Writings By Date| Driving in Chile's Lakes Region | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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| Attack of the Tavanos |
Entre Lagos itself was unremarkable, except for the charm of its lakefront area. The town is appropriately named, being positioned between Lago Puyehue and from Lago Rupanco. As we approached the town, we were met with a yellow sign advertising a pub on the lakefront on every third telephone pole. Curiosity getting the better of us, we followed the signs, and after 50 or so scavenger-hunt-like turns, we ended up at a quiet and virtually empty pub. Erin inadvertently ordered some kind of orange-flavored beer-like drink in a can, but was not brave enough to try it (not that I could fault her for that). Scarier than that, though, was looking through the bathroom window and seeing a bulbous, shirtless man roasting some kind of animal on a spit. I stared for a full minute, and in the end still had no clue what the animal was, although I did notice later there weren't as many stray dogs in this town....
After another good salmon dinner, we rounded the corner to a cute-looking hospedaje, which was really someone's home. We got a room for less than US$20, but since it was still early and we lacked the energy to drive anymore, we walked over to the park along the lakefront. We sat on the grass, reading in the waning rays of the sun, while listening to some band set up on a sound stage and trying not to go insane from the millions of tiny biting gnats and the loud creaking of the rusty swing set.
When it started getting chilly, we returned to our room to read some more, and as it got dark around 10pm, we were roused by the marching-band sounds of what might have been a mini-parade. Then, an hour later, just as we were getting ready to sleep, we were rattled awake by fifteen minutes of teeth-chattering explosive fireworks. Dogs continued barking well into the night. We never did figure out what the fireworks were for, but then "It's Friday" is usually more than enough of an excuse to blow things up in Latin America.
And they said this was a quiet town!
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