Aneya & Lauren: Temuco Pictures

Aneya: Street art in Temuco of a Mapuche woman.

Lauren: The detail here is incredible. It's right near the town square in Temuco.
Lauren: This statue was at the center of town. In the south, all the cities started with a square and a nearby church. At the top of the statue is a Machi, a female shaman of the Mapuche.
Aneya: Ah, the market. This place was huge and had everything you could imagine: fruit, nuts, vegetables, blue eggs, spices, just everything! Lauren was in heaven, of course.

Lauren: I bought all this stuff I couldn't eat, at least not right away. Dried lentils, these weird red and white beans called senoritas, white pepper, smoked merken (which I latter used on the lentils and was amazing!), and a wedge of merken mantequeso, an arsenal cheese. We needed some groceries, and this was fresh, it supported small farmers, and was just so cheap.

Blue eggs! And milk straight from the cow. Both intriguing and questionable after my stomach problems. There is also an abundance of quail eggs around here. You can go to the store (even in Santiago) and buy 24 quail eggs! It's crazy.

Aneya: Merken is like our new pepper here, we put it on everything.

Lauren: It's served instead of pepper at restaurants. It's really spicy and flavorful, so we've been all over it.
Lauren: The senorita.
Lauren: Daniela took us hiking on a hill right near the monastery. Pumas live in another nearby hill!
Aneya: Look at all that moss! So many huge, beautiful trees.

Lauren: Because it's so wet here, it was lichen, fungi heaven! There was some really cool fungi action going on here.
Aneya: Photographic evidence of me hiking. It's never been seen before.

Lauren: It happened! There are two witnesses.
Aneya: Daniela, our tour guide.
Aneya: Lauren, glowing in the sun.

Lauren: I was so happy to be able to comfortably walk again.
Aneya: Look how small Daniela is compared to the huge tree that's fallen down next to her!
Aneya: The view of Temuco, from the top of the hill.


-- Aneya & Lauren

Aneya & Lauren: Villarica.

Aneya: How cute is this?



Aneya: You can see the German influence here, with these strange triangle houses.
Aneya: This almost reminds me of Marseille, or Nice, even, with the cafe and cute little boardwalk next to the lake. There's even a beach down there, although the sand is volcanic (ie hot) and black.




Aneya: We decided to take a boat out on to the lake, which was way bigger than I imagined. I felt like I was in another world, people jet-skiing and swimming all around us, million dollar mansions with docks perched on every corner, beautiful people sunbathing. Where are we again? St. Tropez? Nope, that'd be Southern Chile!

Aneya: The little building in the distance is actually a 5 star hotel! Next time I'm in Villarica, I'm staying there!

Lauren: While in Temuco, Daniela told us about a small resort town that was closeby. It was a short bus ride from where we were staying, and it was on a clear blue lake near a smoking volcano. Sure. Why not? We had no idea how beautiful this place would be.

Aneya: This was a day after Lauren's trip to the hospital, so I wasn't so sure it was a good idea. We'd had a day of rest in Temuco, and then Daniela suggested Villarica. I had really wanted to see one of the famous volcanoes, and so did Lauren, so we decided to go ahead and do it.

Lauren: Driving down to Villarica was like visiting another country. So many rivers and lakes, tons of gorgeous trees, not to mention several black snow-covered volcanoes. These images were so similar to ones of Japan, Europe, and Hawaii.

Aneya: Ya, it was a beautiful, scenic drive, as is typical for the Lake District. We couldn't believe our eyes when the first snow covered volcano popped into view, monumental and enormous, following us around every corner. We were pretty giddy by this point.

Lauren: When we got to the small town, it was just gorgeous. Small wooden shops, A-frame houses, and an interesting blend of Germans and Mapuche. Unlike the Spanish, Germans did not marry or have children with Mapuche. How German of them. So alongside little German arsenal chocolate places, were indigenous shops with woodwork, bread made from squash. All these handmade, interesting foods and I could try nothing! Not on the doctor's diet. I couldn't even have Ginger Ale. Only flat mineral water and tea.

Aneya: I couldn't get over how quant and lovely this town was! It reminded me of this lake town in Austria I once visited, so beautiful and serene. The German influence was obvious, what with all the little wooden houses and cute bakeries. We were in heaven, basically.

Lauren: And if things were cheap(ish) in Santiago, a bit cheaper in Temuco, things were incredibly cheap in Villarica. It was both disheartening and exciting. Things that in the states would sell for $40-$50, sold for less than $10 here, often for a few dollars. Really skillfully made, beautiful woodwork sold for a pittance. I'll take two. To go.

Aneya: Everything was so inexpensive, and there was so much to buy! You turn a corner, there's an antique fair here, a Mapuche festival there, and handcrafted woodwork everywhere! And of course, earrings galore, of every shape and color. For less than 50 cents! It was hard not to buy everything in sight.

Lauren: We got to go to a Mapuche ruka that was in this Mapuche arts and crafts fair. There was an exhibit in the ruka, describing Mapuche culture. We also spent a lot of time around the lake which was indescribably beautiful.

Aneya: I just wanted to jump right into that lake! It was a deep, deep blue, and the lush green around it was just breathtaking. There were two other volcanoes in the distance, and the area reminded me of so many places I'd visited in the past. Hawaii, Western Europe, even Japan, in a way, one place I haven't been, but am dying to go.

Lauren: The water was so blue. There were so many trees. And the volcano was huge, clearly visible and smoking. Little puffs every few minutes. It was just amazing. (Aneya: Or, as Daniela's grandma would say "it was breathing")

Aneya: My favorite place by far in the South. Yay for Villarica!

-- Aneya & Lauren

Aneya & Lauren: The Monastery.

Lauren: So we stayed in a little monastery that Daniela's tio Jorge found for us in Temuco. It was very small, quite and nice, the first night was a little creepy. We were used to our noisy city apartment. But every morning the nuns served juice, hot coffee and tea, bread with homemade jams and butter on nice white china.

Aneya: A typical room at the monastery.
Aneya: Ahhh the devil chair! I swear it looked even scarier in person.

Lauren: I had to take this picture! Aneya wouldn't go in the room with the chair. It really spooked her out.
Lauren: Mapuche rug. There's a huge Mapuche population here so tons of stuff from the town have been made by Mapuche.
Lauren: The garden outside.
Aneya: I don't know why I look like a robot in this picture, but I do.

Lauren: It must have been the harsh overnight bus ride. The seats were pretty luxurious, but it was definitely a fitful eight hours.
Aneya: Here I am, giving my first sermon.

Aneya: Lauren and I set off to the South, eager and ready for the adventures to come. Although the trip didn't pan out exactly as planned, it was still an amazing experience, and it definitely left me wanting more! What can I say? I was born with the travel bug.

Lauren: This was all so different from hot Santiago. We're in the center of the city here, tons of bustle, people everywhere, and it's hot! Down in Temuco it was overcast, rainy, and definitely more rural. A national forest was right near our monastery.

Aneya: It all started at the now familiar, completely chaotic terminal de buses in Santiago. The trip started off on a rough note, as on the day of our departure all the buses going to Temuco were completely booked. We decided to take a night bus (leaving at 11 Lauren: Or 2300 as they use here) since it really was our only option. Lauren had been at the station three times that day, and even at 11 o'clock at night, the place was swarming with people, families, young kids falling asleep on their parents shoulders, couples carrying box after box, backpackers hitting people with their huge bags. It was intense.

Lauren: On any day on the weekend the streets of Santiago are eerily empty. Where did all the people from the week go, we constantly ask ourselves. They are at the bus station. The entire city of Santiago is going somewhere. I can see why. Those buses are first class. They are like business class airplane seats.

Aneya: Our bus was awesome. Double decker, with these huge leather seats that reclined to become a bed. Now that's luxury! And we had the ever so elusive bulkhead, double decker style, baby! That had to be the best 8 hour ride of my life. I just listened to my ipod and slept, and then we were woken up, with a lovely little breakfast of vanilla cookies and peach juice. Que rica!

Lauren: I do love the bulkhead. It was so nice. If we were awake we would have had the best seats in town. We had so much space to spread out. It was definitely classy.

Aneya: As mentioned, we were staying at a monastery that Daniela's Uncle (or as we now affectionately call him, Tio Jorge) got us in touch with. It was actually quite big, three stories (one for girls, one for boys and one for couples. Married couples, only, of course). There was the church, a large dining room, a tv room. The rooms were sparse, just two beds, a table and a crucifix, what else do you need, really? The place was empty when we got there, and the creaky old halls had an eery feeling to them. I always get a little freaked out in churches, I get a sense of doom, a foreboding feeling, like Christ himself is going to come down and have a word with me, and it's not gonna be pretty.

Lauren: I know! I was more contentious of my behavior. It was a bit spooky, especially since it was so empty.

Aneya: While exploring, Lauren and I found a room with the scariest looking chair I've ever seen (pictured above). I swear, the devil himself made that chair. I told Lauren I wouldn't go in the room, the negative energy was just too much for me. I think that freaked her out, cause that night she couldn't sleep and neither could I. The place was even creepier at night. Pitch black, and silent, we used to run from the communal bathroom back to our bedroom, so afraid we were of evil spirits catching us on the way out. I almost felt like I was in an insane asylum. After that first night we got a little more comfortable with it all, but still, I was happy to leave when we did.

Lauren: The chair thing was hilarious. Really. Aneya seriously hated that chair. I thought it was kind of cute and quirky, but we didn't visit it again. That first night was the worst. The place was just so silent. Where were all the buses and people? And, like Santiago, there is a thriving street dog population so there were dogs howling our first night! That just was the icing on the cake. We would later find out that Temuco totally shuts down at 2200 hours. So we were well rested when we got back to Santiago. No late nights for us, whether we liked it or not.

-- Aneya & Lauren

Aneya & Lauren: Day Trip in Temuco

Lauren: These steam rollers were used to establish the city. The Mapuche drove the imperial Europeans out and they left these. There are maybe 50-100 scattered throughout the city.
Aneya: A shot of the girls! Notice how bundled up we are? It was way colder in the south, windy, rainy, just 100 % different from Santiago.

Aneya: Lauren, happy to be eating her nuts.

Lauren: I love nuts.
Aneya: Daniela showing off her seafood soup.

Aneya: I can't even begin to describe how beautiful this place was. I don't feel like pictures do it justice, really. But this one's quite nice.

Lauren: This is a potato field. There are over 100 varieties of potato and bean in this region.

Aneya: These trees remind me of France, for some reason.

Aneya: I didn't ask this man if I could sit on his boat, I hope he didn't mind!


Aneya: "I believe I can fly.....I believe I can touch the sky...." Daniela took this shot, and it's amazing, so muchas gracias Dani!
Aneya: Daniela, walking the plank!
Aneya: So cute! Little duckies, there were all kids of animals wandering around this place.

Lauren: There were so many domestic animals around this pastoral area. Cows, pigs, sheep, ox, horses. And because it's summer there are lots of babies everywhere.



Lauren: These pictures don't show how beautiful the sea was here. Waves crashing so far out, it seemed like there was a mile of just sea foam. The earth here is black because of the nearby volcanoes, and it's warm from the geothermal energy.
Aneya: The view from up here was really quite breathtaking. The waves crashing on one side, then streaming into the calm lake next to it.
Lauren: Mapuche totem pole.
Lauren: Potato harvest time.
Lauren: Mapuche ruka, this is the traditional home of the Mapuche who still largely populate this area.
Aneya: A little too close for comfort here. I think he agrees.

Lauren: These are sacs of potatoes. They were everywhere! It seemed to be the harvest day for everyone in this region.
Lauren: Lake Budi. This place has a really interesting history Daniela's uncle told us all about. It was such a pleasure to be travelling the countryside with a cultural anthropologist. This lake was created after a devastating 9.8 earthquake created a tsunami that went over the land and settled here. This is the largest salt water lake in South America and has tons of black-necked swans.

Lauren: These were all made from one tree trunk (each)!

-- Aneya & Lauren