Chile Day 13 - Life in Reverse

It occurs to me that I could have avoided an awful lot of trouble by just renting a car. It's just not the first thing that I think of when I plan a trip. I woke up early and staked out a spot next to the pinochet memorial* at the entrance to town. After a few hours, just as the shade was waning from Not Much Left to Totally Gone, a friendly pickup truck rolled by and offered to drive me up the road. The cab was full of local water utility workers, so I found a nice seat in the bed. With no safety glass between me and the world, it was a little like riding a bike in reverse. I gladly took the dust and burning sun in exchange for fresh breeze and a panoramic view of the mountains and lakes. Also, being in the back didn't obligate me to make spanish-language small talk for two hours. True to Ford Prefect's advice, my towel was supremely useful in cushioning me from the corrugated bed liner. Now I just need a "don't panic" button.

* Pinochet, for all of his murder-squad despotism, is treated with a combination of reverance and hatred here. Yes, he was a Very Bad Man. On the other hand, he built the Carretera Austral and in one stroke linked this formerly isolated region with the rest of the world.

I arrived in town with plenty of time left in the day, so I puttered around on a few easy hikes. One took me to a nice viewing spot on the Rio Fu so I could see its legendary waters for myself. They really are a special shade of blue, somewhere between bombay sapphire gin and ty-d-bowl.

Also, I ran across a nifty dry-weather adapted plant I've never seen before. It seems to starve its seed-pods of water so they dry out in the sun. Eventually, they blacken and pop open to send a dozen seeds flying away. Walking by, you hear a constant crackling almost like being near a cheerful fire. When the wind blows through a stand of bushes, it sounds like a hundred castanet players getting down. I'm not sure of its technical name, so I'm calling it snapcracklepopadendron. The pods are even more satisfying to play with than bubble wrap.

I am back on the tourist path now. It's a little sad to be back in civilization, but I do have evidence that there are at least 5 english speakers in town! River rafting has brought a lot of money here. The streets are all being paved right now and the cars here are nicer. Town center is anchored by a pleasantly green park with benches, landscaping, and a few shade trees. With the mountains in the background, it's an attractive place to hang about.

One of the cheapskate pleasures of lightweight travel is using the toiletries left behind by previous generations of backpackers. Especially girls', with their floral/organic supposedly-active ingredients. I'm not sure what jojoba is, but right now I smell like a christmas tree. Douglas fir, I think.

Due to my dire money situation, dinner was a single (bad) empanada in the cafe, but I did get to watch a futbol game in the company of some animated locals.