2012-12-24

【Aiden in English】

        As I learned along the way, Chile is nicknamed "the Shoestring Country" for good reason; 24 times longer than its average width and in no place wider than 150 miles/241 kilometers, it stretches nearly 2,700 miles/4,345 kilometers, a span of latitude that encompasses parched deserts, fertile coastal plains, dense rainforests, and, finally, continental ice caps, fiords, and glaciers.

        German colonists settled Puerto Montt in the mid-19th century, a city of the gateway to the Lake District in the central southwest where Chile's narrow coastal plain sinks into the Pacific and the ice-carved wet slopes of the Andes form the islands and fiords and Archipelagic Chile, a remote region of appalling weather that stretches southward 1,000 miles/1,609 kilometers to Cape Horn.  

        Our morning was a mess in Puerto Montt! We woke up and wolfed down snacks to catch the tenders or shuttle boats that took us from our cruise to the shore. The seaport was too small to have a prominent cruise line like Princess docked. Star Princess floated amid the Pacific Ocean close to the bay. Here, we ran into Infinity Celebrity again.

        Once we landed at the port authority, we tried to find a tour guide who spoke English instead of Spanish, a local and national language. After interviewing one another for quite a long time, we decided to select a suitable young gentleman who had visited Florida, USA, twice during the past decade and did NOT have a break on Christmas Eve.

        We headed for Vincente Perez Rosales National Park and stopped to see a fantastic sight over Lake Llanquihue, the second-largest lake in Chile! I thought that the sea would be a more suitable name. It resembled pretty much mountainous Switzerland. No wonder "Chilean Switzerland" was given out to this part of Chile.  

        Unlike the last year, there was too much rain during Christmas and the holiday season. When we were trotting to Petrohue Waterfalls in Vincente Perez Rosales National Park, to my disappointment, it started to drizzle. As we approached the falls, the rain became much heavier. We soon realized the water spray crushing against the hard, black rocks and basaltic lava boulders splashing back to every place it could reach. The falls seemed like chutes and rapids running through the Petrohue River. Every once in a while, the water would surge up to the banks and retreat. The roads were the worst. They were so muddy and slippery that I could have thought I had been walking in bubble gum without attention. By the time we returned, we were undoubtedly dripping water from head to toe.

        Next, we climbed up to the Osorno Volcano, standing 8,700 feet/2,652 meters tall over Temperate Rainforests in the Austral Andes. Because of the iconic snow-capped landmarks, it qualified as the "Mount Fuji in South America." Back in 2007, UNESCO declared this area a Biosphere Reserve. I had never been so high up before, excluding the airplane! My ears popped from the pressure upon the elevation. At La Burbuja Ski Resort, the wind was blowing so hard, even for the Osorno Volcano, that it made our blizzards at home feel like a breeze. If I let go of my mom, I probably would end up in a tree elsewhere.  

        At the foot of the Osorno Volcano, we visited Fundo Olguita, a traditional Chilean ranch with sheep-like Llamas (Ya•ma•s) by the lakeside. These animals sometimes really annoyed me because they spit grass.  

        An abandoned Teutonic church of Iglesia Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (Sacred Heart of Jesus Church) located in Puerto Varas, the biggest town on Lake Llanquihue. After reading the sign, I gaped open my mouth at the wooden structure to the maximum height possible without metal supports. The Catholic priest used the church as a to-scale replica of a church in the Black Forest in Germany about 130 years ago. But then a fire burned it down and was rebuilt in 1912. It was one of the oldest churches in Chile!  

        At last, we drove back to the cruise ship and said farewell to the guide, who always had time for a smile, like the other friendliest Chileans.

【红霞译】

        我临时抱佛脚，行途上恶补旅游常识，智利长得像“鞋带”一样，堪称世界上地形最狭长的国家，其长度是宽度的24倍，最宽处不过150英里／241公里；整个国家幅员辽阔，南北纵跨2,700英里／4,345公里，沙漠荒地干涸少雨，海岸平原肥沃湿润，热带雨林浓密繁茂，高山苔原寒冷萧疏，峡湾冰川终年积雪。

        十九世纪由德国人创建的蒙特(智利第五任总统)山港位于智利中部西南，是一座通往著名旅游度假胜地“湖大区”的前哨城市，狭窄富饶的沿海平原由此深入太平洋，冰雪覆盖的安第斯山脉从背后穿过，东连内陆南接岛屿，跟1,000英里／1,609公里天涯以外的合恩角遥相呼应，这里德国文化根深蒂固，德国后裔、德国村落、德国饮食、德国建筑、德国风情……“日尔曼”无处不在。

        初到山港，我们手忙脚乱！一大早，我们随便吃些零食垫一下肚子，匆匆赶去乘坐区间快艇，准备上岸游览当地风光。山港码头很小，像“公主•星辰” 号这样大型游轮根本无法自由停泊，因此我们只能定位在海湾附近，改乘游轮自备的小船辗转登陆。不独有偶，“精致•无极”号游轮也在不远处水域与我们再度相逢。

        对我们来说登陆后当务之急便是雇用导游，智利的官方语言是西班牙语，英语并不普及，想在山港随意找到会说英语的朋友好比大海捞针，好在我们运气不错，几经询问终于巧遇一位过去十年里曾经两度来访美国佛罗里达州的年轻小伙，他宁愿放弃圣诞前夜休息时间跑出来挣点外快，我们很快一拍即合。

        在去智利旅行家国家公园的路上，我们顺道游览了沉湖，这是智利第二大湖！我觉得称它为“海”更恰如其分，沉湖被安第斯山脉环绕，犹如阿尔卑斯山拥抱瑞士，所以该地区常被视作“智利的瑞士”。

        与以往不同，今夏圣诞节期间山港地区经常阴雨连绵，我们出发的时候天已经开始下起毛毛雨，等抵达智利旅行家国家公园内的溜槽瀑布雨下得越来越大，豆大的雨点劈里啪啦打在岩石上溅起了无数水珠，水珠再混同瀑布下落时产生的雾气向四面八方弥散，实际上溜槽河与沉湖之间由高贵火山切割后形成的溜槽瀑布落差很小，水道两旁山势陡峻河床狭窄，因此水流湍急如同万马奔腾，过往瀑布的人行通道泥泞，步履其上好比不小心踩到了又黏又滑的泡泡糖。总之，我们观赏归来，个个被淋成落汤鸡。

        高贵火山高约8,700英尺／2,652米，巍然挺拔于安第斯山以南大片温热带雨林之上，整个山顶被冰川覆盖，外形极似日本富士山，因此又享有美洲富士山的美誉，早在2007年这里就被联合国教科文组织列为世界生物保护区。我以前从来没有登过这样的高度(当然乘飞机除外)，耳膜承受不住气压变化老是外翻，站在气泡滑雪度假胜地，风力大的足以叫高贵火山发抖，在宾州我们住的地方绝对算得上风暴级别，可在这里好似阵阵微风不足挂齿，要不是当时紧紧抓住妈妈，我现在不定会倒挂在哪棵大树上。

        绕回高贵火山脚下，我们专门拜访了沉湖边智利传统农场──圣洁庄园，并见到长得像绵羊模样的美洲驼，这些动物有时令我不爽，草地上满处都是它们的粪便。

        位于沉湖边另外一座名叫玫瑰港的城市，其耶稣圣心教会为德国式天主教堂，目前虽已失修，但内部结构别有特色，令我赞叹不已。整个建筑没用任何金属材料作支撑，全部因地制宜就地取材，按比例模仿130年前德国黑森林一座教堂建筑而成，不幸的是该教堂因失火而被烧毁，眼前这所则是1912年在原址的基础上重新复制的。

        到此为止我们结束了全部行程，终于告别这位面带微笑热情好客的当地导游。

Christmas Eve in History(历史上的平安夜):

2009: 新西兰首都惠灵顿(Capital Wellington, NZ)

Star Princess @ Puerto Montt

(山港—公主•星辰号游轮)

Infinity Celebrity (精致•无极号游轮)

Lake Llanquihue (沉河)

Salmon Farm (鲑鱼养殖场)

Austral Andes (南安第斯山脉)

Fujiyama of South America (南美洲的富士山)

Hardened Lava, Tephra, Pumice & Ash

(硬化的熔岩、火山喷发碎屑、浮岩和火山灰)

Petrohue River & Osorno Volcano (溜槽河与高贵火山)

Petrohue Falls (溜槽瀑布 12-24-2012)

Vicente Perez Rosales National Park

(智利旅行家国家公园 12-24-2012)

Hiking Trail @ Vicente Perez Rosales National Park

(智利旅行家国家公园—登山步道)

La Burbuja Ski Resort (气泡滑雪度假村 12-24-2012)

Lake Llanquihue Overlooked from La Burbuja Ski Resort 

(从气泡滑雪度假村鸟瞰沉河 12-24-2012)

Clapboard & Shingle Houses (板房与瓦房)

Fundo Olguita (圣洁庄园 12-24-2012)

BBQ Grill @ Fundo Olguita (圣洁庄园·烧烤炉 12-24-2012)

Tour Guide & Llamas (导游与大羊驼 12-24-2012)

Puerto Varas, Bavaria in Chile, by Lake Llanquihue

(沉河边玫瑰港市·智利的巴伐利亚 12-24-2012)

Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Puerto Varas

(玫瑰港市·耶稣圣心教会)

Teutonic Memorial @ Sacred Heart of Jesus Church

(耶稣圣心教会·条顿纪念碑 12-24-2012)

Christmas Carols @ Star Princess

(公主•星辰号游轮—圣诞礼赞)

Christmas Eve @ Star Princess

(公主•星辰号游轮—平安夜 12-24-2012)

Push (搓球 12-24-2013)

Mandarin Chicken (陈皮鸡)

Marinated Lamb Steak (腌羊排)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Chile(出游智利)

South America(漂流南美洲)

小学四年级(4th Grade)