Christmas

After Molly left, I was inspired by a Colorodonian (? A person from Colorado?) I met in Santiago to completely change my traveling style and think about trekking (rather than hosteling) in Patagonia.
First, I spent a tranquil but grey Christmas is Puerto Varas, where two volcanoes frame a massive lake, and delicious empanadas stack the Scandanavian-looking storefronts. On Christmas Eve, I sang along with the congregation of the 8:00 mass to a few old favorites (In Excelsis Deu and Pa Rum-Pa-Pa-Pum) and then discussed the decimation of nature at the hands of the church and the U.S.A. with a French adventure sports guy. The next day, I went Canyoning with the same guy, which entailed putting on a very flattering wet suit and jumping, sliding, skidding, swirling, and repelling down waterfalls, through whirlpools and canyons of marble, in the most pristine blue river I´ve ever witnessed, let alone splash around in with reckless abandon. At the very end of the day, I was hooked into a harness and repelled down a thirty meter waterfall, then jumped 10 meters into a green pool. Not quite the same as non-stop eating and drinking with my beloved family, but more refreshing!

I then geared up in Puerto Montt, and waited in vain for the rain to stop...I waited and waited in this very functional city, which lacks the obvious charm of Puerto Varas, but has something going for it, something like...Worchester? I don´t know. I guess I just really loved the monument to public displays of affection (a continental past time): a huge statue of a man and woman sitting all twisted up, looking over the pacific.  But it didn´t stop raining, and I kept on tramping around in my waterproof pants until I couldn´t take it anymore: I crossed into Argentina. The road from Orsono to Bariloche is a beautiful one. The Lupine Lady must have passed here, because blue, violet and pink cones of color grow against a strong thicket of yellow flowering bush. Whenever there is a pause in the flora, you are granted a vista of a huge alpine lake surrounded by the snowy mountains I had bought a tent to climb...