Right when we entered Puyuhuapi, we stopped next to a camping sign. A woman passed by and asked if we need help. We told her we were looking for a camping and she said there was no such thing in Puyuhuapi. We decided to get a second opinion about camping in Puyuhuapi. A more helpful person directed us to camping Adonai.
We chose to stay there, other than in one of many other camping sites we saw in Puyuhuapi, because it was quite cheap (2500 CH$), had a well equipped kitchen as well as a roof to protect us from the rain. The name of the camping intrigued us (Adonai is a hebrew word for God), and we were surprised to find out that it had nothing to do with Israel. The owners of the camping are very religious Evangalists, and Adonai is a name for God (also in Spanish).
Japon-Japon
While comparing campings we were over and over told something very complicated in Spanish, which used repeatedly the word ¨Japon¨ (Japan in Spanish). The first time we heard this, we thought the lady told us that her husband was in Japan, and when hearing this from another lady, we understood something happened there, but didn´t quite get the exact details, or why they were so anxious about telling this to us.
We did some shopping in 4 different minimarkets, and in one of them we found some very cheap almonds. This was very important for us as almonds and other types of nuts are always expensive in Argentina and in Chile, and we eat a lot of them in Israel. As we did not have enough money with us, we only bought a bit of almonds, and decided to buy more the next day. When we got back, we suddenly saw Pandora, the puppy which we met the day before in the bus station were we slept. This time, however, she was without the two Chilean backpackers who previously took care of her. Apparently she got lost in the small town. We played with her a bit and then left her and went to the kitchen to cook. We made pumpkin chutney and lentils soup. While we were cooking, two firemen entered. One of them started to explain to the other Israelis there that we had to be evacuated from the camping, because it was right on the shore.
They explained that a terrible earthquake accrued in Japan and they were afraid that as a result a Tsunami wave would hit Chile as well. We were ordered to get in about 3 hours to the school, which was higher up on the hill and therefore safer. As we were all struggling to understand Spanish, we found out that the other fireman was american, and he finally gave us the full picture of what happened in Japan and why does the Chileans care.
A night at school
We weren´t too afraid, as Puyuhuapi is in a closed bay, but we decided to listen to the firemen and go to the school. We finished cooking quickly, ate part of it and packed all our stuff except for the tent. While packing we found Pandora sleeping inside our tent on the sleeping bags. She walked us to the school, but she had to stay outside. We spent more than two hours eating, talking with the other Israelis from the camping, and watching useless reports from Chilean news channels, showing repeated images of rediculous waves on the Chilean coast.
We were repeatedly told to wait there, until we eventually gave up and went to sleep on the mattrasses provided by the school. Eventually all other people, except us the Israelis, left the safe zone. When we left the school (it was finally permitted at 8 AM), we found Pandora, who spent all night waiting outside. We gave her some of our food and started walking back to the camping. At some point 5 dogs followed us, but Pandora was gone. We cooked pancakes for breakfast and peas paste for later, and we payed for the night we didn´t spend there.
On our way out, we wanted to buy more cheap almonds but unfortunately that shop was closed :-(
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