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Background: Prior to the coming of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while Araucanian Indians inhabited central and southern Chile; the latter were not completely subjugated until the early 1880s. Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, decisive victory over the Spanish was not achieved until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-84), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its present northern lands. A three-year-old Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 by a dictatorial military regime led by Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a freely elected president was installed in 1990. Sound economic policies, maintained consistently since the 1980s, have contributed to steady growth and have helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government. Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles befitting its status as a stable, democratic nation.

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By georgielenf
June 24th 2008

Dogs

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas

Pavement decorations

We left Pucon early for a five hour bus journey to Puerto Varas. Managed to sleep quite a bit on the bus which was good as I was pretty tired. Puerto Varas was another small-ish town with views of two volcanoes from the lake. I preferred Pucon though - it just had a nicer feel about it. Luna and I walked around part of the lake in one direction and managed to pick up some friends along the way. This particular friend had incredibly short legs and looked a bit like a cross between an Alsatian and a sausage dog. He [View Full Entry]

By H T
June 18th 2008

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

South America » Chile » Los Lagos

Lago Chico
magical snow paradise

Our first bus journey from Santiago to Pucon was very comfortable and we arrived into the town early. Having slept almost all the way waking up and having to get out into the freezing cold wet weather was some wakeup call!! We had hoped for snow here and were a little disappointed that it was actually raining. Pulling ourselves and our brains into gear we realised that it was 8am on a Sunday morning and that we were the only ones still stood in the bus terminal. We realised that everything looked closed (as you would expect) and that it was [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
June 11th 2008

The beard of the watery autumn grows long

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island

My Chiloe - churches and rain
Iglesia Nuestra Senora de Patrocinio, Tenaun

The Chiloe archipelago is the northernmost part of the frayed edge of Chile, that tattered jumble of islands and fjords that starts south of Puerto Montt and continues for nearly 3,000km down to Cape Horn. The blending of local and Spanish traditions has resulted in an identity different from that of the mainland, with the rural feel and beach-free nature of the islands keeping tourist numbers down. With home for me being in a coastal area of the UK with inclement weather and a fishing industry, it was going to be interesting to see if any other parallels could be drawn. [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
June 6th 2008

German bight

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas

Volcan Osorno at dawn

I'd heard that Volcan Chaiten had been depositing ash on a couple of places further south that I'd intended visiting so, with no wish to look any greyer than I already do, I went west instead. The journey across the Andes and down into Chile provided some views of the volcanoes that punctuate the landscape here with a menace not conferred on mere mountains. Volcan Osorno, possessing a shape of which Hokusai would no doubt have approved and conveniently closest to the road, drew my eye for several hours. My chosen hostel had a name translating as "Blue House" in English, [View Full Entry]

By Weaves
May 29th 2008

Chile

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas

Relaxing after spanish class!

Hola Amigos Hope everyone is well and enjoying the good weather back home. We made it to Chile after a bit of a monster flight from Auz and have been dossing around the Lake District for the past couple of weeks. First impressions of Chile? Well, it is a lot colder than any of the other countries we have visited, wearing a pair of socks and long trousers again took a bit of getting used to but is definately the norm nowadays! It is good though and the people have been pretty friendly, especially the nice lady in Temuco who took [View Full Entry]

By cjfrank
April 28th 2008

Chiloe, land of beautiful Frenchmen and a surly Swiss!

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island

Let me start by thanking everyone that was kind enough to remember my birthday. It was an unforgettable event in an incredible locale. I woke up at 5 AM, which is 4 AM by my body clock, on Thursday, April 10th (Happy Birthday, Diane!) to get to the bus station in time for my 6:30 departure. Despite the early arrival of my cab, there were a few moments of tension trying to figure out how to unlock the front door from the inside. In the dark. Without waking up my housemate and la tia, both sleeping in their bedrooms a few [View Full Entry]

By Sheeptours
April 20th 2008

Puerto Varas and Frutillar: Kuchen in the Chilean Lake District

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas

The church in Puerto Varas

Day 175: Arriving in the Chilean Lake district Although not raining when I got up this morning, the dark grey clouds outside didn't look too promising. I had initially thought that I'd stay a bit longer in Castro and visit the national park of Chiloe, but what with the weather, and the fact that there don't seem to be too many tourists around at this time of year, I've since had second thoughts. I'm all for going walking in some of the less well-known national parks, but to be the only person there who's not a hunter, else living in one [View Full Entry]

A traditional German/Chilean country house

Traditional German/Chilean Kitchen in Frutillar

By Nick and Rinske
April 20th 2008

The quirky and quaint Island of Chiloe

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island

The Chonchi cemetery
The Chonchi cemetery with a magnificent full-colour replica of the local church proudly erected over family graves.

Hola todos, The Island of Chiloe saw us travelling in the company of Christian and Marij for much of the way. Amidst the grey skies we tried our hand at hitch hiking again - this time with much more success. The local chiloteans were very accommodating and gave us quite a few lifts to various corners of the island. Chiloe was quite a different landscape to where we have been used to with few mountains and wide pastures, little towns with wooden churches and lots of shingles on their houses. Throughout our trip across the island we amassed around 50 different [View Full Entry]

By Sheeptours
April 18th 2008

Back to basics: The Chiloe Islands

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island

The Palafitos

Day 172: Buses, Planes and Boats, and the final destination; well, who knows!? "We've gone on holiday by mistake", Withnail, in 'Withnail and I' So here I am, in a random town called Ancud on the Chiloe islands in the South of Chile. To be honest, I didn't actually mean to come here, but was heading a couple of hours further south. Unfortunately things got a bit delayed earlier in the day, and I didn't fancy arriving too late in Castro (my intended destination further south), since I didn't have a map or lodgings, so I got off the bus in [View Full Entry]

One of the spirits from Chiloean folklore in Ancud

Cannons, still in place in case the Spanish are passing...

By Jono Dahna
April 5th 2008

Chiloe: an image of an island

South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island

On the bus on a boat on the way to Chiloe!
and eating empanadas

Chiloe, an island off the coast of Chile is promoted as being a tranquil, undeveloped and beautiful island with a country feel and a very strong and interesting culture. One of the hostels we were looking forward to staying in was promoted in our lonely plant book, and a travel brochure as being a seaside hostel in a beautiful coastal town (Chonchi) with a friendly host that took you on tours of his seafood farm and occasionally cooked big meals from that day's harvest. He had bikes, boats and fishing gear to rent, centrally heated rooms and hot water. The island [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » South America » Chile » Los Lagos