Coyhaique to Villa Cerro Castillo

I departed Coyhaique and the awesome Kooch Hostel (Kooch is the name of the local indigenous gods) on a Saturday, and I had been given word that there was a festival in the next town, Villa Cerro Castillo. I determined to make the 100km trip in one day, and as it was entirely paved this proved to be no problem. For much of it, I was not very excited by the landscapes. That, and the long ascent up Paso Ingerio Ibanez, was making for an unexciting day. But the last twenty kilometers were astounding. Along with the two Chilean guys I caught up to, I entered this canyon that had cool rock features and colors on both sides of the road. I was beginning to be pleased.
And soon thereafter, the canyon opened up into an amazingly vast valley, and I could see Cerro Castillo and several other mountains. I was kind of blown away, because I hadn´t quite put together the ´cerro´(mountain) part of Villa Cerro Castillo, and wasn´t really expecting the rocky, glaciared brilliance that I was now so near. A long, twisting descent (Villa Cerro Castillo Bomb!) that made me long for a mini-bike, my yellow glasses and a helmet cam, brought me into the midst of the villa, where, true to the gossip, there was something of a festival going on.
In town, I bought myself a beer, watched some gambling game kind of like bocce, took some photos, and ended up making friends with some hoodlums from Coyhaique. I desregarded the ´Viva los Chargers´shirt one of them was wearing, and proceeded to drink red wine from a leather bag or bote, white wine from a melon, and visit the aunt of Robinson to drink mate in her ante-room. Eventually, I passed out in Robinson´s tent, and, as they were all ¨camping¨without any sleeping bags or other gear, Alvaro joined me after he partied for a few more hours. It was cute and awesome.