ISLA CHILOE, CHILE´S MAGIC ISLAND

Kevin says:

Pretty Church in Chonchi

August 25-27 found us on the island of Chiloe, south of Puerto Montt, a bunch of islands seeped in mystery, mythology and almost constant rain. Our bus took us from Puerto Varas to south of Puerto Montt (an ugly port town) to a dock where the bus drove on to a boat. Once we got to the island we were driven to Ancud, a nice locals town where we found the Hostel Nuevo Mondial, owned by a Swiss man and his Chilean wife, they had a cute baby too. This hostel was on a busy road, so I got little sleep again, oh well. Amber and I were determined to eat as much local seafood as we could, which the island was famous for. We enjoyed the town of Ancud, there were no other tourists there that we could see, we were the only ones at the hostel. We found Restaurant Chiloetito, and enjoyed Salmon and Shellfish soup (bouillabaise in french).


Amber was in heaven to have Dad finally spring for some real restaurants. There were lots of little artisans shops selling hand knitted items and alerce wood products for 3 or 5 dollars. We bought the local drink, Pisco Sour, which we later tried with mango and coconut flavors.

Colorful houses and shops in Ancud

The next day we checked out the local museum where they had more artisan booths, we particularly enjoyed speaking to the model boat builder, who had no teeth, who was proud to hear we had seen his boat model in the Santiago history museum. On the way to the Spanish fort (their last stronghold in the Americas) it began to rain, and I mean pouring rain, so we never made it.

View from room in Ancud youth hostel

We got on a bus south to Chonchi, a town on the east coast, staying at the dreary but ocean front Esmeralda by the Sea Hostel. This was owned by a Canadian man and his 2 sons, one of whom introduced us to the tiny town. We went straight to the local restaurant and got a seafood brunch, which is always fun, even if it was raining. The hostel was our most expensive, at $40, we were the only guests, the room was dirty as they usually dont have guests in winter. It was also freezing in the flimsily constructed wood building, battered for years by storms.

The 27th we enjoyed pancakes with our ocean front view of the bay. We decided to take the bus to Quellin, at the south of the island, where we hoped to see the erupting Chaiten volcano. That would have been a first. They had to evacuate 2 towns recently because of all the soot, which was blowing east into argentina. However after an hour of waiting in the cold, we took the bus back north to Ancud, where we ate in our favorite restaurant again. We visited the Spanish fort and I bought some salmon leather from a Mapuche artisan (who loved listening to the rock band Police). He made right in front of me a salmon leather and horse hide coin purse, for 3 dollars. We bought our bus ticket to Bariloch, Argentina, an 8 hour trip costing $26 per ticket.

Traveling by bus is inexpensive and easy, and the buses are modern with TV´s, music and great seats. Our trip went north to Osorno, then east over the Andes for a 2nd time into Argentina. It was raining, which turned to snow as we gained altitude. It was easy crossing the border, the Argentine customs are much less stringent, no bag searches for instance. Finally arriving in Bariloche, we found the bus station miles from town, and we had not enough argentine money to take a taxi, but we had just enough to take a very very crowded bus. Our hostel 1040 we chose was on the 10th floor of a building with stupendous views over the lago nahuel huapi, 360 square miles big with 'arms' 60 miles long. We were in a dorm room with 3 bunk beds, with 2 other Americans and a French guy. It was still hard to sleep for me, stuffy and a bit noisy, but not too bad.

We were talking with a girl at breakfast, she was from Santa Ynez, I asked if she knew my runner friend Leah Etling, and she had gone to school with Leah! What a coincidence! I emailed Leah immediately to tell her

I am getting ahead of myself, as I was supposed to blog about Chiloe and Amber is to blog about Bariloche. Suffice to say we really like it here, it is a bit like Chamonix France, kind of upscale, but lots to do in the surrounding region. It has one of the best ski resorts in Argentina, Cerro Catedral, which you can take public buses to. We will probably stay here our last 2 weeks. It is snowing now and the town is covered with abeautiful layer of fresh snow! Very cool! There is an American who has been here for 3 months, writing a book.

The Elvish Forest and the Magic Lagoon

Amber posts:

VIEW FROM THE BOAT, MT. TRONADOR, 3400M

CLOSEUP OF TRONADOR

(Picture: Boat to Peulla.)

On Saturday morning, we took a boat to from a dock near the tiny Petrohue to Peulla. Despite the thick fog, the sky opened and weather cleared up! We could see so many volcanoes and mountains all around the long, skinny lake we sailed through: Volcan Osorno, which we had skiied and slept on (see previous post), Volcan Calbuco, which we saw while skiing, and Monte Tronador and the absurdly pointy Volcan Puntiagudo. We finished the day by taking a 3 hour walk to the farm (llamas, baby sheep, pigs, deer, ducks, and chickens) and the local cemetary.

(Picture: Dad in front of Osorno volcano, flag of Chile.)

(Picture: Volcan Puntiagudo.)

(Another view from boat.)

AMBER WITH THE OSORNO VOLCANO IN THE BACKGROUND

(Picture: At the farm)

(Picture: Baby sheep!)

That night we stayed in a hotel. Splurge! Our first hotel! Hot shower! Little packages of shampoo! I was so excited. It was a nice break from the snorers, but I like youth hostels more; you get to meet more people.

Woke up this morning to a wonderful breakfast. Warm rolls, jelly, cereal, yogurt, fruit salad, juice, tea, and miscellaneous cookies and such. In Chile and Argentina many people like the taste of sweet for breakfast.

AMBER AT BREAKFAST AT LOVELY HOTEL PEULLA

At 8:30 we left for a long hike up to Laguna Margarita. Last night Dad talked to one of the hotel receptionists about our intended trek, and he wanted to come too! So we made a new friend, Gonzalo, who came along and led the way. Without him we NEVER would have made it.

The trip to the lagoon was easily the most difficult hike of my life. (Dad said it was one of the hardest he´s ever been on, too.) The entire route was uphill, but it was more than walking; many times the path would slope straight up, and you´d use roots and young supple bamboo to help pull yourself up. Logs blocked the path, so you either had to climb over or under them. Several times there was a rope tied to a tree to help you climb a particularly steep patch. The path was mostly soggy dirt, watery mud, and later snow!

(Picture: Amber and Gonzalo in Elvish forest)

We went uphill for 3 hours this way, Dad and I panting and sweating the whole way. Meanwhile, Gonzalo is practically sprinting up the path, gracefully leaping over the logs that Dad and I clunk over. At one point we reaced a difficult river crossing, a mossy, snowy log stretching across the river. Unafraid, Gonzalo walked across it like it was a normal bridge, stopping to take a picture of the waterfall behind it. A few minutes later, I crawled across it and Dad straddled it like a horse and inched himself across. There were several awesome waterfalls on the way up partnered with several difficult river crossings, but watching Gonzalo effortlessly find the best way made it a lot easier.
STREAM CROSSING ON SLIPPERY LOG

After 1 hour, we were in a very old part of the forest full of alerce trees. It felt JUST like the forest in Lord of the Rings, Gonzalo noticed, and by the end we were both whistling the soundtrack. I could feel the old silence of the majestic Alerce trees, dripping with pale green moss, fallen logs crowned with yellow twisting mushrooms.

CHECK OUT THE CONDITIONS ON THE TRAIL IN WINTER

At the 2nd hour bits of snow started to appear on the trail until suddenly the trail morphed into winter. You had to be careful where you stepped or you´d be up to your thigh in snow. Luckily a few hikers came through yesterday and we had some tracks to follow. Up there was another enchanted forest, completely different from the last one. Only three colors: the blinding white of the snow, the glowing golden brown of the trees, and the threataning grey of the thick, clouded sky.

Finally we reached the lagooon. Dad and I were exhausted, but Gonzalo was ready to run around the lake. Laguna Margarita was frozen solid with a pure layer of snow across it like icing on a cake. A huge rock loomed behind it, the deep gray of it framing the lagoons purity. (In the summer Gonzalo climbs the rock. He brought his ropes but didn´t have time to use them.)

NEAR THE TOP IN THE MAGIC FOREST

(Picture: Amber and Dad at Laguna Margarita.)

I wish I could stayed there for a few hours to sketch and take more pictures. I want to go back in the summertime, Gonzalo says there´s no snow and it´s beautiful in a completely different kind of way.

We left the lagoon at 12:30 after resting and admiring for about 20 minutes . Gonzalo said it would only take an hour and a half to get back the way we came. We thought he was crazy, but as soon as we started slipping down the steep slopes we had climbed up just a few minutes earlier we understood. Dad and I let Gonzalo run ahead after he led us back to the main trail, he had to get ready to work at the hotel.

GOING DOWN THE STEEP PARTS BACKWARDS IN THE MUD, OVER ROOTS AND SHRUBS

2 hours later we were back at the hotel (¨Oh rats! Civilzation!¨was my first reaction) smelly and with wet boots. We changed socks and shirts (Dad ripped a big hole in his!) and were ready to leave when Gonzalo the chamelion shows up at the reception desk, looking totally presentable and handsome. (Did I mention he was handsome?) We wrote him a nice note, and I said he was the Chilean version of Survivor Man, he liked that a lot.

Dad said our hike was 4000 feet of elevation, the same elevation as from sea level to the top of the Los Padres mountains.

The boat ride back to the dock was foggy and Dad and I wrote in our journals; we were blessed to have seen the mountain views clearly on the way there. Once we got to the port, we were in a bit of a predicament; it was 10 miles to Ensenada, and it was raining and windy. We were told there was a bus coming soon, but it never came. However, we only had to wait in the miserable cold for a little while because another guy wanted to get out of there, too, and he phoned up his friend to come pick us up! They dropped us off in Ensenada and we waited in the general store (its a TINY town) and ate some warm empanadas. The last bus came, and one hour later here we are in Hostel Compas del Sur in Puerto Varas.

I just took a luxuriatingly warm shower and am totally happy and warm. Dad just made us some tea. So many contrasts in one day!

Love Amber
GONZALO, OUR HANDSOME MAPUCHE CHILEAN SURVIVORMAN GUIDE

PS: Gonzalo´s parents are Mapuche indians native to the region, and he taught us how to say hello in Mapuche: Mari mari! (I can remember it because it sounds like Nari!)

Views to Remember from Volcano Osorno

Amber shares:
Im a little sore from the awesome skiing but mostly comfortable in this nice hostel on Volcano Osorno. It´s called Teski, - the old owners loved tennis and skiing!

(Picture: Teski hostel on Volcano and morning view, August 22)

Today we woke up and saw the thick blue of the practically cloudless sky. We were looking down at the clouds. The only time I had ever seen the top of a cloud before was in an airplane.
From the hostel window and ski lifts are unbelievable panoramic views of the neverending Lake Llanquihue (I kept mistaking it for an ocean!), the snowcapped Andes, and the peak of the volcano which seemed a lot closer than it actually was. It took the French hikers only 6 hours to hike up and ski down, a short trip. They were studly! Most of them were at least 50.

(Picture: Dad in front of the summit. It looks pretty close, doesn´t it?)

After going down the basic runs a few times, including the disgustingly icy one near the top, and enjoying the awesome views, dad wanted to try something different and I agreed to come along. It gets a little boring doing the same run over and over.

(Picture: Dad and I skiing Volcan Osorno with Volcan Calbuco in the background.)

Instead of going down the lift the normal way, we turned left and headed towards the pure white of the fresh snow. Barely anyone had skiied there before us, but luckily there were a few tracks for us to follow. Up there, through valleys of white, far away from the bumbling chairlift, was the loudest quiet I´ve ever heard. No sign of civilization, just surrounded by mountains and the ocean-like lake below us.

(Picture: Amber front of the afternoon light on Lake Llanquihue.)

(Picture: Dad skiing in front of Lake.)

The first half of our adventure was fun with only a few scary moments (skiing on the edge of a huge serac) but after we started towards civilization the skiing was HORRIBLE. (Metaphor anyone?) It was super steep, we traversed the entire width of the ski resort plus more in slippery icy snow that sucked in our skis in making you fall for no reason. To turn we had to find a patch of ice and stab in our pole to make sure the snow wouldn´t eat us. And of course Dad made it look so easy, but for me, a beginner-intermediate skiier, it was (I hate this word but I´ll use it anyway) intense!

(Picture: Amber skiing on the ridge of a serac.)

(Picture: Osorno sunset.)

Phew! But now we´re back at the hostel. They fed us a nice meal of salad, rice and meat, and ice cream topped with kiwi. (The kiwis and bananas here in Chile are excellent!)

Much love,
Amber

PS: Thanks for the comments! I like knowing that a few people are reading this.

PPS: Why does ¨awesome¨have a positive connotation but ¨awful¨have a negative one? Today was full of awe for me, but I can´t call it awful without sounding like a brat! It didn´t have just some awe, it was FULL of awe! ¨Aweful¨not ¨awful...¨

PPPS: I am experimenting with knitting and trying to make a glove without a pattern. It´s going surprisingly well, but we´ll see when I´m done. Any requests for knitted garmets? I have one blue-green hat for Joy on the to-do list, and I have red and purple yarn. I have a lot of free time at night to read and write in my journal, its very relaxing!

GOODBYE VILLARRICA - PUCON AREA, THANKS FOR THE SUNNY 2 DAYS!

SKIING OSORNO VOLCANO

Kevin reports:
August 20 to 22
From Pucon we could not find any mountain activities south on public transportation, a common problem when you dont have a car, but we took a series of buses for 5 hours south, to puerto montt and then puerto varas, a town on the west end of huge lago Llanquihue. Arriving at night, we got a taxi to drive us to a couple of hostels and we chose the best one, Casa Azul, for $32 a night. I had to figure out a way to get into the Andes (not Mikeys or Jimmys), so considered renting a car. That night the hostel dogs barked most of the night, and the cars were noisy driving by, bothering only me and not Amber.

The next morning I got up early to run, but it was too cold and windy, so I walked to the tourist office and had them call a mountain hut on the volcano Osorno, and by chance the owner was a few blocks away and came over to talk to me. He was driving up to the hut and agreed to drive us. What luck! Amber and I got packed and went back to the tourist office where we hung out for a few hours waiting for our ride (it was in a heated room right on the lake). Amber went to look at the big German built church in town, and was practising her sign language as she walked, and a deaf Chilean was walking by and saw her, he signed HI, and they had a conversation! That was cool. I bought a salmon leather key chain for $3.

Manuel drove us the 45 minutes to the bottom of the volcano, and then a third of the way up to the Teski Refugio. It was in the snow and the 4 wheel drive was sliding all over the place. It was still cloudy, we hadn´t seen the sun since we arrived in Chile a week earlier. But the refuge was great, just like a swiss alps mountain hut, with dorms, a big living room with fireplace, but also tv, music, internet, though no hot water. It was $32 with breakfast. There were 8 French people age 50 plus who had hired a bus and drivers to drive them to a bunch of volcanos to climb around chile. They were using mountaineering skis to go up and down. There were also 3 Italians walking up and snowboarding down. We had picked up some skis and boots for $42 on the way up as we were going to ski at the ´resort´next to the hut, with 2 lifts. They cooked us a great meal for $20.

REFUGIO TESKI ON OSORNO VOLCANO AT DAWN BEFORE SKIING

The next morning was perfectly clear, sunny with no clouds! We were so excited! We were skiing the Osorno Volcano! Amber and I walked up to the lifts and got tickets for $60. The first lift was pretty flat, but what views! We overlooked the huge lake, with Calbuco Volcano across from us and the Andes all around us. We could not believe our good luck. Then we headed up the 2nd lift and found the worst skiing snow ever. At first it was icy, which was actually good because you can turn on ice, but mostly it was crud, almost impossible to turn on. You would ski these long traverses then do a butt turn, or step turn if you could, then traverse back. But the views and sun made it great.

WALKING UP TO THE LIFTS FROM THE REFUGE TESKI

LONG TRAVERSES BECAUSE THE SNOW WAS CRUD MAKING IT HARD TO TURN

VOLCANO CABULCO IN THE BACKGROUND, A RARE SUNNY WINTER DAY IN CHILE

Later that day we had a true adventure. At the top of 2 I noticed two snowboarders going up and left, disappearing around a hill. From there you could do a long traverse back to the main ski run. I asked the lift operator if we could ski over there and he said Si, con cuidado (with carefulness), so off we went. We came around the bend and found ourselves with more awesome views, the only ones around, going ´backcountry skiing´. There were seracs that I got some great pictures of Amber skiing above, taken from below (I was thinking Berni will kill me when she sees that picture). There was no wind, no noise, we were on our own on a Chilean volcano, could not see anyone, just the lake and the mountains and the volacanos. It was just a power spot to the max. We did not have to turn, just traversed for over an hour to get back to the regular ski runs. For me it was the highlight of the whole trip to be up there with Amber, who was doing a great job skiing.

AMBER SKIING TO THE LEFT OF CHAIR 2 AROUND THE HILL TO ADVENTURE

See the next post by Amber for pictures from this part of the mountain.

Back in the hostel the sun set and created beautiful red colors over the lake and volcano across from us. We had another great dinner and basked in the beauty of the place.

THE NEXT MORNING THIS WAS OUR VIEW FROM THE REFUGE!

PUCON, CHILE´S ADVENTURE CAPITAL

AUGUST 18-19 from kevin:
Hola! Nuestra espanol es mejor cada dia. We left Villarrica on the bus around the lake to the adventure capital of Chile, Pucon, a lakeside town of restaurants, adventure companies and small hotels just under Villarrica Volcano. Unfortunately, we have yet to see the whole volcano because it has been raining. But it is fun to walk around all the shops and tour companies to decide what we want to do. Amber bought some more yarn to make me a scarf. We scoped out the hotels and picked the best one for $32 with our own room (no group dorms here). You can go skiing, climb the volcano ($40), go to hot springs (over 10 choices), hike 2 national parks, there is even a via ferrata (but it is closed). We decided to rent a car and cruise into the Andes.

The first day we drove across a one lane swinging bridge over a river (that was a first), and up to some lakes, then over to Termas Pozones, a series of 6 pools next to a river. You change in a wood changing room then go down stairs into the pool. Nice! That night it rained, and the next morning we drove first to a Mapuche village called Curarrehue (dont even try to pronounce it) where they had a museum.

A LITTLE HISTORY - Chile has a similar history to California. Near Puerto Montt they have discovered human remains which puts into question the Bering Straight settlement of the Americas because the remains are so old. The Mapuches are the Indians who lived in this area. Everything was fine until the Incas came South plundering the tribes, but they could not conquer the Mapuches. First the Jesuits came and built missions that look like the Missions in California. Then the Spaniards arrived in the 1500´s but got only as far south as the Mapuches, they could not conquer them. Although 300 Spaniards were able to hold off 12,000 local Indians at a nearby fort, they eventually had to give up on settling this region until the 1800´s when a local Mapuche chief allowed them to settle in Villarrica. Big mistake. The white man diseases wiped out most of the local Indians, and they had continual battles between them. More and more Europeans came, mostly Germans, until Mr. O´Higgins raised an army and threw out the Spaniards (every town has an O´Higgins street). Now the locals are either European descendents, Mestizos (mixed Spaniards and Indians) or Mapuches (black hair and Indian features).


(Picture: Outside the Mapuche museum)



Anyway from Curarrehue we drove 30 miles on a dirt road into the Andes to Reigolil. This road was amazing! We followed rivers, went up valleys and canyons, surrounded by yellow and brown colors of the local trees, earth and mountains, and waterfalls. All around were small farms with pigs, sheep and cows, with people riding around on horses. Amber got to practice driving the stick shift car. We dodged potholes the whole way.

WE DROVE AS FAR AS WE COULD BEFORE SNOW STOPPED THE CAR


We picked up a local old guy and tried communicating with him.

(Picture: Dad with local and araucaria tree.)

He was happy to get a ride. He told us they have a big problem with ´pumas´, or cougars, killing and eating their livestock, but they cougars are protected by the government. He was proud of his horses and cows and asked if we had any cows! Finally we got to snow and could go no farther. In fact we got stuck in the snow and later in some mud, which just added to the fun. The local showed us some 1000 year old araucaria trees, also called monkey puzzle trees, and trees that were carbonized from lava (i think that´s what he said, try speaking chilean spanish and translating). Coming back to town we picked up some more locals. They said tourists dont usually go there. It was great!
COW WITH WATERFALL SWINGING BRIDGE, THE ONLY WAY TO GET TO HOUSES FROM THE ROAD

TERMAS POZONES NEAR PUCON, CHILE


It was raining again when we got back, still cant see the volcanoes, so it does not look like we will be doing any adventure tours, like skydiving, climbing the volcano (which still smokes and you can see the lava if you climb it), etc. But we had fun here.

So we will go to the next place, Puerto Varas, still on our way South. At the hostel there we can post some pictures so check back soon. And Thank you to all who helped at the McConnell´s races, which were a big success.

Obese pigs, hot springs, and volcanoes

Amber:

Here I sit in our hostel in Pucon, Chile, dipping a nutty brownie into herbal tea. All the walls around me are made out of wood, and each panel has its own unique pattern. Dad just took my brownie plate to cut me some apple and cheese for our late snack.

Last time we talked, dad and I were about to hop on the bus from Santiago to Villarrica. We made it, after 11 hours of bad movies, crying babies, but beautiful scenery. Villarrica, an authentic Chilean mountain town known for the active Villarrica volcano and ginormous Villarrica lake, had my favorite hostel thus far of the trip.

La Torre Suiza is ran by a Swiss couple (Beat and Claudia) who, after bicycling around the world for 32 months, decided that Villarrica is where they wanted to make a home for themselves. The hostel feels so swiss! Everything is made of wood, little bay windows have plants and volcanic rock resting on them, and like most houses here a wooden stove serves as the heating system.

(Picture: Inside La Torre Suiza with Beat)

That night, we met a Brazilian couple traveling for a few weeks. Madet taught me a Brazilian tune on the guitar, a really unique rhythm that I´ve never heard before!

The next morning, Beat reccommended a bicycle ride for us, a 25 kilometer tour of the surrounding farm area. (He went on a bike ride at the same time as us and came back when we did, except he went 50 kilometers.) Luckily, we glimpsed the tip of the volcano through the clouds. We saw plenty of cows, horses, and sheep framed by healthy green hills, but were suprised when we saw a GIANT pig in the middle of the road. It looked about 200 pounds! I took a picture with it.

OINK OINK

Our great 25K bike ride around Villarrica, Chile

GREAT WEATHER AND LOCAL FARMS

Later in the afternoon we took a bus to Pucon, just a 30 minute ride to the more touristy adventure area. We checked out the hostels and I bought some authentic wool yarn (lana) and knitting needles from a mercado. I had to check out the chocolateria, too! Yummmm.

That night, back at the hostel, Beat taught me a few songs on the guitar (he used to play in rock bands and has books of tabs for hundreds of great songs!)

The next day we enjoyed the great breakfast of homemade Swiss-styled bread (thanks Claudia!) granola, yogurt, fruit, and tea. We took the bus to Pucon again and dropped off our heavy backpakcs. We went to a little restaraunt and had hamburgers (they were great! Delicious avocado and freshly baked bread) and rented a car for 24 hours!

There are tons of hot springs around here, and we chose some that were relativly close and very natural. We took the scenic route, stopping on the way at a ¨power spot¨as dad says, a place where 2 rivers meet creating three booming waterfalls. The drive had great farm scenery and a pebbly road. The hot springs were relaxing- 6 natural pools of varying temperatures, and there was barely anyone there.

(Picture: Waterfalls at the ¨Power Spot.¨)

AMBER AT THE POWER SPOT WHERE TWO WATERFALLS FALL INTO A CLEAR BLUE POND

Drove back to Ecole hostel, and here I am, 10 PM, still drinking tea.

We´ll stay in Pucon a few more days and take advantage of the adventures around here. Possibilities: more hot springs, hike around national park, climb the volcano, via ferrata, skydive, trekking, mountian biking... Our choices are a bit limited because it is winter, for example it has to be a clear day to go skydiving. Don´t worry Mom!

I´m glad we´re here in the late winter-early spring because its not tourist season. Almost everything is open and nothing is too crowded!

Hope all is well!
Love Amber

PS: Try saying this five times fast: Cheap sheep shop.

Rainy Santiago

Amber: Despite the cold, rainy weather, we managed to get out of the cozy hostel at about 1. We shared a taxi with a fellow traveler to get to the bus station (only about $2) and spent the day touring the city, protecting ourselves from the downpour and violent splashes from speeding buses by walking under awnings taking the metro. It was a holiday of some sort but we found some of the museums were still open!



(Picture: At the corner of the central square in downtown Santiago)

National History Museum

A vast collection of artifacts, paintings, and photographs showing the history of Chile from the time of the capture of the natives to the overthrow of Salvador Allende in the 1970's (who is related to Isabelle Allende, my new favorite Chilean author!) It was fascinating, but we would have appreciated it more had there been English translations.

There was a painting here that I think we might have studied in European history. Its called "Prima Misa Celebrada en Chile" by Pedro Subercaseaux but I couldn't find it online.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Awesome building that Dad says reminds him of Musee D'orseoy in Paris. A little leaky but with some memorable work. There were 3 huge rooms filled with colorful drawings by children depicting their neighborhoods.

One of my favorites here was Claudio Bravo's " Tentacion de San Antonio" (right), a beautifully-rendered modern painting with a lot of symbolism. I wish Nari or Julia were here so we could analyze it together!

We went out to eat at a Chinese restaraunt (surprisingly, there's a lot of 'em here!) Food here is a bit more expensive than Argentina. A few nights ago we got a great meal for $8 in Argentina - salad, lasagna, and delicious empanadas with hot tea.

Took the metro back and somehow managed to find our way back to the hostel with our little wet map.

We've had enough of the wet city. Tomorrow we take a morning bus to the cute mountain town Villarica. Its an 11 hour ride, so I should save my book for the ride instead of reading now... rats. The scenery is supposed to be awesome!

Hope all is well in SB, Taiwan, Holllywood, or wherever you are while you're reading this!

Love Amber