Posts (page 4)
Valentines day started in Puerto Varas with the rental car guy. Naturally he was Carlos's brother and Gabriela's Uncle. The deal was cut, paperwork signed and we were off with Gabriela and Luciano to Chiloe Island and points south.We were off to our enjoy the ride when Gabriela mentioned that the law requires headlights to be on as well as seatbelts on the autopista.Well as luck would have it, one of our headlights was burned out. For the next our, we drove through construction zone in Puerto Montt looking for a replacement bulb.
The first islanders to greet us were the Black Necked Swans or Cisne as they call them. Nope we are not in Kansas anymore. Our goal was to tour the Penguin rookery in Ancud after lunch at the "best" restaurant in town where every other groupo was having lunch too. Well as it turned out, the wind was blowing in Ancud, there were whitecaps on the channel and the boats were not going to the Penguins. We opted for the easy walking tour around Ancud.
I must comment about the Night Sky in the Southern Hemisphere before I continue on with our sojourn. I knew that Orion would be high in the sky but I never thought it would be upside down. Orion is upside down down here. I also knew that I would see Sirius and Canopus higher in these southern skies too, but I had no idea that they we would be straight up. Most interesting beyond the prominent Southern Cross and the Milky way, is fact that the Moon and planets along the ecliptic are in the NORTHERN SKIES. This defies my Northern Hemisphere logic. The moon rises in the North or Northeast really. The Planets are in the Northern skies. The night time skies down here (Pucon Chile is 39 degrees South latitude) are very different indeed.
Our short hop from Sant iago brought us to Puerto Montt Chile. This is the hub of the famous lake region of the Chilean Andes. Carlos picked us up at the Aeropuerto to take us to our hotel in Puerto Varas a few miles up the road. Varas is less industrial, more touristy right on Llanquihue Lake. Puerto Varas has an amazing view of Volcano Osorno.
Carlos proudly began telling us about his daughter, Gabriela who is studying tourism, speaks good English, spent a winter working at Sqaw Valley California and is a tourist guide for the Lake region. We didn't hesitate and connected with her right then and there. How did we ever travel before without cell phones. We spent the next day with her and her boyfriend Luciano, an engineering student and snowboarder. Very Cute couple.
The Cabanas del Lagos was very comfortable resort right on the Lake. A real treat for us amateur bird watchers were the two Bandurrias Black-faced Ibises right outside our window. The one day we didn't take our rain ponchos, boots and umbrellas the steady determined Andean rain caught us with our pants down.
A real treat was stumbling onto a full-on celebration in the town plaza. The stage was set, the Folklorico music was blazing with guitars, big voices, and a harp with the young dancers dancing the traditional Chilean Handkerchief dancing with Spurs and all called Cueca.
Joanna and I are coffee snobs. We have been used to drinking Jobella Coffee from Atascadero, California. I am certain that their freshly roasted coffee beans is by far the worlds best coffee. Besides being organic, it is certified Organic and Free Trade. You must order some today. Peru had wonderful coffee. Chile on the other hand has been hijacked by Nescafe. It is everywhere. Restaurants, hotels, even the gourmet coffee shops serve Nescafe. This is sad plus we are doomed to really bad coffee for the next week or so.
Nancy took us on a neighborhood tour before dinner on our last night in Santiago. Worthy of note was the size of these new suburban mansions, the layout of the subdivision, the geography of the land all combined to what looked to us to be a wealthy Southern Californian subdivision. Gringos have this notion that only the US has a high standard of living and the rest of the world is not as lucky. However the neighborhood that Nancy showed us could've easily been Orange County, Simi Valley or West Lake Village. Very interesting indeed.
Luis and Nancy each had their own opinions on Pinochet. The truth is that Chile was a poor country until the Copper Mines were nationalized. Allende had nearly completed the nationalization which undoubtedly prompted Kissinger and US intervention to overthrow the government. Once we instated Pinochet, he kept mines private. US extracted Copper without paying Taxes or anything back to Chile. Since Pinochet, their have been 3 consecutive socialist governments, all similar to the one that Pinochet overthrew. Chile is a wealthy country today.
Wonderful Nancy took yet another day to show us Santiago. Today we hung out in Bella Vista the Bohemian section of Santiago. The treat was to tour the house of Pablo Neruda - La Chascona.
Beyond the interest of Chiles most famous poet, diplomat and political figure was the ensuing discussion with a retired school teacher about the overthrow of the Allende government, engineered by Kissinger, Nixon and Bush 1. Pinochet was the unfortunate result of the US backed coup.
Neruda was a threat to the dictatorship and died shortly thereafter maybe of a broken heart. His houses were ransacked and his library torched.
How is it that the USA, role model for opportunity and freedom can live with itself and the continuing legacy of armed conflict, strong arm politics at the expense of so many countries including Chile, and now Iraq? With countless others in between?
The people will live their lives and continue on into history as governments come and go. I am so glad that most of the world is smart enough not to judge a people by their government.
Santiago remembers Pablo Neruda.
Stan Krome
The LAN flight from Lima to Santiago was the best coach run ever. Comfortable refitted Boeing 767 with plenty of leg room, individual movies combined with a very smooth ride South.
The Andes off to the East rising more than 20,000 feet offer an inspiring backdrop to Peru, Chile, and the Southern Pacific Ocean below.
If you fly into Chile, please remember to pay your entrance fee FIRST before you wait I'm the customs line. They don't tell you that. Same with the airport tax in Lima. You must pay a fee BEFORE you head to Security. Lessons obviously learned the hard way.
Today we connected with Andrea's (my lead web designer) mom in Santiago. What a wonderful day just hanging out doing odds and ends and relaxing with Nancy.
At this moment I am in the Mall people watching while Nancy and Joanna are shopping. I know I am on vacation when I can go shopping with my wife. Ordinarily I wouldn't last 5 minutes. I have been at the Mall for 3 hours. Not many tourists here just locals.
Bruno, our guide for a couple of days around the Sacred Valley was very informative and entertaining. Even more interesting was his passion and enthusiasm once again for the Andean people. Remember that the Incas were the kings. There were only a few Incas, whereas the Andean people were/and are still many. Their love and respect of the balance of all things, their understanding of true value being measured in food and life rather than gold or silver. As opposed to the Spaniards whose primary interest was in the gold.
I must admit that the mountains around Cusco, the blue sky, the weather, the rain, the air quality are as attractive to me as the Ancient ruins that surround Cusco.
My last entry was only 3 days ago yet 3 days seems like 3 weeks. But then again time is compressed when you are away from the work zone especially when you are on vacation.
Up the sacred valley and then on to Machu Picchu.
The Sacred Valley out of Cusco is an amalgam of Verdant green valleys with the ragged Andes (15,000 foot) backdrop combined with an ancient culture that centers around reverence and balance of this world, the above world and the underworld. Indeed this area is a Sacred Valley.
All of our guides (you will see pictures of Maria, Liset, and Bruno throughout) speak with such respect of their ancestors, their heritage, and the ancient Andean people, their beliefs, their kings (the Incas) and their continuation 500 years after Pissaro conquered (ravaged) the Inca Empire.
Rather than using my inadequate words to describe this sensitive, complex, sophisticated yet simple cultural journey, I will let the pictures tell the story. As per usual all images are available for viewing at Flickr
Honorable Mentions:
Maria Antonieta why work with anyone else but the best- Pleiades Peru Tours
Dinner in Aguas Calientes at the Indio Feliz Restaurant Bistro
Ulrikes Cafe in Pisaq
ollantaytambo
Roads closed, Sacred valley commerce comes to a halt. Blocked highways, angry crowds and more!
All of our photos live over at FLICKR
As I write this, we are listening to a wonderful downpour outside on the tile roofs. There are also periodic Fireworks going off to celebrate Carnival.
Lima was merely a stopover for us where we slept for 12 hours, recovering from the Red eye from LAX. Simple. And it worked. Back to the aeropuerto this morning to fly to Cusco. It was either a one hour flight or a 20-hour bus ride from Lima to Cusco...we chose the sliver bird. Snow covered peaks everywhere surrounding lush green valleys.
Cusco is at 11,200 feet and was/is the capital of the Incan empire. Full of tourists but hey that clear air, incredible clouds, not to mention the history. Those amazing Incans, were masters of Astronomy, lovers of Mother Earth, respected food as wealth, thought of gold as sweat of the sun and sliver as tears of the moon. Cuzco, the capital of the Incan empire, was built out of stone and adorned with gold. Even though the Incans were conquered by the brutal Spanish, fortunately they never gave up their loyalty to their pagan beliefs. Today their religion is an amalgam of Pagan and Catholic. The locals adapted well and learned fast but maintained the old ways along with the new.
The Temple of the Sun was once the most important temple of the Incas. When the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire, they had the audacity to use the fine Inca stonework to form the base of the Church of Santo Domingo.
