Jan 2008

From Chiloe I got the bus to Puerto Montt for an overnight stop before getting on the ferry to Puerto Natales the next day. We arrived at the bus station without anywhere to stay but as usual there were people advertiing there hospedajes - small, family run place to stay, a bit like cheap B and Bs. So we agrred to stay with a women there who then explained that her son would drive us to the house, which sounded good as it meant no walking carrying our heavy rucksacks. Started to feel a bit concerned though when we were put in the back of a van with the windows covered up and we were driven away by a strange man. Probably not the safest thing to have done but it worked out OK and we ended up with a room in an old wooden house where the floors and walls all sloped at interesting angles. But, it was a nice place to stay and they make a nice change from staying in hostels.

We spent the next morning looking round the town before getting on the boat in the afternoon. I´ve heard a lot of mixed things about the boat trip, people trying to sleep in cabins next to trailers of cows, people spending the whole 4 days being very sick etc. so didn´t really know if going on te boat was a good idea. But I think it is one of the best things I´ve done on this trip so far. I was in the cheapest accomodation but it was still very comfortable. I had a bed in a cabin with 4 people and a shared bathroom. The only cows on board was the beef we had for dinner and most of the time the water was so calm it was hard to believe we were on the pacific. There was only one night when it was a bit rougher as we went further out to séa. Every day we got 3 good meals, there were talks about things of local interest, films to watch, and a bar, but most of the time i just spent out on the deck as the weather was perfect and the scenery was stunning. Cançt think of any way to describe it really, but i took over 300 photos in just 4 days. Most of the route navigates through narrow channels betwwen the mainland and groups of islands just off the coast, so on one side you could see across to huge snow capped-mountains and glacier and on the other side there were islands. There was also loads of wildlife, birds, whales, dolphins and seals. One of the highlights of the trip was a dtour te boat made to the bottom of Pio XI the largest glacier in South America. It ends in the sea and the boat sailed up a chanel through icebergs to te base of the glacier. Also met a lot of really people on the boat so it was never boring. On the last night there was a Patagonian bingo party in the bar, which was certainly a lot more lively than Bingo in the UK as somehow it also involved a lot of dancing.

Arrived in Puerto Natales last night and I,ve just spent the morning getting organised for a 4 day hike in te Torres del Paine national park, starting that this afternoon.

From Valdivia I travelled down to Ancud, a small fishing town on the Chiloe islands, a group of about 40 small islands just off the coast of Chile. Found a really nice hostal to stay in, right by the sea. The evening I arrived I ended up going on a tour out to a little group of islands where 2 species of penguins live. The tour was really good as although our guide didn´t speak much English he made an effort to talk very slowly so I was able to follow what he was saying. Found out a lot about the history of the islands and the people from that area. They have a lot of traditions that are different from the mainland, all based around myths from the area. The boat trip around the penguin islands was really good, the evening is apparently the best time to go as thats when all the penguins come back to their nest sites. Also saw loads of other birds and wildlife including sea lions and sea otters.

The next day wasn´t so good. Decided to hire a bike a cycle around the coast to another small fishing village. The first part of the route was along a very busy main road and then there was 30km along a gravel track. There was also a quarry along the track so all day there were huge loirries going up and down this narrow track so ended up covered in dust and hit by stones. And the bikes didn´t have the most comfortable saddles, so a few days later I am still avoiding sitting down for too long. Although the village and beach that I made it to were very nice, it really wasn´t worth the effort of getting there.

The following morning I got a bus further down the island to the town of Castro. It´s another really nice little town which is best described as having rustic charm. Along the sea front are buildings called parfitos which are built on wooden stilts over the sea. Then there is a steep hill up to the town centre which has a lot of very unstable looking wooden houses all painted different colours. One of the main attractions of the area are 16 world heritage listed churches that were built by the Spanish in combination with local creaftsmen, using local wood, so they are all unique designs reflecting the traditions of the area. Spent the afternoon going to look at a couple of these. This was a bit of an adventure as it meant getting a few buses and boats across to other islands and we seemed to be far from the main tourist route, I think we only saw another couple of foreign tourists all day. Was a really nice day going to these remote little fishing villages, and finding some nice beaches. In the evening we came back to Castro and went out for dinner to try the local speciality, curanto. It basically has a bit of everything in it, a lot of mussels, chicken, chorizo, ham, potatoes and dumplings, all very nice.

Yesterday we spent the day at the islands national park. Had a really good day there, walked along a huge empty beach in the morning and then came back through the woods by a lake.

Today I´m getting the bus back over to the mainland to Puerto Montt. Just going to stay there overnight before getting on a boat to Patagonia. The boat trip takes about 4 days and I´ve heard a lot of mixed things about it, so don´t know what to expect. But I´ve stocked up on sea sickness tablets and I´m just hoping the weather is going to be good for it.

After a scenic drive around the Lakes district, we arrived in Valdivia mid-afternoon and went out for lunch. The town is inland, not far from the coast and surrounded by 7 rivers so you can get really nice and cheap fish and sea-food here. After lunch we went for a walk around the city. It´s suppossed to be the most beautiful city in Chile, but initially I wasn´t impressed as the town centre just reminded me of Stevenage. The town was destroyed by a tsunami in 1960 so it was just rebuilt in concrete. Later on I went up to the botanical gardens and could start to see why it was meant to be so beautiful as it is surrounded by native woodland and rivers.

The next day we went on a boat trip around the 7 rivers, stopping off at a couple of the islands to have a look around. Unfortunatly the commentry was a bit beyond my level of Spanish, but it was still a good day as it was a very scenic trip, with a lot of very nice food and I did manage to learn a bit about the history and the area. On the slands we looked a couple of runied Spanish forts and saw a reinactmant of a battle for Chilean independance from Spain.

The following day we went horse riding in the morning. Had very nice horses that were perfect for beginners and went on a ride up through the native foresets. After this I had been persuaded that Valdivia is actually a really nice city. Spent the rest of the day in the town and going to the museum. In the evening we decided that going to the cinema would be a good way of trying to learn a bit more Spanish so we planned on going to see a nice kids film that would be easy to follow. but when we got there 30 days of night was just starting and it was the only film with subtitles so we decided to go and see that without really nowing what it was. Must be one of the most graphically violent films I have seen with limited language to learn, other than swearing. I suppose it was a good way to learn things that aren't commonly taught in Spanish lessons.

After long bus drive we arrived in Pucon in the evening. Its a small town in the Lakes District region of Chile and is popular with Chilean and foreign tourists as there are so many different activities to do there. It´s like the Chilean equivalent of Queenstown. We had booked to climb volcano Villarica the next day so had to go and sot out the equipment in preparation for an early start the next day. But after getting up at 6am, they decided it was too cloudy to do the climb so we had to postpone it until the weather improved. Instead we hired bikes and cyled out to a group of waterfalls and a lake as the weather away from the hills was actually OK. In the evening we went out to some hot springs, this had been planned as a good rest after climbing the volcano, but it was nice anyway. Didn´t get back into the town until quite late so ended up going out for dinner at 1am. Chilean people tend to eat late (about 9-10pm) and even at 1am there were a lot of places still open. So after a few drinks I finally got to bed at about 6am. Luckily the weather still wasn´t great so there was no chance of climbing the volcano that morning. Most of the people I had met on the tour bus ha to leave that morning, but there were 5 of us that stayed a few days until the next bus came. Spent the day in the town and walked out to some beaches further along the lake. The next day the weather still hadn´t improved and we were beginning to think that the volcano was just a big con to make people stay in the town and that it didn´t actually exist at all as we hadn´t even seen it since we arrived. But we spent the day at the Huerquehue national park doing a really nice walk and were suprised when it actually snowed most of the day, it´s supppossed to be the middle of summer here. But that evening we were told that the forecast for the next day was promising and we should get up early again to be ready to go. Luckily the forecast was right and we got our first glimpse of the volcano as we were on our way to climb it. THe volcano is about 2800m high andyou start the climb from about 1400m, so we were walking in the snow all the way. the fresh snow from the previous day made it quite hard work but it was worth it. The weather was perfect and we had amazing views over the area, including the volcan Llaima, which had been erupting since new years day. The colcano we were climbing was still active, you couldn´t actually see the lava on the day we were there but there was smoke coming from it that burnt your eyes and throat when the wind blew it towards you. The way down was good fun, because of the fresh snow we were able to sledge nearly the entire distance, so it was a lot quicker and easier than the way up.

For our final day in Pucon we had a relaxing day in the town and went out on a boat trip around the lake for a couple of hours. Pucon was a really nice town and could have stayed there longer as there was so much to do and the hostel was really nice, but the next day we got back on the bus and travelled south to Valdivia.

On Sunday I joined a tour bus to start travelling down to the far south of the country. We spent the morning on the bus, with a couple of stops at a village where they make traditional craft things and a huge hydroelectric dam. we arrived at Pichelemu in the afternoon, for our first overnight stop. The town is one of the main surfing spots in Chile, so we deicided we had to try it and went for a 2 hour lesson with an instructor named Elvis. After getting kitted out in the wetsuits etc. we went down to the beach where we did a warm up of various stretches and had a run along the beach. then we spent a while on the beach practising how to stand up on the board. this was hard enough on the beach so I was starting to think that maybe it wasn´t such a good idea, but changed my mind once we got in the water. I wasn´t very good at it, but it was amazing fun trying. By the end of the lesson I had managed to stand up a few times, but 2 hours really wasn´t long enough and its something I will have to try again when I get the chance. Later on we went further down the coast to the area where the expertt surfers go to see how its really done.

In the evening we had a good meal in the hostel and to celebrate my birthday I had a suprise chocolate cake with Happy birthday in English and Spanish. Later on we went across to the pub where I got to try a lot of Chilean drinks, wine, locally brewed beer, tequilla and various other spirits, but I never did find out what they were. After that much to drink, I think my Spanish was much improved so I got a lot of practise speaking to the trainee guide on the trip who also wanted to practise his English.

After a very late night, getting up for the bus at 7am was a bit of a challenge but as it was a long way to travel, there was plenty of time to catch up on sleep. we were on the bus most of the day, with only one stop at a town called Santa Cruz where there was a huge museum with evreything ranging from fossils to classic cars. We arrived in Pucon late in the evening and I´m staying here for a few days now.