South of Chile

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Hey Everyone, it´s wednesday im sitting in an internet cafe waiting for my laundry to be done. i am starving i´m going to eat something nasty after this.

I haven´t writtien in a while because i´ve been down south of Chile with a group of 13 people or so, some nice so annoying.
We went by bus to Pichillemu, Santa Cruz, Valdivia, Pucon, Puerto Varis, Puerto Montt and Salto ell Laja Waterfall.

Sounds fascinating doesn´t it?! Well it was good but not great, I was expecting something else... as it so happenes we were on the bus A LOT, maybe 50 hours in total? Maybe more..?
The towns that we did visit were very touristy and not really what I was looking for, i wanted the traditional, authentic side of chile, although we did drive passed a lot of beautiful sights, like volcanoes, lakes, forests, waterfalls, dogs etc...
the overall 7 days was tiring, bc we had to wake up very early and have 15 minutes to eat and shower... but very beautiful.

Let me tell you some of the highlights...
We went horseback riding though some beautiful wooded forests that led to a beach and my horse along with the others started cantering like crazy down the coast. it was a lot of fun and i remember how terrified i was, but would definetly do it again. one word of advise though, never go horse riding with a day pack on, bring nothing except good shoes and pants. My backpack was so noisy jingling and almost ruined the experience.
Then for dinner, the hostel we were staying in cooked us a beautiful feast of barbequed meats and bread and rice, i love the food here, its really simple but they know exactly what to do with meat and fish! they make teh best grilled fish and salmon. yummiii 😉

We´ve been getting drunk on wine every night and waking up with a nice hangover, also, i´ve been unfortunate to get the top bunk two nights in a row and woken a few of the girls up by falling off on my ass in thick socks on polished floors... banging my head on the ceiling and trying to climb up the bunk on a bedside table, and falling backwards on my ass with a cup of tea that went all over the place! and everyone has started making fun of me for being a clutz...! Not even a week though and i´ve stuck by my reputation! fuck!

Another night, we went to some natural hot springs at the bottom of a volcano and met about a million israelis, they were so funny, i felt so at home meeting israelis and im going to try to meet them in beunos aires for pesach, april 12th.

I´ve met loads of cool people on this tour, all which i´ll be keeping in contact with, and some annoying shits who make me want to cut off my arm just so I have something to throw at them.

I love talkin to people about there experiences, and hearing about their lives, its so fascinating. you´d be suprised how someone who appears completly opposite has led an almost exact lifestyle and its interesting to see where they took it because you can skip asking yourself what if i had done that...?

I met two really gorgeous couples, a Swiss couple and a Brzilian one.
The Swiss couple are so cute together and very adventurous and the Brazilian ones, have the most beautiful story, whoever is going to read this ios going to cry for sure... Allen, you have a tissue? its your kind of story you sentimental dork...
ok 😉
So this Brazilian couple- grew up together then their parents moved to two different towns and were forced to be seperated. The boy was absolutely crazy in love for this girl and she likes him ´as a friend´... so every summer, her parents would bring her back to where she used to live and she´d spend whole summers with this guy and would talk to him about her boyfriends back home and he was so patient and always stayed a good friend to her, thought he never had a chance but prayed to god every day that they would end up together. he even told her every time they saw eachother that they will get married and she will love him.
let me just tell you quickly- he looks like dean cain and she looks like my gorgeous sister sam. the most exceptinally immaculate couple you have ever seen.
so, one summer she turned 22 i think and was engaged to this guy who she was going out with for 7 years! she went back to her old home town and this guy wooed her and confessed his love and she said ok and they were married 5 months later and have been together for 5 years and are currently travelling around south america by car and make a different dish in each hostel on each different night, 2 nights ago they made sushi. they are so cute, and when they told me their story i actually started crying! what is wrong with me?!!! fuck sake, pull yourself together woman!

So yeah, the trip was great because i got to meet loads of interesting people and hear many awesome stories, some that made me cry some that made me laugh.

I am going North to Valperiso, a pretty town with nothing much to do but take pictures, im going with one swiss girl, Noami and two Sweedish girls, Johanna and Jenny. I will just spend a day there and come back to Santiago, where I will plan my next step which will probablly be--- i think i will go to mendoza (an 8 hr bus trip in argentina)... and then come back to sabntiago by april 17th to catch my plane to buenos aries.

mum- im waiting for my package, its not here, maybe in a day or two it will get here, i hope so, im getting desperate, who was it that told me to leave my lonely planet book at home? sarah or fish!? it was one of you for sure...

Oh by the by, funny thing- i ran in to lauren jacobs from school. shes staying in my hostel, in my room, how strange! were going out drinking tonight and shes catching a plane to columbia at 5am, so it will be a quick brush with the past, but still how crazy is that!!!?

allright, getting really hungry now and my hour is up...
by the way, if anyone needs to ring me, my mobile number is: 0056 8 940 1123

adios for now.

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Comments

[Jen :)]

I'm jealous
Hey Deb! Your blogs sound more and more amazing. It seems that your getting more and more comfortable there. Your a really good writer by the way! And i'm jealous!!!!!!!! I think i might just go and pack my shit and come to Chile..ok? hehehehe Love you, Miss you!

[Ivan]

Tourist to-boot
Hey Deb, Looks like everything panned out rather nicely, I'm so glad that it did. Experiences can give or take without any warning (like the whole clutz thang ... wonder if that is true ... you being a clutz and all ... hehe). It does read like you haven't met to many Chileans in Chile though, which is kind of weird and funny at the same time. I think it is the whole travelling thang, it can be wierd like the LaurenJ experience or funny like the whole 'Hey look at me I'm a clutz thang (hehe)'. OK, OK stop with the clutz thang. Well Deb i am glad that your doin'it like you wanna. Keep up the diaries, they are fantastic, lovin each one more and more. I am actually hanging for the next one like a weekly soapy. Ivan

[WhereIsDeb]

hey guys, yeah suprisingly i havent met enough Chileans except for my tour guide who i think may have had a thing for me, he kept calling me pretty lady and was always trying to hug me and playing with my hair and stuff. ivan, you did warn me but i dont mind i felt like a queen, haha :) and i love the people here, how friendly and helpful they are, today the cleaning lady came into my room and saw that i wasnt well, (by the way i had some serious food poisoning last night) so i asked her for another blanket and she not only gave me another blanket but she also tucked me in, it was the cutest thing ever. it made me miss my mum!

[Stephen Paul]

Authentic Chile?
Im sorry you didnt have such a great time on your trip to The Lake District... Perhaps it was because you were on a bus with no control? I rented a car and was in the south for 2 weeks, I saw so many towns large and small... speaking intermediate spanish really helped, a gringo speaking spanish is all it takes to become an instant friend of most rural chileans. If I had used public transportation or taken a tour, I would have never stopped at the tiny town of Melipueco near Conguillio for lunch and met a nice family who ran the only nightclub in town, I would not have seen the poverty of Lota, the enchanting isolation of Coachamo... You should stay in Chile longer!!! :) I love your blog, keep posting!!