Sometimes you will invite people over to dinner, and during the course of the meal, you will unroll a giant, unweildy map you have on the country, and this will happen.
And then, when you’re least expecting it, someone will call you on the phone, and say, hey, let’s go up to the mountains for the weekend.
And you will take the metro, getting off at the new Los Dominicos stop.
And find these silly boys with their arrow signs and follow those, as if you hadn’t guessed that the connecting bus was upstairs, and would have wandered around for the rest of your life in the new metro station, or at least until it closed and they kicked you out.
And then for good measure you could follow the signs on the street, in case you’d gotten confused between the arrows and outside.
And then you would get off the bus here, at San Carlos de Apoquindo
And then you would walk, up and away from the city
first slowly, in the sun, then more quickly as time moved forward and you saw this behind you
And this ahead:
Until it was so dark and you couldn’t see anything at all, except the glow of the city in the background, the snacks you ate for dinner and a sole candle burning in a tuna can in the firepit because we were all too lazy to even think about building a fire.
Like I did, you’ll have to wait to see the flora. But oh! was there flora.
Plants come tomorrow. They always do.
Here’s a preview, of wild asters, in three stages.
Vivid (the actual salto, or waterfall in the background)
Fading
Ready to be reborn (my favorite, brought to you by manual focus, thorns in my knee and a whole lot of patience).
WARNING: This hike is no longer easily accessed from this point. You now have to go to La Reina and pay a fee to get in. You may be able to talk your way in from the above point, but they now seem to require a “membership” to the stadium to let you in from this point. I will update where to get to this hike, or google for more info.
Very beautiful. One of my favorite moments in life is waking up and having a hot coffee after having camped for the night.
I love these photos.
Ooooh, so purdy. And I didn't even know that Los Dominicos stop was open already. That was fast.
Random excursions rock, and those are some damned gorgeous photos.
hey,
what hike is this? saltos de apoquindo? you have any info on it? I live in Stgo and also think wandering up mountains is a good use of time and one's close are always desirable. if you can be bothered, email me cmmullins1s@yahoo.com
cheers
I am such a sucker for colour – those red flowers in front of the waterfall are spectacular.
Beautiful shots Eileen!
Hey thanks, and in order:
Still life: yes, coffee is a must, though I was kind of missing my espresso. Had to be drip. Even I'm not that much of a prima donna. Forgot to ask you about the coffee situation in Bangkok. Very important!
Kyle: I know, I was so surprised! It is a very.long.way from each of the stops after Escuela Militar, and the train really picks up momentum. Like out of a horror movie.
Candice, it's a beautiful place, and I love that every time you go anywhere in Chile it's different, depending on what's blooming. Many options for thorns in knees and ad-hoc yoga poses. Fabulous!
Colin, yes, saltos de apoquindo. Take the metro and bus to San Carlos de Apoquindo, but from there you'd have to ask, because I am really bad at remembering directions. You can also get to El Naranjo and Provincia from there. Have done the former, not the latter. I will email you all the same.
Richard, I am looking forward to seeing the colours (as you'd say) from your recent trip. My walk in the woods is just that, a walk in the woods in comparison to your recent trip!
Margaret, thanks! It's all in the (non-moving) subjects' hands. Or petals, as the case may be.