We went to a not-so-interesting city in Chile called Osorno, where we got ready for our next trek. This also happened to be the 24th of December. We went to buy food for the trek in the supermarket and found that the supermarket had turned to a practical war zone. There were hundreds of people there, all trying to do last minute shopping for Christmas. We tried to buy bread, but as soon as it was out people were all over it and it was gone in a second. We ended up waiting for the following morning to complete our shopping and then we took the bus to the park where we did the trek (Puyehue).
The main problem with the park (and a few others like it) is what the locals call “Tabanos”. These are a type of horse flies that bite you and suck your blood. They hover around you in clouds and can drive you crazy. When they sit on you and get ready to bite they change their usual buzzing to a sort of drilling noise. These lovely creatures traveled with us in the first and last day, and also a bit on the third day. Traveling with Tabanos is NOT RECOMMENDED! :)
The first day was all uphill (as they all appear to be). This time, however, there was a new twist to the climb (in addition to the Tabanos). Besides the ridiculous slopes we had to climb, we also had to deal with the unstable volcanic soil that kept sliding under our shoes. This made climbing very difficult and by the time we got to the top of the climb we were pretty tired. The good thing was that at the end of the climb we found a nice little hut where we could sleep (on wooden bunks!) and cook our food (on a stove!).
We spent the night there with another Israeli couple who got there later, while a few other people spent the night outside in their tents (though there was still plenty of room inside the Refugio).
The following morning we woke up to very cloudy weather and we couldn’t decide whether to go on or to stay another day in the Refugio (well, we had plenty of food). The Israeli couple left (they were in a hurry), but soon after a European couple came (a Swiss man and a French woman now living in the US). After they had rested we all went to climb the volcano (the inactive Volcan Puyehue).
It took us about two hours to climb it. I thought this would not be worth the climb as we had already climbed an active volcano (Villarica), but was surprised to find that it was great. The view was amazing (at 2240meters) and the entire crater of the volcano (which is huge) was covered with snow. We took some great pictures there (which we haven’t developed yet), had a small snack and finally made our way down. When we came back to the Refugio we found that it had filled up with people and we had a somewhat crowded night (the two of us, the Swiss, the French, an Australian and 6 Germans).
On the third day we got up early for a long walk. We decided to cross the park and to come back on the same day. Well, we started walking along the barren, snow covered plains of the park. We could see the trail twisting and turning in front of us. The whole place looks like some kind of desert until you recall that you are 1500 meters above sea level and that there is snow around you. We finally made it to Los Banos, which are a couple of hot springs, heated by the geothermal activity in the area. We then went on to see some geysers, and while they were nice we found them to be not so impressive (just some bubbling mud and a lot of steam). On the way to the geysers we had to cross a stream several times. The water was very very cold and I think the people in the Refugio could hear us screaming as our toes asked us “why?”.
After eating a small lunch at the geysers we made our way back to the Refugio.
The entire trip was at least 32km long (but was probably longer as there seems to be an error in the map). We were pretty tired when we got back and we could see from a distance that there were many tents near the Refugio. We of course though that the Refugio itself was filled with people, but found out that including us there were only five people inside. After all that walking we slept very very WELL.
On the final day we got up late and went down the way we came the first day. It was fun walking the same way, only this time downhill. We caught a lift and then a bus back to town and, as always, enjoyed our after-trek bath. We are now in Puerto Montt. From here we will fly south and start working our way back north. After meeting an American couple (whom we had already met in Bariloche) we are thinking of spending the Sylvester with them in Chonchi, which is a small town on the island of Chiloe (just off the coast of Chile).
No comments:
Post a Comment