Eureka! Villarica!

Saturday, May 6th, 2006

Suck up the flu because today, my dear, we are up this morning at six to go climb an active volcano. Villarica is her name, and she is that steaming, angry-looking summit glowing red you see from your bedroom window.

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Tags: climbing, extreme
Posted in Places»South America»Chile | No Comments »

7 Lakes Road Trip

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006

Ah, the Seven Lakes. See now in the Bolivian Salar there were lakes – red ones, green ones, even white ones. But here, lakes are lakes. Beautiful, serene, surrounded by volcanoes, but still not very exciting lakes. Maybe by now we are just simply spoiled and it is impossible to see so many incredible sites and still keep ooh-ing and aah-ing about every puddle and bush. Or may be we just didn’t have the right viewpoint, I don’t know. In and case, I really don’t think there is a chance we will get bored from the world any time soon. Knowing it, there is a view around the corner that is sure to stop us in our treks.

Six people, five Israelis, one car. It is a miracle we all came out of it alive. I bet it was largely due to Hen and Keren’s vow of silence (they must have taken one, otherwise how can one stay so quiet for so long!). They did opened up a bit though, just enough for us to find out that Keren has a frantic fear of vegetables, or more accurately those of them which are “wet and colorful”, and Hen cannot possibly go a day without calling home. Her mother’s problem, more then hers, I think.

Most of the time was obviously spent in the car. We stopped often, stretching our legs but mostly fooling around on the view points to the lakes. We tried to stop and go on a few short hikes a few times, but each time it resulted in us finding a good picnic place and setting up camp for a few hours after which no one felt like going anywhere else. In addition, out of nowhere, I got sick with the flu and for a day and a half was feverish and absolutely miserable.

Tags: nature
Posted in Places»South America»Argentina | No Comments »

Vegging in Bariloche

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

Much like Cuzco in Peru, Bariloche was a much necessary rest stop. Don’t you look at me like that. We too do need rest. I know it sure seems like we are on an extended vacation, but to us it is more like a job we love doing but at times tire from. What we hoped to do is get a room and for a few days go into deep hibernation interrupted only by bathroom breaks and food scavengers. Maybe, just maybe, also bring ourselves to taking a few Spanish classes because we want to read this book in Spanish we bought, but don’t have enough knowledge of grammar to do so. Of course, no such luck. Shortly after our arrival we met Shir and Almog. Both psychology majors and paramedics who have been traveling the Americas after finishing the Israeli army and their first degree. What was even more surprising was that they were our age and married. Even though they had an open marriage, just like us they had to deal with the strange looks from other travelers and answer stupid questions about what brought them to such a decision. We got along superbly and after a week of cooking and hanging out together (even though Shir was a bit over bearing in the kitchen), decided to rent a car for a week and take a trip through the seven lakes, Pucon, and Valdivia from Argentina to Chile, and back.

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