maipo

yesterday i went for a hike in the maipo valley - a beautiful valley that ends with a glacier covered mountain peak. the area is very rich in mineral deposits, which gave a rich array of hues to the mountains and rocks that had fallen from them. the valley was strewn with boulders from the receding glacier and numerous rock falls. i went with a group of mostly americans (one girl from england) who where either intercambios or had graduated recently and were teaching english down here at an english institute for adults. getting there was a bit of an adventure in itself. we met at the metro and then found two collectivos (group taxis with a fixed fare) to carry us to our destination "cascadas de animas (waterfall of souls). when we arrived there we were told that our guide would be here in an hour and it would be about $10 per person. and that we couldn't go anywhere without the guide. balking at the obvious extortion, we caught the next bus to san gabriel, where we were told by our collectivo driver that all the gringos go and that it was free. free sounded good. we got off at a random corner that our driver assured us was san gabriel. after asking a few of the amused looking inhabitants, we were directed down a road that would take us to "some paths to climb." one of our members had a guidebook and found our location on the map. we seemed to be near a place called "banos de morales" which had hiking trails, hot springs etc. so off we went, trekking up the dusty mountain road, our eight gringo selves. after about twenty minutes we hit a snack shack with a bathroom and we decided to check our progress. there we learned we were about 20 km from banos de morales. at that point we decided hitchhiking would be our best option. four of us got in the cab of one nice young couple's truck, but they said the other four would have to wait, because riding in the bed of the truck op these unpaved roads would be too dangerous. i was in the cab, and the couple was from santiago, headed to the banos morales for the weekend. about half way there we were passed by another truck - whose bed was filled with our compatriots, blowing and bouncing dustily in the wind. we all got there in one piece, albeit some pieces dustier than others. then we began our hike - which was pretty much straight up until we crested the valley.  the first five minutes separated us into the fast and slow hikers. the fast hikers made it to the lake before we had to turn around to go catch our bus. going back down was a totally different challenge - i ended up running/bouncing down about a third of it. when we had the breath we exchanged stories about our travels  and experiences. dave, a practicing buddhist who grew up in vermont, had been traveling bolivia, peru and argentina for two months before coming to work as an english teacher here in santiago. he told us about the "hostel scene," five day machu picchu hikes and sketchy bolivian street food. danielle told us about moroccan whiskey (sweet spearmint tea - b/c they don't drink alcohol there) and spain (where she has studied for the last year). i managed to rip the seat of my linen pants when attempting to wash my hands in the lake. fortunately my scarf covered the 11 inch rip nicely. the bus back was dusty and crowded and quite entertaining. dave and i switched ipods and is now hooked on architecture in helsinki. our fellow passengers were quite enamored with us. they ordered their grandchildren out of the back seats so we could all sit together, sang us a chilean folk song, gave us  a liter of coca-cola and showed us where to get off for the metro. then they all said goodbye as we disembarked and waved farewell out of the window as they pulled out.