Twisty Roads and Twisted Ankles

Today, we decided to get out of Santiago and see what we could see. We decided to try for one of the ski resorts. Cue long explanation to the boys that we weren't *actually* going skiing, becasue it is spring, but just going to see it...

We headed out of town on the road to Farellones. We couldn't go very fast, becasue not only was the road very very very twisty, and practically vertical in places, it was FULL OF CYCLISTS. Hundreds of them!

Sorry - you can only barely make them out, but they are here! We were maybe 15-20 km from Santiago here.

We thought there were hardly any cars on the road - then a few minutes after we stopped here, we saw why - all the cars were stuck behind a couple of buses:

We went no further than where these photos were taken - we went off along the path here, and I was the first casualty... I slipped and twisted my ankle (luckily, it was my *good* ankle, not my bad one, so I can still walk!) and landed quite hard on my bum... Nico and I went back to the car, and Bill and Thomas went on for a bit. The next thing we knew, a group of mountain bikers raced past us, along the scree path that I had slipped on, and then we saw them literally flying down the side of the mountain. I think my jaw was probably hitting the ground...

Not long after, Thomas and Bill headed back to us, and Thomas was the second casualty - he slipped and scraped his shin quite badly. Thomas was, at least, wearing more sensible shoes for traipsing about the countryside than me...

We headed back here to the flat and ate Empanadas. Then we spent some time at the swimming pool. The boys have now been in it three times. I got in up to my knees and decided that while it was probably very good for my swollen ankle, it was way too cold to go in any further!