Saturday July 6: Rainbow Valley
Interesting Dinner
Last night I didn't sleep too well. I slept OK until around
3:30, but after that my sleep was sporadic and my dreams unpleasant. I'm not
sure why. I think that I might have been slightly too cool.
Our morning routine went as usual. We left at 9 for the
Rainbow Valley. This is a valley with rocks of many different colors, primarily
greens and reds. At one point along the way we stopped to photograph some
llamas (or their cousins, I'll have to check the pictures).
At the valley, we did a short stroll on a flat trail there
to get a closer look at the rocks and to let Amy do some bird watching.
After this, we drove to an area of petroglyphs. We looked at
some of them, while the driver prepared our "picnic lunch". Not surprisingly,
most of the pictures were of
llamas,
with a few
shamans
tossed in.
We then had our lunch. I was expecting sandwiches or
something. Instead, we had a first course of hot soup, followed by salmon on a
bed of quinoa (I think), and Sam's favorite, flan, for dessert. To wash it
down, we had a bottle of wine and a pitcher of strawberry juice. This was not
the kind of
picnic
that I am used to.
While we were eating, we met an interesting gentleman who
was I think Chinese. The interesting part was that he was walking/hitch-hiking
around. We thought that was rather odd, as there was next to nothing for many
miles, and not a whole lot of traffic. We could not help him, as our car was
completely full, but we warned him that it got very cold when the sun went
down, and that he should be trying to get to some place where he could stay not
head further into the canyon.
Afterwards, we went through a different area of the rocks to
see more petroglyphs. Sam was bored with the pictures, but he enjoyed climbing
on the rocks. At one point, we sort of played a game where he would hide behind
some rocks and stick his head out, and I would try to
take his picture
before
he ducked back again.
After the petroglyphs, we drove up to a tiny village called
Rio Grande, after the river that flows through the
valley.
We would probably
call it a
stream or a creek,
but I guess compared to elsewhere, it was a
significant river.
The drive in was along the side of deep canyon, with good
views of the canyon itself. The village was very small, maybe 20 people, and we
had to be careful not to take their picture, as they did not like that.
We passed by a small celebration. There were two new cars
(actually one car and one pickup truck), and so they were having a
quasi-religious ceremony to bless the vehicles (and to drink).
Then we drove back to San Pedro, getting back between 4 and
5.
We arranged to have dinner with this small group. It looks
like we'll be seated in a circle in sort of a pit around a fire. There will be
a four course meal, with four different wines, and someone talking about the
history and culture. Dinner won't be until around 8:30. So it will be a late
night compared to what we are used to.
That is unfortunate timing, as tomorrow morning we will be
leaving at 5:30, so as to get to the geysers before sunrise. We'll have
breakfast afterwards.
So tonight is going to be a short night, and then the next
day will be our last tourist day.
Monday we'll hang out here until around noon, then get
driven to the airport, and then start about 24 hours of traveling back home.
--
Dinner last night was interesting. We got picked up by a van
at the scheduled time--sort of. We were supposed to be picked up at 8:10. We
went out to the curb a bit early, around 8:04, and we were not there more than
a minute before the van pulled up.
We were the second of about 4-5 pickups. Everyone picked up
was American. So we chatted pleasantly while we drove around. The first pair
picked up were eclipse followers. This was their second eclipse, and they were already
planning for the next one.
Out destination was the home of an architect who had built
this sunken "pit". it was a round pit, with stairs leading down, a
bench seat (with cushions) all around, and a place for the fire in the middle.
This was going to be a program talking about the history and beliefs of the
ancient Chileans, augmented by wine tasting, and traditional foods. Although
compared with what I think of as usual "tastings", we got basically
normal sized glasses of each wine. It has been years since I've had more than
one glass at a sitting, so I was feeling slightly unstable by the end.
There were four wines, each followed by a course. There was
also traditional music played for us, where we got to handle the instruments
afterwards. I was a little nervous at the start, when they poured the wine, did
a bit of talking, played music, and yet there was no sign or mention of food. I
was afraid that I had misunderstood, and that there was to be no food, and that
we were supposed to have eaten beforehand, but my fears were groundless.
The first course was the traditional bread with pebre on it.
This is the "salsa" that they serve at just about every restaurant
(in place of butter or olive oil). It is most similar to pico de gallo. It was
interesting getting and eating the food, as the only light was from the fire,
which was low and in front of us, so that our food was mostly in the shadows.
The second course was some sort of quinoa salad, the third
course was a traditional stew with beef, and then we had the (apparently)
traditional flan for dessert. In Spanish, the courses were:
Sopaipillas con pebre y flores de Yaretta
Ensalada de quinoa y habas de Socaire
Pataska con vacuno
Mousse de Rosa del Ano
The stars overhead were amazing to see. It has been many
years since I've seen that many stars. At the end, there was a short while for
people to unwind, so I got up, went out of the pit, set up my camera, and took
some star pictures. It was probably not my best work, as I was a bit rushed, I
had no real choice of location/foreground, and I was a bit on the tipsy side,
but I'll see how they look when I get home.
I visited the baño, and when I came out, they were just
beginning to load the van for the return trip.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience, even better
because Sam liked it as well.
We probably got back to the hotel around 11 or a bit later.
We prepared a bit for our early departure the next morning, and then hit the
sack.
