Road Trip Down South - Santiago and Tumunan Lodge

We headed out on late Friday morning with the destination for the evening, Tumunan Lodge, a rather remote place southeast of Santiago that we had stayed at before.  Along the way, we stopped in Santiago.  We were all excited to get a rare clear day in Santiago (there is usually hazy smog) so that the snow capped high Andes were easily visible.

A very rare glimpse of the high Andes near Santiago - usually the smog is too bad to see these mountains

We visited Los Dominicos, a craft village in Santiago.  This unique place is historic with an old adobe church (San Vincente Ferrer, closed when we visited) and well over 100 small artisan and artist areas in each small adobe house.  The village is set around small courtyards and is very peaceful.  The stuff for sale is mostly high quality (and not cheap) and it is irresistible, at least to me.  I purchased in abundance stopped only by the difficulty of getting stuff back to the U.S.  Another highpoint of the area is that it is a cat haven.  Shop owners feed the many cats who live in the complex - they seem to be happy, lazy and relaxed (the cats, that is).  It is rare to see a cat haven in Chile as the Chileans seem much more oriented towards their numerous (and nice) dogs.  Randy and Arin felt hunger pains and ate Completos (the loaded hot dogs)  in one of the courtyards while Ash and I shared some tasty empanadas.

The pretty church at Los Dominicos, sadly closed when we visited

The bloodied statue of Jesus just inside the entrance

Ash and Arin look forward to a little shopping

One of the many happy cats that live in this idyllic place

One of the shop proprietors wrapping Alice's purchases

Another happy cat rests in a quiet corner of the large craft/art complex

A typical scene of the place - small walkways sided by interesting and varied shops

A light lunch in the courtyard of Los Dominicos

Well, not so light for Arin as he finished off two completos

Randy was satisfied with one and an Escudo beer

Two happy cats on a shop roof

Another view of the cat on the roof

The shop proprietor was feeding these cats (about six of them) while I was there - he was very caring and it all reminded me of the cat whisperer at Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey), Tore Fougner, and the Bilcat organization

Alas, it was time to press on and we took the freeway south of Santiago as far as the large town of San Fernando.  We headed east on a small paved road on the way to Tumunan Lodge.  After about 15 miles the road becomes a decent gravel road for another 10 miles.  We thought we were lost near the place (even though we had been there before) but we pressed on and got there around 6:30 PM.  Will, the friendly English owner (with his Chilean wife, Carolina) met us and helped to our rooms.  This lodge has four rooms for rent and is designed for getting back to nature and relaxing.  The rooms are comfortable though far from luxuriousness and there is a nice living/dining area and a small bar.  We had ordered dinner that night (the nearest restaurant is quite a drive away) and spent the pre-dinner hour in the hot tub (except for Arin).  The hot tub is the glory of Tumunan Lodge.  It is wood fired (and actually all wooden) and has wonderful views of the heavens, especially enticing at night.

The exterior of Tumunan Lodge with its nice outdoor spaces

An evening view of the welcoming main living area - lounge and dining room combined with small bar off to the right

Arin and Ash in their bedroom for the night

The best part - the wood fired and all wood hot tub under the stars and sky

Some of the garden plants

Relaxing before dinner

Randy enjoys his pisco sour

Also staying at the lodge were an older and stranger (if I can say so) American couple from Florida who had recently retired there from the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Don and Katy were chatty enough but in an odd way - they were in Chile to go on an extended cruise leaving from Valparaiso the following week.  Pescatarians and non-drinkers, they were into nature, exercise and reading.  We had a nice gazpacho, pork with potatoes and spinach and a pretty desert along with two great Chilean wines - a sparkling white and a terrific local red blend.  Thus fortified we all returned to the hot tub (this time, Arin partook) and watched the stars.   Randy and I left the guys to it and headed to bed (too much wine and hot tubbing for me).  The guys partied it up until the wee hours in the bar with Will and a young Norwegian couple who were traveling / semi-working around the South America (and the world).  By the bar bill the next day, Will's bar stock of gin and tonics, beer and more must have been pretty exhausted.

The dining room (set for breakfast actually)

Dinner time

The gazpacho with tomatoes from the Tumunan Lodge garden

Proprietor Will shows off the sparkling wine we choose to start with

A close up of the label

The really excellent red we drank from a nearby boutique winery

The pretty and creamy dessert

Needless to say, Arin and Ash were not exactly springing out of bed the next morning but did rouse themselves for Carolina's tasty breakfast of eggs, breads, yogurt, cereal, fruit, etc.  They dragged a bit (especially Ash) but we got loaded up by 10:30 AM to head out for the second leg of our trip.

Morning at Tumunan Lodge

Arin makes friend with the huge and affectionate Saint Bernard - there was another friendly dog too which was smaller (well, all dogs would be smaller than this gentle giant)

Tumunan Lodge is not so easy to get to and is pricy but the unique ambiance and the hot tub experience are worth it.  We only wished we would have had longer to enjoy it - hiking around is a delight and there are horses too for riding.  Next time...

At dinner - glad to be back for a too short visit to this unique place