Ren and the new Pompei impressed me

1st april 2009, San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina, tired, crossing to Chile tomorrow morning way too early.



1st of april…pesce d’aprile…not here I believe, or at least nobody made any joke to me today ;-)

Lately I have been crossing up and down Argentina and Chile few times…I counted by the end of the trip I will have 11 stamps of each country…I know I know it’s crazy, but hey, I have obligations here: visit as much as possible to be able to tell you about the places people and experiences I’m doing, and also visit friends scattered around the world. And this is the simple reason for all this crossing, nice, eh??

Anyway, that’s a more recent story, I still have to tell you about the end of the Carretera Austral, Chiloe and Bariloche….it will take me ages. For today I will keep it short, just Carretera and Chaiten…impressive I tell you.



I was in Puyuhuapi, arrived there after 4 rides and a final leg by bus, together with the aussie couple, Jodie and Glen. Puyuhuapi isn’t a big town, 3 streets parallel to the see (which looked like a lake, the town is at the end of a fjord…maybe I was in Norway brought there with teletransportation??), and 5/6 crossing streets. Few hostels, we check them out and find the best one, I had a lovely pink and red room, the perfect colors for me, bright ones! The highlight of the night had been walking around to find a good place for dinner…what a choice…2 places! We headed to the one with more people…other 3 tourists ;) Usual food: salmon and either salad/rice/French fries. The salmon was just huge, I have never seen such a huge slice! I had cod, and was the same, huge! The restaurant was in the house of a woman, she was the cook of course, nobody else. She couldn’t wait for us to leave to go to bed, and it was just 10pm! Long and good sleep, I was still unsure what to do the next day, it was a Sunday, no public transportation available, but I wanted to get out of town so was thinking of HH again. But the weather was kind of nice so decided to join the aussie to the visit to the Ventisquero Colgante: hanging glacier. Looks like in Chile they call “ventisqueros” the one that in Argentina are “glaciares”…I still haven’t understood why…maybe they actually refer to 2 different things? Who knows! Anyway, got a taxi there, and hiked up an hour to reach the mirador. It is called “hanging” glacier because looks like it’s hanging there, in between 2 mountains. What is strange of it is that from its bottom a huge amount of water is flowing down, into another smaller glacier out of which only very little water exits…so now the question is: where is all this water going? Miracle??? I was thought that materia cannot disappear…where is it gone?? We saw some pictures of this glacier 40 years ago, it was arriving all the way to the lake below, but the global warming…damn, we are destroying all glaciers, well not the Perito Moreno, that one sticks on the same size all the time more or less! The glacier was nice, but I had seen hundreds already so was not necessary to stop there ;-) We’ve also been lucky, when we decided to head back down a lovely cloud decided to stop just in front of the glacier, covering its sight for the tourists which had not been as early as us!! It pays waking up early…ah ah it’s a joke, I think we actually woke up at 9 that morning!! Back in town, we had 2 options: heading for the Termas, spa, or trying to get out of the town towards Futuleufu at the border with Argentina. Naaa, not the right company for the spa, so I packed my bag and headed towards the end of the town, across a bridge, the best spot to catch any possible lift. Weather ok, it wasn’t raining, I sat there, reading. Not so much traffic, many cars passing in front of me, turning left down a road and 5 minutes later reappearing going back from where they had arrived. Ok, it’s Sunday, and this is a small town so there’s nowhere to go for windowshopping, but taking your wife 5 minutes down the road doesn’t seem very interesting to me. After car number 5 or 6 I decided to ask to understand the secret of that place: there’s the gas station!! Ah ah ah! Jodie and Glenn had arrived, and we started playing cards sitting there on the kerb. Finally a man stopped. He works for road constructions, he lives in Puyuhuapi for the weekend, with wife and kids, and in Las Juntas during the week, for work, 1.5hr away for those 50/60km. He was going to Las Juntas and was happy to give us a ride. He was so talkative. I was sitting in front and sometimes I could not understand him. Chileans have a very strong accent, or better said, they “eat the words” all the time, and use a lot of slang. But he again was nice, and started telling us about life there, and people living around. Mainly about this german family (or better of german origins, like lots of people in that side of Chile): the parents died leaving a son and a daughter with lots of land. The daughter has her estancia, and the son too. The son has a huge amount of land, he showed us the boundaries and the houses, and he is still single. He cannot find the right woman for himself. The man said he had tried to propose his daughter for him…ah ah. The guy drove us to the best spot for another ride and suggested few places to sleep and eat in case we would get stuck there…it was 6pm already! We tried a little bit but nobody was passing. Few hundred meters before where we were there were 3 israelis…we found out the next day that they had been there the whole day waiting for a ride. I understand people doesn’t stops: there’s 1 guy hitching, and 2 sitting under a tree, almost hidden. If a car stops they all jump out, a bit scary for this simple people. Anyway, by 6.30pm we gave up and looked for a place. Found a nice one, with even free wireless internet, or to be honest I used the one from the town hall…it was unsecured!!! Dinner was ok, steak and rice, more or less the same diet every day in this side of the world: steak or fish with salad/French fries/mashed potatoes. What impressed us of this place has been the many roadworks ongoing and the big square. All roads leading to the square were undergoing some renovation. And the square…huge! And new, very new! A patio in the center, even a false river (with no water) and a bridge, handicapped ramps, benches and some slowly growing trees. It just seemed over scaled, too big for such a small town. The man of the day before had made comparisons with Puyuhuapi mentioning: Las Juntas has even a square!!! In the morning I asked the lady of the hospedaje: she said the square was 2 years old (it looked 1 month old, it was so well kept! They are so proud of it that they keep it perfectly cl;ean!), and everything going on was due to the new major who was from the winning national party (i.e. had money!) who was trying to change the town, making it more attractive to attire more tourists. As for her, she had started last year with renting rooms, and she now liked to have visitors, to look after them, so was trying to improve her facilities, better beds, better toilets and things like this. She spoke about the people passing by, a mix of everybody but lots of Israelis. Every 10 days there’s a bus of Israelis passing by and staying overnight. I had heard this story before, so I guess it’s an organized trip that goes so often. She didn’t say nice words, too loud and too many. Anyway, somehow I can understand that when 15 people from the same country travel together will make lots of noise. Is just that for me it doesn’t make much sense to travel so far away with 15 people from your country, avoiding any contact with other nationalities! At 10.00 I was ready for the next hitchhiking bit. It was already Monday and I had given up the idea of going to Futaleufu, I would take the ferry the next day between Chaiten and Quellon on Chiloe island. So the plan was to get out of Las Juntas till Villa Santa Lucia 1.5hrs away, the last living town before the ghost town of Chaiten, named the new Pompei by myself (guess many would call it the same). The aussie had been there 1 hour already when I joined. Luckily the weather was nice, sunny, not too bad to wait, but nobody was passing. Only big trucks crossing fast and moving lots of dust, difficult to breath. But they were only going 5km away to the roadworks, damn! At 11am we got a ride, the 3 of us (the 3 israelis were still there waiting. I heard afterwards that when a bus passed they were still doubting whether taking and paying the ride or waiting more for a free one, crazy guys, they had been there already 36 hours!). The lift was just till 20/30km out of town, but enough to get rid of the fast trucks and the dust. We knew it would take time before getting another ride so we sat on the grass and waited, chatting, reading and playing cards. We’ve waited almost 3 hours before the first car passed, but they were stopping just next to us, to work on a bridge, Next arrived a red truck. He could only take 2 people: either me or the aussies…they’ve been nice, didn’t want me to stay there on my own. So off I went, with Alejandro, the camionero (truck driver). He was going all the way to Chaiten, the place I had to catch the ferry the next day at 10am. I was told and believed nobody was living there, that no accommodation was available there. But…but the guys who gave us the ride in the morning said it wasn’t true, there was people living and it was possible to find a hospedaje and something to eat. Alejandro the camionero added that I could sleep in the truck with him in case I would not find anything, and also I had heard there was a small terminal house at the harbor. So…I decided to join Alejandro all the way to Chaiten. Furthermore he was going to stop at the Termas de Armarillo, I would get the chance to go to the spa, that was luck! This Alejandro was a bit of a weirdo. He carries whatever needed, he drives down to Carretera Austral, delivers the goods and then on the way back he does some visiting, and often stops to the spa. He showed me some nice views, we stopped the truck on a bridge to take some pictures and then we drove the big truck up this very small road to the termas. The termas were just a pool with hot water, maybe 38 degrees not sure, in the middle of a light forest, in the middle of a narrow valley. The view looked good, there in the middle of the mountains, the blue sky, the sun… Alejandro really enjoyed, guess that was his weekly bath ;-) The reason I say he was a kind of a weirdo is he asked me where I was from, Italy I said. After I spoke about Europe being a small continent, distances being small compared to Chile…it seemed he had no clue what Europe was. Half an hour later he asked me again which country I was from, and again another time, he just could not remember, but he did remember perfectly that the other 2 guys were from Australia…uhm, not sure, anyway, he was a bit over reacting on things, kept saying I was the lucky one I had got the ride with him so I could stop at the termas, and so on. Yes, I had been lucky, also cause the other guys wanted to go to Futaleufu which was the other direction anyway. At the termas we got “once”, which means “11” but which actually is something more similar to the 5 o’clock English tea. You get tea/coffee and some food. The woman had prepared empanadas, they looked good and…they tasted fish, marisco to be more precise, seafood. ARGHHH. I hate seafood! I hate its taste of sea, I really don’t like it. But I had already started eating it, and I was hungry, so I had 2 of them, keeping my nose closed trying not to taste the taste. Didn’t really work, but I am glad I did it as no dinner was waiting for me. You see, this travelling is doing me good…I even eat seafood ;-)

By 6.30pm we entered Chaiten area. I could see some smoke coming out of a mountain very far away and I was very impressed, Alejandro kept telling me it would get much closer and visible, I could not believe. Along the road there was ash, the trees seemed burned, some were still green, some others were brownish. Then we got closer…more ashes along the road and then…the volcano, there, standing in front of me, smoking so much, such a big crater. Impressive, scaring. The volcano is 9km away from the town, and between them there is just an ample valley, perfect to get the magma flowing down to the town. Dead city, all covered in ashes, few cars around, all empty, nothing working more or less. Pompei…this is how I imagine Pompei when the volcano erupted. With different consequences…nobody died in Chaiten. Anyway, before telling you the story of the eruption, I tell you my story. With Alejandro we started driving around town to find signs of hospedajes or hotels. I see a sign, and next to it a car, so probably someone is living there and renting rooms, go for it. Getting there I realized those were 2 different houses but still went inside the one with the car to ask information. Horatio was there, I asked him some help, he suggested me a couple of places, than looked at me and said…I have no running water, electricity only with a generator, but I have a bed, you can stay with me. Brain working quickly…WOW that’s a nice offer, thanks I will accept it! Picked up my bag from the truck and off I went. I am so happy I decided to stay with this guy, he told me so many things about what happened there, what’s happening now, his life, why he is staying there. It has been a once in a lifetime chance, not many people get that chance, basically everybody passes on and off the ferry, looking at the houses covered in ashes, the smoke out of the mountain and that’s it. I lived it. Amazing. Well, it did not exploded, there was nothing dangerous the night I stayed there, and I was also told we had 6 minutes to evacuate the town in case of danger, Horatio’s car is big and had fuel, I am sure we would have survived!

At first I felt a bit out of place, not sure where to sit, what to do. Horatio was pretty talkative and had things to do. Like helping a family to transfer a stove from one house close to the flooded river to another place out of town. So off we went, exploring the town. And the story starts… Beginning of last year…lots of earthquakes in the area, mainly felt more down south, Puerto Chacabuco for example. Big concern there, lots of people started moving out of town, direction Chaiten. Nobody thinking it could be the volcano. Then…well…earthquakes moving up north, stronger and stronger, direction Chaiten. End of april, big one in Chaiten, something was going to happen, the volcano…1st of may a big one, dogs getting crazy, 2nd of may, the big blast, the big eruption. The whole top side of the mountain exploded, magma in the sky, big smoke cap. There are some pictures on the web of lightings in the smoking cap, impressive and scaring. It was sometimes during the 2nd of may that the city had to be evacuated, 5000 people used to live there, many had left already but big number still. Many were evacuated by boat, all ferries in the area had been called in help. Other people went in the mountains, Futaleufu, Argentina… Resident could only go back in july, too much activity before, too many dangerous gases coming out of the volcano. And…the disaster. The smoke going in the direction of Argentina, El Bolson and Bariloche got covered in ashes. No magma arrived in Chaiten town, but the ashes made the big patatrak. There was a river passing on the edge of town. This river got filled with ash, too much ash, the river could not flow it’s normal way, so it flooded, right through town, through the houses. It brought away 200 houses, all gone into the sea. You can still see TVs and furniture in the water, this impressed me a lot. The town is now cut in 2, roads end in the new river, to get to the other side you have to drive 2/3kms, and you have to drive over the ashes, where previously the river was passing. What is left of the town is not in better condition…just ash all over, everything covered, you can see some houses have 1m of ash in the garden, in front of the door. The disaster here hasn’t been the volcano, but the river. This town is not a ghost town, 5000 people before the 2nd of may, 300 since December when they were allowed to go back, 50/70 now, after a further eruption happened the 19th of February this year. This has been more scaring than before I think, the magma has stopped 2km away from town, dangerous, very dangerous. Situation is still critical, the mouth of the volcano is blowing ashes, gases, it can clearly be seen from the town, and it’s scaring if you think it is only 9km away! Horatio told me that when the smoke is black is because there has been a collapse in the vault, when it’s red it’s an explosion…and you can clearly see the color difference! The government wants people to leave, to move out of the area, too dangerous and too much job to evacuate them in case of another eruption. Government is closing down any possible activity. The guys of the gas station wanted to stay, but they have been closed down. There’s not much left there. A store, few items though, but a big quantity of wine. And you can see the wine bottles have been hit by the ashes…the labels are all ruined by the ash, they cleaned it but they are damaged. There is no running water, there is not electricity, there is no gas. Everything has to be brought from outside. Horatio owns some land outside of town, approx 3km away along the beach, in the safe area (sheltered by a hill). The land had a small river, that’s where he gets water for cooking and washing, He gets big buckets of water that he then pumps up the roof and uses as running water. Of course he cannot drink this water, not safe anymore. Drinking water is in bottles, more things to carry from the outside world! For electricity he has a generator, which he turns on as late as possible in the evenings as he wants to save fuel. For the heating he has a wood heater, so he is sorted. Food is not a problem, lots of cans in the storage. Furthermore almost every evening he has people coming over to eat together, they make asados that’s it! We met various people and he told me their stories. The german tv crew who came filming the ghost town, setting their headquarters on the beach next to his property, a table and a broken tv to make it look more like a real workplace. There’s one girl he calls the crazygirl of the village. She is hyperactive, she comes over to his place to use internet, she asks for coffee to be served to her by him, and then she leaves without thanking. We spoke to her a bit, she didn’t seem so bad, but a bit strange yes, coming in and out of the house, taking things and not bringing them back! We didn’t have proper dinner, just a slice of a very very good dulce de leche cake, with tea and wine. Dulce de leche is the most famous dessert/sweet here, both in Argentina and Chile, they can put it everywhere. At first I didn’t really like it, too sweet but then now… WOW, I love it!!! Lots of times I am misled thinking a cake/croissant has chocolate instead is dulce de leche, and I love it!!! Horatio’s life isn’t easy. His wife decided to stay in Puerto Montt, she is a lawyer there, and could be reassigned there from Chaiten. As for him…he is a shipbuilder (yes JJ, if you want I can put you in contact with him…mind moving to Chile??), he makes 4-16 passengers boats, mainly for tourism. I saw some pictures, they look good but I’m not an expert. All his machineries are there in Chaiten, and it is difficult for him to move, as in Puerto Montt competition would be much harder and he being an artisan could not survive. So he wants to stay, he is completely against the government shutting everything down. Well, he understand that it’s not safe to live in the town right now, but he doesn’t want the State to buy his house for little money (they give them 20000 dollars more or less, which is not bad, but not enough to buy a new house in another town, especially in Puerto Montt). Government is planning to buy off all the houses, close them down, destroy current Chaiten and create a new town 10km away, in a safe area. They plan to have the first layout within the next 3 months and within 2 years a new Chaiten ready, with a new airport and port as well. Will they make it in the planned town? What will be doing the people who wants to live there till then? Horatio is building his own house in his piece of land. From the road there’s a thick forest before reaching the beach, that’s his land. He brought me there, explaining how he is doing. He is cutting down trees, every day 15/20 trees, he has 3 fireplaces always running to burn the trees he is cutting. He works morning till night there, cutting and burning. In 40 days he wants to have his new house ready, 6x5m, a room, a kitchen and a toilet. He has already bought all the things needed, like bed and sink. He is a hard worker, and a great person. He told me he was pleased I stopped, it was the first time in ages he had invited someone to stay at his place, all the times he has uninvited guests. He loves this place, he wasn’t born here, but further north, but moved along the Carretera Austral 30 years ago, lived in few towns, settled down there, and there he wants to stay. He is quite rich I am sure, he has 5 daughters and 1 son, all going to private universities, all travelling. I am not sure I would have stayed, it’s a hard life, it’s somehow a solitary life, even if I noticed there is a lot of support between those who stayed. His regret nowadays…he cannot work on his boats, all people who used to work for him have fled, too worried, so he is left alone, building his house and building his ships. When it was dark we went to the beach, to look at the stars. Argh. There are no lights in the streets, it’s a dead city, there’s not a light polluting the sky. It’s amazing, millions of stars all there, in front of me. I don’t know the southern sky, he showed me the fake Southern Cross and told where is the real one. We saw many shooting stars. Wow, we in Europe can just see few around the 10th of august, but there…oh, for the half an hour we were there I counted at least 3. He told me that a person can see up to 7 shooting stars per hour…it’s possible down in Chaiten, surely not in polluted old Europe. I love the sky at night, the stars. It reminds me so much of the hours spent on the “muretto” of Cervo when I was a teenager. In the dark was also very easy to see what was going on on the volcano…magma flowing down, it was all dark and a bit of incandescent red, not to worry Horatio said. I didn’t worry, as I said we had 6 minutes to flee in case of danger ;-) We spoke till midnight, he told me about his life, his kids, his boats, I told him about my life, it was time to switch off the light, I went to “my room”, a bunk bed with only a mattress on the bottom bed, I used my sleeping bag to sleep and my pocket light to read a bit, and dream of this strange place. I was up by 8.30am, Horatio was up already, but he had waited for me for breakfast, bread tea and eggs. Last chat, and he drove me to the ferry, la barcaza which was going to take me out of this magic place, back to civilization in Chiloe. It has been an experience, seeing the best hotel in town with 2m ash on its doorsteps, an octagonal house with the bottom quarter gone, but still standing, completely shut down houses, stores, all grey, all like Pompei, but still somehow alive, wanting to live, to be born again.

It’s strange to write this story today. Approx 24 hours ago there has been the big earthquake in Abruzzo, Italia. At least 150 people died, many wounded, 100000 lost their houses, all historical churches destroyed, entire villages disappeared, 27 months to live again has been said. How can those 2 immense tragedies be compared, how can you survive such a big natural disaster? I think it’s hard to lose all your properties, all gone, your memories, your pictures, your clothes, your house, the thing you have spent money on, where you wanted to live, the perfect place you had chosen to settle your family. Maybe a bit I understand Horatio, strongly fighting to live in his own house, to continue his job, to be stronger than nature. I wish him good luck, and same to all those guys in L’Aquila and all over Abruzzo.



MotherNatureImpressedRen