Blogs from Chile Chico, Aisén, Chile, South America

I grabbed some food for the long bus ride to Chile Chico. And wow, was that a long bus ride. The landscape was... pretty boring. But my original plan for going to Chile was something that Lucy had told me about back in El Calafate. From El Chalten, you can take a bus to a lake, and then a boat across that lake, and then walk a few kilometers across the Chilean border at a place where you can only cross on foot. Then you continue walking for a few more kilometers on the Chilean side to another, larger lake, and take a boat across that lake to the southern most town on the Carretera Austral. And the Carretera Austral is a long gravel highway through Chilean Patgonia that was built by Pinochet, and that everyone ... read more

Chile Chico is situated on Lago General Carrera, at the border with Argentina. I thought I could pass through this little town on my way to see las capillas de marmol, get some Chilean pesos, secure a tour. Oh how wrong I was... This is a siesta town and the bus arrived at 1pm. The bank, the tourist center, everything will re-open at 3:00. I found a place to eat that had a delightful vegetarian plate. After 3 I went to the bank but the ATM was still closed for maintenance. I waited for a bit and tried to get out money, but no such luck. It's a state bank, and not hooked up the to plus or visa. The people were very helpful and tried to help me exchange the little Argentine pesos that I ... read more

Jediny autobus na juh do Coyhaique odchadzal o 6 rano, to znamenalo vstavat po tme o 5, balit stan a vsetko ostatne, nastastie sme nic nezabudli. Prvy hodinu v autobuse sme stravili okruznou jazdou po La Junte, nevieme presne preco, ale uz o 6 sme konecne vyrazili. Cesta vyzerala ako obycajne - kamenita a prasna. Neskor sme sa vyhybali nejakemu tahacu a nas sofer zasiel prilis doprava. Autobus zachrcal a nam bolo hned jasne ze sme poriadne zapadli. Nebezpecne sme sa zacali naklanat a nakoniec sme boli poziadani opustit autobus co sme velmi radi urobili. Kolesa na pravej strane boli vyse polovice zapadnute v suti. Pod nami zraz dole, zarasteni burinami, takze az ked sme vystupili sme si uvedomili ze sme vlastne mali stastie. Tahac nas v tom nenechal, este zavolali dalsi a spolocne sa im ... read more

After our long drive, our destination was a a small town in the southern part of the lake General Carrera called Chile Chico. The town, no longer than 5 blocks, is a great getaway from city life. The only thing you can hear during the day is one or two cars driving by or the wind coming from the lake. Nice little shops are lined up on its main street and offer all that daily life requires. Warning for those of you that decide to go: there's only one ATM in town and it only accepts Master Card. We stayed at a quaint hostel just outside of town were we had the most amazing sleep we've had in a hostel. ... read more