Struan and Anna in Chile: Pomaire and more Cajon del Maipo

A couple of weekends ago we took a trip back out to Cajon del Maipo, and to a famous village just outside of Santiago, called Pomaire.

We had a bit of a hike up the Cajon, accompanied by a pack of local dogs, under a blue blue sky, so here's a few photos.

one of the pack, with a huge tongue

The next photo was supposed to be Anna with the pack of dogs. We decided to try to get them to go along with Anna, and then for Struan to take a photo. Anna walked along the path and none of the dogs moved - they all just looked expectantly at Struan!

Only this photo was possible, due to the unwavering loyalty of the canine pack to the male ape:

Akela

On to Pomaire... Pomaire is a village about an hour's bus ride out of Santiago. It was one of the first pueblos de indios, a settlement specifically reserved for indigenous people. The village has long had a reputation for pottery, and now is also known as the place for restaurants serving excellent Chilean Comida Tipica. So far so guidebook, in fact, apart from a couple of shops selling traditional clothes (ponchos etc) and one or two selling organic food like local cheeses, Pomaire is entirely given over to pottery shops and restaurants (and the houses for the locals), and is probably the most touristy place we've been in Chile.

There are no direct buses to Pomaire, you have to be dropped off at the side of one of the largest motorways heading out of Santiago. We rather wish we had some photos of this, but we were so freaked out that we didn't think about it at the time (and even more freaked out on the way back). Eventually we worked out where we needed to go to catch a colectivo (shared taxi) into the village. We were waiting by the side of the road with a middle-aged Chilean couple, and the first colectivo that arrived had three spaces. We waved the Chileans on, but they tried to insist we get in with them - the man's wife saying to Anna: "my husband will be pleased for you to sit on his knee". We waited for the next one.

a shopping mall, Pomaire style

Chicken and chick, and bike

Pomaire's restaurants are indeed excellent (if you like large chunks of flame grilled meat), though you have to fight through a horde of touts who talk/shout at you while you're trying to read the menu or make a decision. The guy in the hat got us, eventually by dragging us inside to the grill and giving us each a piece of pork to try:

Anna finally had bif a lo pobre - a huge flame grilled beef steak with chips, sauteed onions and a fried egg on top! Sometimes it can be a little greasy as they often tip the oil from the pan onto the plate along with the egg (possibly intentionally) but this was perfect.

Struan with massive rack of pork ribs and potato mayonnaise!

Pomaire is also famous for giant empanadas, we couldn't fit one in, but here's some pictures of how good they look:

The round things in the left of the picture above are large round breads called tortillas. As far as we're concerned tortillas are either the round wraps that mexican fajitas come in, or the potato and egg spanish omelettes. It seems actually that anything large, flat, round and edible can be called a tortilla. These ones came in two varieties, with something whose name we didn't recognise, and without it. We went for without, then checked the word when we got back to Santiago - turns out it was pork rind so probably best not. Imagine pork scratchings inside a loaf of heavy bread, if you can.

A few more pics wandering around Pomaire, to finish with: