Going up Cerro San Cristóbal on foot

I have been up to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal a couple of times. Having an enormous statue of Mary on top, it's practically impossible to miss. The park surrounding it is also one of, if not the largest green space in town, so it's nice for a walk, to say the least.

So anyway, the previous times I've been, come to think of it I've been up two times. The first go around was with Doug, we were both new in town, so of course you have to go and see the main tourist sights.

Here's a picture of me the first time round. Over the course of this year, walking up hills has been something I have gotten right into. Living just near the pathways to Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura meant there was no effort in actually getting to the start of the walks, which I think is the biggest discouragement.

Actually, I had a bigger discouragement midway through the year- spraining my ankle on our first day in Nepal. Of course the main activity in Nepal is hiking, and we still did get a bit of walking done, but of course, it caused plenty of discomfort.

The second time was with the family. It was their first day in town, so there was no doubt they were struck down by jetlag, so we just took the furnicular up and back. When I went up with Doug, we had walked across town to get to Bellavista, then took the furnicular up, and walked back down to pop out in Providencia.

The best place to go to head up the hill is in Bellavista. This suburb is an interesting mix of students, tourists, actors and hopeful actors as well as your every day Chileans, many of them heading to this area for the eclectic mix I already mentioned. So most people, they are probably only in town for a few days, they will just get in the furnicular and head up, say a few Ave Marias and get back in the little train, to go on their merry way.

Today I decided to walk. It is something I have been meaning to do the whole time we have been here, but that part I mentioned before, living close by has put me off. I have started my internship not too far away, and finished earlier than expected today. You could say the hill was calling my name. It wasn't really, that would have been creepy, it would be like the voice of the statue of Mary at the top of the hill.

I started my ascent and there were a reasonable amount of people on the road for a hot day when you catch a little train up the hill for about 1,000 pesos ($2). I wasn't concerned with company though, I just wanted to walk up and see the view. The benefit of walking up against the furnicular is that you wind your way around the hill, so you look down to the other side of Santiago, rather than over the central areas of the city.

I was surprised to find some way up the hill, at the zona picnic, a number of asados in full swing. Why I should have been surprised I'm not too sure, it seems Chileans are suckers for a barbie, probably even more so than Australians, and that's saying something. From there I went off road, onto the track that led towards the top. Once I reached the main area, rather than paying a visit to Mary, and saying a few rosaries, I took the road and headed back down the hill.

I'm sure many Chileans, being an extremely Catholic country have been making the journey up and back over the past month. This month is Mes de Maria- the month of Mary, which ends with a holiday (of course), this Thursday for the Immaculate Conception. I thought there were a lot of public holidays in Australia, but along with the BBQ, I think this may be something Chile does better too. Last month there was a holiday on a Tuesday. It was a celebration of All Saints Day. Of course no one would go to work on Monday, so that was declared a public holiday too. This holiday falls on Thursday, so many Chileans will consider Friday a holiday as well!

Anyhow, I decided to skip Mary for today. The idea of more uphill was not appealing to me, and the descent, which was quite easy when I went with Doug, sounded a whole lot more appealing. Of course I didn't just take the same easy path I took the previous time. In some sort of mix of well established tracks and tracks more suitable for goats. There are two options in this situation, getting to the end with no worries, or staring over a cliff and feeling lost. Unfortunately the latter signed time to turn back. The most unfortunate part was that my view was over the big pool at the Sheraton, where of course people were probably drinking cocktails and having a nice time, not a worry in the world.

What I was really surprised to find though, was that there are people living in the bush. I'm not so sure they're meant to be there, but they have little tin shacks and had their washing hanging out to dry. There were a few dogs in these areas too. Having had a dog try to attack me earlier in the morning, I was very suspicious of these dogs, but it must have been too hot for them to bother to stir.

It wasn't too much longer and I popped out into open space. I've got to say that was a relief. When I found myself staring over the side of a cliff, I thought- I'm never going to get out of this hill. The normal way brings you out at Pedro de Valdivia, however I wasn't quite that far, so I walked a couple of blocks over into the city, and found a bus stop to take me home.

I ended up getting a microbus back. I was amazed at all the old ladies on the bus, who of course you are expected to give your seat up for...every single one took their position on the outside of their two seats, so nobody would sit next to them. It was a pretty empty bus, which made this act seem to defeat the purpose, but I really felt like just going up to each one of them over the course of the 15 minute journey and saying "oh hey, can I sit here".

I got home and Francisca really wanted to go and see New Order (more like Old Order...), they are playing here tonight, but considering that, particularly because I don't have a job or any money, and also because I'm not that much of a fan.

To conclude though, Cerro San Cristóbal offers a great view of the city. Depending on the smog situation, which of course can be quite bad, you can see for a long way. The easiest way is to catch the furnicular, however walking up to the top will give you a bit of extra exercise and a variety of views over the city.

A bit of a walk

We're into our last week in town in Canberra now, next Tuesday we will take the bus to Sydney, and it's not many more days and we will be bound for Chile. I decided to do some walking. Some time ago Jonathan and I somehow came up with this VM Challenge. The concept of VM came from the German word for World Cup or World Championship, weltmesiterschaft, which the Germans pronounce vee-emm. Our original challenge was to run up 5 mountains, going by bike between each one.

We never made it to any of those mountains running, but I decided the better idea would be to do the full challenge, walking. I told a couple of others about it and they were keen too, especially if the walking challenge was fuelled by beer. Of course, it never happened, but I had most of a day to kill, and didn't want to spend it standing in lines.

So the original plan was to go Mt Majura>Mt Ainslie>Black Mountain>Mt Painter>The Pinnacle. Some may argue that The Pinnacle is not a mountain, but none of them really are, and this run made the best case for not having to travel too far between destinations.

Anyhow, I had already walked around 10km before I started my "real" walking, which could explain why I didn't get to the end. I stopped in Weetangera for a pie, what a weird combination of shops they have there. No supermarket, but they have a publisher...righto.

From the shops I cut across the backstreets and made my way to The Pinnacle. Up a few steps, no worries, there we go. A fairly easy start. So as to not go through any private property, I took the loop track right back around to the main entrance and went on to Mt Painter. I had been up there once before, but it was a bit more of a climb coming from the bottom end. When you come from Cook, the parking area is already some way uphill. It wasn't too much effort to get up there, however the part that always had me wondering about this trip is where to go between Mt Painter and Black Mountain. I wasn't sure if it would be better to go through the suburb or Aranda, or to cut through the Aranda Bushland area.

I came down the mountain and decided to head for the bush. This turned out to be the right option, as soon enough I was on the Old Weetangera Road. This must have been one of the first roads heading further out of town. There is a little house just behind the stadium, which is called Weetangera Homestead. This old track, though it is now interrupted a few times by major roads, begins there.

In a previous expedition to Black Mountain I had come across that road, so I knew I was on the right trail. Heading up the Black Mountain trail was a lot more strenuous than my previous efforts, and with the sun on my back, I was definitely feeling the effects. I had to stop for a while and this photo shows a pretty accurate description of how I was feeling.

What a looker...

So at the top I contemplated whether I would pay the entrance fee to go in the Telstra Tower. I decided not too, and just sat on a chair and rested for quite some time. Heading back down I was reminded of what must have been the first time I walked up Black Mountain. Coming down, almost back to the road, there was a bloke with a t-shirt, and absolutely nothing underneath. That sure was a weird sight!

I had never been into the Botanical Gardens before, as most of the times I've taken the track has been outside of the garden hours, so I popped through the gate. The Gardens have the largest collection of Australian plants and trees in the world, but in Australia, are gum trees etc all that impressive? The rainforest section I was much more impressed by though, Canberra doesn't really have a climate that produces rainforests.

Whilst I should have carried on to the final two mountains, instead I headed in to the city for a beer stop. What my explorations showed though, is that the challenge is definitely achievable. I guess I won't have time this time around, but maybe some time in the future.