Pucon

Day 1

Getting up fairly early and deciding not to have a shower as they were not great here, we had our hard roll breakfast and then headed for the bus terminal.  Once again, we had a pretty long bus journey to get us to Pucon It was 4 or 5 hours but so far we have found the buses in Chile to be very comfortable.

Arriving in Pucon in the early afternoon, we then had the job of trying to locate our accommodation which was a little way out of town.  About 20 minutes later we found it and checked in, the owner told us that he was going to give us an upgrade and we were shown to quite a nice room.  The hostel had a very cosy feeling about it with a communal living room and kitchen, all heated by wood-burners.

After we had unpacked and done our usual security lock-up we then headed out into town to check it out.  Our first impressions were that it was very touristy compared to the other towns we had been to with plenty of agencies offering excursions.  It was also very pretty with a snow-capped volcano (more about that later!) as a back drop to the town.

 

Wandering around for a while we then found a bar where we ordered a few drinks whilst sitting outside in the sun people watching and admiring the scenery. 

Soon we were joined by a stray dog (German Shepperd) who decided to lay next to us whilst pawing us for attention.  Although as with other Chilean towns there are lots of strays, however they all seem to be very well fed by the locals and shopkeepers.

 

Checking out a few food menu’s we were not that impressed so we headed to the local supermarket to pick up some food and a few bottles of the local red wine (Carmenere) which is fantastic.

We then headed back to the hostel and instead of going out for an evening meal we had something home prepared in the kitchen washed down with a bottle of fantastic red before heading to bed later in the evening.

Day 2 – What Rain??

Checking the weather forecast the day before it foretold of rain, thunder and lightning all day so we had already decided that today we would rest up and catch up on some research and blogging.  Also we had been informed by the hostel owner that it was the Chilean elections today so most places would be shut for the day.

So after a very nice shower and a fairly decent breakfast we settled down in the living area and set to our various tasks, but outside it didn’t seem such a bad day.

For most of the day we stuck to the blogging and research whilst the promised weather never seemed to materialise.

Early in the evening Shell knocked up a nice Spaghetti Bolognaise which we enjoyed with a couple of bottles of that nice red wine, followed by lights out.

Day 3 – A River Wild!

It was pretty overcast this morning so we had a pretty lazy morning before heading out around midday.  We then walked into town and checked out a few of the tour companies before finding one we liked and booked a river rafting trip for the afternoon.

Booking done we then had a wander around the town and had a drink before heading back to the hostel to pick up our swimming togs before going back to the agency to wait for our pick up.

 

Jumping into a mini-bus and then after another pick up in town we headed out of town and drove for around 20 minutes before parking up.  There seemed to be some sort of problem as we then headed back towards town before finally arriving at a place where we picked up the rafts, our wetsuits, booties and helmets.

We then all boarded the mini-bus again drove for around ½ hour until we then hit a little lane that took us down to near the river edge.  Here we were directed to some pretty basic changing rooms where we all got changed into out rafting outfits, which as you can see were very fetching.

 

Next, we were all led down to the river edge near the rafts where we were give our paddles and then given some (very) basic instructions.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t very much English going on but the basic grasp we had seemed to be, forward, back and cower down in the raft.  Also a few directions on what to do if you came out of the raft, which we thought seemed a bit unlikely!!

Soon we were paddling onto the river and letting the current take us along with cries of forward (in Spanish) and stop paddling (In Spanish).  Fortunately, a couple of our fellow Chilean rafters had a bit of English and they kept on shouting forward and stop at us so we knew what we were doing.

It wasn’t such a good start as we hit the first set of rapids when despite our best effort’s we found ourselves grounded on one of the large rocks in our path.  Once we had pushed off we then hit the first major set of rapids (Grade 3 – which are quite more exciting than we imagined), paddling furiously we then heard a scream and when we turned around we saw that two of our colleagues had been thrown out.

 

After we managed to rescue these shivering and shocked back into the raft (the water was freezing and no sun)  and now down by one paddle we continued down the river, trying to enjoy the incredible scenery but having to concentrate on paddling, cowering inside the raft and stopping.

A couple more sets of smaller rapids later we then hit another really bit set, which resulted in everyone apart from Shelley and the instructor coming out of the Raft.  Well not quite, I had a small Chilean guy torpedo through my face which left him in the water and me with my body in the water with my legs desperately clinging on inside the raft.

 

Shell suddenly jumped into the front of the raft and manfully managed to drag me back into the raft and then I turned around and stuck my paddle out to rescue two others from the river.  Once we managed to get everyone back in the boat again we were off again. 

We continued along for another 10-15 minutes (it was quite hard as it seemed that only 4 out of the 6 of us were pulling our weight) before hitting one final big set of white water. It seemed as though the whole raft was going to tip over as we were pinned vertically as water covered us.  I’m pretty sure though that the instructor had done some little trick here to pin us here to get soaked.

Finally we then drifted down the calmer waters until we then paddled back into the shore and our white knuckle adventure was over.  Shell did really well, she said she was determined not to get wet and declared that her ‘arse had turned into a plunger and would not be shifted!!’

Back on terra-firma  we were pointed towards some more basic changing rooms to get out of our wetsuits, which would have been OK if Shell and I had thought to pack towels (we didn’t anticipate getting that wet!).

Feeling a bit soggy after getting changed, one of the guides got out his laptops and showed us the pictures taken by the accompanying canoe/photographer guy which were very impressive.  Also for the price of around £4 which you couldn’t complain about and meant that we have some good pictures to share with you on the blog.

Heading back to town we had a couple of celebratory beers whilst Shell now reconsidered her pre-rafting statement that she would be happy to do grade 5 rapids, before heading back to the hostel.  We highly recommend white water rafting and can see ourselves doing again before this trip is over.

At the hostel we had some left-overs from the night before and a bit more red wine (surprise surprise!) before going to bed.

Day 4 – Bookings

Again, we had a pretty lazy morning before heading out to sort out some bookings for the next couple of days.

First off we headed to the bus station to sort out our overnight coach to Santiago in a couple of day’s time before heading back into town to try and sort out a couple of excursions.

 

 

Checking out various agencies and trying to find the best deal we finally found one where we booked a couple of trips, hiking to the top of the volcano (although Shell was dubious about this one) and a general sightseeing tour including a volcanic spring spa (as we thought this would be nice before catching the night coach).

We then had to wait for a bit in the agency until the hiking guide came along to get our sizes for climbing boots and kit.

As this was sorted we went for a couple of beers before returning to the hostel where Shell cooked up her famous Chorizo stew which we had with some more red wine.  We then relaxed and read for a while before bed.

Day 5 – F*?$ing Volcano Villarica! (Shell’s words not mine!)

It was a very early start so up at 5.30 and we grabbed a quick coffee and bananas before making our way into town to the agency for our 6.30 start.

When we got to the agency we were issued with our kit, which I was surprised was quite a large rucksack containing everything we needed for the hike.

We then all (about 12 of us) got into a minibus and we were driven towards the Volcano Villarica going up a very bumpy track until we reached a car park at the base of the volcano where we were told to kit up and issued with ice picks!!

The first part of the climb was around a 300 metre trek up a stony track that led up to the snow line.  It was very windy (about 70kph) and it was already knocking Shell off her feet and I knew a ‘I don’t like this!” was coming my way.

 

Shell had done her research though and she had learned that there was a chair lift on the way up that cut out an hour off the hike.  However when we reached this we were told it was not going to be running due to the high winds, Shell wasn’t happy!

So we climbed for another hour until we reached the first rest point where we sat down and had something to drink and a biscuit for energy purposes.  Shell sat there not happy scanning the groups in the hope that someone was going to quit at this point and she would join them (Although someone did quit from another group)

 

It didn’t happen and about 15 minutes later we were into the snow heading up the Volcano, albeit at quite a slow pace, occasionally our feet giving way in the snow making it very hard going.  We were soon slipping towards the back of the pack and then seeing them 100 metres in the distance (they all being in their 20’s).  It was good that we had four guides with us, one that hung back with us whilst we (Shell not Glenn) struggled, with the wind and snow/ice blasting into our faces.

 

We then came to our second rest stop for some more refreshments, but by this point I could see the look on Shell’s face so I gave her some distance and decided it was better not to speak to her.

Ten minutes later and we were off again once again zig-zagging our way up the steep snow covered climb, slipping and sliding and once again finding ourselves cut adrift from the pack.  Shell was by now taking three paces and then stopping.  Just for information the last time this Volcano erupted was in 2015, but it was OK to climb now and we would be able to get a view of the magma inside the crater at the top.

Another 300 metres later and another rest break, this time as the slope was so steep we had to hack out a hollow in the snow to place our rucksack’s  in so you had some stability to sit on.  I was still not making eye contact with Shell as I was now regretting saying to her when she had her doubts about this booking ‘It’s only a walk, we’ve done this before’

 

Now we were both really blowing but I think Shell had now past it and I think she was determined not to be beaten by this thing and not to be outdone by the 20 somethings, so we marched/staggered on until the next rest point. We were told here that the wind was in the wrong direction which meant you would choke on the sulphur fumes so we may not be able to do the summit (I think both of us would have been happy), but the wind changed and we were told we could continue – damn

 

At this point I could see the volcano rim which seemed like another very steep 200 metre climb so I was thinking OK we can do this as we headed off again.  I think both of us were really hurting by now and I couldn’t believe it when we got to the top only to see another 300 metre steep hike to the top ahead of us.  It was at this point if Shell had said she wanted to quit I would have been with her!

The final climb was agony as you had to kick your boots into the snow for purchase with one foot directly over the other, hack your ice pick into the snow for if you slipped and fell, it would be quite  a distance down the volcano. I started to get cramp in my knees, however after a gruelling 7 hours we finally made it to the top, well done us!!

 

Unfortunately, at the top it was once again very windy which meant we couldn’t venture too close to the crater lip for the danger of being blown into it, which meant after all that effort we couldn’t even see the magma.

 

 

Although the vista from up there was amazing we stopped for two minutes taking snaps (we forgot our union jack flag to plant at the summit!) but both of us just wanted to get down again, so we ventured to the side and waited for our guide.

 

Now it was time for the fun part going down!  We were told to change into some other clothing and a harness type thing with a bit of plastic dangling between our legs, it was time to slide on our arses all the way down.

We were given some instructions on how to do this, using our feet and ice picks as brakes, ensuring the ice pick was to one side to avoid impaling ourselves on the way down.  Led to a small but very steep track (created by previous human toboganist’s) we were told not to use the plastic on this one and just do it on our backsides.

It was very steep and hard to control and I think we both rocketed down it trying to stop ending up in a bit of a pile up at the bottom of the first one.  We then walked to the second track and once again we fought for control as we plummeted down the side of the volcano.

By the time we got to the third we had started to master it and as the gradient was a bit shallow we switched to our plastic mats which made it a bit quicker, but now we were starting to enjoy it.

By the 4^th and 5^th time I started to go off-piste and over-took Shell on a couple of occasions taking my own paths and then re-joining in front of her.  It was really good fun we only wish we weren’t quite so knackered so we could enjoy it more, I think there is a very strong case for a cable car to the top of the volcano so you can just do this!

By the time we reached the last couple of slopes we had one girl in front of us that was holding us up which was a bit of a shame, but finally we were at the bottom of the snow line and it was just another ½ walk until we reached the bottom and the car park.  7 hours up and about 2 hours down!!

We can’t even say we were pleased or felt we had accomplished something (maybe in a couple of month’s) and Shell now says I can no longer convince her to do any more hiking or be responsible for booking trips!! (I’m sure she’ll add her comments to this on her Chile round up!

After everyone was back at the mini-bus we were then driven back to the agency and taken around the back where they gave us a beer whilst we took off and unpacked all our climbing kit.  We then headed across the road for a couple more recovery beers whilst I listened to Shell moan for an hour or so about our day’s entertainment!!

Just about able to walk we took our bodies back to the hostel for a hot shower before heading out to what was touted as the best restaurant in town, as a way of appeasing Shell who was still complaining!

The restaurant was a big Parilla restaurant with a big wood fired grill outside, which meant lots of meat.  We placed our order for the mixed grill and as we were hungry a couple of sides as well, when it turned up we were faced with an impossible amount of meat which looked like it should have been for four (Sausage’s, Steak, Black Puddings, Chops, massive spare ribs, chicken hearts?) let alone the massive sides (I don’t think even Des Martin could have managed it).

We tried our very best but were beaten with the spare ribs, full bowl of chips and most of the salad to go, so we just finished the wine (couldn’t leave that!) and then waddled our aching bones back to the hostel for what we thought was going to be a coma style sleep!  (3 weeks later Shell still is complaining about it!!).

Day 6 – Fake flowers, trout’s, and scabs!

Shell taking over the blog…

So today we had planned a basic trip around the local area with the tourist company to use up time waiting for our night bus.

We woke up in the morning and I noticed a stinging sensation around my nose and mouth. After a bit of investigation and prodding in the mirror, I surmised that I actually had a chapped face!. A CHAPPED FACE!, this was caused by the high winds, dribbling nose and not even being able to cuff it for fear of letting go of the ice pick and falling to my death!. Well, quite a way back down the side of the volcano which would have meant re-climbing it which I personally think is worse than death! Anyway, on with the blog!

After applying some cream, grabbing b/f, we headed to the tourist office. When we arrived, we were told that the driver could only speak Spanish and we were the only ones on the trip (this would be hard work). But after a short wait, they managed to get some passing Chilean tourists on-board, taking the pressure of us a bit trying to look like we understood what he was saying and making Spanish small talk.

The first stop was a plastic flower shop, you will see by the pic Glenn will no doubt post how enthusiastic we were to stop at a fake flower shop about 3 minutes’ walk up the street from our hostel. Still, it beat hanging about in the hostel.

 

Next,  we made a stop over a bridge where you could get a good view of the rapids. We could see the rock we collided with and nearly took Glenn out which was pretty cool. Shame there were no rafts on the river when we were there so we could laugh heartily at other people’s misfortunes.

Our next stop was a trout farm (I don’t think there’s a lot to do for tourists in the surrounding area, other than kill yourself hiking up a snow capped volcano) which whilst it was by really pretty river, it was a pond,  full of trout. Worth mentioning by this time my lips were starting to balloon where the inside was chapped from heavy breathing up the mountain and my right earlobe was throbbing where I must have missed applying factor 50.  

 

Next, we were en-route to the waterfalls where we were treated to some spectacular views of F@#king Volcano Villarica, unimpeded by the buildings, telecom wires, etc obstructing it when viewing from town. Neither of us felt the urge to stop the driver to take a pic!

The waterfalls were pretty and we trekked around taking a few pics before we were led to the van to be taken to the hot springs.

The hot springs we went to aren’t the best in the area, but due to the late return time of the better springs, and the fact that you spent 3 to 4 hours there which we thought would be too long based on our track record of getting bored after 30 mins, we opted for this. We were right to do so, 30 mins into our 2hr stop we wanted to leave.

 

Back in town, we headed off to get a meal before the long coach journey. We had decided to go for a nice local dish which we had spotted people eating the previous day. Despite going back to the same place (no longer on the menu) and trudging around town looking for it, we finally gave in and had a mundane meal so we could get back, change and catch the bus.

The bus was really comfortable, we opted to upgrade to full Cama’s which basically meant that if you wasn’t the height of Glenn, you could pretty much stretch out. We laid back and admired the scenery until it got dark, watched some downloads and got some sleep. It was at this point Glenn opted not to tell me there was a scab forming under my nose!

Valdivia

Firstly, sorry for the delay in posting blogs, we’ve had some real tech issues with our laptop which are now sorted. The entry below was actually written weeks ago but we’ve only just been able to post.

Gutted, as we were only about a week behind at the time and now we have a lot of catching up to do, so they should come thick and fast now!

Day 1 – Small World

Time to move on again and after a very small and basic breakfast we headed to the bus terminal to catch a coach that would take 6 ½ hours to get to our next destination of Valdivia.

The coach journey was pleasant and enjoyable, giving us a chance to catch up with some blogging and do a bit of trip research as we watched the countryside go by.  It’s quite surprising how, as the coaches are pretty good in Chile, a 3 hour journey now feels like nothing and sometimes we even look forward to getting on a coach and having to do nothing but watch the scenery.

 

Arriving in Valdivia (Pronounced Baldibia) mid-afternoon, we dragged our bags down the road and found our hostel, which although basic (No En-Suite or towels for that matter) we had a spacious bright room.

 

Once we had done our usual thing of securing our bags to an immoveable object (with our trusty cable lock) we then headed out to explore the city.  After walking around for a bit we found the main square and promptly found a café/bar to sit down outside and have a couple of drinks.

 

Whilst sitting there we debated on whether or not to contact the Chilean people (this being their home town) who we had met some 11 months ago in Nepal and were also responsible for giving us an itinerary for Chile that we were currently following.

Deciding that we would drop them a quick facebook message when we got back to the hostel, we were then gobsmacked when Javiera just walked up to us and gave me a hug.  Javiera being one of the three people we had met in Nepal and she was just walking back from her work just around the corner. Quite amazing as this town has a population of 160,000!

Javiera was in a bit of a rush to catch a bus, we think, so after a quick hello and arranging to contact us to meet up the following day, she was gone.

Finishing our drinks we then headed back towards our hostel as we had seen a bar across the road that served food.  We had a couple of drinks and what Shell would only describe as beige food, we haven’t quite mastered the language or the menu’s yet.  All we do know now is if you order something with o’pobre in the title it means you get some beige lumps of meat, covered in onions and then a mountain of sickly looking chips over the top of it!

Day 2 – New/Old Friends

Today we got up fairly late as Shell was not feeling that great (must have been the beige food).  It most probably didn’t help that the shared shower either spat fire at you or tried to freeze you with a small tweek of the tap, no happy medium could be found.  Or the fact that she went flying on a slippery rug on the way back to our room, which attracted the attention of all the permanent residents on our floor and on looking at the scene might have concluded that Shell had thrown her electric tooth brush at the resident cat!!

We had been in contact with our Chilean friends Francisco and Javiera and we had agreed to meet up with Francisco in the square when we had bumped into his sister (Javiera).  So we went there and had a quick drink whilst we waited for him.

When Francisco turned up and after we had said our hello’s we took advantage of the fact we now had a good translator and asked him if he could help us sort out our blocked bank card problem.  We visited a couple of bank machines in the area but none seemed to have the pin service we needed, it would appear that we would have to go to a specific bank.

Giving up on the bank card, Francisco asked us if we would like to go and see a project he and his father were currently working on which was building a tourist hostel.  We walked to the site where the building was coming to shape and Francisco told us all about the plans and timescales for the work.

Arriving at the building site the construction was well underway and the first ten units were due to be completed and open around Nov/Dec just in time for the main tourist season.  Francisco showed us around the units which were almost complete apart from the painting and furnishings, they looked reallly good and spacious (one & two bed apartments with living room/en-suite bathroom and a small balcony each) it was a shame that they had not been open when we got there.  We both hope it’s a real success for him as he’s got future plans for bigger and better things.

After we had visited his project we then jumped in Francisco’s car and went to pick up Javiera as they wanted to show us around their city.  We drove across to one of the islands that is linked to the main city by bridges and we were taken to the local university where they had a botanical garden attached to it where the students could relax and study in nice surroundings.

 

We walked around the gardens for a bit and then were taken to a place where we could see the now infamous Valdivia bridge.  It was a draw bridge that had been constructed incorrectly that meant that one half of the bridge was permanently raised and could not be shut (which is not ideal for a bridge crossing!). Apparently, it would cost the government too much money to fix or demolish so at the moment they are just leaving that way for the time being.  So it’s not just London that has problems building bridges (Wobbly Millenium Bridge springs to mind!).

 

From here we were driven to a museum where we could get access to the river tow-path, where we were quite surprised to find sea-lion’s catching some rays on a nearby floating pontoon.  Apparently one turned up a while ago found the fish market across the other side of the riverbank (where they get scraps thrown to them) and decided to tell his mates about the easy pickings.  Now there is a pretty big colony in town, all lounging on the riverbank waiting for feeding time!!

 

At this point Francisco and Javiera had to return home so they dropped us back at the square and arranged to meet us again later in the evening to go out for a beer.

It was early evening by now so we headed off to a lively street that was suggested by Francisco where we went for a couple of drinks outside a bar and then found a restaurant where we managed to order some more beige food, pork chops and chips/salad, which was mildly more interesting than the o’pobre option!

We then met up back with Francisco and Javiera around 9.30 and were pleased to see that Francisco’s girlfriend, Stephanie (the 3^rd person we had met in Nepal) was with them.  We were taken to a lively bar slightly out of town where Francisco ordered us up various types of local craft beers for us to sample, which we were more than happy to.

During the next couple of hours we had a few drinks while I took the opportunity to try and practice some Spanish with them, whilst Shelley perfected her Spanish pronunciations of Valdivia, Catederal and Cafeteria, much to the amusement of our new/old friends.

A bit later on we were driven back to our hostel where we said our goodbyes and arranged to meet up the next day as they wanted to give us a tour of the coast and beaches, then headed off to bed for the night.

Day 3 – Padre & Roadtrip

Getting up late once more and having another horrible shower we then went to meet with Francisco as arranged.  He had kindly offered to take us to the bank specified where we would finally be able to unblock our bank card.

Francisco accompanied now by his dog, Meila (a small Jack Russel type thing that he rescued from the street) drove us for quite some distance into the outskirts of town in search of the bank we needed.  As we drove along it appeared that it seemed unlikely that the bank was where it was said to be.  After driving up and down the road for a bit with no sign of it, Francisco said we would pop into a nearby police station to find out where the bank was, we did and the police confirmed they had never heard of it!!

Thanking Francisco for his help he then dropped us back at the square as he had some work to do today, but we arranged to meet him later in the afternoon when he phoned us.

As we had a bit of time to kill we thought we would head down to the local fish market to have a look around and see if we could see any sea-lions.  Getting to the market we quickly spotted about 4 or 5 of them sat right outside the back of the stalls, on a small pontoon, pretty much with their knives and forks at the ready.

 

Leaving the market and walking along the river tow-path a bit further we came to another pontoon just off the riverbank. Here there were about 8 female and 4 male sea-lions all squabbling among themselves with the odd one being forced off the pontoon.  Also there were local small stray dogs in close attendance trying to attack the sea-lions as they tried to clamber from the water onto the pontoon, which was slightly concerning but we thought more so for the dogs as these were big sea-lions with impressive sets of fangs on them.

 

We could have sat there and just watched this soap opera for hours but unfortunately our tech problems raised their heads again as Shell’s mobile phone died (it now appears to have a one hour battery life), which meant that Francisco had no way of getting in touch with us.  We had no option but to return to the hostel to re-charge, but on the way home we checked out a couple of phone shops to see if we could get a replacement battery, without any luck (phone may be too old!).

Thankfully back at the hostel we managed to get back in touch with Francisco and we arranged to meet him a bit later in the town square.  When he arrived it was his dad that was driving and we were told that he was coming out for the trip, although he did not speak English. We were also pleased to find that everyone else, Javiera (who had taken the afternoon off work), Stephanie and Miela were coming along for the ride too.

Driving for some time we then started to hit some dirt roads that led towards the coast.  Along the way we stopped off at a local wood-carvers to have a look at his workshop and his goods, which were nice but we have no space for, also very much out of our budget!!  After about 10 minutes of trying to get the dog back in the car (she’s not exactly well trained yet) we headed off.

About ½ hour later we found ourselves in a lovely bay with rock arches and lots of sheep and cattle all roaming free around the place. The sheep were all nice and tranquil until Meila decided that she was a sheep dog, off the leash she proceeded to chase them all over the headland, scattering them everywhere, totally deaf to her owners efforts to try and stop her.

 

After a while Meila was finally caught and put firmly on a leash and then we had a little wander around the bay getting some nice photos.  Francisco’s dad checked at a nearby house he knew to see if there were any empanada’s for sale, there wasn’t so we headed off in the car again.

 

We followed a nice coastal road stopping at a couple of bays, including Mission Beach which was a very pretty little beach cove with small waves breaking across it, where a few more pics were taken.  It was great that we were taken on this trip as these were places we would not have found or visited by ourselves.

From Mission Beach the family had an idea to take us to a nearby fishing village where there was a food market where you could get some really nice food to eat.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there the market was closed (or not open that day?) so we just stopped to get a few photo’s before heading off again.

It was now translated to us that their dad said we could not visit Valdivia without visiting the one area that is famous for its craft beer.  We were taken to a large ale house that brewed a lot of the local craft beer, inside we were shown to a table and a large tower of one of the locals beers was ordered and then poured out by their dad.

Some sharing plates of food were ordered with another tower of beer, a different one this time.  When the food turned up unfortunately for Shelley about 75% of it contained or was wearing cheese, however she made up for this by eating, the beef chunks, chips and sausage pieces.

We sat there eating, drinking for some time, although their dad was a bit frustrated as apparently, he is very chatty and wanted to speak with us, but we did our best to try and speak to him the best we could.  But he kept himself busy topping up everyone’s glasses (especially Shell’s!!) and seemed very amused by my bad attempts at Spanish. Last evening I inadvertently made some comment about my penis instead of mushroom’s and now I had just declared to everyone that I had left Jersey for London because of my boyfriend, much to everyone’s amusement.  Francisco to me ‘Don’t worry my father is very broad minded!!’

 

It had been a lovely afternoon and Shell and I said to Francisco that we would like to pay for his Dad’s share of the bill as way as a thank you.  However his dad insisted to pay for the whole bill stating that his children’s friends were his friends!!  Also it was a shame that we were leaving the next morning as the dad wanted to invite us to his house the following night for a bar-be-que.  We have said it before but we must remember this openness and hospitality when we get home.  I also mentioned to Francisco that when we get back to London I will send his dad some English bitter’s to try as he collects beer from around the world as a hobby.

When we had finished eating and drinking we were driven and dropped off outside our hostel where we said our final farewells and thanks you’s to Francisco and his family.

We then went across the road and had a couple of cheeky beers before returning to the hostel for the night.

Chiloe - Ancud

Day 1 – More Travelling! – Chiloe- Ancud

Deciding not to take the 37hr bus journey in semi cama (slightly reclined) seats, we opted to re-trace our route back to Punta Arenas where we would catch a flight to Puerto Montt and from there travel to Chiloe. Chiloe was on our list of places to visit given to us by our Chilean friends we met way back in Nepal. Basically, it’s an island not like any other part of Chile. It still has its routes firmly in when they were occupied by Spain, had some cool stilted houses and penguins, at last!

Fully prepared this time, head to toe in thermal underwear and layers for the cold bus journey, we trudged up to the bus station and grabbed a coffee to wait for our 7:15am departure. The bus however turned out to be roasting hot! So we spent the entire 2.5hr journey removing those layers, fanning ourselves and Glenn managed to get a bit of blogging done.

Arriving at the airport, we managed to remove some more layers and pack them in our bags before checking in and catching the flight to Puerto Montt. On arrival, we caught another bus to take us to the city centre where we would pick up a bus to take us to Chiloe.

Chiloe is a big island so we opted to first stop at Ancud, which although didn’t have a brilliant write up, was the place where you could see penguins. We arrived at the bus station where Glenn jumped off and headed to the ticket counter whilst I waited for the luggage. A good move by all accounts as he got two of the last remaining seats for a bus leaving in 15mins!

Our final bus for the day was about 2hrs, which involved a ferry crossing so it wasn’t long before we were soon trudging around town looking for our hostel which turned out not to be too far.

The hostel turned out to be a bright yellow rickety affair but did give you great views of the sea. We had decided to go for shared bathroom options for the majority of the trip in Chile as the luxury of your own loo took us outside our budget. We checked in, secured our belongings and headed to town.

It turns out that there really isn’t much to see and do in Ancud apart from Penguins! We had a bit of a wander, finding the plaza etc and then decided it was beer-o-clock. It also turns out that there aren’t many bars (which are open) in Ancud either. We prefer local rustic bars with stripped lighting, cheap beer and friendly locals that you can get chatting to and soak in the atmosphere. What we found was a spruced up bar, overpriced and quite clinical.

After a very expensive beer, we realised that we hadn’t actually eaten at all today so headed back to a café that looked pretty reasonable. There was Glenn, myself and one other table but it would do. We opted for the local fish, Glenn’s with potato salad and mine with rice. Pretty average, very beige but we had a nice bottle of wine with it and it came to around £15 which was more in keeping with our budget expectations.

Dinner done and after a lot of traveling, we headed to our hostel and bed!

Day 2 – Penguins

It was bloody freezing when we woke up, even with about 5 blankets on your bed which restrict you from moving, pinning you to the bed and cutting off the circulation in your legs! After a bit of coaxing to get out of the warm bed into the cold, and about 5 minutes removing said blankets, I was first to the showers.

The 1^st shower didn’t have a hook to hang the shower head on. The 2^nd, which turned out to be the 2^nd and 3^rd showers were inside the same room. They were unisex and would mean anyone coming in would be able to see your nudie bits through the shower door! I managed to overcome this by lodging stuff against the door and preying the flimsy lock would work. A very quick shower and I headed back to our room to give Glenn the M.O on the bathing situation.

Glenn returned looking a little embarrassed. No, nobody had walked in on him but he had managed to flood downstairs as he couldn’t close the shower door correctly. This resulted in a lot of banging on the door and hastily spoken Spanish by the hostel owner.  

Relaxing showers done, we headed down to b/f which was included in the price. B/f turned out to be two scone-like dense rolls, a slice of ham and cheese and a slice of cake which Glenn mistook as bread and spread butter on it.

Okay not great but it was Penguin time! We booked a trip with the hostel and was introduced to the brother. The brother, it turns out, couldn’t speak a word of English! I clearly need to get a few more lessons in as I could only make about one word in each sentence. Glenn however was brilliant, he recognised enough to be able to decipher what the hell was going on.

The next hour consisted of stopping off at some nice view points, going down to a pretty beach, a bit of a discussion about a house (of which I still have no clue why) all relayed to us in Spanish. It was like a lesson for Glenn.

Finally we had reach the harbour where we would catch the boat to the penguin islands. Whilst we waited, the Oz couple we had met at b/f from our hostel turned up (they sensibly decided to go with an English speaking tour). We were soon donning our life jackets and boarding a platform which was pulled by men and wheeled you out to the boat to save getting your feet wet.

We were so taken with this, it took us a while to realise what was printed on the back of the life vests! I hope we don’t encounter any icebergs!

The trip was around 45 minutes, and whilst there weren’t very many penguins and one very poorly looking one (there were actually vultures standing by) which after realizing, the captain swiftly moved the boat along!

It was pleasant and there was a lot of birdlife including Shags, Pelicans and other types nesting in the rocks.  

Back on land, we then went to a nice café at the corner of the beach where our guide informed Glenn that they did the best Empanadas. We ordered a large Empanada between us which turned out to be filled with Crab and was delicious, before heading back to the hostel.

We quickly sorted out a money transfer (still having card problems) before heading back into town to do some shopping. We purchased a plug to help charge our USB kit and then headed off in search of a snack. We found a little bar which was quite nice and a lot less expensive, although it had building work and drilling going on right next to it but you can’t win them all. Deciding that our scones and Empanada were still digesting we headed back to the Hostel.

It’s still daylight around 8:30pm so after we did some research and booking accommodation and both feeling like a nap, we realised we needed to go and get food as we knew we had a 6hr bus journey the following day. Reluctantly we headed out and found the closest hotel/restaurant to our hostel.

This turned out to be one of those places that put up bus load’s of old people so it wasn’t long before we were joined by a long table of silver nomads tucking into below average food. But we managed to find the same but cheaper bottle of lovely wine we had In Puerto Natales and the sunset was magnificent so things were looking up!

Food done, we headed back to the hostel and spent the next 10 mins peeling back the layers of blankets before finally retiring to bed.