Volcanic Dreams & Views to Die For
I woke up at the normal 0830 and it was a beautiful sunny day! I had a feeling this was going to be a really good day by the adventurous vibe in the air. After waking up, I tried to cook a porridge breakfast with coffee. Strange I had power but no gas for cooking or a hot shower. I am thinking OK what is missing here? Ah that’s it, check the pilot light. There it is, no light, no gas! There’s pilot light so that no means no hot water, but it still doesn’t explain why the stove top does not work? Because when I try to get gas to come from the stove burners, there’s no gas “hissing” sound or smell. So I walked over to the main building to ask for some help. The friendly guy from yesterday,who helped me get the van unstuck, came over.
He initially brought over a new tank of LPG. But after checking, he said, “no you have gas, let’s see what else is wrong here”. He saw some sort of clog in the line and the pilot light was not starting easily. I turned around to do something else, and somehow he resolved both problems. So then I started a kettle of water for coffee and porrage. I then got a quick, but oh SOOOO nice hot shower. Washing then last few days dust off my is a sort of priceless feeling. I mean even getting a cold bath in a lake with hippie lake-friendly soap is nice, but no where near the same as a nice HOT shower with body gel soap.
So I ate my breakfast and got myself all packed and threw everything in the van in my now normal pre-driving choatic manner. I walked down to the main building to nicely ask if could spray my van down from the recent dust I got on it. They said sure, bring it over. So I drove the van about 50m to the where the hose was. Suddenly to my surprise the friendly latino locals, then washed my van!!! Whoa! I never asked that.. I just asked if I could rinsen it off. Anyway, after they washed my van I thanked them heaps.
The owner of the accommodation, then pulled me aside to try to tell me something really important, but his English was not good at all. We tried to use my smart phone translator, but his accent was too strong. It did not work. So after a tireless effort from both sides to understand what he wanted to tell me, I said, “you write email to me – I will translate with Google translator and reply back in English”. I said it so slow that he understand with hand motions. He did mention the words “FBI” and “Chilean Police” which makes me wonder what he wants to tell me that’s “muy importante”. As of 11/3/2015, I have still yet to get any emails from him.
So left this friendly place and went onward to visit Petrohue again. This was the place I went to during that bad rain storm and mudfalls all around. At the end of the beach is a jet back sand beach with massive views of Volcan Osorno just behind you. The lake is a magnificent turqiose blue and people were out boating, getting ready for the beginning some long hikes. It was magnificent day, but the mountain behind me was calling me name in so many ways I cannot describe in words (See photo). So turned around to head out of there, but I first stopped at the gift shop for some goodies like a “Chile” ski cap and a postcard to add to my collection. So it was definitely worth coming back into Petrohue!
So I drove back to Ensenada and it was pretty, but more or less uneventful. When I got to Ensenda I took a few pics of the outside of the accommodation where I stayed and went Northbound. I quickly came uo the road headed to Volcan Orsorno. I did not hesitate to go up this to what will be a very long and windy 30 minute drive to a view that would be unparalled to maybe except when I was driving in Southern Patagonia at Torres del Paine National Park . As the teasing-like views of the volcano slowly gave way to full on views, the sense of “awe” was hitting me like a frieght train at 140km/hr. This peak made all peaks in NZ, except for perhaps Mt Cook, pale in significance.
I met a motorcyclist named “Laurent” who was down from Russia on a Suzuki 650 doing a full on SOLO ride through Patagonia southward. I told I just drove the route he is going to do on his bike. So he asked for some advice. I whipped out my maps of what I had marked, and suddenly my role as fellow tourist switched to tour guide. I was advising him of what roads are hard or easy, where to stay (advice only) or where go camp out, things to know that a guide might not tell you, etc. I ended up spending an hour talking to him. The ironic part about Laurent, is that he looked almost just me. Same no hair, buzz cut with light beard and same facial structures. Amazing! Anyway, I took some pics of him by his bike and we snapped a few pics of both us, (see photo) and he went on his way. I bought a lift ticket.
This was going to a damm fine day I am thinking. Then suddenly the clouds cleared from the mountain unmasking this magnificent cone-shaped glacier covered volcano. Oh my I am thinking!! I got on the ski lift with my GoPro/Selfie stick, Canon DSLR and Smart phone in tow ready for some serious photo fun! As the lift moved ultra slow, I mean ULTRA slow, I got a long while to absord the full magnitude of the close to perfect cone of a volcano. I took heaps of videos and photos on the way to the top, then I realised that I had another lift to take up. I got off at the halfway point and stepped onto the upper mountain lift.
The ride the tippy top was far better. The mountain summit looked so close I could just touch it! Once I got to the top of the lift, I hiked a up a further 30 minutes to the very top where tourists were allowed to go. Where I was would have been a perfect place to set up my solo bivvy shelter for the night. However, LOL, that would be definitely not allowed and the park rangers could easily see a bright RED bivvy on top of the trail.
I stayed up there for a good 45 minutes just marvelling at the glacier-capped peak and imagining standing at the summit. On the way dow to the top of the lift I took a few more photos and videos. This was place was magical beyond words. However I needed to get going and find a campsite as it was already like near 6pm. I did the mistake however of buying a nasty hotdog and papas (fries) in the ski lodge at the base of the ski area. Well at least, I was able to collect another shot glass and sticker for my collections!
I drove down the mountain, but still could not resist taking more photos of this enchanting volcano. I kept going down the mountain and almost ran into a wrecked car on the side of the road on the shady area under trees. I stopped to assist. The teenage boys driving said their brakes failed, but I would guess that they were driving too fast and slammed into the curb and then the tree. I told them I would get them a tow truck. I got to the bottom of the road to the main highway . I stopped at a fruit stand, and asked them in really bad Spanish to call a tow truck. I had to try to ask this 3x because my Spanish was so bad. In the end, they got the idea and called for help for the boys up the hill.
So I am off to find a campsite. I made the uneventful drive to Las Cascadas, Chile which was just 30-40 Kms away from my present position. Once I got there, I saw a sign for camping down by the lake beach. I went down there and it was a wee bit trashy.
After I got settled, I met a fellow traveller named 'Alexis'. He's a friendly traveller from France who was doing a solo bicycle ride throughout Patagonia. Pretty amazing feat actually. We ate dinner at the same time, but separately as he ate in his tent because it was really windy.
We both were tired from our own separate travels, so we agreed to get up early and help eachother get up as we both needed to get going as early as possible. After finishing dinner, we said "see you in the morning" but never realised our night was going to get very weird for us because of local drunken beach-going girls.
It all started when I was going onward to work in my blog in MS Word. However I was surprised to get a banging on my van rear window. I turned to look but could not see anyone there. I hear the same people trying to wake up Alexis as well. So I opened the right side van door to see WTF was going on. There were 2 obviously drunk girls looking him and myself asking us questions in Spanish. We both kept saying "no intiendo Espanol" which means "I don't understand Spanish". They kept asking us questions, and eventually they went away. However they were near our camp areas making a lot of noise. So after 30 more minutes of their noise I went out to see WTF they were doing in an attempt to ask them to be quiet.
Going outside proved to be a big mistake. I walked over motioning them to please keep quiet pushing my hands down. They offered me some Coca-cola. So rather than try to communicate with them, I accepted a drink of Coke. Foolish move for myself. It was 90% rum and 10% Coke. Yuk! Anyway, after this the girls, very ugly I must say, were flirting with me big time. At one point, the chubbiest one say, "muy ricko" .. "muy ricko" and was smiling at me a lot. She motioned that she wanted to kiss me. I motioned "NO way". She then motioned just to get a photo with me so I accepted to get her off my back. Her friend with the camera said, "Uno, dos and tres" but on "dos" she twisted my head around and kissed me.
Ouch, but I pulled away. Disgusting. She started to call me "timido" or shy. I nodded my head no. She then pointed at me saying, "solo" and then her and her 2 friends saying, "tres" and then finally smiling she said with a big grin, "sexo sandwitch!??!". At first, I was thinking like WTF is she trying to say. I then realised she wanted to have a 4-some with me. That is her friends and myself. I waved to her, "no way". Then like a hero, Alexis, came over and asked me what was going on. I nodded to him saying, "Man you won't believe this but she wants to have a 4-some with me! But I nowhere near interested.". The girls then started to ask Alexis the same things.
Alexis then turned on his Spanish skills. He talked them and in short said, "we are not interested in them and want to go away to bed". It worked, but the one girl told us if we camp there we'll get arrest or fined. We could not tell if she was bullshitting us or not. We left the scene and headed back to my van. We both agreed that we needed to get up early, really early. So we agreed to wake up around 6:30am (ish) and get the hell out of there. Even after we left the chaotic drunken scene, the girls started partying on the beach with a few guys that appeared out of nowhere. Given this, I made sure all my van doors were locked.
The night ended and I knew I'd barely get any sleep. So much for a relaxing night. It's now like 12:35am.
zzzz
Daily Summary
Today started out a great day at Petrohue then onward to Volcan Osorno then ended on a really fucked up note at the beach campsite. Well you gotta admit, travelling as I am strange things are bound to happen to me. I guess it sure does. Geesh! Anyway, I am really looking forward to getting up to the awesome town of Pucon where the Volcano Villarica has just erupted. So exciting indeed... Woo hoo!
I woke up at the normal 0830 and it was a beautiful sunny day! I had a feeling this was going to be a really good day by the adventurous vibe in the air. After waking up, I tried to cook a porridge breakfast with coffee. Strange I had power but no gas for cooking or a hot shower. I am thinking OK what is missing here? Ah that’s it, check the pilot light. There it is, no light, no gas! There’s pilot light so that no means no hot water, but it still doesn’t explain why the stove top does not work? Because when I try to get gas to come from the stove burners, there’s no gas “hissing” sound or smell. So I walked over to the main building to ask for some help. The friendly guy from yesterday,who helped me get the van unstuck, came over.
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| My best night sleep in a long time... Nice queen sized bed! |
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| Breakfast - nice indeed |
The owner of the accommodation, then pulled me aside to try to tell me something really important, but his English was not good at all. We tried to use my smart phone translator, but his accent was too strong. It did not work. So after a tireless effort from both sides to understand what he wanted to tell me, I said, “you write email to me – I will translate with Google translator and reply back in English”. I said it so slow that he understand with hand motions. He did mention the words “FBI” and “Chilean Police” which makes me wonder what he wants to tell me that’s “muy importante”. As of 11/3/2015, I have still yet to get any emails from him.
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| The owners of the Cabanas Barlovento. Friendly chaps indeed. |
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| Today is going to a damm good day! Volcan Osorno here! |
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| The view from Petrohue of Volcan Osorno. NICE! |
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| Russian solo motorcyclist "Laurent" and myself with Volcan Osorno behind us. Strangely, we very much look alike! |
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| 700m below the summit of Volcan Osorno. Awesome view, but please don't erupt now... |
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| The view from the top of trail 700m from the summit of Volcan Osorno. Breaktaking indeed... |
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| Pano from the top of the trail below the summit of Volcan Osorno.. WOW! |
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| The 35 minute drive down the mountain...oh la la soo nice! |
So I am off to find a campsite. I made the uneventful drive to Las Cascadas, Chile which was just 30-40 Kms away from my present position. Once I got there, I saw a sign for camping down by the lake beach. I went down there and it was a wee bit trashy.
After I got settled, I met a fellow traveller named 'Alexis'. He's a friendly traveller from France who was doing a solo bicycle ride throughout Patagonia. Pretty amazing feat actually. We ate dinner at the same time, but separately as he ate in his tent because it was really windy.
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| Alexis and myself hanging out by the windy lake |
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| Sunset from the rear window of my van...so very nice! |
Going outside proved to be a big mistake. I walked over motioning them to please keep quiet pushing my hands down. They offered me some Coca-cola. So rather than try to communicate with them, I accepted a drink of Coke. Foolish move for myself. It was 90% rum and 10% Coke. Yuk! Anyway, after this the girls, very ugly I must say, were flirting with me big time. At one point, the chubbiest one say, "muy ricko" .. "muy ricko" and was smiling at me a lot. She motioned that she wanted to kiss me. I motioned "NO way". She then motioned just to get a photo with me so I accepted to get her off my back. Her friend with the camera said, "Uno, dos and tres" but on "dos" she twisted my head around and kissed me.
Ouch, but I pulled away. Disgusting. She started to call me "timido" or shy. I nodded my head no. She then pointed at me saying, "solo" and then her and her 2 friends saying, "tres" and then finally smiling she said with a big grin, "sexo sandwitch!??!". At first, I was thinking like WTF is she trying to say. I then realised she wanted to have a 4-some with me. That is her friends and myself. I waved to her, "no way". Then like a hero, Alexis, came over and asked me what was going on. I nodded to him saying, "Man you won't believe this but she wants to have a 4-some with me! But I nowhere near interested.". The girls then started to ask Alexis the same things.
Alexis then turned on his Spanish skills. He talked them and in short said, "we are not interested in them and want to go away to bed". It worked, but the one girl told us if we camp there we'll get arrest or fined. We could not tell if she was bullshitting us or not. We left the scene and headed back to my van. We both agreed that we needed to get up early, really early. So we agreed to wake up around 6:30am (ish) and get the hell out of there. Even after we left the chaotic drunken scene, the girls started partying on the beach with a few guys that appeared out of nowhere. Given this, I made sure all my van doors were locked.
The night ended and I knew I'd barely get any sleep. So much for a relaxing night. It's now like 12:35am.
zzzz
Daily Summary
Today started out a great day at Petrohue then onward to Volcan Osorno then ended on a really fucked up note at the beach campsite. Well you gotta admit, travelling as I am strange things are bound to happen to me. I guess it sure does. Geesh! Anyway, I am really looking forward to getting up to the awesome town of Pucon where the Volcano Villarica has just erupted. So exciting indeed... Woo hoo!
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