Chile

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We heard mixed reviews on Chile and were almost convinced to skip this country on our tour of South America. Boy, are we glad we made it here! Two lovely Israeli girls convinced us to join in on renting a car with them from Bariloche to Pucon, which in turn allowed us to somehow skip the $100 visa fee. I hope this doesn´t cause any trouble when we pass back into Argentina tomorrow, but we have the necessary paperwork according to the ladies who sold us our bus tickets. The road trip itself was fraught with plenty of minor tribulations, as we had to return our first car because it was having trouble starting and made a few wrong turns along the way. We reached the Chilean border about 50 minutes too late, thanks to said setbacks, and were turned back to go find lodging in a small border town in Argentina. Luckily, we ate one of the best meals in this town and found a very cheap hostel, though not the most comfortable or friendly.

Anyway, we arrived in Pucon one day late and only a few thousand Chilean pesos behind because the hostel we had booked only charged us half for the night we missed. Our hostel in Pucon was a diamond in the rough, El Refugio by name and atmosphere. The staff was the best we´ve had yet and helped us find all the activities to scratch our itch for adventure. We spent our second day there canyoning. Canyoning is basically just making your way down a river. When there is a waterfall, you harness up and repel down it. If you find your self between two very steep, narrow canyon walls you simply put your arms out for stability. This was a completely new experience and I gained a strong appreciation for the power of water. The next day we woke up at 4 in the morning, after a hefty 3.5 hours of sleep to be driven to the base of La Villarica volcano. Once we reached the base, our guide said that weather conditions were quite unfavorable and it might be possible to make it to the top if we move fast, but not to expect any visibility. The solo german girl in our group took the first chance to turn back. Then there were 5. We decided to just go for it, since we knew our days in Pucon were limited and we had to dominate this thing. For the first hour or so we followed blindly up steep slopes of loose gravel, trying not to trip more than anyone else while unable to see anything at all in the pitch black. By sunrise we were about a third of the way up, and this would be about the last time we would have any views. They alone were worth it. The rest of the ascent was in thick clouds, we could have been somewhere in Siberia for the looks of it. Despite hating my life at some points during the hike, reaching the top was such a sweet feeling of accomplishment. We didn´t stay at the summit long due to the sulphur coughs and lack of breathtaking views, but the fun part was still to come! We hiked back down to the ice sheet and could then sled down the naturally formed louge tracks. For certain tracks we were allowed to use our tiny plastic sleds, and others we just slid down on our handy "ass protectors," using our ice picks to control our speed. It was an alpine slide in pure form! After the climb we enjoyed some well-deserved beers and naps. That night was a celebration at the hostel with carne asada, plenty of grilled vegetables, chorizo, wine, beer, and music. This day will go down in history for both of us.

It was hard to leave Pucon and the adventures it held, but we pushed on to Valparaiso. We didn´t know what to expect. The first day was an absolute success, we arrived early in the morning to an almost empty hostel which allowed us to shower and nap well before our supposed check-in time. By noon we were ready to face the hills of this city. We set off with our map and bellies full of empanadas to tour the streets full of grafiti and street art, as well as views of the bay and hilly city. By some chance we stepped up to this certain staircase in cerro bellavista to take a photo while the artist of the building was sitting there. He offered to do my portrait, so we and the few friends we´d picked up along the way spent the afternoon on a retro artist´s porch overlooking the beautiful city drinking beers with photographers and feeling very swanky. On our way back to cerro alegre we encountered a city park full of life and had to stop for a ride on the swinging dragon carnival ride- the best dollar we´ve ever spent. Today was a bit more mellow, we enjoyed some delicious sushi and chillin´in Renaca beach. Life is pretty tough.

I will add pictures when I´m at a capable computer. Until next time!

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Photos

Homeless
Exchanging our first car for one that starts

Pucon
Paradise on a black beach