A few weekends ago, I spent the weekend with some people from the southern half of Chile (Victor, Claudia, Andrea and Alma) being their tour guide (sort of) around the mountains and desert in the vicinity of Copiapo. Because I’m such and all-round nice guy, I’ve been invited (generically) to visit them in the south and see what that is about. They come from Temuco, a city of around 250,000 people about 800km to the south of Santiago – i.e. about the same distance to the south of the capital that Copiapo is to the north. They have painted such a picture of rural beauty - lots of trees, greenery, mountains, volcanoes and lakes – that it feels compelling to make the trip south and see what Chile can offer in this regard. The good ol’ Lonely Planet guide also paints a pretty nice picture, so given that I’ll be leaving Chile for Christmas holidays in early December, it seems like I should “strike while the iron is hot” (as they say), head south and see what Spring is like in the vicinity of Temuco.
So, tickets booked, long weekend in place (Chile appears to be the home of the long weekend ), and off I go. I’ve got a 3 hour wait between flights in Santiago – perfect for a chai latte at the airport Starbucks, and then to Temuco. It’s raining in Temuco, but the clouds aren’t a solidly grey sheet, so there are plenty of gaps through which to see the countryside, and I’m in raptures. It is so green in comparison to the grey deserts of the north that I find it hard to believe the colour. While there are green patches in Copiapo, the grey and brown tones of the desert surround you and permeate your consciousness, such that the change to verdant green is, for me, startling. The paddocks are divided into irregular geometric shapes by borders of trees and hedges that are a delight to me. It looks like there has been lots of rain lately, with silvery pools of water scattered about, not to mention the ribbons of water in the rivers and wow, that’s a big river! The little hills around Temuco are also covered in trees. Beautiful.
The vista of Temuco from the air is not so beautiful – it looks like a town/city. Nothing special, and indeed, LP doesn’t have too many good things to say about it as a tourist destination in itself, however it is a “jumping-off point” for the attractions of the region, so we’ll see how we go. Andrea has suggested heading to the tourist town of Pucon for my time here this weekend, rather than bothering with staying in Temuco – nice to have a local’s recommendation! She’s also been able to recommend a place to stay, just out of Pucon, with a former student of hers, who has (with her husband) built a bit of an Eco-Lodge kind of thing. The pictures look pretty nice, and in comparison to what you’d expect to pay for something like this in Australia, it’s very cheap. The Pucon area looks to have lakes, rivers, mountains, trees, volcanoes and all of the good things that come from visiting a tourist-oriented area (good food and other infrastructure).
Once the plane lands, it’s raining lightly, and the short walk to the terminal in the rain is very refreshing after the dryness of the north, not to mention the stuffiness of the plane. LAN again provide me with their special gringo bag delivery service, although standards are a bit lower here in Temuco, and it isn’t quite the last one out. Not that it matters too much, as even when I have collected it and headed out the front of the airport building. Andrea doesn’t have plans for tonight, so she has offered to collect me from the airport, we’ll have dinner with Alma, and then she’ll drop me at my hotel – very kind again!
We go back to her house to collect Alma, and I get a tour of life in Temuco along the way. Firstly, it’s fair to say that the roads are interesting. Often very good, but then there’s little surprises (traps?) waiting for the unwary, with short sections of wicked bumps, unpaved bits and vicious potholes, all waiting to destroy the suspension of an average car. Next, it seems Chileans are fond of (or perhaps they don’t have much choice in terms of what is available?) “estate” type housing. Andrea lives in one such estate – full of new buildings, but all seemingly largely identical. Coming from the Australian context, it’s quite challenging to accept, but it seems to be the way things are done.
Most fascinating to me, the front room of Andrea’s house is a workshop. She teaches art and jewellery design part-time at one of the local high schools (College), part time at one of the Universities, and also gives private jewellery design and manufacture lessons from her house. That means she has all of the necessary facilities, including some kind of press (I don’t understand what it’s for, but it’s an impressive machine), crucibles for melting metals, gas bottles and burners, engraving kits and all of that paraphernalia. I remark that I don’t know too many girls with crucibles and furnaces in their house, but for her it’s normal (and her friend Claudia has a similar set-up) and my joke falls flat. Perhaps it is my delivery?
We collect Alma and off we go. The restaurant the girls have chosen is lovely and we get a little corner of the dining room that is not quite enclosed, but nearly. Part of the dining room, but not. The walls have wine racks that extend to the ceiling (high) and as we settle ourselves in, it looks feels very much like a private dining experience. Very nice, and not what I’d expected to find here at all. The menu is up for the challenge as well, with many tasty looking options.
Chatting is not such a fluid experience, however Andrea is very patient with my Spanglish, has enough English to help out as required (not too often), and so I don’t have to re-explain too much. Alma also knows a little English through school – I have a very large laugh at her delivery of “I am very well, how are you?”, which is delivered with the exact rhythms of Manuel from Fawlty Towers, when he does his “I learn Eeengleesh from a booook”. Just brilliant.
My hotel room is brilliant. Again, very cheap in comparison to what you would pay for an equivalent in Australia – about $60 for the night, including breakfast. I do make a mistake with my registration card, initially putting in my Copiapo address. They kindly advise me that if I do that, my room will cost 20% more, so if I have an Australian address, it would be better to use that! Nice one chaps. Love your work.
The room is comfortable, clean, warm (double glazed windows keep out the cold and noise from the street, the bed is comfortable and the water is hot. Perfect. Goodnight!
A
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