Pichi: Part 2

Pichi Part 2

Our first main excursion was the cinco caídas or the five waterfalls. We took a bus to a certain spot where they dropped us off. We hiked for about, well, I don’t really know how long. It was a while. We finally reached the bone-freezing water in which we had to climb up. Not really climb, but walk in an upward motion. But it was cold and the water was rushing the opposite way we were walking. I could go into the adventure up to the first waterfall and describe the battles and the troubles; and the times when people slipped and fell which made me chuckled inside, sometimes out loud; but I need to get to the good stuff. We reached the first waterfall, which was a powerful sight. This was the initiation. Everyone that was anyone jumped in the neck deep, lethal, hypothermia-threatening water and swim under the unwelcoming pounding where the fall met the creek. It was quite exciting. After this I was numb from head to toe so the water didn’t really effect me that much (Ha! Yeah right, but I really was numb… but still somehow cold.). That was the first waterfall. We then hiked higher up and reached the next two, which were next to each other. This was pretty insane. You had to be there though. I am not really going to try and explain it. It was like one of those things that was crazy when you thought about it after the matter, or for people at home thinking about it, but you had to get over the freezing, now-you-actually-will-get-hypothermia water, and do things you weren’t normally do like venture behind the waterfall, or jump in the deep water hole, or swim against the current to reach this really cool spot perfect for a picture. Because you would regret not doing it later. So that was our first excursion. It actually was a really cool and amazing experience.

A lot of things happened during the week that aren’t quite exciting enough for you for me to write about, but they were well needed things for me and the whole group. Like an afternoon to sit by the fire (because it was cold down there) and just read a book. Or to have a nice bed, or at least nicer than at the institute, where you weren’t sweating. AND… Breakfast was at 9:30!!! I slept till like 9!! It was very nice. I did two other big excursions. I went to San Martin, which is the town that we first arrived in before we went to the campground (its about an hour from the hotel) and the hike up the mountain, which was one of the most intense activities I have ever done. San Martin is a really neat place, I might actually move there one day. Its like a little village (but much nicer than just a village, there is some money in that place) that settles in a valley between the mts. So there is a wonderful view wherever you are. The weather is great, in the winter time it gets really really cold I’ve heard, well considering we were there in the summer and it was pretty chilly; and the mountains were snowcapped. But it had a really unique style to it, really mountainy but not like hillbilly bluegrass mountainy. And snowboarding is really popular. And there is a huge, gorgeous lake near it. And its just a pretty cool place. So that is a quick look at most of my week. Trust me, it was a pretty cool week, even compared to American vacations J. I will talke about my intense Mountain hike next.