Well, on my last full day in Santiago I did run into a public bathroom that had (toilet) paper next to the sink to dry your hands. Eureka!, I thought, but then peered into one of the stalls and noticed that there was no toilet paper there.   As Milton Friedman observed, there is no such thing as a free lunch and I really had to question the trade off.  Moreover, I think it could really have been a bit of sticky wicket if multiple people were trying to use the stalls at once and had not realized the location of the TP before stall entry.  Fortunately not the case while I was there.

Went on a walking tour of Santiago and it was quite interesting.  The main cathedral, built in on the site of the orginal church (1550), was very impressive, even awesome, particularly on the inside.  

The  present cathedral was built in 1787 (many old buildings were destroyed by the frequent earthquakes, evidently an ever present issue in Chile).  Liike much of Santiago, or other parts of South America, the old is juxtaposed to the modern.

The fresh fruit and fish markets of Santiago are somewhat famous.  The fruit market in particular is a chaotic, hurley-burley display of huge quantities of brightly displayed fruits and vegatables at great prices-

I could not resist and ended up buying some great looking strawberries.  But the problem was, what does a tourist do with a kilo (everything was kilo sized- I think about 2.2 lbs) of strawberries, even if they are only $1.50?  Sit on a park bench and try eat as many as you can, that is what (not my brightest idea).

The fish market was smaller and had more fish restaurants than fish vendors-

Fortunately, I resisted the urge to buy any fish, notwithstanding the apparent bargains on offer.

So, this is my final blog on my South American sojurn.  A Canadian woman on the walking tour asked me what was the highlight of my trip, a natural question, but one I was relunctant to answer.  After reflecting on it, I think the highlight was not one thing, but the great diversity of experiences I had while here.  I have not been on a trip that had so much variety in all its aspects from the weather, to the diverse and often spectacular scenery, to the different wildlife (including ostriches, porpoises, condors, guanacos, lizards, monkeys, woodpeckers, penguins, jack asses, stray dogs, etc.), to the different activities, to all the people I met.  As is my wont, I walked and hiked quite a bit and the landscape and cityskape were ever changing.  I had interesting and more than passing conversations with people from all over the world and, while I met some (very nice) Americans, I met far more people from Europe, Israel and South America.

  But perhaps the biggest thrills came as the result of the unexpected- from the stunning snow capped high Andes emerging from the mist on the road to Mt. Aconcagua, to the "fantastic" 360 view on Cerro Lopez in Bariloche, to jumping off the rock into the cold river in Pucon, to the hilarious currency talk on the Buenos Aires walking tour, to meeting the nice young Chile couple who had just started as hoteliers at the beautiful little hotel I stayed at in Santiago and who suggested and then let me take a complimentary shower at the end of my (very hot) final day so that I would be comfortable on the long trip home.  A little thing but very nice and unexpected.

thanks for reading

A bus runs from Santiago to Valpo (and the reverse) every 15 or 20 minutes and takes an hour and half, depending on traffic.  So easy trip.  A lot of vineyards in the Casablanca Valley along the way, though I did not see "Ricks" or Humphrey Bogart anwyhere.

 

Santiago is a huge, sprawling city.  i hiked up a small mountain overlooking the city with a huge Virgin Mary statue at the top (San Cristobal).  Gave a great view of the huge city spread out for  miles below in 2 separate valleys with the Andes to the east and the coastal range (separating it from Valpo) to the west.  Unfortunately, they were incurring a record heat wave in Santiago (36 degrees Centigrade- normally around 25 C this time of year) and so it was quite hazy.  

Too bad about the haze, as I could imagine it would be a terrific view with the huge snow capped Andes to the east on a clear day.  The statue was beautiful, I thought, but its solemnity was not necessarily enhanced by the cell tower immediately adjacent.  

I found the subway or Metro in Santiago to be very modern, clean and efficient, notwithstanding their insistence on receipts.  But I found something unexpected when I took to it the end of the line to go hike up San Cristobal.  I expected the metro line to end in the city outskirts, maybe at a parking lot,  park, residential area or some "end of line" like spot, as would be the case in Boston, NY or other American or even European city. I thought this particularly as I had understood this little mountain (San Cristobal) to be there.  But when I emerged from the stop I found myself beneath the tallest building in South America (pictured above) in the heart of the business/financial district, bustling with people, none of whom looked like day hikers.   Maybe if you get off the Metro in the middle of the line you somehow end up in the outskirts.  Like the buses, something of a mystery.  

Finally, one thing I noticed about all of the bathrooms in Chile and Argentina.   They always have soap dispensers and a paper towel dispenser.  And they are always empty.  I think they fill them up on the day of installation and after that  they are just for show.  When I return to the States, I am going to miss walking out of the bathroom with my hands wet. 

One more pic looking west to give a sense of the size of Santiago- 

Another shot of the Guns and Roses room at the Ecomusic Hotel with my favorite band (I assume they were  a band)-

And some more of the ubiquitous street art of Valporaiso-

And one looking down to the bay and south Pacific on a misty morning-

 
In Chile whenever you buy anything (and I mean anything), they insist on giving you a printed or written receipt.  So you buy a bottle of water for $1, wait, then receipt.  You buy a subway or local bus ticket to go 1km, receipt.  Not sure why.  Maybe you have to report every expenditure to the Chilean IRS at the end of the year, including each ice cream cone you buy.  Or maybe its just the South American love of records.  But the upshot is that by the end of the day, each time I reached into my pocket to pull out some coins or my camera, a few hundred little printed receipts would spill out onto the street and I would have to pick them up. I guess it could help with budget accountability- sort of an accountants dream.

But at the metro here in Santiago (where I am now), there was a little basket right next to the window where you buy your ticket.  It was full of receipts that people had just received from buying their subway ticket.  If spoke Spanish, I might have suggested to the cashier that when you bought your ticket, you could just pull an old out from the basket and issue it to yourself.

Now, Santiago and home....

Valporaiso- a truly weird and even crazy city.  Kind of like Naples, Italy meets Haight-Asbury in San Francisco.  It is a jumble of streets and narrow alleys going every which way up the steep hills surrounding the pretty bay on the Pacific.  And street art, graffeti and bright colored houses are everywhere.

 Normally I do not care for graffeti, but if it works anywhere, it is in Valpo.  Finding your way through the maze that is Valporaiso is not easy, especially for one who can get lost with a choice of just 2 hiking trails.

The entire city has been designated a UNESCO site, which apparently means they cannot change the exterior of any existing structure, including some that have been gutted by fires-

According to my tour guide, the city fathers are apparently hoping for an earthquake to bring the building down so that they can allow rebuilding, notwithstanding the fine art work.   Glad to know even an earthquake has its proponents.

Valporaiso seems quite proud of its street art.  At one point during the day, I watched a street artist create a mural on a new hostel building with spray paint.  While I am no art critic for sure, I do not think Florence or the Uffizi have anything to worry about just yet.

Many of the buildings of Valporaiso are made of corrugated steel, a material evidently in great supply in the early 20th century when many of the Valpo buildings were constructed (an earthquake- desired or not by the then city fathers- destroyed most of Valpo at that time.  I guess that is the trouble with earthquakes- they cannot distinguish between condemned buildings and those that the owners would like to preserve).

Anyway, the corrugated steel buildings have to be maintained as is.  I like tradition as much as anyone, but---- corrugated steel buildings need to be preserved???   What is next, tar paper shacks or maybe moble homes in rural Maine are to be declared protected UNESCO sites?

Still, Valporaiso, like Naples, Italy, is a pretty bay-

Finally, I stayed in a hotel in Valporaiso called the Ecomusic hotel with a music theme in each room.  Naturally, given my well known affinity for and life long love of rock and roll and the history thereof, I was happy to pay extra for the Guns and Roses room at the hotel-

It occurred to me after I left Pucon that my Pucon swimming was a little like the story of Goldilocks, the porridge and the three bears.  The hot springs were good, but just a little too warm, the river was good, but just a little too cold, but the lake (with the almost deserted beach ) was just right.

According to one tour guide here, there are 2 million stray dogs in Chile.  I believe it- you see them (and their refuse) everywhere.  In fact, I attracted a good portion of the Pucon contingent when I was eating a beef dinner outside one night.  I felt like I had 20 or so unwanted guests all staring at me hoping for a dinner invitation.  What they lacked in conversational skills they made up in attentiveness.

Took a long distance bus from Pucon to Santiago, about 11+ hours (and then changed for 1.5 hours to Valporaiso).  I thought it would it make a few stops in a couple of major cities along the way, but I was mistaken. The whole bus thing continues to baffle me and it is not helped by my lack of Spanish, as none of the bus people in Chile speak English (I have gone to a scribbling system for essential info like price, departure and arrival times). Anyway, we are motoring down the highway in central Chile on this long distance bus when all of sudden we pull over at a bus stop- on the separated highway itself.  Never seen that before, but I did see it quite a few more times on my way to Santiago, though the bus skipped some stops- no idea how they could tell which ones to stop at and which ones to motor by, as none were marked in any way that I could see.  

Speaking of the buses and bus terminals, they are kind of set up like ersatz airplanes and airports.  In the terminals, they have platforms and big screens (not always accurate) telling you when buses arrive and depart and at which gate or platform.  You also get an assigned seat on the bus and when you load, there is always a baggage handler, who doubles as food attendant onboard.  The bus captain is always wearing a tie with his uniform and looks quite serious as you load  (and seems to have stripes on shoulders indicating he is the top bus dog).  I think there is also a copilot or driver, but as he does not provide food or help with the baggage, I do not pay much attention to him.  But the long distance buses in both Chile and Argentina are quite comfortable and nice generally.  
 
The  bus trip yielded no pictures so just a couple from my hike in Pucon.

And these guys obviously took a wrong turn from the Swiss Alps-

I finished my 3.5 day stay in Pucon, Chile with a whitewater rafting trip on a class 4 river about 45 minutes from town and in the mountains. While food and drink are not, some things in Chile are fairly cheap, such as bus trips and many tours.  The rafting trip was less than $40 and included  wet suit and the transport.

Anyway no pics from the trip as I could not take the camera on the boat.  But it was a lot of fun.  I was the only one on any of the 3 boats who did not speak Spanish, though even I picked up the spanish commands of paddle forward or back or stop paddling after about 50 or so commands.  I was also the oldest person in the boats by about 25 years.  You could go for a swim at the beginning and end in the swift river, which was quite cold even with the wet suit (which did not cover your shoulders).   But maybe the best part was when you jumped off this 10 ft high rock into the river below.  That was just way cool- I have not done anything like that since I was a teenager.   As you might guess, the chileans are an exhuberant bunch, hooting and hollaring a lot, though strictly in Spanish.

It turned out that I went swimming all 3 days in Pucon, which was unexpected.  I had never gone swimming in fresh water in March in my life and it seemed odd, but very refreshing in the beautiful lakes and rivers of southern Chile.

So just a last couple of pics of the Villarica volcano, one with it smouldering again (if you look closely).

Now a 14 hour bus ride to Valporaiso to the north and on the Pacific coast.

The next day after the El Cani hike dawned cool and overcast, weather I am by now quite accustomed to.  So I decided to go to these thermal springs which Pucon is evidently somewhat famous for.  The best springs were about 2 hours away and so off I went with a local agency providing the transport.

The place was quite large, like some sort of grand Swedish natural sauna.  They had these different pools which ranged in termperature from luke warm to extremely hot.

The hottest pool was 45 degrees Celcius.  I do not know what that is in Farenheit, but it was danm hot in Celcius.  Of course, after while you got so hot, that you went underneath this waterfall which was 9 degrees C.  I do not know what that is in Farenheit, but it was damn cold in Centigrade.  

So you spent the whole afternoon either too hot or too cold, depending on where you were in the cycle.  Not sure of the purpose of the whole thing, but it was somewhat pleasant nevertheless.  

Met a few Europeans while I was there.  The interesting thing about them is that when you ask them how long they are in South America, they always give the answer in months, with 4 being about the fewest I have heard.  When you ask the typical North Americans, the answer is always given in weeks or even days.  I almost feel embarrased when I tell the Euros I am only here for 5 weeks- just a long weekend for them.  

So I rolled into Pucon in south central Chile intending to hike the active volcano, Mt Villarica.  Unfortunately, it was just a little too active as it had had an eruption a couple days before I arrived and it was closed indefinitely.   I should have known something was up when I was the only person on the bus heading into town and cars were streaing out of town with suitcases stuffed on the roofs.  And when I went to my hotel to find the hoteliers family in the car packed with suitcases and when he quickly charged me for the room, jumped in the car and roared out of town. But at least the room was cheap.

So I had to make other plans.  Fortunately, I am normally quick to adjust  and always have back up plans.  So i only spent a half a day scratching my head, staring into space and wondering what the hell I should do.  After talking to one of the tour agencies in town, I decided to hike a local peak where you get a 360 view at the top of 4 local volcanoes.  So I took a bus early the next morning to El Cani 30 km away and the bus driver dropped me off in the middle of Chilean nowhere (which is really nowhere), but surprisingly right at the trailhead.  I walked up to the small Refugio at the entrance where the sleeping wardens woke up just in time to charge me 4000 pesos to do the hike.

It was a nice hike of about 3900 ft, mostly through the woods, which usually I do not like.  But I did not mind it here as it was hot and the woods were different than in North America or Europe.  And the hike came with a nicel Chilean bathroom-

 You do see the 4 volanos, including the villian Villarica at the top-

On the way down, I did see this overflow, 2 man Refugio next to the regular Refugio..

Anyway, when I got to the bottom and was waiting for the bus, a young fellow pulled up in what looked like bakery truck and offered me a ride to Pucon, which considering the possible reliability of the Chilean local buses, I quickly accepted.  It seemed a good idea until the baker"s apprentice dropped me about 1 mile from the center of Pucon.  I was not seeking more hikig after the 11 miles up and down the mountain.

So when I got back I was pretty hot and so, determining that there were a couple of lakes quite nearby, decided to go for a swim.  I found this secluded beach, which I had almost to myself,  right around the corner from my hotel-

Left Bariloche and headed north to the small mountain town of San Matin de los Andes so I could catch a bus to Pucon, Chile the next day (site of the active volcano, Villarica). .  I had come to Barioche almost as an after thought and principally as means to get a scenic ride over to Chile and Pucon.  However, it is a beautiful setting and I would definitely put it on the "must see" list for Argentina.  The good hotels and excellent restaurants do not hurt either.

San Martin is a nice mountain town.  Full of very pretty houses and roses.  There are rose bushes everywhere- I wish they grew so good at my house as on the street in San Martin.

Anyway, if you like going through customs, Chile is th place for you.  Lots of forms, loud officious stamps of passport and various documents, continous search of luggage for that illegal watermelon and sundry other fruit (is there some sort of fruit war with Argentina?).  If  you did not pay attention to the forms, I imagine you could spend a whole day enjoying the hospitality of Chilean customs.  In Argentina, you hardly show your passport and the customs official barely looks up from the video game on his computer.

On all the signs in Argentina, it does not say Chile, but Republic of Chile.  What, is there another Chile, like the Kingdom of Chile somewhere?  In Chile, the signs simply say Argentina.  No mention of Republic, Juan Peron or even cheap beef and wine.  Speaking of which, in Chile you pay twice as much for the meal and it is half as good as Argentina.  I already miss the days of cambio and wine.

Anyway, until I upload some new pics from Chile, sorry the Republic of Chile, a few from my hike in Bariloche-

Bariloche is large resort town- might be describd as the Aspen of Argentina, though much larger and not so upscale- in Northern Patagonia..  It is sprawled out on this huge lake in the middle of a national park and is a big ski resort in winter.  Needless to say, lots of tourists, both domestic and foreign (lots of backpackers) and lots of hotels and good restaurants.  And of course it was cloudy the day I arrived and the next day.  But...

 My 2nd full day in Bariloche dawned without a cloud in the sky (maybe the clouds following me got tired and left).  So I decided to hike to a local peak known as Cerro Lopez where supposedly you got this panoramic view at the top.  It was not an easy climb- over 4000 ft of vertical- and the last 1000+ft was mostly hand over hand climbing on rocks.  Not dangerous if you paid attention, but still a challenging day hike (maybe that was why there was virtually no one there- which is what my hotel lady predicted).  As there was no on the trail to follow, I naturally got lost a few times, but somehow still ended up at the right place.

As I neared the top, a Scot coming down told me I was quite close and that the view was just fantastic.  He asked me "Have you been to Southern Patagonia?"

What?!?  Did he think he was dealing with some Patagonian rookie?  "Of course", I said with a slightly disgusted look.

"Well, he said, Mt Fitz Roy and Torre del Paine are great and all that, but this beats them.  Just fantastic" he kept saying.   Clearly the guy did not know what he was talking about and had probably never actually been to Torre del Paine, etc.  Who had ever heard of Cerro Lopez, except maybe Mrs. Lopez?

When I did finally get to the top, the 360 view was, er, well, just fantastic.  Never seen a better one.  You have the huge lake, town and moutains on one side, different, very dry moutains as you turn,  different colored jagged mountains as you turn again and then this spectacular high mountain with glaciers on the other side with a lake beneath it and with 2 far off, but clear volcano cones.  Just an incredible variety of dramatic scenery.  A wow moment for sure.  You know, I thought, that Scot is not as full of BS as some people think.  I think he"s gotten something of bum rap in the trekking community.

 
And the day threw in a South American condor just 50 ft below me at one point-

But there was no one to take a picture of me at the top... but me, yellow hat and all

The glamour of a high moutain base camp- a warm, inviting and comfortable place- 

Drove back to Mendoza and barely made my bus for Bariloche, a resort city in Northern Patagonia a mere 18 hours away.  This bus was the best I had been on (ever actaully)- it had curtains around the seat which reclined to about 170 degrees.  Wifi too.  Something a little surreal about surfing the web on a bus in the middle of the Argentine pampas.  Al very nice, but had to switch buses in the morning and the next bus was not as nice.  

Anyway, on the way down the 2nd bus hit a cyclist and we came to a screeching halt.  I cannot imagin cycling on these narrow roads with the reckless Argentine drivers, but some people do.  So the driver and attendants go back to the rider, who fortunately did not appear hurt.  Nor his bike damaged.  They then loaded him and his bke on the bus and off we went.  Maybe that was the cyclist"s strategy when he got tired- get nicked by a passing bus and then ride for free into town. A little risky, but risk seems part of the Argentine road experience.  

More in the next blog, but I underestimated Bariloche and Northern Patagonia.  I ended up with one of the best hkes and views in all of my life.  

To finish Aconcagua, it is long drive up and back, but at least half of it is very striking, even spectacular.  It is not always the same with the mountains often having this red rock look, but frequently sandy colored with different formations.  Also the way the Mendoza river cuts through is very unusual at times with these high sheer red walls surrounding the river.

And you do see some unusual things hiking in the central Andes-

The download is too slow for me to do any more pics right now.  But if you are looking for an interesting drive some Sunday afternoon and do not mind a near death experience passing 1000 trucks en route from Chile while trying to watch the awesome scenery of the central Andes and driving like a maniac to get back for your bus, I would certainly recommend the route between Santiago and Mendoza.

How would one describe the Mendoza wine region?  It is huge for one thing and they produce a ton of wine- over 1000 wineries.  And of course virtually all produce Malbec.  But it kind of looks a little like Napa Valley meets Mexico, though that is not entirely fair.  By that I mean there are these beautiful modern, gleaming wineries and huge pretty vinyards, back dropped against the Andes, but often adjacent to run down places.  And often guards at the entrances.

Anyway, after touring the wineries for 2 days in my high powered rental car, I miraculously woke up in my hotel room the next day.  Early in the a.m.,  I jumped back in my 3 cylinder BMW wannabe (but definitely was not) and headed for Mt. Aconcagua, about 3 hours distant, high in the Andes and near the Chilean border.  Mt. Aconcagua (a mouthful) is, at over 22,000 ft, the highest mountain in the Americas and said to be the highest outside of the Himalaya.  Of course, i was not intending to hike it- a 10-14 day expedition- but wanted to hike to the first base camp at a little over 11,000.  A 3+ hour hike in.

The weather in Mendoza all 3 days I was there was cool and overcast and the Andes little seen.  This was very unusual for Mendoza which, I was told, was usually very hot and sunny this time of year.  So, when I left early that morning, the valley was covered by a fog and I could see nothing.  I was accordingly a little depressed as I and my rented car doggedly motored on (shockingly passing even slower moving trucks), but then I came over small ridge and...

Partly because I just emerged suddenly from the mist and it was such a surprise, it was one of the most breath taking scenes I had ever witnessed.

I did eventually get to the park and hiked to the Confluenza base camp.  The Andes look huge as you hike in.  I could see Aconcagua as I drove up, but the peak became obscured in clouds as I hiked.  Such has been my fate much of the time here, where I seem to carry clouds wherever I go.  Still for those would like an obscured view of this massive mountain-

A little more with a couple of better pictures later (have to go to dinner).