Waking up slightly groggy from the effects of the fantastic mojitos (fresh EVERYTHING) of last night, we pile back into our touring vehicle after breakfast to visit the hot springs North of San Pedro. As we climb the desert setting I can’t help but look at my altimeter to see that we were now at 11,100 ft elevation…
We step out into the chilly landscape and take a walk down to the hotsprings at 11,500 ft. There are a series of eight interconnected pools that are at about 90 degrees in temperature and we don’t hesitate in jumping right on in to escape the cool air.
After staying here for 2 hours, the group tavels to another sector of the Atacama desert in order to see the ancient Cordona cacti, which sit comfortably in a valley where a warm creeks runs through. The cacti aren’t just old, they are BIG! Evidently, the taller the cactus, the older the cactus and we are informed that many of the cacti here are 2000-3000 years old. Damn.
After our excursion, we travel back to San Pedro for some free time before we leave for Calama and our flight departure.
We’ll see how another night in Santiago is gunna treat me. I need to get a better understanding of the Metro system as well as grab some nice gloves somewhere. The weather is supposed to be stable this weekend and Monday is a national holiday. Hellllllooooo Andes…
Day 8; This white bread is killing me
I wake up at about 930 in a frigid house. They really weren’t kidding when they warned us that Chileans don’t have central heating! I pull out of my parka and quickly ready myself to meet up with Jennet, a hiker who is part of my USAC group. Yesterday, Jennet, Jeremy and I made plans to go hiking this weekend in one of the many places near Santiago as the weather was supposedly going to be good. Today is also the day that I take the Metro for the first time and I am rearing to understand the system as it is my lifeline to the city, to my classes and to the mountains.
I first need to obtain a “BiP” card in order to board the Metro. After a long walk to my nearest Metro link, “la Oriental” I soon discover that this damn card is going to cost me about 18.000 (eighteen mil) pesos or 35$ U.S. On top of this, I load the card with some cash so that I can pass the gates, swiping my card each time, without constantly having to load it. It costs about 12$ a day to use this system. That can add up.
After using the Metro (it’s pretty easy), I meet up with Jennet at 1200 and we begin looking for the tourist center which we find rather quickly. Information here about mountain access without guides is extremely hard to find, and even more scarce on the internet. After getting some info about nearby parks, we decide that the hikes near Cajon Del Maipo are our best bet at a good time. After this, we hike up San Cristobal to see the city from the Saint Cristobal statue.
I can see Cerro Plomo from this vista and in the Andean nievé, it seems impossibly tall and hopelessly unreachable. I learn from all the locals I question about the region, you have to work -hard, to get anywhere fancy without a guide here in the summer. In the winter, all bets are off on the soloist. However, upon returning into the heart of the city, I come across a tiny side store in Bellavista (the party side of town) and lo and behold: A MAP OF THE CENTRAL ANDES!!! Though I pay a small fortune for the sucker, my hopelessness in summiting Cerro Plomo is brushed aside for the moment and I feel that ancient adrenaline rush for climbing that I know so well in the States.
I regret my return to Santiago from the desert. The food here is terrible and revoltingly unhealthy. I cannot remember the last time I saw wheat bread or chicken that wasn’t cooked in grease and butter. The vegetables are so good… Why are they so scarce? I take the Metro back to a station close to mine and walk for a while to my house as the sun sets. I quietly stop by a local store and pick up some pan integral, or wheat bread and a coke for the walk home.
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