Valdivia to Santiago
We had stocked up on snacks for our 12 hour bus trip to Santiago not knowing what the arrangements would be for stops and food. The bus seats were nice and comfortable and in general we've found that travelling by bus is better than flying in economy - as long as you have the time of course.
The first part of the trip was slow, lots of roadwork and stops in towns and on the side of the road to pick up and drop off passengers, we weren't sure whether we were going to get to Santiago on time. Every now and then a seller boarded with snacks, sandwiches or drinks, they would stay on the bus just as long as it took to do their business then hopped off at the next stop, they must travel back and forth between towns all day.
It was all uneventful, and around 6pm we were handed a menu by the conductor. The idea was that we could order hot meals, drinks and snacks, which we would pick up at a roadside restaurant about an hour down the road. An excellent system, but the food in Chile generally isn't much to get excited about, they are into fast food big time, mainly hot dogs and hamburgers it seems ... we ended up getting some ice cream (yes, we know that's not exactly healthy either!).
The bus made good time after the food stop, and we made our approach to the bus station in Santiago around 10pm. The problem though was that we were caught in a massive bus grid lock, our bus, and all the buses around it, weren't going anywhere it seemed. We took the conductor's advice and got off, it was only a few blocks to the bus station, and to find our way we just had to follow everyone else.
It seemed a bit strange that there were taxi drivers touting for business in the gridlocked area, so we ignored the touts there, luckily by continuing on we were able to walk through the station and on to another main road where traffic was moving, and only 20 minutes later we were at our airbnb,
As we hadn't eaten much we went for a walk and ended up eating at a Peruvian restaurant - which was still very busy at 11pm, and the food wasn't bad either.
Friday, April 8, 2016
Day 46 - They're called budget airlines for a reason
Pucon to Valdivia
Today we headed southwest-ish to Valdivia. We were backtracking a bit, but the reason was that we'd booked a cheap flight to Santiago from there on Sky Airlines, Chile's budget carrier. We were half way into our 4 hour bus trip when we received an email telling us that tomorrow's flight had been cancelled due to industrial action of some sort. We later found out that the strike was for three days - not much use to us though!
We had an accommodation booking in Santiago that we couldn't change, so we investigated buses from Valdivia to Santiago. Once we arrived we purchased tickets for the next morning, retracing some of our previous route on a 12 hour trip to Santiago.
Valdivia ended up being a pretty town on the river with an amazing fish market. The market is based along a part of the river bank, and there are sea lions there waiting in the water to be thrown fish scraps and the occasional whole fish. The sea lions are massive, and they come right up to the fish tables and sit there waiting silently, begging with large dog like brown eyes.
We walked along the river on a beautiful day and saw other sea lions, there are platforms on the water that look like they are constructed specially for them, we watched for a while at one platform as one sea lion tried in vain to get onto the platform, every time he made it on the others pushed him off.
Valdivia is also known for its beer, and just near our hostal was one of the better craft beer places in town. The highlight for us at this place wasn't the beer, it was the size of the plates of food they served - we've learnt never to order the "grande" patatas bravas in future!
Today we headed southwest-ish to Valdivia. We were backtracking a bit, but the reason was that we'd booked a cheap flight to Santiago from there on Sky Airlines, Chile's budget carrier. We were half way into our 4 hour bus trip when we received an email telling us that tomorrow's flight had been cancelled due to industrial action of some sort. We later found out that the strike was for three days - not much use to us though!
We had an accommodation booking in Santiago that we couldn't change, so we investigated buses from Valdivia to Santiago. Once we arrived we purchased tickets for the next morning, retracing some of our previous route on a 12 hour trip to Santiago.
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| Please please please can I have some fish please ???? |
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| I've told you before ... get off ... and stay off! |
Valdivia is also known for its beer, and just near our hostal was one of the better craft beer places in town. The highlight for us at this place wasn't the beer, it was the size of the plates of food they served - we've learnt never to order the "grande" patatas bravas in future!
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Day 45 - These springs ain't so hot after all
Pucon
M's volcano trek came with a free excursion to Termal Metehue, some hot springs 45 minutes or so out of town. We decided that would be a nice relaxing way to spend the day, so we caught the minibus to the springs at 11am.
Unfortunately it wasn't quite what we expected, we had pictured outdoor pools with volcanic springs in beautiful surroundings. However it was a set of three indoor, not too clean, but nicely heated (at probably the optimum temperature for microorganism growth) in a building with no heating!
As this was mainly free (just had to pay K's entry fee) this wouldn't normally have mattered, except the return trip didn't leave until 4:30pm! As the air temperature was cool we couldn't just lounge around in our bathers in between dips, meaning we didn't spend too much time in the pools. The place did have a nice restaurant though, so we had a leisurely lunch, took a walk around the grounds, and finished up outside doing a spot of reading. After all that it wasn't such a bad day, just a little slow.
The weather had turned today and the wonderful clear view that you could see of the volcano all day yesterday was gone, in fact there was no volcano to be seen at all. We spoke to "our" guy at the tour agency, he told us that the volcano climb was closed today due to 100kmh winds, and that they expected a dump of about 25cm of snow tonight, meaning it would also be closed tomorrow as the snow would have turned to ice, making it too dangerous. M was lucky to get the climb in yesterday - almost the last chance for the season.
One thing we noticed about this small town is that it has more than the usual number of large supermarkets - catering for the holiday crowds we suppose. One of the great things about the supermarkets in Chile has been that some of them cook their bread fresh on site, with bread being baked and put out for sale all day, you can still get nice hot bread at 7pm .... M especially likes the maraqueta - yum!
M's volcano trek came with a free excursion to Termal Metehue, some hot springs 45 minutes or so out of town. We decided that would be a nice relaxing way to spend the day, so we caught the minibus to the springs at 11am.
Unfortunately it wasn't quite what we expected, we had pictured outdoor pools with volcanic springs in beautiful surroundings. However it was a set of three indoor, not too clean, but nicely heated (at probably the optimum temperature for microorganism growth) in a building with no heating!
As this was mainly free (just had to pay K's entry fee) this wouldn't normally have mattered, except the return trip didn't leave until 4:30pm! As the air temperature was cool we couldn't just lounge around in our bathers in between dips, meaning we didn't spend too much time in the pools. The place did have a nice restaurant though, so we had a leisurely lunch, took a walk around the grounds, and finished up outside doing a spot of reading. After all that it wasn't such a bad day, just a little slow.
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| There has to be a reason why no-one is in that "hot spring" |
One thing we noticed about this small town is that it has more than the usual number of large supermarkets - catering for the holiday crowds we suppose. One of the great things about the supermarkets in Chile has been that some of them cook their bread fresh on site, with bread being baked and put out for sale all day, you can still get nice hot bread at 7pm .... M especially likes the maraqueta - yum!
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Day 44 - Up up up
Pucon
M had to be at the tour office for the trek up Volcan Villarica by 6am, so it was a very early start to the day. A quick breakfast and a dose of Codral (not the best time to have a cold!), and off to the trek office through the very quiet town, escorted by roaming dogs along the way. Once there he was fitted out with gear - a pack with a few essentials (more on those later), a helmet, a pair of boots, jacket, waterproof pants and gators. There were four others on the trek, and there were three guides - a pretty good ratio.
The drive up to the volcano took about half an hour or so, then onto a chairlift for the first part of the climb. The guides had politely insisted that we should do it, and no-one in the group objected. By the time the ride finished the sun was coming up, with the shadow of the volcano easy to see against the clear sky,
The trek was a constant upward climb, initially over the ubiquitous grey gravel, but as we advanced it became rockier and a little less stable. The guides showed us how to use our ice picks to steady ourselves, always with the pick on the mountain (uphill) side. There were regular short breaks to hydrate and have a bit to eat - needed to keep our fuel reserves up!
We steadily climbed and were soon above the snow line, much of the snow had melted over summer so we were able to climb a fair way on the gravel. Eventually we reached the glacier, so we put on our crampons, and started up the ice. Having done the glacier trek in El Calafate this wasn't new - however by this time our group of five had split into two groups, M was in the front group so the ice trek was a lot less leisurely this time!
A little further and we were able to remove our crampons, that made it a bit easier, then more climbing before another short break where we were able to remove our packs for the final assault. We had been able to overtake the slower groups during the ice climb, so we were the first group to head to the crater. Another 15 more minutes over very scrambly rock and gravel we were there, we knew we'd made it as we started smelling acrid fumes, and had to don our gas masks.
After all that the crater wasn't as spectacular as we'd hoped, it was having a quiet day so all we could really see was a cloud of gas and the occasional spark of glowing lava. We spent just six minutes at the top, enough time for a look at the crater and a few photos.
The trip down was much easier, the highlight being that we were able to slide down the glacier in a few stretches. Apparently earlier in the season when there's more snow the slide goes most of the way down and can go for up to an hour .... our slides were limited to four sections of just a few minutes each time. For the sliding we put on some glissading shorts (before today who even knew these existed?) and hooked a plastic seat thing to our packs that we then put between our legs to create a toboggan. Using our ice pick as a brake, we were then able to control our slide, though there were a few crashes along the way when there were slower people in front.
After the sliding it was a long walk down, but the gravel was very easy to walk down below the glacier, this time bypassing the chairlift to the car park.
We made it back to town by about 4pm, where K refused to tell M what time she got out of bed. M suspects that he had probably reached the crater before K had even stirred!
M had to be at the tour office for the trek up Volcan Villarica by 6am, so it was a very early start to the day. A quick breakfast and a dose of Codral (not the best time to have a cold!), and off to the trek office through the very quiet town, escorted by roaming dogs along the way. Once there he was fitted out with gear - a pack with a few essentials (more on those later), a helmet, a pair of boots, jacket, waterproof pants and gators. There were four others on the trek, and there were three guides - a pretty good ratio.
The drive up to the volcano took about half an hour or so, then onto a chairlift for the first part of the climb. The guides had politely insisted that we should do it, and no-one in the group objected. By the time the ride finished the sun was coming up, with the shadow of the volcano easy to see against the clear sky,
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| Pucon and the lake in the distance, showing the volcano's shadow |
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| The glacier begins |
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| Single file only up the glacier please .... |
After about an hour or so of ice climbing, we reached a layer of rocks and gravel over the glacier ice, We had to keep the crampons on, but from here the rocks were getting bigger and were less stable, so a combination of fatigue, the weight of the crampons, the altitude and possibly M's cold meant that M was having a little trouble keeping up the pace and not tripping over.
A little further and we were able to remove our crampons, that made it a bit easier, then more climbing before another short break where we were able to remove our packs for the final assault. We had been able to overtake the slower groups during the ice climb, so we were the first group to head to the crater. Another 15 more minutes over very scrambly rock and gravel we were there, we knew we'd made it as we started smelling acrid fumes, and had to don our gas masks.
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| Wouldn't want to fall in .... |
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| Fortunately for all of us his face is hidden |
The trip down was much easier, the highlight being that we were able to slide down the glacier in a few stretches. Apparently earlier in the season when there's more snow the slide goes most of the way down and can go for up to an hour .... our slides were limited to four sections of just a few minutes each time. For the sliding we put on some glissading shorts (before today who even knew these existed?) and hooked a plastic seat thing to our packs that we then put between our legs to create a toboggan. Using our ice pick as a brake, we were then able to control our slide, though there were a few crashes along the way when there were slower people in front.
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| Wheeeeeeee......... |
We made it back to town by about 4pm, where K refused to tell M what time she got out of bed. M suspects that he had probably reached the crater before K had even stirred!
Monday, April 4, 2016
Day 43 - Another day, another volcano
Puerto Varas to Pucón
Another morning bus trip and a good day to be stuck in a bus for a few hours, with thick cold fog blanketing everywhere. We have been so lucky with our sightseeing over the past few days, perfect blue skies and not a breath of wind. We arrived in Pucon a lot later than expected, there was a lot of roadwork along the way and plenty of stops to drop off and pickup passengers, so the trip took five hours. By the time we arrived though the sun was out and it was starting to warm up.
Pucon is the base for a lot of activities, there's the lake, whitewater rafting, boat trips, but the big thing is Volcan Villarica, which erupted last year. We had been getting mixed reports on whether it was closed or available for hiking, and we had also read that you need to be careful which company you book with as the less reputable companies don't provide a refund if you're unable to proceed with the climb once you've entered the national park.
We found a good agency who were not pushy at all, quite the opposite, telling us it was risky, there is lava and flames, you may only get a minute at the top, are you sure you want to go, etc. M booked in for tomorrow, while K decided it wasn't for her, based on the difficult terrain, length of the trek, the need to carry a pack and use crampons and ice picks. As much as she would love to see a spewing volcano she thought she'd have more fun sleeping in and spending the day in the cabana with a good book (sounds boring to me though ....!).
After booking the trek, we wandered around town and along the lake. The lake beach was black gravel, and the water had a greenish tinge - not that appealing, and it must get really hot to walk on in summer as well. By the time we'd checked out the town and done some grocery shopping, the clouds that were hovering about the volcano had cleared, and we could see the peak in the distance.
Another morning bus trip and a good day to be stuck in a bus for a few hours, with thick cold fog blanketing everywhere. We have been so lucky with our sightseeing over the past few days, perfect blue skies and not a breath of wind. We arrived in Pucon a lot later than expected, there was a lot of roadwork along the way and plenty of stops to drop off and pickup passengers, so the trip took five hours. By the time we arrived though the sun was out and it was starting to warm up.
Pucon is the base for a lot of activities, there's the lake, whitewater rafting, boat trips, but the big thing is Volcan Villarica, which erupted last year. We had been getting mixed reports on whether it was closed or available for hiking, and we had also read that you need to be careful which company you book with as the less reputable companies don't provide a refund if you're unable to proceed with the climb once you've entered the national park.
We found a good agency who were not pushy at all, quite the opposite, telling us it was risky, there is lava and flames, you may only get a minute at the top, are you sure you want to go, etc. M booked in for tomorrow, while K decided it wasn't for her, based on the difficult terrain, length of the trek, the need to carry a pack and use crampons and ice picks. As much as she would love to see a spewing volcano she thought she'd have more fun sleeping in and spending the day in the cabana with a good book (sounds boring to me though ....!).
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| Blue sky .... green water .... black sand |
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| Nice view of Volcan Villarica, with our cabana on the right |
Day 42 - A perfect Sunday
Puerto Varas
We took off in our rental car today to circumnavigate Chile's second largest lake. Lake Llanquihue. First stop was Fruitillar Bajo, a town with a very Bavarian influence, those Germans used to get around! We came across their replica towns in Namibia as well, here is another one in Chile. We stopped here for kuchen and coffee - and it was delicious!
Next stop was Las Casadas, after driving a very bumpy road for a few kilometres, then walking for about half an hour over precarious fallen log bridges, we reached a superb waterfall with a sheer drop of at least 50m pounding straight into a small pool - definitely worth it though we had no idea what to expect.
We then continued around the lake, with Volcan Osorno as our back drop, stopping at little villages along the way until we reached the volcano itself. It's known as Chile's Mt Fuji as it looks incredibly similar, it has the same symmetrical shape with snow topped peak.
We caught two chairlifts to travel as far as we could up the volcano, with amazing views of the nearby Andes and the lake below, it must be so spectacular in winter and skiing to that background might beat anything Europe has to offer.
On our way up in the chairlift we were discussed how blissfully quiet it was until we could hear someone talking loudly coming towards us in a chairlift. The voice sounded familiar, and when we realised who it was we were amazed. About 11 days earlier when we crossed into Chile there was a young Swiss girl on our bus who didn't draw breath for the entire 8 hours bus ride, we felt sorry for her travelling companion at the time, but here they both were, and motormouth was still going!
After finishing our Osorno visit we didn't have much time to get the rental car back, so we drove at top speed back to Puerto Varas., overtaking the numerous Sunday drivers at every opportunity. Also along the road there were lots of local families picking berries, we think they were blackberries because we had seen them around, though we could be wrong.
We took off in our rental car today to circumnavigate Chile's second largest lake. Lake Llanquihue. First stop was Fruitillar Bajo, a town with a very Bavarian influence, those Germans used to get around! We came across their replica towns in Namibia as well, here is another one in Chile. We stopped here for kuchen and coffee - and it was delicious!
Next stop was Las Casadas, after driving a very bumpy road for a few kilometres, then walking for about half an hour over precarious fallen log bridges, we reached a superb waterfall with a sheer drop of at least 50m pounding straight into a small pool - definitely worth it though we had no idea what to expect.
We then continued around the lake, with Volcan Osorno as our back drop, stopping at little villages along the way until we reached the volcano itself. It's known as Chile's Mt Fuji as it looks incredibly similar, it has the same symmetrical shape with snow topped peak.
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| Locals and Volcan Osorno |
On our way up in the chairlift we were discussed how blissfully quiet it was until we could hear someone talking loudly coming towards us in a chairlift. The voice sounded familiar, and when we realised who it was we were amazed. About 11 days earlier when we crossed into Chile there was a young Swiss girl on our bus who didn't draw breath for the entire 8 hours bus ride, we felt sorry for her travelling companion at the time, but here they both were, and motormouth was still going!
After finishing our Osorno visit we didn't have much time to get the rental car back, so we drove at top speed back to Puerto Varas., overtaking the numerous Sunday drivers at every opportunity. Also along the road there were lots of local families picking berries, we think they were blackberries because we had seen them around, though we could be wrong.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Day 41 - Fished out
Castro to Puerto Varas
It's a shame to leave our lovely cabaña over the water, its such a beautiful spot but we're leaving Chiloe today, so we drive north to Quemchi. We didn't see much of note in Quemchi itself, but just near Quemchi is the small island of Aucar which is accessible by a 500m long wooden pedestrian bridge. The island is a pretty spot, not very big, with a nice garden, a cemetery, and of course a wooden church.
From here we drove on to Ancud for a fish lunch - fishing is what Chíloe is all about. We both had huge serves of grilled fish with chips - neither of us could finish the meals. Before catching the ferry back to the mainland we stopped to fill up the car, and again we are amused at the way the attendants rock the cars to get the total price to a round number.
We didn't need to wait long before the ferry started off, on the way back to Puerto Varas we stopped by Chabulco and walked along the water front. Just near the old lookout tower there was a great view of the Chabulco volcano which spectacularly erupted in April 2015.
It's a shame to leave our lovely cabaña over the water, its such a beautiful spot but we're leaving Chiloe today, so we drive north to Quemchi. We didn't see much of note in Quemchi itself, but just near Quemchi is the small island of Aucar which is accessible by a 500m long wooden pedestrian bridge. The island is a pretty spot, not very big, with a nice garden, a cemetery, and of course a wooden church.
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| Isla Aucar - wooden cross and wooden fence to go with the wooden church |
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| No longer used as a lookout - now a shop (of course) |
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Day 40 - Churches, graveyards, water
Castro
We headed off in the morning to take in the sights of Castro. We drove into town and wandered around checking out the main sights (as you do). We walked to see the Palafitos, which are brightly painted fishermens shacks built on stilts over the water. The old fishermen (and the current ones as well probably) must laugh over tourists finding their cheap homes a focus point.
Chíloe is famous for its wooden churches, many of them designated as Unesco heritage sites. We thought we knew what to expect but we were surprised to find that the timber was not only the outside construction but also every piece of the inside part of the buildings. The church in Castro was quite impressive, after Castro we visited Nercon to see the church and graveyard there.
We drove on to Dalcahue and had lunch there with a nice view over the water, then on to Chonchi for another wooden church, as well as a strange looking building which was almost just a facade, the second floor was just a metre or so deep. The ground floor opened out into a supermarket - no idea what the second floor was for - it all seemed weird to us.
Final stop on our drive for today was Cucao and the Chíloe National Park. We had a nice walk to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, where a couple of rivers flowed into the ocean. We gazed west but could see no sign of New Zealand, we knew it was out there somewhere though.
We headed off in the morning to take in the sights of Castro. We drove into town and wandered around checking out the main sights (as you do). We walked to see the Palafitos, which are brightly painted fishermens shacks built on stilts over the water. The old fishermen (and the current ones as well probably) must laugh over tourists finding their cheap homes a focus point.
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| This would have looked better at high tide |
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| The priests here have a wooden delivery |
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| Maybe they ran out of wood before they could finish? |
Friday, April 1, 2016
Day 39 - Stranded
Puerto Varas to Castro
Cabañas Palafitos Los Pescadores
We headed off early to drive to the island of Chiloe in thick fog and smog, caused by smoke from the wood fires used by most people in the area. We started off well, but after an hour or so we came to a complete stop. People were out of their cars, walking around, we weren't sure whether it was an caused by an accident, or perhaps something to do with the ferry to Chiloe.
After about half an hour the traffic started moving, but M had left the lights on when he stopped the car, so you guessed it .... stuck in a traffic jam with a flat battery. The traffic had only moved about 10 metres or so, so there was no room for a push start (which would have been easy with our tiny car), and moving to the emergency lane wasn't a great idea because drivers were using it to get to the exit road a couple of kilometres further on.
Luckily some other car drivers came to our aid with some jumper leads, we had plenty of time as we were told the road could be closed all day. It wasn't an accident as we had thought, the police close the road due to very poor visibility caused by the fog and smoke. It eventually took us two and a half hours to cover 5 kms, but finally the visibility improved and we made it to the ferry across to the island.
By the time we reached Ancud for a lunch stop it was a beautiful day. We walked around town, visited the museum, and then a picnic lunch at one of the piers just out of town where stalls were set up to sell fresh crabs and shellfish.
From there we drove to Castro where we had booked our accommodation for the next three nights, right on the water with a great view.
Cabañas Palafitos Los Pescadores
We headed off early to drive to the island of Chiloe in thick fog and smog, caused by smoke from the wood fires used by most people in the area. We started off well, but after an hour or so we came to a complete stop. People were out of their cars, walking around, we weren't sure whether it was an caused by an accident, or perhaps something to do with the ferry to Chiloe.
After about half an hour the traffic started moving, but M had left the lights on when he stopped the car, so you guessed it .... stuck in a traffic jam with a flat battery. The traffic had only moved about 10 metres or so, so there was no room for a push start (which would have been easy with our tiny car), and moving to the emergency lane wasn't a great idea because drivers were using it to get to the exit road a couple of kilometres further on.
Luckily some other car drivers came to our aid with some jumper leads, we had plenty of time as we were told the road could be closed all day. It wasn't an accident as we had thought, the police close the road due to very poor visibility caused by the fog and smoke. It eventually took us two and a half hours to cover 5 kms, but finally the visibility improved and we made it to the ferry across to the island.
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| Seafood lunch anyone? |
From there we drove to Castro where we had booked our accommodation for the next three nights, right on the water with a great view.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Day 38 - Rained in
Puerto Varas
Today we had planned to pick up the hire car we booked yesterday and drive around Lake Llanquihue, visiting the towns and Volcan Osorno on the way around. We woke during the night to the sound of heavy rain, and it was still raining come morning. We were due to pick up the car at 10am, by 9:30am the situation hadn't improved so we rang the rental agency and postponed the car. We ended up staying in our cute cabana for most of the day by the cosy wood fire.
We put the day to good use and did some forward planning, we got so carried away that by 5pm when the rain finally stopped we had almost planned a whole week in advance, which for us seems quite risky as plans can change so easily when you are under-prepared as we are.
We had postponed the rental car pickup to later in the day, as our plan now was to get going early tomorrow morning. The rain finally stopped around 5pm, so we managed to collect the car as well as do our grocery shopping without getting wet.
Today we had planned to pick up the hire car we booked yesterday and drive around Lake Llanquihue, visiting the towns and Volcan Osorno on the way around. We woke during the night to the sound of heavy rain, and it was still raining come morning. We were due to pick up the car at 10am, by 9:30am the situation hadn't improved so we rang the rental agency and postponed the car. We ended up staying in our cute cabana for most of the day by the cosy wood fire.
We put the day to good use and did some forward planning, we got so carried away that by 5pm when the rain finally stopped we had almost planned a whole week in advance, which for us seems quite risky as plans can change so easily when you are under-prepared as we are.
We had postponed the rental car pickup to later in the day, as our plan now was to get going early tomorrow morning. The rain finally stopped around 5pm, so we managed to collect the car as well as do our grocery shopping without getting wet.
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