Our
plan was to depart from Salto de Laja and travel generally north
and then east to Termas de Chllan, AKA Nevados de
Chillan. Nevados is the "Aspen" of Chile so
we had high hopes for dramatic scenery and nice
accommodations. To be honest, the place that we stayed at
Salto was quite basic, but the view of the waterfall from our
deck was both dramatic and unexpected. Plus, despite the
fact that the restaurant was "rustic", the food was
excellent. So, another score for Kathleen! Since
Salto is right on the main highway (AKA Ruta 5) we hopped on the
freeway and headed north. Several boring hours and a few
toll booths later, we left the main highway and headed southeast
back into the narrow canyons of the western Andes. Given that it was
Christmas Day, we were surprised that there was so much traffic
on the roads. And soon, we would be given our very special
surprise Christmas present.
The photos below are what we saw.
A
parting shot of Salto de Laja. As we left the hotel
grounds and got on the local streets, the area was packed with
families heading to the waterfall park. The street was
chaos with paid flaggers (something similar to the old-time
carnival barkers) attempting to divert drivers into their
company's parking areas rather than the competition's.
Happily, the chaos was basically localized to the area around
the waterfall. Once we actually got onto Ruta 5, things
were normal.
Across
the street from the parking lot was a stunning waterfall.
Note the electric cables at the left of the stream in the photo
above.
Further
up the road we got our first unobstructed view of the upper
peaks of Nevados de Chillan.
The
low-side of the stream, however, had a huge, steep drop-off as
the stream continued into the rugged canyon below.
Looking
back at the bridge, we saw an ominous sign for evacuation in
case of volcanic eruption. Like other ski areas in Chile,
this Nevados de Chillan was on the flanks of an active volcano.
We were
nearing the end of the road and got a nice view of the crest of
the mountains. There was some confusion as to the exact
location of our hotel. We drove to the base of the ski
area and were confronted with a locked gate. The area, it
seems, was closed for the summer. We concluded that our
hotel was not behind the gate and reversed course back down the
mountain to an entrance gate house that had the same name as our
reservation receipt which was made the night before on the web
using booking.com. The guard at the
gatehouse told us that the hotel was closed! I had told
Kathleen that I suspected that such a thing might happen, but at
this point we were not sure what to do. After several
minutes of confusion, the guard called the main facility on his
radio and he was told to let us in as the manager spoke good
English (much better than my Spanish). We drove to the
entrance portico, parked and the hotel manager met us and led us
inside and confirmed our fears.
The
lobby decor was awesome, some of the nicest that we have seen on
this trip - including the 5-star Awa.
As I was
contemplating an ugly recovery plan that involved a long drive
back down the canyon and an attempt to find a place open on
Christmas Day in an industrial city on Ruta 5, Carolina the
manager, seen at right with Kathleen in the photo above, decided
that the problem was in the hotel's interface with
booking.com. As such, she concluded it was "the hotel's
mistake" and she opened the facility for us. A huge place
with 150 rooms, for only us! I was stunned by
her good will as it would have been very easy to say
"sorry". I was prepared for "sorry" but not prepared for
what actually happened.
She gave
us a super nice room, led us upstairs and let us in. Above
is a view of the central atrium.
The
ceilings had artwork embedded with lighting behind.
The room
was beautiful.
The
bathroom was excellent.
I
stepped to the window and got a photo of the view outside.
Not a single person on the grounds!
After
dumping our stuff in the room, we went outside to explore.
Carolina turned on the hot tubs for us and later decided to join
us in a soak. Termas de Chillan is an
awesome place with super-nice grounds.
Carolina,
due to the closure situation, was also the cook, bartender and
front-desk staff. We made her life easy and declined
cocktails and chose a bottle of wine. We had skipped lunch
due to the length of the drive and she prepared lunch for
us. But, given that it was her first day on the job, she
did not know where the wine opener was, so I had to return to
our room and use my emergency opener that I keep in my
bag. It saved the day, and we proceeded to consume the
whole bottle with our meal.
A view
of part of the ski area next to the hotel. The hotel is
ski-in and ski-out. The approach path is visible in the
foreground of the photo above. Lift cables are visible at
the upper left. After the wine and a soak in the tub
Carolina and the security guys made us dinner. She ate
with us, since we were the only people there, and we told
stories until way past midnight. After another bottle of
wine, it was lights-out.
Other
guests started arriving the following morning. Due to the
volume of wine, we got a late start and were not very
motivated. Kathleen and I decided to explore the grounds
and walked over to the ski lifts to check it out. From the
lifts, we got a better view up the mountain. Sadly,
weather was coming so our line of sight was getting impaired.
From the
base area of the lifts, the fumeroles at the crest of the
mountain were visible: top center of the photo above.
Excuse the resolution, it is an iPhone.
I did
not bring my Sony camera, so this iPhone shot of the fumeroles
is the best I could do. Note the large number of dead
trees. These could be due to chemicals in the water
coming from the fumeroles or due to heat in the ground.
The
gardens at the hotel were in full bloom. Note the large
bumblebee in the center of the photo above.
We had
dinner in the dining room again as it was the only game in
town. This bottle of Carmenere was the best that we have
had so far on this trip.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2024, all rights
reserved.
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