我臨時抱佛腳，行途上惡補旅遊常識。智利長得像“鞋帶”一樣，堪稱世界上地形最狹長的國家，其長度是寬度的24倍，最寬處不過150英里／241公里。整個國家幅員遼闊，南北縱跨2,700英里／4,345公里，沙漠荒地乾涸少雨，海岸平原肥沃濕潤，熱帶雨林濃密繁茂，高山苔原寒冷蕭疏，峽灣冰川終年積雪。 

      As I learned along the way, Chile is nicknamed "the Shoestring Country"  for good reason; 24 times longer than its average width, and in no place wider than 150 miles/241 kilometers, it stretches nearly 2,700 miles/4,345 kilometers, a span of latitude that encompasses parched deserts, fertile coastal plains, dense rainforests and, finally, continental ice-caps, fiords and glaciers.

      Puerto Montt is settled by German colonists in the mid-19th century and a city of the gateway to the Lake District in the central southwest where Chile's narrow coastal plain sinks into the Pacific, and the ice-carved wet slopes of the Andes form the islands and fiords and Archipelagic Chile, a remote region of appalling weather that stretches southward 1,000 miles/1,609 kilometers to Cape Horn.

    十九世紀由德國人創建的蒙特港位於智利中部西南，是一座通往著名旅遊度假勝地“湖大區”的前哨城市，狹窄富饒的沿海平原由此深入太平洋，冰雪覆蓋的安第斯山脈從背後穿過。它東連內陸，南接島嶼，跟1,000英里／1,609公里天涯以外的合恩角遙相呼應。這裡德國文化根深蒂固，德國後裔、德國村落、德國飲食、德國建築、德國風情……“日爾曼”無處不在。

      Our morning was a mess in Puerto Montt! We woke up and wolfed down some snacks just to catch the tenders or shuttle boats that took us from our cruise to the shore. The seaport was too small to have a big cruise line like Princess docked. Star Princess floated in the mist of the Pacific Ocean close to the bay. Here we ran into Infinity Celebrity again.

      初到蒙特港，我們手忙腳亂！一大早，我們隨便吃些零食墊一下肚子，匆匆趕去乘坐區間快艇，準備上岸遊覽當地風光。蒙特港碼頭很小，像“星辰•公主” 號這樣大型遊輪根本無法自由停泊，因此我們只能定位在海灣附近，改乘遊輪自備的小船輾轉登陸。不獨有偶，“無極•精緻”號遊輪也在不遠處水域與我們再度相逢。

      Once landed at the port authority, we tried to find a tour guide who spoke English instead of Spanish, a local as well as the national language. After interviewing one another over quite a long time, we decided to select a suitable young gentleman who visited Florida, USA twice during the past decade and did NOT have a break on Christmas Eve.

      對我們來說，登陸後當務之急便是雇用導遊。智利的官方語言是西班牙語，英語並不普及，想在蒙特港隨意找到會說英語的朋友好比大海撈針。我們運氣不錯，幾經詢問終於巧遇一位過去十年裡曾經兩度來訪美國佛羅里達州的年輕小伙，他寧願放棄聖誕前夜休息時間跑出來掙點外快，我們很快一拍即合。

      We headed for Vincente Perez Rosales National Park and stopped to see an amazing sight over Lake Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile! I thought that sea would be a more suitable name. It resembled pretty much of mountainous Switzerland. No wonder that "Chilean Switzerland" was given out to this part of Chile.

      在去文森特•佩雷斯•羅薩萊斯國家公園的路上，我們順道遊覽了香奇味湖，這是智利第二大湖！我覺得稱它為“海”更恰如其分。香奇味湖被安第斯山脈環繞，猶如阿爾卑斯山擁抱瑞士，所以該地區常被視作“智利的瑞士翻版”。

      Unlike the last year, there was too much rain during Christmas and holiday season. When we were trotting to Petrohue Waterfalls in Vincente Perez Rosales National Park, to my disappointment, it started to drizzle. As we approached the falls, the rain became much heavier. We soon realized that it was the spray of the water crushing against the hard, black rocks and basaltic lava boulders splashing back to every single place it could reach. The falls seemed more like chutes and rapids ran though Petrohue River. Every once a while, the water would surge up to the banks and retreat back. The roads were the worst. They were so muddy and slippery that I could have thought I had been walking in bubble-gum without attention. By the time we got back, we were no doubt dripping water from head to toes.

      與以往不同，今夏聖誕節期間蒙特港地區經常陰雨連綿。我們出發的時候，天已經開始下起毛毛雨；等抵達文森特•佩雷斯•羅薩萊斯國家公園內的佩特羅胡瀑布，雨下得越來越大。豆大的雨點劈里啪啦打在岩石上，濺起了無數水珠，水珠再混同瀑布下落時產生的霧氣向四面八方彌散。實際上，佩特羅胡河與香奇味湖之間由奧索爾諾火山切割後形成的佩特羅胡瀑布落差很小，水道兩旁山勢陡峻，河床狹窄，因此水流湍急，如同萬馬奔騰。過往瀑布的人行通道泥濘，步履其上好比不小心踩到了又黏又滑的泡泡糖。總之，我們觀賞歸來，個個被淋成落湯雞。

      Next we continued to climb all the way up to the Osorno Volcano standing 8,700 feet/2,652 meters in height over Temperate Rainforests in the Austral Andes. Because of iconic snow-capped landmark, it surely qualified as the "Mount Fuji in South America". Back to 2007, this area was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. I had never been such high up before, excluding airplane! My ears popped from the pressure upon the elevation. At La Burbuja Ski Resort, the wind was blowing so hard even for the Osorno Volcano that it made our blizzards at home felt like a breeze. If I let go of my mom, I probably would end up in a tree elsewhere.

      奧索爾諾火山高約8,700英尺／2,652米，巍然挺拔於安第斯山以南大片溫熱帶雨林之上；整個山頂被冰川覆蓋，外形極似日本富士山，因此又享有美洲富士山的美譽。早在2007年，這裡就被聯合國教科文組織列為世界生物保護區。我以前從來沒有登過這樣的高度(當然乘飛機除外)，耳膜承受不住氣壓變化，老是外翻。站在拉•伯布哈滑雪度假勝地，風力大的足以叫奧索爾諾火山發抖，在賓州我們住的地方絕對稱得上風暴水平，可在這裡如同陣陣微風，不足掛齒。要不是當時緊緊抓住媽媽，我現在不定會倒掛在哪棵大樹上。

(相片來自網絡)

      At the foot of the Osorno Volcano, we visited Fundo Olguita, a traditional Chilean ranch that had sheep-like Llamas (Ya•ma•s) by the lakeside. These animals sometimes really would annoy me because they spit grass.  

      繞回奧索爾諾火山腳下，我們專門拜訪了香奇味湖邊方度•歐爾圭達──智利傳統農場，並見到長得像綿羊模樣的美洲駝，這些動物有時令我不爽，草地上滿處都是它們的糞便。

      An abandoned Teutonic church of Iglesia Sagrado Corazon de Jesus located in Puerto Varas, the biggest town on Lake Llanquihue. After reading the sign I was gaping open mouth at the wooden structure to the maximum height possible without metal supports. The church was used by Catholic priest as a to-scale replica of a church in Germany's Black Forest about 130 years ago. But then a fire burned it down and was rebuilt in 1912. It was one of the oldest churches in Chile!

      位於香奇味湖邊另外一座城市瓦拉斯港內的德國式天主教堂別有特色，目前雖已失修，但其內部結構令我讚嘆不已。整個建築沒用任何金屬材料作支撐，全部因地制宜就地取材，按比例模仿130年前德國黑森林一教堂建築而成。不幸的是，該教堂因失火而被燒毀，眼前這所則是1912年在原址的基礎上重新複製的。

      At last, we drove back to the cruise ship and said farewell to the guide who always had time for a smile as the other friendliest Chileans.

      到此為止，我們結束了全部行程，終於告別這位面帶微笑熱情好客的當地導遊。

(二O一二年十二月廿四日，平安夜)