Los Andes

Serón

We stayed the night in Serón, near Pichasca National Park, on the road from Ovalle to Hurtado.

Our abode was in the back of a diner-cum-disco complex. The 15-year-old in residence brought out his guitar the next morning and strummed a bit. "¿Es Metallica?" Brice asked. It was. Next thing, the kid disappears into a sound room and within seconds Master of Puppets came roaring over the PA system - and I mean PA system. These were not stereo speakers. Brice burst into the mixing room screaming the lyrics and the kid fairly jumped out of his shoes.

"¡Track seven!" Brice screamed. "¡Track seven! Orion." And sure enough his request came through the amps, thundering out an instrumental resembling a column of heavy armour. This was fortuitous, as the sounds helped us ascend the day's pass: Portezuelo Tres Cruces.

In Serón with a serious Metallica fan. Before we left, he surprised Brice with a gift of a CD compilation.