We left Santiago looking forward to hitting the beaches, but instead we hit 3 days of cloudy skies. Only at 6pm on our last evening did the sun come out!! Valpo wasn’t our favourite place. We had expected something small and quaint with beautiful funicular railways running up and down its many hills. Instead we found a place looking tired and unloved, in need of a good clean and a lick of paint. It was also suffering after a huge gas explosion and fire ripped apart part of the historic quarter the night before our arrival. The acrid smell of smoke still lingered in the air. But let’s look at the positives! It has an excellent Metro train system to get you away from town! The funiculars are very cheap and good fun to ride, although ... read more

Villarrica turned out to be a great place to relax for a few days, do not much, and make new friends. We really enjoyed ourselves despite not seeing much of the town. Our hostel was excellent and we had a view from our window of Volcano Villarrica which dominates the skyline. We wanted to climb it but at US$90 for the trip it was twice the price I had anticipated (45,000 Chilean Pesos). Friends who did the excursion said it was an excellent experience and not too hard to climb. The lakeside area was nice (but I didn't take the camera out when we went for a stroll!) and the indigenous Mapuche fair was good with food, music and dance. We managed a couple of trips out . Nearby Pucon is the heart of the local ... read more

Our short trip over to the island of Chiloé took us over the Canal de Chacao and away from the Chilean mainland. On the crossing we saw a school of dolphins playing in the busy shipping lane, and a flock of pelicans glided gracefully by. Our first stop was the town of Ancud, the last bastion of Spanish rule in Chile. The main reason for our visit though, was to meet up with Juno (Junah/Jeroen) from Belgium who was a fellow student on our English teaching course a year ago. He owns a farm nearby and we were keen to see what his lifestyle was like. It was great to see him again after a year, and it was a pleasure to have a wonderful dinner with his delightful girlfriend Grecia. Ancud was a very quiet ... read more

Who said travelling around South America would be easy? Flexibility is the key. Yes, yes, we’ve always known that, but from Puerto Deseado we changed our plans so often that we almost forgot what we originally wanted to do! Plan A - travel to Comodoro Rivadavia then on to Bariloche to cross into Chile, visiting Puerto Varas en route to Chiloe. (discarded because we fancied trying somewhere different and had heard good reports about the Carretera Austral) Plan B - travel to Caleta Oliva then on to Los Antiguos to cross into Chile, going up the Carretera Austral to Chaiten before crossing to Chiloe. (discarded because there has just been the annual Cherry Festival in Los Antiguos and every hotel is full. Really, EVERY hotel is full!) So, we took the bus to Comodoro Rivadavia………. Plan ... read more

It was quite an interesting journey back into Argentina. From Puerto Natales we took a bus to Rio Turbio on the Argentine side of the border, just a few km away. The crossing was easy and quick, quite different to our previous experiences! Then we had to buy another ticket to Rio Gallegos. When we arrived at the office, it was closed and there were loads of people outside. It looked a like a scene outside a travel agency which has just announced it has gone into liquidation and their customers have lost their money! Fortunately that wasn’t the case, its just that the office doesn’t open until half an hour before departures. Phew!! We never thought we would end up going back to Rio Gallegos, but we didn’t really have a choice if we wanted ... read more