Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Trip Start
May 26, 2007
1
10
89
Trip End
Ongoing
Chillan,
Chile
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The bus only took us to Valle Las Tardes which was about 15mins by car outside the ski village at the base of the slopes, and even here seemed to be covered with snow. We got out here, waited for a car with chains, and thumbed a lift up the mountain. 5mins into the trip we came accross a car that skidded off the road so we all got out and pushed it back onto the road. After another 5mins we came accross a massive tanker that had skidded off the road and was blocking the whole thing. At this point we hopped out and began hiking but it wasn't long till we found someone else to take us the rest of the way
A Dash from the Spring
.When we finally made it to the mountain we could not believe the season wasn't open. Just walking through the village required us trudging through literally knee deep snow. If th conditions were like this in Aus it would probably be the best season ever recorded. We spent some time playing in the snow and shaking trees so we got covered in snow... and then we found the thermal bath. Our book said these baths cost about $20US to go in but since the season hadn't opened there wasn't really anyone around. We dropped our stuff just inside a door and before a knew it i was running through the snow in a pair of dickies and diving in. Some people started approaching so i hid as best i could in the bath. Meanwhile Linz was still getting changed so i hoped that he would stay inside til they walked past but his timing, as per usual, was impecable. As soon as they were next to the door he triumphantly kicked the door open and was standing in front of them in all his glory. He had no choice but to scamper through the snow in nhis dickies while they watched on in horror and i watched on in glee. We eventually hopped out (they were luke warm at best and we were surrounded by snow) smelling like sulphur and made our way back to our place.
The place we stayed at was basically staying in the spare room of a family's house. We did it cause it was literally half the price of any other accommodation we could find. While there we had a nice family dinner with some traditional chillean cuisine and had the pleasure of practically babysittting the 3 year old girl who seemed facinated by us. She was adorable but when it came bed time and she was still awake and playfully jumping on top of us and laughing, i knew i would never have kids. I also can't help but think that the fact she would steal our stuff to make us cahse her and the fact that my sunnies went mysteriously missing might have something in common.
