Lupin in Puerto Aisen

The road from Coihaique to Puerto Aisen is a magical event. Coihaique the capital of the region is situated in a pleasant valley near Rio Coihaique. The drive is a continual downward approach to reach Puerto Aisen. You start off by crossing over a small bridge that goes of the Rio Coihaique and then continue onward through a valley. As you go down in elevation the valley widens and a river is revealed. This is the Rio Aisen that we will follow all the way to the town and port. Along the sides of the roads blooms of yellow, white and purple flowers are fill our surroundings like a carpet. Then the bus slows down and we go over an unpaved part of the road. It lasts for a minute and we reach a tunnel. On the other side the valley opens up even further. We see hills on either side with little waterfalls and the river down below in the valley. Our jaws drop as we taken in the purple Lupin flowers that take over the banks of the river where one would expect to see grass.

It was such a fantastic trip and a beautiful sunny day. Once we got to town we learned of a free classical music concert (the local university symphony was touring local towns) that was being held in the church next to the town´s plaza. We walked 10 blocks until we found the spot and happily set our bags down in the church as we relaxed to an hour of a variety of classical music. They even played Vivaldi's four seasons. It was a niceaccompanimentt to thegorgeouss bus ride.