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So after a 16 hour flight from Sydney with a transit stop in Auckland we arrived in Santiago, Chile. A horrendously polluted city which has a constant layer of smog over it blocking any view which there might be of the Andes.
Smoggy Cities, Snowy Mountains and Spectacular Sunsets
James and Anne Walkington2006-08-08 19:28:40
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So after a 16 hour flight from Sydney with a transit stop in Auckland we arrived in Santiago, Chile. A horrendously polluted city which has a constant layer of smog over it blocking any view which there might be of the Andes.
We enrolled on a Spanish course for a week and we are now fluent in Espanol. No not really. Although surprisingly for the first time James can remember Anne is better than James. Therefore Anne has to do all the talking as James has given up!! Although James did take a fancy to one of the Spanish teachers called Catty! On the Friday evening we went to Riv a pub to watch Catty's brother play in a band - he wasn't that good. Anne struggled to drink the enormous shots of rum (at least a quad with a dash of lemonade).
On the weekend we went to Vina Del Mar on the Pacific coast. We hoped to escape the smog but no such luck. This is supposed to be the place where Chileans come and sunbathe. However it was freezing cold and no amount of persuasion was going to make us get in the water. We did see pelicans though.
From Cerro San Cristobal overlooking the smog filled city.Our culinary delights consisted of an empanada (Chilean cornish pasty) and the most spectacular ice cream you could ever hope for - Two giant scoops bathed in a chocolate coating.
A bus journey back and we had a further three days of Spanish (no Catty this week though) and then got ready for our first proper trip into the Andes.
We got a small rickety metrobus to a small village called El Volcan and then hitched in the back of a mining truck 12 KM up the valley to the Refugio Lo Valdes. The place was very friendly and welcoming and even spoke English.
There was only one other lady staying in the hotel that night.
The following day we walked up a small steep valley at the back of the refugio up to the snow line to just over 3000m. There were some dubious scree slopes which needed crossing. above
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See photographs from:
Chile Gallery
