Chile Day 7 - Taking It Easy

Sadly, being rained on or dealing with stupid transportation hassles has taken up most of my time so far. I was comiserating while waiting for the long-delayed bus in the rain with some well-travelled locals. Their take on the situation is that Argentina likes to think of itself as a well-organized place with its act fully together, but that it is completely wrong in thinking this. I figure it's because Argentina may be the most organized country in South America, but on a global scale that's not saying much.

I had planned on some more low-key hiking today, but decided to relax in town instead. I can feel myself getting sick and don't want to push my luck.

Before arrival, I had wondered what internet connectivity was going to be like down here. Turns out it's easier to find public internet here than back home. In America, most folks have their own computers and entrepeneurs have figured out that metered internet access is not a solid business model. Free wi-fi is easy, but I can't think of a single place off the top of my head where you can pay to use a computer in Boston. Here, many people don't even have a telephone at home, much less a computer. There are 2 or 3 internet shacks on every block, mostly being used by locals instead of gmail-addicted backpackers. The places are tiny, with a half dozen older computers and a couple of private booths for telephone calls. In the mornings, the crowd is mostly older folks doing actual work like balancing accounts and printing invoices. Then they are flooded with kids playing Warcraft and Counter-Strike, twitching and cursing in Spanish. w00t!

I'm trying to refrain from generalizing about Argentina from this one town. Barlioche is a premier ski resort, so it's a bit like forming cultural insights about America based on Vail or Aspen. I don't know if it's the ski-town vibe or standard Argentinian fare, but every local restaurant seems to have cheese fondue tucked in among the heaping festival of meat. Either way, it made for a fine lunch. (Mine is better, of course.)

Other than eating, I spent the day shopping and figuring out which bus to take to the airport. I left my fleece somewhere on the trail to Refugio Italia and had to replace it. I have also lost the stylus to my Pilot, but it's going to be impossible to find one and it's not mission critical. I also purchased an argentine tea-straw and a block of tea. I usually wait to buy souvenirs, but I doubt I can find either in Chile. The chilean customs inspector showed a lot of interest when I arrived. I'm not sure if he was accusing me of bringing plant matter into the country, thought it was drugs, or was expressing disapproval at my choice of brand. Either way, he let me keep it.

The flight back westward was amazing. With no clouds, I had a perfect view of the park I had hiked, including yesterday's Big Climb. It looked even worse from the air. At the time, I thought that the mountains I climbed were big (2000+m, bigger than Washington in the Whites), but with additional perspective I saw that they were mere babies compared to some of the hulking peaks closer tothe border. One particularly big one was a perfectly conical volcano exactly like Mt Fuji. I could see glacier scars from high in the air which must have been big enough to swallow a house. I doubt I have the skills and certainly don't have the gear to tackle these big boys.

Back in Puerto Montt, I arranged for a ferry ride to Chaiten tomorrow. (The plane is already full. Oh well.) I'm staying in the same hotel as before. The owner and her (?) parents recognized me immediately and I heard a lot of "porto" in their speech. Did they remember me as "the guy who couldn't figure out how to open the door to his room"? Or perhaps "the stupid gringo who we had to keep opening the front door for"?

Despite being high tourist season, I am the only customer in the restaurant tonight. Dinner is Symphony in the Key of Meat, with the the chilean women's futbol team losing to Peru on the TV.