Ancud, Chiloé: Lock up your daughters!

The last whistle stop on our Intro to Chile tour was Ancud on the northern side of Chiloé.

In a place known for its rainy weather, we were happy to get partly cloudy with stretches of sun. We wandered through town and along the water, stopping in random museums here and there. Chiloé is known for its prevalent mythology, featuring such characters as the Trauco, an ugly little forest imp with a hatchet, no feet and a sexual magnetism so powerful that no females can resist it. Is your unplanned pregnancy raising awkward questions? Blame the Trauco!

Oh myyy-- somebody hold her back!

There he is again! Resistance...slipping...

The male version of bruja (witch) is brujo. I really wish it were "broja." Ya know, because he's a bro.

A wicker broja in flight.

Other random museums included the info center for all the wooden churches, complete with a very detailed model of each, and a few random windows, doors and other parts that fell off original structures over the years.

What church is complete without a...wagon wheel?

Speaking of parts, here are some blue whale parts from a different museum. Big ones.

At last, it was time for dinner. We had big plans for eating, and I do mean big. Chiloé is also famous for a dish called curanto. There are mussels, clams, two kinds of potato dumplings, more potatoes, pork, chicken, and sausage, as well as some kind of herbs. Traditionally, you dig a hole, throw in some hot rocks and all the ingredients, and cover it up for a few hours. Once it's cooked, you serve it in a big pile with a side of salsa.

So. Much. Food.

Cultural sidenote: when we showed up at the restaurant at about 6:45 p.m., we were the only ones there for almost the entire meal. Not because the restaurant was unpopular, but because 6:45 is so very early by Chilean standards. We were basically eating at 4:30 like senior citizens catching the blue plate special.

After that gut bomb? I...doubt it.

A bottle of wine on the porch of our hostel wrapped up the visit nicely. It was an odd feeling, knowing that the vacation was ending but "real life" was not resuming. There are places that exist between holiday and life as usual, and we would be exploring those places for the next 3.5 months. We were staying in Chile for a while. Salud!