which live the flamingos. 

Showing a surprising lack of timidity, the flamingos continued eating, drinking and roosting as flocks of cooing tourists snapped photo after photo of a sunset flushed with pink.

On the second afternoon, we travelled out to the Valle de la Muerte (Valley of Death) and Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley). Both are unreal landscapes, carved into the stone and sand by the constantly eroding force of the wind. In Valle de la Luna, we saw the obligatory Tres Marias rock formation, which is sadly now only two Marias after an unknown culprit knocked part of it down. We also saw an old salt mine and miners refuge now returned to the sands.

The afternoon culminated in another breathtaking sunset, the dry rock awash with soft pinks and oranges and long shadows sliding up the sides of the mountains. We had to be dragged away by our tour guide, or we would have been tumbling back down the sand dunes in the dark.

San Pedro de Atacama

The desert oasis of San Pedro de Atacama is located some 24 hours by road from Chile's capital Santiago. Feeling this was a little too long a bus journey for us, we flew to the nearby city of Calama. The flight takes just under two hours, with several connecting transfers via taxi or minibus into San Pedro. All very slick and professional, the transfer takes between one hour and an hour and a half depending on where your hostel is located on the route. We were last to be dropped off, as we were staying at the Sumaj Jallpa - a cute, clean and cosy hostel on the outskirts of the village, but just a 10 minute walk from the centre.

San Pedro itself is tiny and can be walked around in about half an hour. It's a real tourist trap, full of backpackers of all nationalities (although a lot of Brazilians, French and Spanish at this time of year) and its dusty streets are littered with tour operators, souvenir shops and cafes. Despite this, it didn't feel annoyingly touristy like Pucón; it has a nice relaxed feel about it with everyone (including the stray dogs) reposing in the sun and getting along.

The church of San Pedro

Main sightseeing points include the church, a sparkling white national monument with beautifully adorned statues inside. Also fascinating is the archaeological museum Gustavo Le Paige ($2000 CLP / $1500 CLP for students) which covers the history of the first settlers in the region, through the arrival of the Incan empire and later the Spanish conquistadors, although occasionally in a little too much detail. The museum houses lots of interesting artefacts, including early stone tools, pottery and even textiles, all of which were kept preserved by the desert sands.

Spending a morning mooching around San Pedro's plentiful souvenir shops was fun, although you'll find that most stock the same items and that (we suspect) the majority are made in China and are not the wares of local artisans. That said, we found a really interesting jewellery shop that had some unique and reasonable priced pieces, such as a copper bangle I picked up for $10000 CLP. Our favourite souvenir shop (which we visited three or four times in our indecisiveness over gifts) turned out to be located within the oldest building in San Pedro, dating from the arrival of conquistador Pedro de Valdivia in the early 16th century. Both shops are on Taconao.

San Pedro's oldest building (now a souvenir shop)

Following the advice of the Rough Guide to Chile, we hunted around the edges of the village for cheaper eats, which was definitely the right thing to do. We frequented a restaurant on Tocopilla with Licanbur, near to the bus terminal, which offered three course meals with lots of choice for just $3500 CLP (that's about a fiver).

Chorillana

Ticking another dish off our 'to eat' list, we shared a chorillana in a bar at the eastern end of Caracoles. Dubbed a 'heart attack on a plate', chorillana consists of chips topped with sausage, beef, chicken, onions and a fried egg. Man it was goood...

Breakfasts were a little overpriced for what you got, but there are various places that offer tea/coffee/chocolate with toast and a glass of juice for an average of $2000 CLP, going up to nearer $3500 if you want eggs, ham or cheese too.

Finally, the best thing of all about San Pedro is that it's surrounded by this view, with unbeatable rosy sunsets on the backdrop of Volcán Licancabur every day.

The view during the walk back to our hostel

My 7 links

A slight digression from my usual posting topics as I appear to have joined the world of the bloggersphere by being tagged in this '7 links' thing that's doing the rounds.

Thanks to Rob W of the South America Blog (this is the chap who runs Woodward language school which brought me up to a passable level of Spanish, Chilenismos and all) I have to rifle through the archives of my blog for 7 posts that are the most beautiful, popular, controversial, helpful, surprisingly successful, lacking the attention they deserved and that I am most proud of.

This actually turned out to be quite a fun task, as I got to rediscover stories I'd forgotten about and I enjoyed feeling incredibly proud of my blog and realising what an interesting historical record it is for me. So without further ado, onto the 7 links.

My most beautiful post

Difficult to define a beautiful blog post. Although on the whole I am pleased with how I write, I'm not sure any of the posts are exquisitely crafted literary masterpieces. So if we take beautiful to mean photography and subject matter, it doesn't get more perfect than A sprinkle of magic - the story of Frutillar and one volcano that made a last minute appearance to give us the most phenomenal setting for a pastel coloured sunset.

My most popular post

Judging by stats alone, this award goes to The most beautiful place on earth about our visit to Bariloche in Argentina, before it got covered in ash from Volcan Puyehue. A worthy winner. That said, I never tire of this view has been hanging around at the top of my most visited list since I wrote it way back on 20th October, so I think it deserves a mention too.

My most controversial post

I don't really do controversy on this blog, but I guess that Civil unrest is the closest I've come to any kind of political statement, or for that matter, to writing anything negative about my experiences here. 

My most helpful post

My very first posts, First impressions and A day of small victories stand out for me simply because various friends I have met here have told me that they felt reassured reading about my rather wobbly experiences in Chile at the beginning. So I'm nominating these for helping people know that they weren't alone in feeling adrift in this strange new place.

A post whose success surprised me

New heroes was the first time I received feedback from Chileans about my blog, with many of them in agreement with my admiration for Michele Bachelet. This was a turning point for me, where I discovered that my blog was being read as much by my new friends here as by my old friends back home. The amount of attention my Food post got was also a genuine surprise - it seems eating is what my readers are really interested in!

A post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved

Looking through my archives I found it difficult to find a post that didn't get attention, but eventually I opted for Museum of Memory and Human Rights because I don't remember getting much direct feedback on it. Maybe the subject matter was too painful for some, or maybe the history is too distant for others. Either way, I thought this post would get more of a reaction than it did.

The post that I'm most proud of

Trying not to sound too cheesy, I can honestly say that I am incredibly proud of my entire blog. I only started writing it because I fancied having a go at blogging and a couple of people had suggested it might be an interesting thing to do. But as I said at the beginning, it's turned into fascinating record of my time here; I love reading it and I hope others do too. Selecting one post, therefore, is pretty hard, but I think I'm going to plump for Immigration. Partly because it made me and a lot of other people laugh, partly because I enjoyed writing it and working on getting the humour across, and partly because I'm really proud of what I achieved that morning!

So now I have to pass on the tag to five other bloggers. So 7 links on their way to:

1. Callie Mills - Ruffle Your Feathers
2. Carolina Leseigneur - GoodCatt's Random Musings
3. Pepe's Chile Adoration Page
   
   Next was going to be fellow Chile blogger Angie Clifford with Angie's life, but she's already been tagged so instead we change topic to...
   
   
4. Ruth Lund - Cherry Coloured Twist
5. Emma Fassio - Emma Fassio Knitting

City of rivers

Pinnacle of the holiday finally achieved, we moved onto Valdivia - the urban centre and capital of Los Rios region. Valdivia is famous for being the location of the world's biggest ever recorded earthquake - a huge 9.5 on the Richter scale in 1960. It's also famous for its German influences, beer, fish market, rivers and sea lions!

The day began shrouded in dense fog as we ambled along the waterfront trying to avoid the grasp of the plethora of pleasure boat trip sellers keen to seize on a couple of tourists. In addition to the rather yummy looking fish market (a pity we couldn't cook that night), the waterfront also boasts a massive submarine and a pendulum clock that tells the time based on the curvature of the earth. And how could I forget? The waterfront is also home to loads of (rather smelly) sea lions, who lounge around all day except for when the market clears up at night...

My picture postcard of Valdivia's waterfront (and sea lions)

While we were waiting for the skies to clear, we decided to take in a few museums. The first was the Kunstmann brewery (cerveceria) - which we took a short micro trip to get to. Now, we were expecting something on the scale of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Not to be I'm afraid; the brewery has a small museum and shop and a large restaurant. Still, it was interesting to learn about this family business, started by German immigrants who first arrived in the mid 1800s, which now competes on a global sale. The honey ale is particularly nice.

Philippi (right) and friend.
I love this photo, nothing says 'Victorian
explorer' more.

Back in the town centre, the sun had broken through so we enjoyed our sandwiches on the riverside - at a safe distance away from the hungry lobos marinos (sea lions). Afterwards, we crossed the river to the university side of town (Valdivia is an important student city) and visited two more museums. The first was an historical and anthropological museum that contained artefacts from the region's various colonisers, from the Mapuches to the Spanish to the Germans.

The second was the Philippi museum of exploration. The observant amongst you will remember I mentioned Philippi in my post about Puerto Varas. Despite the sound of the name, Philippi was a German explorer who 'discovered' a large part of the regions of Los Rios and Los Lagos. A palaeontologist and zoologist, he worked extensively to categorise and document life in this exotic land, which at the time consisted mainly of dense forest.

Full of information, we decided to finish off the day with one of the riverboat tours we had an initially been avoiding. Thankfully, we made a good choice - a sturdy boat, a very informative guide and a decent long tour along the Valdivia, Cau Cau and Cruces rivers. Another sunset in another romantic place.

Valdivia, city of rivers

More Valdivia photos on Flickr:

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Valdivia photoset

A sprinkle of magic

By the time we reached Frutillar I was desperate to see Volcan Osorno. We'd spent the previous day on the shore of Lago Llanquihue under a damp blanket of low cloud and had woken up to hazy mist shimmering over the surface of the lake.

Frutillar

Having caught the micro (small bus) around the lake to Frutillar (a mere $900 pesos / £1.20 each), we alighted at Frutillar Bajo, on the lake side (Frutillar Alto being the main town slightly inland). We were presented with a beautiful view: a wide bay, lake waters lapping on a stretch of beach, an elegant wooden pier, tidy houses, more Germanic churches and the modern Teatro del Lago stretching out on stilts into the water. Still no volcano though.

So we sat down to have our lunch on the pier. Amusingly, we were joined by various other couples who divided into two clear groups. Chileans, dressed in normal daytime clothing, who walked straight to the end to take pictures of themselves with the view and partake in various public displays of affection. Then there were the internationals, dressed in their outdoor gear, who settled down on one of the side benches, opened up their backpacks and started assembling sandwiches from the various supplies stored within.

Ham and cheese hallulla (that's a bap to you and me) halfway to my mouth, I turned my head. "Mira!" I cried, "el volcán!" (Carlos and I spoke in Spanish the whole time we were on holiday in case you were wondering). Suddenly, the clouds began to part and, like a mirage, the shape of the volcano began to slowly appear out of the mist. It was a magical sight, and as the clouds rolled away and the sun shone brightly, we just sat and relaxed and admired this astonishing view of a perfectly symmetrical, snow-capped volcano seeming to rise out of the lake.

Thrilled that Volcan Osorno has appeared behind me

Volcan Osorno

Kuchen and hot chocolate

Of course, no blog post of mine would be complete without mentioning food. In Frutillar, we had been recommended a place to sample kuchen, which is German for cake. At "Duendes del Lago" (goblins of the lake) we had something similar to apple crumble and a hot chocolate - mine mint flavoured and Carlos' caramel. Plus some biscuits. Yum!

Afterwards, we were treated to another sunset. This time, with the mist and haze, the sky and sea turned shades of dusty pink and blue, like a pastel picture. Truly a sprinkle of magic.

Volcan Osorno at sunset

More Frutillar photos on Flickr:

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Frutillar photoset

How the other half live

Cross the border back into Chile from Argentina's Bariloche and the international road will take you right past Termas de Puyehue. A little all inclusive stay at this super-luxurious spa and wellness resort was my treat from I Love Chile for the voluntary work I've been doing for them over the last six months. Seriously, this was some present.

We were up early to catch the international bus from Bariloche's terminal. Amusingly, we were shown the same film as on the inbound journey, but hey, it was an enjoyable one (Tony Scott's 'Unstoppable' about a runaway train if you're interested, dubbed into Spanish of course)! After passing through customs without incident, the bus dropped us off at the entrance to the termas. 

A progressive series of 'wows' followed, as we entered a huge reception area and were shown to our enormous and sumptuous room complete with balcony, lake view and various little freebies. After we'd picked ourselves up off the floor, we decided to find out about the various activities on offer before having lunch.

The view from our window

The all inclusive deal involves a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, at least three courses each time. Needless to say my jeans were a little tight by the end. The main restaurant has an idyllic view of the grounds and the lake beyond and we even managed to watch some birds of prey outside while breakfasting on the last morning (sorry, this was a rare occasion where I didn't have my camera with me).

The view from the restaurant

Following lunch, we were taken on a short guided walk (caminata) to the complex's hydroelectricity plant - the turbine dating from the 1930s - before hitting the pool. Hot spring pools are one of the best discoveries I've made here in Chile (you'll see why in a forthcoming post about Nevados de Chillan). Naturally heated by the area's volcanic underground (more on that later too), the pools are extremely relaxing and the minerals in the water make your skin feel really soft.

At Puyehue, there is a large indoor pool heated at around 36 degrees with various hydro-massage jets which we had great fun trying not to get thrown about by. Next to it there is a semi-covered Olympic-sized pool, in which I had a gorgeous early morning swim the next day, and lastly an outdoor 'fun' pool. We messed around in the outdoor pool as the sun went down, being swirled around in a whirlpool, bumped around by water jets and generally acting like big kids.

Local yarn

The next morning, Carlos took advantage of a horse riding trip (cabalgata) while I returned to the pool and pottered around the hotel. I figured my first time on a horse in a language I'm still learning was not the best of ideas. Part of the pottering involved a quick visit to the hotel shop, which to my dismay, held an ample collection of local yarn. You guessed it, I bought some (and it's green).

When we met-up again, we had a packed day ahead of us, starting with a mountain-biking circuit around the grounds, a big lunch and a lovely walk through the forest along the river - where I learnt lots of countryside related vocabulary such as seta (fungus), enganchar (to be hooked on something - i.e. a rama or branch), barro (mud), otoñal (autumnal) and oveja (sheep). I hope that's painted a picture...

Setas (funghi)

Back in the hotel we took in onces - the Chilean version of afternoon tea, which includes bread, ham and cheese, cakes and of course, tea! Rather full, we headed to the spa for a sauna, which after feeling proud of ourselves that it wasn't that hot, we realised wasn't switched on. We sorted that though, before returning to the pool for a refreshing dip.

That night's buffet consisted of traditional Chilean food, including empanadas and pastel de choclo. I enjoyed a kind of beef bourguignon and some of the best desserts - deep fried churro-like pastries and little meringues with fruits of the forest. Finally, we worked off dinner with an hour or so of ping-pong in the games room.

Termas de Puyehue is an oasis of luxury, in a stunning setting, with attentive staff and immaculate attention to detail. It sounds like a cliche, but we kept returning to our room to find more treats - baskets of fruit, chocolates and bottles of the spa's mineral water. Hands down, Termas de Puyehue wins the award for 'the most luxurious place I've ever stayed'.

Termas de Puyehue's grounds with Volcan Puyehue in the background
and the hot spring pool in front

More Termas de Puyehue photos on Flickr:

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Termas de Puyehue photoset

The most beautiful place on earth

West coast of Scotland: I'm sorry. You've reigned for a while, but I'm afraid you have finally been pipped to the title of 'the most beautiful place in the world I have ever been (so far)'. If it eases the blow, you were only beaten by a bigger version of yourself. I hope you won't mind too much.

Muscling the Isle of Eigg and the Scottish Inner Hebrides down to the number two position was their Argentine heavyweight cousin, San Carlos de Bariloche. Quite simply the most spectacular place I have ever seen; an enormous lake surrounded by mountain peaks. Oh, and it has some of the best chocolate around too. You can see why it stole my affections.

Bariloche was the first stop on our trip to the Chilean/Argentine lake district, located around 500 miles south of the capital Santiago and at the start of the heavenly wilderness that is Patagonia. We arrived there via an overnight bus trip (around 10 hours) to Osorno. It's not as bad as it sounds - travellers are provided with blankets, pillows, dinner and breakfast (sandwiches, biscuits and juice), the seats recline with a foot rest, the lights go out and people sleep. Then it was another 5-6 hours across the border to Bariloche. As you can probably imagine, I had a stinking headache by the time I arrived at the hostel so it was straight to bed for me.

The lake shore, Bariloche

The next morning, the sun shone gloriously and I felt rejuvenated. We hot-footed it to the lake shore to see the waters sparkling in the sunlight. After ambling around the strangely gothic but modern cathedral and the Swiss-influenced main square, we took the teleferico (cable car) to the summit of one of the surrounding hills, for what was reputed to be one of the best views in the area. This was nothing short of an achievement, as I'm scared of cable cars and Carlos doesn't like heights!

The view from Cerro Otto in Bariloche

Once at the top, we were not disappointed. The scenery was simply stunning, with mountains and lakes as far as the eye could see. We enjoyed a guided tour around the sight by a very humorous guide, who pointed out the nearby landmarks, filled us in on the history of the area and made us act out a scene from some film or other (this was all in Spanish - I got a little lost).

Bariloche chocolates

Safely back down in the town, we treated ourselves to some of the unmissable local chocolate, which we devoured during a romantic moment watching the sunset on the lake shore. The sun turned golden, the mountains turned pink and the sky and sea changed from blue to orange to rosy to red, before finally darkness fell and it was time to bid this magnificent place goodbye.

Sunset at the lake shore, Bariloche

More Bariloche photos on Flickr:

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Bariloche photoset

Watching the sun set on 2010

The last sunset of 2010 - Viña del Mar

New Year's Eve can often be a bit of a damp squib. All the anticipation and hype inevitably, at times, leads to anticlimax and disappointment, leaving you wondering what all the fuss had been about.

Happily, this year, my new year celebrations were far from disappointing. Admittedly, I was a little nervous, as lots of people had said to me how amazing it would be to see in the new year in a different country, and somewhere hot! Thankfully, it did not let me down.

Having spent the day at the seaside, we made our way to relatives of Carlos' who have a beach view flat at the resort of Viña del Mar. The resort is across the bay from Valparaíso and together they are the setting for what are said to be some of the most spectacular fireworks displays in the world.

Before dinner, we took a walk on the beach with the children and got to see the final sunset of the year, turning a golden orange before dropping below the cliffs. Carlos and I repeated the scene on New Year's Day - sitting on a rock watching the first sunset of 2011.

Then it was back to the flat for - what else? - a barbecue. The ubiquitous choripan (hotdogs) followed by a hunk of beef. I attempted a tequila cocktail, which was brave, given a slight incident shortly after completing my A-levels... all went well.

As midnight approached, the anticipation grew and Carlos and I found ourselves feeling quite nervous. In keeping with Spanish tradition, we each clutched a small bowl of 12 grapes, which would accompany the bongs of the clock in the countdown to the new year. Unfortunately, in a minor oversight, we discovered that Chile doesn't count down to new year with clock bongs, so we had to stuff them into our mouths as quickly as possible as the crowd on the TV counted down from 10.

Out on the balcony, a huge cheer ran across the bay, a rain of ticker-tape and silly string covered us, the champagne bottle popped and it was hugs, kisses and felicitations all round. Then a pause, almost silence, as thousands of people looked at a black sky, lit only by a few floating Chinese lanterns. Where were the fireworks?

Perhaps a minute passed, and then, an enormous explosion. Cascading colours lit up the sky, with a cacophony of noise from the bangs of the fireworks, cheers and gasps from the spectators, honks from hand-held klaxons and the ships in the bay and the blaring of car alarms. The Pacific Ocean was illuminated in pinks, greens, reds, whites and golds as vivid displays from 10 or more platforms in the sea erupted simultaneously. The spectacular show lasted for 25 minutes and was truly, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBYF1pYuIo&feature=related

Our first barbecue

Continuing on the food theme, tonight Carlos and I finally had our first ever barbecue.

Barbecues are a big tradition here. Chileans love meat, particularly beef, and there is no better way to spend a social gathering than around glowing coals. In fact, many blocks of flats here have built in barbecues or quinchos on the roof. Our building is no exception. And, after a bit of improvisation involving a cooling rack, oven pans and a ladle, we were off...

DIY barbecue

We started with the staple choripan - a chorizo or longaniza style sausage in marraqueta bread, which is a kind of double-breasted bread roll which handily splits into hotdog-sized buns.

Then as the sun went down, it was onto a nice steak. Everyone we had spoken to about the barbecue had their opinion on the steak - which meat it should be, which cut, how to prepare it. Whether or not we followed the Chilean rules, I don't know, but it was certainly tasty!

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Sunset from the roof photoset

Birthday Abroad: Part 2

Having had a wonderful day doing fun things around Santiago on my birthday, I was intrigued to be told on the following morning that I was required to meet Carlos after work that evening for my 'surprise'.

The only clues I had were my instructions to:

• wear something warm;
• wear something smart;
• bring my camera; and,
• bring my epipen.

All very mysterious. Was it a meal... but why the warm clothes? Some kind of walking tour... but why the epipen? Or outdoor theatre... but why the camera?

Well, after a bit of a walk around Santiago's business district, I was ushered into what looked like a hotel and into a lift bound for the 17th floor. At which point I began to panic a little... Anyway, the lift doors opened onto a rooftop bar that presented us with the most stunning panorama. We were seated at a table on the east-facing terrace, with an unbeatable view of the Andes.

It was the perfect evening. The previous night it had rained heavily (rare in Santiago), leaving the Andes sprinkled with fresh snow and giving us a crystal clear sky in which to appreciate them.

As we watched the sun go down, we saw the mountains change from brown, to pink to red, until finally night fell and we saw all of the city lights twinkling below us.

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Birthday surprise on the 17th floor photoset

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.