Challenged and Chuffed in Chile

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Chile became much more interesting as soon as we left Santiago. Our first stop South was Valparaiso, one of the most important ports on the whole Pacific coast and with a rich and interesting history. European and US business interests during the port's heyday in the 19th century had brought hundreds of international settlers to the area. The city sprawls higgledy-piggedly over a series of small hills connected to the port area by century-old funiculars that only carry a handful of people. There are numerous hidden alleys and stairwells that connect all the streets on different levels and it was a fabulous place for rambling around and getting happily lost. It also felt quite Bohemian and apparently attracts a lot of arty types, including the poet Pablo Neruda whose eclectic house we visited. All the houses are brightly painted which adds to the colourful vibe and is probably just as well as they are all built out of adobe covered in rusted corrugated iron which would look pretty ugly if it weren't painted. A guide explained that the authorities had only hit upon the idea fairly recently having been inspired by the houses in Bahia, Brazil "...like Salvador, you know?" We did know and it provide a nice link between our destinations even though we had recently hopped countries.

It was a long journey to our next destination in the Lake District so it was overnight bus time again. This is Chile however and, even though we had gone for the cheapest option, we still got super-comfy fully reclining seats, a pillow and blanket, and coffee dispensed by the smiling conductor first thing in the morning. The mind boggles to think what would have been offered on the other service that was nearly three times the price, a jacuzzi and your own personal conductor perhaps?! We arrived early in Pucon on a gloriously sunny day with a perfect view of the Villarrica volcano towering over us. There was only one thing for it...

We were glad we took our time to work up to the idea of climbing it, though, as the next day was grey and overcast. We still went for a great 30km bike ride through fields of yellow flowers and over fast-flowing rivers with clear glacial water. It was beautiful and the waterfalls that were our destination were such a gorgeous ice-blue that it was well worth the saddle-soreness that followed. (They were men's bikes with the most uncomfortable saddles I have ever encountered. So much so that I cycled most of the 18k home standing up.) It's Spring in Chile and there are flowers everywhere and the landscape is lush and green. Although it's called the Lake District I hadn't been expecting it to be quite so much like the English one! Although with the mountainous backdrop perhaps it was more like Austria. Not that I've ever been but this is what I imagine it ought to look like there! Complete with wooden chalets and chocolate shops. The legacy of numerous German immigrants who colonised the area generations ago was visible everywhere. It seemed slightly incongrous, but we certainly weren't complaining about the 'kuchen' that was advertised everywhere. Although in one coffee shop they were actually playing the Skorpions which I thought was definitely one concession too far!

We had booked to climb Villarrica the next day and I was over the moon when we woke up to another glorious day without a cloud in the sky. Although low in altitude terms (2840m) it was still a tough 5 hour climb and we were kitted out with all the necessary gear (which unsurprisingly was a far better quality than the ancient crap we were given in Ecuador) including crampons and ice axes. The sky was such a deep blue and the snow so deep and crisp that it was just wonderful and, despite the muscles that were already beginning to ache, I was in heaven as we trudged up. We could see for miles and the views of all the different lakes and volcanoes were spectacular. There were five of us in our group and the guide set a very slow and steady pace which gave us plenty of time to contemplate and admire the beauty surrounding us. It also meant that we were practically the last group to arrive victoriously at the summit, but that was fine as we had it almost to ourselves and the mountain was ours, and ours alone, on the way down.

Villarrica is an active volcano and I had been propelled to the top by thoughts of seeing magma bubbling away before me. We braved the thick sulphur fumes for as long as we could stand (which in my case was about 10 seconds, you could taste it at the back of your throat and it really stung your eyes) and peered down into the crater. Unfortunately, this time there was nothing to see and a large belch of thick fumes sent us scurrying back. We later met some people who had climbed on the same day as us who actually had photos of (small amounts) of lava spurting out the top so we were just unlucky. Oh dear, might just have to climb another one.... No, it was all very, very cool and there's not many people can say they've climbed to the top of an active volcano. Well, not unless you count the hundred or so tourists who climb that one every day!!

I found it much, much easier than Cotopaxi probably mainly due to the low altitude. It was also less steep and we ascended in zig-zags which was so much better than trying to march straight up as on Cotopaxi. The best difference though was the descent. I hated this on Cotopaxi but here it was definitely the highlight for us and everyone else we spoke to. We were allowed to slide most of the way down! As Fiona pointed out, she would usually come down a mountain on her bum anyway so may as well do it deliberately. We had special mats to tie round our bums and all slid down in deep channels in the snow. It was kind of like bob-sleigh without the sleigh. Or the bob. Excellent fun!

After a day recovering (I relaxed on a sun-lounger, Fiona went horse-riding) we continued our journey southwards. We arrived in Puerto Varas from where we were hoping to book an onward journey by ferry. We had felt a definite shift in our fellow travellers over the recent days. This part of Chile is a very, very popular destination for serious walkers and active people many of whom seem to be very, very organised and fully-equipped for any eventuality. We were beginning to feel like the poor relations when explaining our sketchy, haphazard plans to people who had every hour of their itinerary mapped out and reservations booked months ahead for boats, hostels etc. We also observed with bemusement their novel habits of cooking their own meals in the hostels until it dawned on us that perhaps that would be a good way to save some money....

We were converted and began zealously cooking every meal until one day we arrived home from the port, chuffed with our purchases of fish so fresh it was practically still swimming, to find a previously unnoticed big sign in the hostel kitchen forbidding the cooking of fish. Apparently it smells. (Bear in mind the place is a port to fully appreciate the ridiculousness of that rule) I was okay as my smoked salmon (which incidentally cost less than a pound for a kilo. Yum) did not contravene the rules but Fiona got told off for cooking her salmon. So, quite rightly, she beligerently set about breaking every rule the hostel had. And they had a lot!

Despite not having booked our ferry months in advance, we managed to get a place on the boat the following day. There is a boat that sails the whole way down the coast from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Although we want to eventually end up in Puerto Natales we decided it would be more interesting to do a mixture of overland and sea travel. Plus the fact that I'd heard a few horror stories about the roughness of the sea did put me off a bit I have to admit. So we opted for a 24 hour trip from Puerto Montt to Puerto Chacabuco. The long trip is well-established on the backpacker trail but as we boarded our boat we gradually realised that the average age of our fellow passengers was approximately 70!!

It was a cheap trip but our cabin was definitely a step-up from our tinbox on the Amazon and fortunately we had a four man cabin all to ourselves even though everyone else seemed to be packed in like sardines. We were lucky to have beautiful weather the whole time and the views became more and more impressive as the journey progressed. I was also relieved that there was only about an hour of rough sea, when we pulled out into the Pacific rather than the sheltered canals and inlets, but as this was at 2am I just lay in bed and tried to pretend it was a fairground ride. We soon warmed to our shipmates and came to appreciate that hanging with Chilean OAPs was actually rather nice. As there were few foreigners aboard we were treated as novelty items and even given 'hilarious' Chilean names by the on-board entertainment manager (yes, it was a bit like Butlins). Our new friends taught us some card games and loved it when we attempted to join in with the sing-along-with-Max (the entertainment guy) traditional Chilean song evening. We disembarked reluctantly, sorry to miss out on the bingo and tea-dance evening that followed on the return leg!!

So we arrived in Coyhaique confident of our onward route. However, having been unreliably informed by websites and guidebook (grrr) we discovered we'd missed the weekly bus southward. So we'll have to do a combination of minibus and lake-crossing to travel over into Argentina. Here apparently the road South is a lot less scenic but the advantage being that there is one at least, as opposed to the Carretera Austral in Chile which soon peters out into archipelagic jigsaw pieces. So onward and southward, whilst trying to find more layers of clothes in our rucksacks to combat the freezing winds blowing down off the beautiful mountains. Maybe those other travellers had the right ideas after all..... Nah!


The condensed version: All at sea with Chilean pensioners and out of our depth with the active-traveller set! Doing it our own way and loving it!

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Photos

Nearly There!
That's sulphur behind us, not clouds

On Ferry
The view as we neared Puerto Chacabuco

Comments

[Nosi]

I´m inspired!
Looks fantastic! Can´t wait to follow in your footsteps! Love Nos X

[Cutler]

Smiling away..
...as I read this...surely you would have learnt about getting an iternary from our inter-railing days?!? Looks like you still having lots of fun. Great photos!!

[The Carlstons in SA]

Wow!
What a fantastic time you are having! And we thought that we had travelled the world!