While Xuxa rested trying to get his cold better, Rodrigo and I did the research to get going. Weighing the different options, especially the fact that there was no public transportation directly to the volcanoe, we decided to rent a car for three days which would likely result more economical. We felt that we could drive to the refugio on the first day and walk the two hours to the campground from which we'd attempt the summit the next day, and we'd have an extra day to wait out the weather, coming back in the middle of the night if necessary to get the car back in time.
So, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning (we had to pick up the car at noon) saw us excitedly getting our bags ready. We wanted to travel light, but honestly, as there was camping involved, the main stuff pretty much stays the same, with only the amount of food making a real difference in weight. A bit before noon, we picked up the car then came back the hostal to get our bags and Xuxa. It was raining. Xuxa was in the back of the car so he could have more space to still rest and try to sleep. We were off! I am not used to car rentals during these kinds of trips and was looking forward to a great deal of things being easier, including border crossings, as we had to go into Chile. Going into Chile also meant we had not been able to get all our food, as we knew anything fresh such as fruit and cheese would get confiscated at the border. We had some, but we had to finish it in the car before crossing.
I haven't spoken much about Rodrigo and Xuxa's friendship. You can probably imagine that traveling for this long with somebody in the close proximity involved when one shares a tent and hostal rooms means you have to get along with the person. They make a really great team, with Rodrigo usually taking the lead, are both very strong and mature, as well as light-hearted and fun loving, and their constant half jokes and light bickering had me in stitches a lot of the time. I never saw them argue or looking annoyed at one another, they were efficient travelers with a positive attitude, patient, flexible, and welcoming of the tag-along I was.
In the car, this became even more apparent. Xuxa, still ill, wasn't much in the mood for anything too demanding (except climbing a volcanoe, of course, but I mean anything too taxing otherwise, such as setting up a tent in the rain) and Rodrigo sometimes pretending to slap him as they'd both accepted that he fell ill because, when we got back from the course, instead of resting and eating properly, he was up most of the night drinking beer. Rodrigo doesn't drink, so he went on about the ravages of alcohol on the body. All done in a funny, amusing way, it made me laugh, they sounded like a married couple. So Xuxa slept, while Rodrigo and I chatted about all sorts of things and got progressively (but quietly) more worried about the weather. We'd asked about the forecast, and it had seemed promising.
A little before getting to the Argentine exit border, we woke Xuxa up to have him eat his share of the cheese and avocado sandwiches he'd prepared, and then, discovering yet another banana, yet another apple, yet another blueberry container, we started seriously stuffing our faces with it all.
We needn't have. Once the formalities of the Argentine customs were through with, it was another 40 minute drive or so before actually entering Chile (in many places, both customs are together, and we'd assumed it would be the case here), and once we got there, a huge line-up made us have to wait. After the line up, it was over an hour before we could get our papers dealt with, as well as the car's, have our bags checked over by a dog, have Rodrigo's dried fruit confiscated (the guy doing the checking must not have known the rules well, it is only fresh fruit you can't take in, but I guess he wanted a taste of the dried kiwis and we didn't want to argue) and go off. By this time, it was raining even harder, and we'd wasted a lot of time in formalities. What we had hoped would be an uneventful 4 hour ride became a 7 hour one and we still had a two hour walk to the campground, which would mean setting up a tent not only in the rain but in the dark.
While we were discussing what road to take (the highway was probably faster, although it made us drive longer, but had tolls and the smaller roads were dirt tracks that we were unsure of our little car being to handle) and the weather came Xuxa's voice. Do you guys mean to tell me we planned this trip to Osorno without anyone checking the weather forecast?? Of course we checked! We called the refugio and talked with the guardaparques, and Leandro checked too and told us. No no no, said Xuxa, did you yourselves check?? Well, no, but we had it checked into. Xuxa rolled his eyes and lay back down while Rodrigo explained that checking had many ways of existing as a concept and I cramped up to tears on my seat at their philosophical bantering. It was the start of another long session of teasing and laughter and joking and my tummy was sore at the end of it.
But first things first, we had no Chilean money, or close to, and wanted an ATM, as well as a store to buy the missing food. Simple enough. Only, it wasn`t. In our wish to avoid the city of Osorno and its expensive highway, we went through towns with a single ATM, and these did not accept our cards. We were able to buy food at a place that accepted credit cards however, and in a bigger town, we went by a huge grocery store where, remembering my own adventure with missing ATMs at the begining of this trip, I asked Rodrigo to stop. We went inside and, marvel of marvels, an ATM that accepted international cards!! We withdrew, and on a whim, I quickly checked to see whether this place sold the pisco that my cousin wanted. They did, I bought two bottles and we were off. I was glad; I'd been considering buying this at the duty free during my Santiago stopover, but it would have been double the price, plus I wasn't sure I wouldn't have had it confiscated due to it being liquid.
We arrived in Puerto Varas,
a beautiful little town by a large lake and fairly close to where we were going, in the rain. We stopped at the tourist office to check morosely on the weather up on the mountain, and once this was done, we had a meeting to decide what to do. Rodrigo was for camping. Xuxa was for not getting wet. I had not anticipated being the person to make the casting vote and preferred that they sort it out, I would follow. We asked around for lodging, but it was expensive. Rodrigo is the one who came up with the compromise in the end; drive around for a bit to try to find informal lodging, and if the price was right, stay there. We found a place in a house, and rented one room with two beds, which was a lot cheaper than renting 3 beds. The beds weren't that big, and I certainly had no problems with sharing one (I've done that often enough, especially in Germany where it seems to be common and no cause for concern of any kind) but knowing that Brasilians aren't quite so comfortable with the concept, I felt pretty sure they'd prefer sharing a bed themselves.
I was wrong, they did not want to share at all and Xuxa chose the floor! We got some hot water, ate our freeze-dried food as if we'd been camping, debated how to go about things the next day (or rather, Rodrigo and I did, Xuxa was engrossed in a soccer game on tv) and went to sleep.
The next day seemed less miserable. It had rained during the night, but things were drying, and, it seemed to me, the sky wasn't as dark. We got ready and left under the incredulous eyes of our the person whose house we stayed in, who really couldn't believe we wanted to go up the volcanoe.
Oh, by the way, I've forgotten to mention, the lake where we were normally affords beautiful views of the volcanoe apparently reflecting off its waters. We went all around the lake and drove by many panoramic stops, but had not yet actually seen volcanoe Osorno, as it was all wrapped up in thick fog and rain.
So, we drove to the refugio, it seemed like the best place to get precise information and make a final decision on what to do next. It took a couple of hours. The refugio is pretty high úp, together with a ski lift and small resort. When we got there, it was pouring, the fog was so thick the Everest could have been there and we wouldn't have known it, and general hilarity had taken over our disappointed in the car. In the raging wind that was blowing up here and that we could hear quite distinctly with the engine off, Rodrigo said it was too bad, he really did feel like climbing a volcanoe, and Xuxa said yes, I still want to climb it, just let me know where it might be. We ran in to have something warm to drink. And there on the wall were pictures of the gorgeous, perfect- coned volcanoe on whose skirts we were actually stepping. That was our only glimpse of it.
Our visit with the guardaparque was wonderful. Ivan would likely have kept us all day, he was in a chatty mood, but there was no way he was letting us up, there was no point. And wouldn't be for at least 2 but more likely 3 more days. We got lots of great information from him though, and the guys were already planning on maybe coming back next week. I listened on regretfully, wishing I could take part.
We decided to drive back. There was no point hanging around.
On the drive back, both Xuxa and I fell asleep. At one point, feeling sun on my face, I woke up excitedly, all ready to tell Rodrigo to turn back, it was going to be possible after all! But he had read my mind, and with a slightly exasperated smile for the weather, pointed to where we were told the volcanoe was. There, the clouds were just as thick and dark as ever. I almost did turn back without even waking you guys up, he said.
And it didn't last, it started to rain again pretty soon.
We made a stop to try to help some people who'd flipped their car into a ditch and were now sunk deep in mud. We got a kick out of the fact that this was the only use our ice picks got.
We also made a stop to buy cheese and eat, then decided to cross the border and stay in Villa Angostura. It was, however, ridiculously expensive, even camping, and we made it back to Bariloche at about 23h. We had a quick meal and thought that since we still had the car for another day, maybe we could do something the next day. We crossed our fingers for nice weather.
We'd received messages from Simone, Victor and Ricardo. Their own trip to Lanin was also rained out, and they were back too. We planned to meet the next day to go climbing if the weather was nice. It would be my own last day.
If there is one thing I want to remember from these couple of days, it is the absolute power of laughter. And despite the disappointment of not being able to do any climbing whatsoever, I would not trade these two days of good humour and jovial atmosphere with two amazing people for anything. I will miss Rodrigo and Xuxa.
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