We have a semi-fitful night at the Parador. It’s a little warm (no a/c) and sound carries here in the valley so I wake up a few times listening to people having a party somewhere out there in the vineyards. Ed wakes up a few times too because of the heat, but we both finally end up sleeping soundly for a few hours. The sun is high in the sky as we finally wake up for good. The alarm is set for 7:30 – and what do you know – but that darn Satellite alarm clock has somehow picked up a signal from an East Coast satellite and shows as being 5:05am. We’re thinking it’s really weird it’s so light at 5am – and then we figure it out. That stupid clock! Honestly! But thank heavens we wake up! we have to be at Montes Vineyard by 9:30 for our hike and we would have been so sad to miss it!
We shower and pack up our junk, then head into the little sitting area for breakfast. It’s a spread – with local strawberries from San Pedro – right down the road – and an awesome pound cake (yeah, diet, diet, diet…..), ham, cheese, plus real brewed coffee and eggs! Scrambled! But they’re not scrambled like we know – they are almost soft boiled, then crushed up in a frying pan – served in this teeny little cup with a teeny little spoon. Oh my gosh – so good! Plus Chilean English Muffins – so I guess they’d be Chilean Muffins. Even better. A great way to start our day and prepare us for our big hike in the vineyards.
We check out and hit the road – the tire is holding it’s air – yay! – and we head off through the valley and all the orchards and vines to Montes in the middle of the Colchagua valley. We tell the guard at the huge wrought iron gates we are here for the “trek” and he shows us where to go. We park at the Visitor’s Center, this fabulous stone and wooden structure with “cement” ponds surrounding a wooden walkway to the mammoth wooden front door.
We wait in the lobby for a while and finally someone comes to greet us. There is another couple there waiting as well. The guide tells us that there is a little problem and their normal guide couldn’t make it today – so we can go now to a short nature walk in the hills – or wait 45 minutes and do the hike to the top of the mountain – which is what we all signed up to do. We’re flexible – we’ve got time (we’re flying out at 10 pm, so 45 minutes isn’t going to affect us one way or another), but the other couple has to be out of their hotel at 12 noon and they don’t have time to wait. They are getting pretty hot under the collar about it – and don’t want to wait – but don’t want to do the “short” walk either.
Finally we all decide to just go and do whatever so we don’t have to wait around. Our guide, who I will call Felipe, because I can’t remember his name, escorts us out the door, and then into a little open air truck. We start cruising thr0ugh the vineyard while he gives us a little background on the grapes. This vineyard only grows red grapes – the white grapes are at another property nearer to the coast. They are planting new areas with Malbec, the grape Argentina has made their top seller, and have a variety of cabernet sauvignon and carmenere as well. There are rose bushes planted at the end of some of the vine rows – and we learn that this used to be done to detect disease, because the pestilence would attack the roses first, but now it is done only for decorative and tradition purposes.
As Felipe is telling us thing, we are climbing higher and higher in the vineyard. There are times when I think the truck isn’t going to make it up the hills – or we’ll fall out of the back. It’s arduous and we finally stop at a crossroads in the vineyards and pile out of the truck bed. We start up the trail – and it becomes quite apparent that Felipe is taking us on the “hard” trek up the mountain. And he’s booking it up that trail too! No rest for the weary here – you want the top of the hill, you’re getting the top of the hill buddy! So, up we go. It was hard, and tiring, but so worth the climb. The views were fantastic – the vineyards stretching out below us, the hills rising gently in the foreground with the Andes and their snow peaked caps towering over everything in the background. Fabulous!
On the way down, we run into a tarantula. Lovely! It’s big too – and hairy – and well – you all know my track record with spiders – so I am not a happy camper. Ed keeps saying look, look, and I'm saying get out of my way, I’m running! Ack! We escape that little drama and head back down the trail to our little truck waiting to take us back for the winery tour and tasting.
As it turns out, our hiking partners don’t have time (nor the desire) for the tasting, so after we get the nickel tour of the steel and oak barrels and the testing room, they head back to their hotel to check out. That leaves Felipe and us all by ourselves for the wine and cheese. Works for us! We spent a delightful hour talking about wine, about life in the valley – he’s lived here all his life, in his parent’s house, his wife works for another vineyard right up the road – and tons of other topics, including (of course) world and US politics. The wine is excellent – and we can get it here at Total Wine, btw, Montes Cab. – and I’m even learning to like reds after all this!
Finally we bid adieu (or I should say Ciao!) to Felipe and the Montes vineyard and turn our little car toward Santiago. It’s 1pm and we’ve got tons of time, but we’d rather be in Santiago and close to the airport with time to kill than on the roads trying to figure out where we are going.
As it turns out, that was quite the prophesy. The drive to Santiago was uneventful until we got into the city. It starts out on gorgeous country roads and ends up on big highways – complete with bizarre trucks hauling everything you can imagine – as you can see here with the onions just stacked on a flat bed!
But, remember the cruddy maps, the instructions from the rental car guy telling us there are tons of signs for the airport, and finally Google Maps letting us down for the very first time. It is totally confusing in Santiago with the roads – Google gives you completely wrong directions, which, when followed, screwed us up in a bad way. After getting lost on the highways for about 45 minutes, we finally think we are going in the right direction, but again – who’s to know? There are no signs, the map stinks, and we’re getting a little frustrated. ‘
We finally pull off onto the “local” road and search for some business or gas station where we can ask directions. After a couple of misses, we finally find a gas station where we can fill up and get info. But, alas, there is no electricity, what luck!, so no gas, but I get out to ask directions. Habla Ingles? No, never Ingles is what the attendant tells me – with a big smile. So, I go into “gotta figure it out” mode. My “donde esta el aeroporto internacional?” brings a map – written on a wooden board there at the pumps. I quickly get my paper and the sweet little gas station guy draws a map and even pantomimes driving a car around an exit ramp to the road we need. He’s fantastic – and off we go.
In actuality – we’re only about 10 Km from the stupid airport, but you’d never know it! There is one measly little sign at the exit and then we still have to guess, because the signs all but disappear until we turn off onto the actual airport road. Phew! What a mess.
Well, at least we’re here. Now to find the rental car agency. They don’t have a booth or return section on property, so we are supposed to pull into regular parking next to the ramp for departures and our guy will be there to meet us and pick up the car. Well, we cruise around the lot a couple of times and see no one. We ask – and everyone directs us to the rental car return area – but we know for certain that isn’t right. We park and walk over to the long term lot – and still – no car rental guy. Finally, we break down and call – and well – we’re too early! They had us down for an 8pm return and it’s only 5pm – so no one is there to meet us! Sheesh! So, we take the keys and parking ticket to the Budget counter and they keep it for us until the car guys show up.
The sum of all this mess is that we did waste a couple of hours and now only have 5 hours before our flight leaves for home!
We spend the next 5 hours eating at a restaurant in the airport (great wraps and chips!), sneaking beer of our plastic bag stash and pouring it over ice cubes, sitting in the waiting hall and drinking the rest of our soda, wine and beer before going through security, then having a last drink and spending our last Pesos at the “Last Pisco Sour”.
Finally, they call our flight. We go through the extra security – hand searching our bags, no liquids whatsoever allowed in carryon – and crawl into our seats ready to take off for our overnight flight home. All in all, a fantastic trip – one we’d do all over again if we could!
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