Adventure-fest 2009 begins

It's not so much a culture shock as it is a population shock. This is a BIG city, so when McKenzie (she works for USAC) asked if I wanted to do a weekend adventure I was in. We wanted it to be removed, but not too far away for the first weekend adventure. The chosen location was Talca. We took the train (thinking of you on this one Drea) which rocked, and was cheap, about $18 us round trip, for 2.5 hours. (This is group #1 from left to right, Mac, Francis, and Kristal, I'm behind the camera, on the train.)

The whole ride, all I could think, was that the scenery was exactly the same as central california.you know, like below Sacramento and stuff. It was amazing the similarities. Mac (McKenzie) had gotten in contact with a young man by the name of Jorge, through her 'couch surfing' community.

This is Jorge Mac, and myself hitting up the buses of Talca.

Jorge made the trip to Talca worth while. With out him, it would have been like attempting to vacation in a place like Merced (no offense Danie Griffo, it's just not a typical tourist magnet)

This is how awesome Jorge is: He was appologetic that there wasn't enough room for us to stay at his house, so he used his saturday to go out and find us a reasonable hostel where we could all stay (all the gringos).

He met us at the train station, and took us to said hostel, which was only one and a half blocks from his house. He tollerated our north American antics, showing us around the down town area, and also in the grocery store.

I couldn't help when I saw this man out in front, I wonder how his sales are:


He took us to have 'Mote', which is a drink/food that consists of a glass filled with wheat, then 2 boiled peaches, then the sugary juice of those peaches poured on top.
It was delicious!!

Group #2 arrived, this is group #2 (all the boys that is, Francis is in the background, she was part of group #1):
From left to right: Jason (yellow shirt), Drew (blue shirt), Franklin (beard), Gill (furthest to the right).
After group #2, and the two kids that were staying with Jorge from Norway arrived, we went to get Jorge's favorite food... Completos. It was a 20 or so min bus ride to this place:
(and it's not raining or anything, that's just shit on my lens) This also the location where Jorge kicked me ass at a completo speed eating competition. There is video of this, but I haven't exactly figured out how to do that kind of stuff yet.
Thanks again Jorge!!

After completos, we went back, had some wine, and hit the beds. Big day Tomorrow.

The plan was 'Las Siete Tazas', translation means 'the 7 cups' it's a series of waterfalls up outside of Talca. It looked a lot closer on the map. At 9:00am we caught the first bus to Curico'. Then it was an hour to mess around, and we caught this bus for 2.5 hours to 'Las Siete Tazas'. (The one on the right)

This was my seat, and no the stain it left on my shorts did not come out, and no it wasn't fully bolted to the floor.

Often people have to stand on buses here, and often times there are bars for them to hold on to. The bars that can be seen in this next photo are not for that function.They were put there to hold up the roof. True story, they're not even bolted to the floor or roof, just sort of wedged in there.

It was all worth it though. The creek was beautiful, and the bottom pool opened up enough for us to do some swimming.
Gill, Cristal, and myself.



Drew, and myself enjoying the underwaterness of my bitchin' camera.

Gill enjoying the foodness that we brought down with us. I thought I was hot shit for bring avocados, tomatoes, and bread. Gill stepped it up with some wine and cheese, everything was shared, and we had a feast. And yes, that bag under his right arm is filled with Chilean wine.

This is the crew (minus me, I'm behind the camera)


After some water action, and a short hike back to the road, we caught a slightly nicer bus back to Curico. This is the nicer bus, notice they decided to carry the same roof stabilization techniques to another bus.

2.5 hours on a dusty bumpy chicken bus can only result in one thing...
Off Road Bus Surfing Competition, and yes it was VERY difficult.
In Curico we had enough time to buy some boxes of wine, and catch our bus back to Talca.



After showers we were invited to Jorge's house for a traditional dish from Talca, 'Chancho en Piedra'. Basically a tomato, garlic, and chile mixture that you dip home made bread in, it was delicious, thanks again Jorge, and your family for all the hospitality.

Jorge is in school to become a chef, and I believe it's an excelent choice, the food was amazing, even if we did our best to screw it up by helping,


It bed time after the good times at Jorge's house. The next morning it was to the train station, back to Santiago, and the happenings of the big city, and school.