Chile Chapter One

I arrived yesterday morning safe and sound. The last few hours of the flight were spent in some trepidation. There is always a mix of fear and excitement for a trip like this. I can’t help but worry if I am in the right state of readiness, both mentally and physically. I also had a concern that the three bags I had taken off me at Heathrow might not make it all in one piece. But in the end the flight went without a hitch. It was only the pre-booked taxi (a “collectivio” – shared minibus) that refused to take all my bags and I had to take a private taxi. In booking the taxi, I also managed to get my credit card blocked. The only way to unblock it is to visit a UK cash machine, which is not very helpful.
The hostel I am staying at is very nice. I was worried it would be full of 18 year old students partying all night, but in fact most of the residents here are on the same language course, and all seem very respectful and I even feel like I am being too loud! The kitchen conversations have taken place in a mix of German and French as well as English, as we have Swedes, Swiss, French and many othe nationalities. This is just as well as it materialises my Spanish is even worse than I thought!

Flying over the mountains the day before, I was awestruck by the vastness of the Andes. There must be thousands of unexplored peaks down there. Just to get to them would require climbing through vast inhospitable terrain. This morning I set myself a more modest task. The locals’ favourite “Sunday stroll” as the guide describes it, up Cerro Pochoco and because that felt too easy I decided I would summit Loma de la Vaca (which I translate roughly as the cows backside) as well. The name in fact means “Loins of a cow” as in a cut of meat.

The first mystery I had to solve was how to navigate the Chilean public transport. Today was the Presidential election day and also a Sunday so everything was doubly shut. It’s amazing that exactly the same thing had happened to me exactly 25 years ago when I was here previously! That time we had ended up sleeping in a brothel as it was the only lodgings available.

It didn’t bode well that I saw groups of public service workers standing around smoking and drinking coffee and clearly enjoying their day off.
I’d set off quite early, managing to forget my lunch of “empanada” – the Chilean equivalent of a Cornish pasty. I managed to find a bus (in fact all public transport was running to ensure everyone could get to their polling station). But it rattled past my stop much faster than the timetable. I went forward and asked the driver, and this would only happen in Chile, who pulled in to a side road, stopped, and read my phone before pointing out I needed to walk back 100m.

After that the walk was straight forwad and I was soon on top to the hill. After meandering through some houses for a bit, I was flagged down by a lady driving her 4×4 (everyone here drives off-road vehicles, which is clearly needed in a mountainous city with poor roads) and pointed out I had just missed an unmarked gateway that was the start of the trail. Another example of just how kind and helpful people are and how I must look like a clueless tourist!

The trail begun pretty steep and stony. I was over-taken by a party of school children, so I decided I needed to step it up. Before long I had lost the path and was scrambling up steep gorges, grabbing thorn bush roots to prevent myself sliding back down. Everything here has thorns! It’s very arid, and the day was quite humid. Unfortunately two women followed me, and were soon in the same predicament as I was, no longer on the path. I did find the path again and there were several other people out on the trail. All were well equipped, which proved necessary, as the “Sunday stroll” started to become a grade 3 scramble, and when I lost the path again, I had to do a proper climb of a vertical face. I notice the flora and fauna here are refreshingly different from at home, with many birds I can’t identify, and towering cacti. One bird sounds very much like a person whistling which I found quite disconcerting.

The hike went well, and I made it to Cerro Pochoco with no problem. After that there were no more people except a young couple who had camped the night up there. Lomo de Vacca was disappearing in the mist, so I decided I would summit and return quickly. Although the path had some faded paint marks, I didn’t fancy my chances if I lost my way. I did find the summit and took a photo before turning back.

Coming back was harder, as the lose stones and sandy soil made it easy to slide. Down-climbing the rock was also a more daunting prospect than going up. But I got back to the road, and thanks to a small shrine, there were some well-maintained steps down that made a short cut to the bus stop.

I had another whirl-wind bus ride, this time to the sound track of soft-rock. At one point the driver stopped and asked us each where we were going. I asked if there was a problem, but quite the contrary! He just wanted to speed us to our destinations without stopping! He reduced my scheduled 1 hour journey to 25 minutes (though he skidded to a halt about 50m past the stop, so I don’t think I’d want him running the scheduled service!)

I am now back and showered. It’s gone 6pm, the curfew is in full force so with no other food options open, I’m finally eating my lunchtime empanada!

I completed 17km and 1200m ascent. A small warm-up for what’s to come next week! Tomorrow I start my language course. They sent me a pre-assessment yesterday and I couldn’t get past the first 25% of questions! Hopefully they will be kind to me and treat me as a beginner. I also need to get some more practice hikes in. I carried 5kg today. I will be carrying 25kg next week, so the next hike will need to be with more weight. For now, Hasta Luego!