la derrota de la montana por molly! (molly´s deafeat of the mountain!)

actually it wasn´t really a mountain, but several smaller mountains in Parque Nacional Huerquhue. We hiked for 7 or 8 hours one day and 6 the next, uphill and down, and it was one of the hardest things i´ve done. But so worth it.
We passed through forests so dense that the air was cold and no sunlight could penetrate the canopy. We Passed through glens and maedows full of orange lillies and ancient fallen trees. We passed through groves of alien trees that date back to the time of Christ. We passed through the arid wilderness high on the side of the mountain. We passed though valleys and green mountain lakes, shady footbridges and more.
When we did finally arrive at the campsite at dusk, it was alomost abandoned save the European couple accross the way. no outpost. no ranger. no nothing. so we set up camp and decided to look for the rumored refugio(hostel) to see if we could get a horseride back in the morning and give our aching bodies a rest. so we set off in the direction that the side pointed, but as we wandered on the poorly marked trail and the sky got darker, we started to worry. we finally stumbled on some sheep in a pen and saw the warmly lit house on the other side. upon entering the lush and flowering garden, we learned through mumbled Spanish from the old lady who lived there that the refugio doesnt exist. it´s just her living out there, selling homemade jam and bread and offering lodging to the occasional traveller. So we set off back into the dark woods with a single headlamp to illegally cook out hot dogs and stargaze a little before crawling into out tiny tent. the hike back the next morning wasn´t as bad but by the time we reached Pucon, I´m not sure i´ve ever been so exhausted. we secured a room at a hostel and went back to hang out at Backpackers, out hostel from earlier in the week. We were soon invited out to dinner with Gustavo, out dear friend from Uruguay who works at the hostel in the midst of his year of travel around all of South America, as well as his boss Claudio, the jefe of the hostel and a few other other friends. We had mentioned how hungry we were after camping with only bread and jam and a little fruit and one hot dog a day and how we really just wanted some meat. And meat we got! Claudio ordered for the whole table, and two potable bar-b-que pits full of meat from every kind of animal were placed in front of us. It was delicious. I dont really even like meat that much, especially not steak, but that was the best steak ever. Claudio also ordered wine and pisco sours for the whole table, of which I had only a little. later that night, i stayed in and chatted with Gustavo until really late and waited up to Catie who had gone out to a discoteca with some friends. out plan was to leave the next day, but we decided it was better to rest and spend a day planning and figure out where we were going. which we only kindof did...
so yesterday we got up, went to the bus station to find the bus we needed was full. so we bought tickets to temuco and then to puerto varas from there, but then we missed the bus in temuco even though we were sitting right in front of it...so we paid another 6000 pesos and rode the bus for 6 hours and were dropped off on the side of the highway and told to wait in the dark at 9:30 pm for a bus to puerto varas. which we did. we sat at the shady bus stop for 20 minutes or so, and nothing came by. all the buses were on the highway and not on the feeder road where we were waiting. and then, of course, cam the rain. yes, it started pouring...we decided it would be better to ask the guys at the shell stationa ccross the highway what we were supposed to be doing. so we crossed the pedestrain bridge, put on our pitiful faces and were told that one must stand by the highway and flag a bus down. so we returned to the othe side and lived out our mothers´worth nightmares, standing on the side of a highway in the dark, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, in a foreign country. we laughed so hard...finally we were able to catch a bus which dropped us off close to our hostel. we got a greasy dinner of various empenadas and papas fritas and ice cream from street stall and got in bed to rest our weary and rain soaked heads.
now i´m sitting in an internet cafe listening to indian music(yeah, weird) and trying to figure out what we are going to do in this tourist town for old people and rich families. it reminds me a lot of Victoria, British Colombia, but with Spanish and slightly more shady. Although, i will say that all the roses are in bloom...
tomorrow we may take a day trip to Frutillar, an adorable little German town(very common in this part of Chile, surprisingly enough) and soon we´ll head down to Chiloé for the remainder of February.
so keep praying for safety, that our blisters will heal, encouraged spirits and some direction as to what we are doing here!

things i´ve learned
* a meduim level hiking trail in Chile is not the same as our perception of meduim.
* never believe them when they say there is a hostel anywhere. always wait until you get there and see for yourself.
* it´s amazing what you can make your body can do with a little prayer
* don´t fall asleep while waiting for the bus, or you´ll have to stand
* Gustavo is always right
* anytime, you can go out with Claudio, do it. You´ll get a lot of meat and drinks for free!!!
* listen to the announcements in the bus station. they might be paging you so yu don´t miss your bus...
* no busses ever say their going to Puerto Varas. There´s life a secret code of busses that you have to know in order to get here.

hasta luego, mis amores! ¡ciao!