Pucón – Why Would I Shit in the Shower?…I Have Manners

Firstly, there are two things I should point out about the above title. A: It wasn’t me who produced that brilliant one liner, and B: It wasn’t me who shat in the shower – I have an alibi.

There is one main reason to travel to Pucón – to hike the peak of Volcán Villarrica – an active volcano making up part of the world famous Ring of Fire. Good old ‘Wiki’ tells me that Volcán Villarrica has had more than 82 eruptions since 1558, that’s one every 5.5 years. And given I owe my engineering degree to ‘Wiki’ (and possibly Liam), I am inclined to believe this stat.

On our arrival, the majority of the hostel had just come back from scaling the volcano and although tired and weary, were all pretty happy with themselves. This led to a rather eventful night, with near on everyone from the hostel ending up at the local nightclub, Mamas y Tapas. Most of the revellers came home in dribs and drabs, and that’s when things got interesting.

According to what is now Chili Kiwi Hostel folklore, one of the staff noticed that someone had overnight mistaken the shower for the toilet and had proceeded to make quite the mess. James, the hostel owner, then had to pay the cleaner extra ‘danger/hazardous’ pay to make the shower usable – although I do know someone who continued to refuse to use the shower in question.

James then proceeded to ask most of the hostel guests if they had an explanation for this pleasant surprise. Apparently I was at the top of the suspect list – no idea why? After asking one of the more enthusiastic revellers, a Belgian lad who enjoyed a froth or two, who was still half asleep, and definitely still drunk, he got the best response one could have given to such as question.

“Why would I shit in the shower, I have manners!”

I rolled out of bed that day at about 2.30pm, and one of the WA girls that worked at the hostel asked me if my girlfriend had told me what I did last night. This was a question coming from a girl who we had helped back to the hostel at around 3am because she was falling over in the pub. Myself, a Sydney lad and the Belgian then thought it would be a top idea to head back to the pub. And although it didn’t work out too well for me in the short run, it did save me in the long run.

I somehow managed to be the last one of the 3 standing at the pub, but also got myself lost on the walk home. Pucón is a place with one main street, and the hostel was located at one end of this street and the pub was about 5 blocks up, so one does wonder how I got lost. Anyway, I ended up walking out of the pub at around 6am (to be honest I am a little hazy on the finer details) and walked around until 9am (there may or may not have been a quick kip with a homeless bum for warmth but this has yet to be verified) when I final stumbled across the hostel and was let in by one of the volcano guides returning from a morning trip – he later confirmed this time for me. And given the night’s most talked about activity was first spotted at 5am, that gives me an airtight alibi!

So fair to say, although it was quite a baptism of fire at Chili Kiwi, the way everything was handled was all in good spirits, and all was well in the end, with everyone (bar the cleaner) having a fair few laughs at the night’s festivities.

If only the chair lift was operating!

After a few days of shitty weather (pun intended) we finally got a day that shaped as being promising for the volcano summit. You start the day nice and early (6.30am), getting kitted out with all your climbing gear, including crampons and an ice pick for the final ascent. We probably started the climb at a bit before 8.00am and didn’t reach the summit until 1.00pm. That’s a gruelling 5 hours of walking uphill, and not a gentle slope either.

All smiles at the beginning of the hike

However, along the way you are rewarded with breathtaking views of Lago Villarrica and the surrounding mountains and countryside. After about 2 hours you start the serious climbing – out come the crampons and the ice pick. It was about this time that Nic started suffering. It was our first serious hike since Torres del Paine, and all our old aches and pains came flooding back. Each step up for Nic felt like someone was stabbing her with scissors (yes, not a knife that would be too normal) in the right hip flexor, but like the well-mannered mule she was in Torres, the mule stubbornness kicked in and she soldiered on.

Things starting to get serious 

On our particular hike we actually ascended through the clouds, rising above them to get our first real glimpse of the volcano peak. That sight spurs you on for the last hour of the hike, as before we got through the cloud, we really didn’t know if we would be able to reach the peak, or see anything from it even if we did.

Getting above the clouds 

Reaching the summit was worth it, even if it was 5 hours of pain, with often no end in sight. Arriving at the top you are greeted with winds bringing the temperature well below zero, and volcanic gases that cause you to struggle for breath and cough a bit – well worth those 5 hours hey?

But in all seriousness, the views towards Volcán Quetrupillán and Volcán Lanín are some of the best we have seen to date. A panoramic view from the top also gives you a clear picture of the entire Villarrica National Park, along with Lago Villarrica and Lago Calafquén – something you can only get after 5 hours of pain, or a scenic flight if you’ve got the cash to burn.

Taking in the sights of Volcán Quetrupillán and Volcán Lanín

And being able to look down the open crater of an active volcano, complete with volcanic gases rising from its depths is something I doubt I will get the chance to do again. There are stories of the Chilean dictator Pinochet dropping/hiding the bodies of his opponents in the crater during his 17 year reign, to which our guides responded, ‘Why not? Good place to hide a body, no?’

Looking down the crater of Volcán Villarrica 

After a few group shots and some time to take in our achievements we then started the decline. With the right conditions (less ice) you can slide down the majority of the volcano (5 hours up turns into 30 minutes down) with the use of a sort of plastic seat and someone else’s pants – sort of like your rock board when snowboarding. Unfortunately we were forced to descend for about an hour and half, before the plastic seats came out and you knock off the last hour or so in under 10 minutes – much kinder on the legs, not so kind on the pants – hence the use of some other clown’s (in this case part of the hire equipment essential for the hike).

The Summiteers 

Monkey Puzzle Trees

All capped off with a couple of cold froths back at the hostel made for one hell of a day that I won’t be forgetting in a while.

We spent the next few days recovering indoors as the weather wasn’t inviting outside. After a few days we finally got another day that promised sunshine and another hike. This time we planned to hike Santuario El Cañi, a nature reserve about half an hour out of Pucón. What we hadn’t planned for was the hike in, about 4 hours, is all uphill.

The walk is one of the nicer day hikes we have done. You wind you way up through semi jungle type flora to the many lagoons, where the vegetation changes and you are surrounded by the iconic monkey puzzle trees. At this height the ground was covered in fresh snow, and you feel like you are in a completely different environment from an hour ago.

We then made a mad dash up the snow covered track to the mirador complete with a few slips and falls along the way. The mirador gives you a beautiful view back over the lagoons and across to the surrounding mountain ranges – not quite as grand as the view from the top of Volcán Villarrica, but breathtaking all the same.

Santuario El Cañi

Santuario El Cañi

After taking in the scenery for about half an hour we started the scramble back down the mountain and turned 4 hours up into 2 hours down with only a few falls along the way, before getting back to the hostel and the warm fire to dry off and tip a few cold froths back.

One would say we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Pucón, and more so the Chili Kiwi, a place filled with laughs, shenanigans, adventures, activities and yeah you guessed it, cold froths.

Wilfred chilling with Kiw Steve and the night watchman

Puerto Varas: Stupid Australians

After a couple of lazy days down at Chiloe we made our way north to Puerto Varas, which to date would be our favourite town – not place, it’s going to take something special to top Torres del Paine.

The town lies on the shores of Llanquihue Lake and on a good day has perfect views of Osorno Volcano, Mt. Calbuco and Mt. Tronador, and has a heavy German influence – so much so that we were able to sample some pretty fine pork knuckle – albeit without a stein of Oktoberfest's finest, but plenty of stray dogs wanting in on the action.

Llanquihue Lake with (l-r) Osorno Volcano, Mt. Tronador, and Mt. Calbuco in the background

Some of the friends we had done the Patagonia hike with recommended a hostel and a few day hikes to do – I think we may have got our wires crossed on the volcano hike.

Puerto Varas Church

The tourist info centre was advertising a day trip that included the waterfall and the volcano for about $70 AUD, but we had been told you could get out to both of these places on the local mini buses for about $4 AUD and hike the volcano for free. So being our ‘frisky’ selves, we thought we would give it a crack on our own.

It may have helped that Sabra and Jason spoke Spanish, as we managed to go straight past our stop (not that we really knew which stop to get off) and get to the end of the line. Luckily these mini buses just head back the same way they have come from so we stayed on until our required stop.

Then things got interesting.

The only path up to the volcano was the main road, and the way up looked like it would take a fair few days to conquer. None the less, we started trudging upwards and onwards, not really knowing what we were getting ourselves in for, or what was actually at the end of the road. After about an hour in of hiking a middle-aged Brazilian couple stopped and asked if we wanted to hitch a ride – shit yeah we did.

I can only imagine what they were thinking when they saw us on the side of the road – my guess is, ‘stupid Australians’. Yeah I actually reckon they could have guessed we were Australians as it is only Aussies who seem to fly by the seat of their pants so much when travelling. Or maybe it’s just us? 

When we reached the end of the road Nic and I were both in agreement that there was no way in hell we would have made it to the top – I don’t think anyone in their right mind tries to hike up from the main road.

We left our new friends and had a look around. You are not exactly at the top of the volcano, more so where the ski runs start. You do however get an amazing view of Llanquihue Lake and the surrounding mountains. From here you could catch a chair lift up and hike around on the snow a bit, but you couldn’t hike to the top so we thought we would start making our way down and hope some other friendly, more prepared (seems to be a running theme with us) sightseers would take pity on us and offer a lift down.

Osorno Volcano 

We were saved yet again by Brazilians, this time a young couple who spoke near fluent English. We even managed to score a lift all the way back to town, organise a night out on the town in Curitiba and get some tips on surviving Brazil!

All this without a map or a clue! You would think after years of travelling, Nic and I would make less of these ‘rookie’ mistakes, but where is the fun in that?

Our next trip was a little easier, as due to us catching the bus to the end of the line the day before, this time we knew exactly where to get off – Saltos del Río Petrohué. The Petrohué Waterfalls are beautiful – not the drop or volume of water of the more famous waterfalls around the world, but with Osorno Volcano in the background, and the number of falls all in the one spot does make for some pretty scenery.

Nic crossing the Petrohué Waterfalls

We meandered through the numerous paths for a couple of hours taking in the sights and sounds – along with some unpleasant smells. Our friends had said that the couple of weeks before they had been lucky enough to see the salmon run. What we got were the unfortunate salmon, and a fair few of them who didn’t quite make it. Whether it was due to lower water levels, or some other reason, most of the lower streams were littered with salmon carcasses, all in various stages of decay, creating somewhat of a salmon graveyard.

When the salmon run goes wrong?

So yeah Puerto Varas should definitely be on your hit list if you’re thinking of checking out Chile. It’s small enough not to need a map, and friendly enough to jump in a car with strangers. And it has pork knuckle!

Chiloé: Worst Day Travelling Still Beats the Best Day Working

After the hike we had planned to spend a few days just chilling at the hostel in Puerto Natales – Yaganhouse had a nice living area that when the sun was out was the perfect spot to kick back and enjoy not being at work (sorry, don’t mean to be a smart ass).

Then came time to look at heading north. We decided we would check out the island of Chiloé on our way to Puerto Varas. 

We started looking into that dreaded 32 hour bus ride I have previously mentioned, and lucky for us it appeared as if it was booked out for at least the days we were looking at jumping on board. We then looked into flights.

Every now and then you can’t seem to get out of a particular place – it happened to us in Dublin a couple of years back. Buses were full, credit cards wouldn’t work with flights or ferries – it seemed we were destined to miss the Monopoly pub crawl in London and enjoy the wet weather of Dublin.

This was shaping up as another one of those times. No card, or website we tried would secure flights, and the bus wasn’t available for another 4 days. We did have time on our hands, and looking back we probably should have just stayed down in Puerto Natales and skipped Chiloé.

After finally getting a flight booked through a travel agency we then had to get to the flight – this involved a 3 hour bus to Punta Arenas that we had hoped to catch the morning of the flight – but to fit in with the theme of the day – that bus no longer ran.

We were forced get a bus that afternoon, cancel our accommodation in Puerto Natales, find a place to stay the night in Punta Arenas and quickly pack and actually board the bus we were now taking.

After all this we made our flight, got into the lovely Puerto Montt (it was raining again here) and catch another 2 hour bus down to Chiloe. Just to keep toying with us, we missed the 4.30pm bus by minutes and would have the pleasure of enjoying Puerto Montt in all its glory (well we were at one of its ‘top things to do’) for another hour.

After waiting around (and not realising one of the ‘restaurants’ in the station was televising Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals) we jumped on our last bus of the day.

What should have been a pleasant 2 hour journey turned into about 3.5hrs after the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere and we waited for a replacement bus to come and collect us.

Still it could have been worse – we both could have been at work (again sorry for pointing this out)!

Iglesia de San Francisco, Castro

Palafitos (stilt houses) of Castro

Oh and yeah, Chiloé wasn’t too bad. Didn’t do much – checked out the few sights there are to see, caught up on some HIMYM and just took it easy.

Cathedral of Ancud

San Antonio Fort, Ancud

Torres Del Paine: In Search of the Big Three

I should firstly point out that this update might be a tad long, so if you make it to the end, I applaud you.

We weren’t expecting much from Puerto Natales given our last experience of a ‘gateway’ town (Puerto Natales acts as the gateway into Torres Del Paine National Park) but we were pleasantly surprised. It’s a nice sleepy little town with a very friendly atmosphere.

From here we were planning on trekking into the national park for 5 odd days to complete the famed 'W' hike. We were a little uncertain whether to commit ourselves to the full 5 days out in the elements but after a chat with one of the locals it was apparent that there is no point in trying to forecast the weather in Patagonia, just get out there and EXPERIENCE it.

So that is what we decided to do.

With some of the friends we had met on the Navimag ferry we prepared ourselves for the week ahead. For Nic and I it was a little harder to cater for ourselves with Nic’s diet but we loaded up with 5 days worth of food, supplies, equipment and all we could think of to survive whatever came at us.

Fair to say we may have over-packed – well maybe only me. It would now be safe to assume that one does not need a hacky sack in the middle of Patagonia, or a small gridiron and pump for that matter. In all I reckon we set out with about 35kg between us – this included all cooking equipment, tents, sleeping bags, etc. Luckily I brought along a small, well-mannered mule to help me out!

My small, well-mannered mule!

Our first day was meant to be the easiest, although our packs would be at their heaviest, the hike was meant to be nice and flat. We caught the bus out to the park, paid to get in and then were to be dropped off at ‘Administration’ at around 12.30pm. We then had 18km to trek in to the first refugio – Grande Paine. Well that was the plan anyway, our driver conveniently forgot some hikers back in town so we lost about 40 minutes heading back to collect them and then he proceeded to make unknown stops along the way for some people apparently on a day trip through the park.

All this added up to us getting to Administration at around 2pm. This wouldn’t have been too bad, but given the sun goes down at around 5.30pm and we had 5 hours hiking ahead of ourselves one would say it wasn’t ideal – especially given Nic and I only had one flashlight between us. Most experienced, or even novice hikers would have a couple of head torches but not us. But then again most hikers setting off for a 5 day trek would also have proper hiking equipment – not high top adidas sneakers and tracksuit pants (I did actually hire some wet-weather pants but the high tops were what I went with!).

We made good time for the majority of the hike but when the sun went down so did the morale and we didn’t end up getting to Grande Paine until around 7pm. For the most part we had reasonable weather on the first day – a few showers here and there but never the big three all together. In Patagonia you get the big 3 – wet, windy and cold. You just have to hope you only get 1 or 2 of the 3 at one time. You can tolerate up to 2, but all 3 tends to eat away at the soul a tad.

Lago Pehoé

As I said we made good time for the most part – then the sun went down and with the dark came the big three. The final 3ks took us over an hour and when we finally reached the refugio we were tired, sore and wet but pretty happy. Grande Paine is by far the biggest refugio in the park (but not necessarily the best) and the best news was that it was open. This meant we could set up our tent in the shelter and light of the refugio (we also could have paid a little extra to stay the night inside, in the warm, but for some reason (still unbeknown to both of us) we decided to slum it), cook inside out of the elements and actually get a hot shower.

Then we tried to go to bed.

Between us that night, I think we got about 45 minutes of combined sleep. The winds were rolling through the valley like a freight train – you could hear them coming and then they’d hit the tent. Without us in the tent I’m sure those bastards would have ended up being blown back to Aus or Argentina – just depends on which the wind hit you. They seemed to be coming from near on every direction but we managed to stay in Chile and lasted out the night.

We actually weren’t too tired the next morning but were rather sore. But ‘As the wise man once said: So?’ (Anchorman 2 quote for those uneducated amongst us). Day 2 we planned to hike out to Glaciar Grey – approximately 11km to Refugio Grey and then say another 1km to view the glacier, so a nice 24km to stretch the legs. We would be returning to Refugio Grande Paine which meant we could leave our larger packs behind and just hike out to Glaciar Grey with a day pack.

The weather was kind to us again for the most part and we made it out to Mirador (Lookout) Grey with the sun shining and not too much wind around. The glacier was far more impressive than I had imagined. It’s like a frozen mountain rather than a frozen river. From a distance it looms large over Refugio Grey, appearing to be bearing down on it, but from up close you do see the river formation. The baby blue ice contrasted against the turquoise blue of the water is somewhat magical, and certainly breathtaking.

Glaciar Grey

On a side note, we were really glad we did the hike in off-season. Even though you are near on guaranteed to freeze your arse off, you get the park to yourself. You hike for hours on end not seeing another soul – even with our travelling companions you all seem to set off at different times, walk at different paces, stop at different places, etc. so you really to get to walk along by yourself with only your thoughts (mainly on how fricken heavy your pack is, and why the f_ck did I bring a gridiron) as company.

You also get uncrowded refugios – no lines to use the bathrooms, kitchens, etc. and you don’t need to fight for prime real estate to set your tent up. The downside is that you don’t really get to stop for long periods of time to take in the scenery – if you do, you get that first guarantee – you freeze your arse off.

So after stopping for the bare minimum time to take in the sights of Glaciar Grey, stuff our faces with some already stale bread (yeah its Day 2 and the bread is already like an old boot to chew) and cardboard rice cruskets we turned around and made the trek back to our ice cold, wind-swept tent. Halfway home the thought occurred to me that our ice cold tent might not in fact be there – apart from the replacement costs we would have to fork out I wouldn’t have been too unhappy to never see that two-man freezer again but lucky for us, there he was waiting for us, all covered in snow when we returned.

Nice spot for a picnic!

Day 3 – like hump day of the work week was the hardest (although Mondays do have a fair bit to answer for) but once you got over that it was all downhill from there (not literally). We planned to hike to Campamento Italiano and then trek up Valle del Frances to get a better view of Glaciar del Francés. We were told that the hike up to Campamento Britanco was closed but if you trekked in for an hour or so you got a good view of the glacier. Looking back, given the conditions we were experiencing: snowing, foggy and of course cold, I’m not too sure why we even bothered heading up Valle del Francés, but we did.

It was also at about this time that I noticed that my left knee hurt like hell walking down slopes but was manageable going uphill. Still we soldiered on. Nic turned back about 40 mins in and for FOMO (fear of missing out for all my older fans) I kept on keeping on. When it was rather clear to me that the higher you got, the worse the visibility got (I took about 20 mins longer than Nic to figure this one out), I turned back. It would have been rather comical to see me getting down the valley, I felt like a one-legged 95 year old who was suffering from Parkinson’s, being asked to hightail it down the mountain because no doubt Nic was freezing her arse off waiting around for me.

Glaciar del Francés - well what you can see of it 

We then had a 5km hike to make it to our next refugio, where we had heard rumour that due to the low numbers in low-season you could possibly stay inside for the same price as camping. The next 5km and 3 hours were tough to say the least.  My knee hurt like shit, and my pack wasn’t getting any lighter. That’s when my trusted steed came through for me and my little, well-mannered mule took some of my weight for me and we trudged on to Refugio Los Cuernos. Fair to say I owe my little mule for that one!

We didn’t get the same deal as the rumours had mentioned but given my state we decided to lash out and stay inside – they did offer us half price and the thought of trying to set that small freezer up again was enough to push the deal through.

At this point I was 2 days hike from getting out of the park and we still hadn’t seen the famed formation that gives the park its name, and my knee really didn’t look like it was going to get me there. However, with the help of some pain killers (donated by some more prepared hikers), some icing and maintenance, along with a handy compression bandage made from Nic’s stocking we decided to see how it pulled up in the morning and go from there.

One way or the other I was going to have to walk out of the park so we decided we would make every attempt to make it to Refugio Chileno. This is where most people stop before getting up in the dark and making the final trek up to Torres Del Paine to see the sunrise. This way, if I made it to Chileno, Nic could at least go with the others in the morning if my knee wasn’t going to handle it.

The knee wasn’t too bad in the morning so we hightailed it while I could and actually made really good time the whole way. I think the saving grace was that Day 4 was mainly up hill, which would normally suck arse, but for me it worked out for the best. We actually made such good time that we made it to Chileno at around 1.30pm. The weather was also perfect. None of the big three! In fact I spent most of the day in just a shirt and pants. With all of this in mind we thought whilst we still could we would make haste and try and get to the top and back all whilst the sun still shone overhead.

Lago Nordenskjöld

We were told it takes about 2 hours to get up, and therefore about the same to get back. This would put us on the limits of darkness but what the hell, if we didn’t go today we would be hiking in the dark up the next morning and who knows what the weather would have in store by then.

There is a point in the hike where all you can see is INCLINE – no end in sight. I think this may also be why a lot of people hike in the dark, if you can’t see how far you’ve got to go, you don’t know how slow you are progressing. But once you round the final bend, the scenery in front of you is something that you will only ever see from that one spot. That is somewhat much of the appeal of Torres Del Paine – they can only be viewed in their full grandeur by hiking up near on 1km of vertical. They are nestled in amongst the surrounding mountains so that you can’t see them from afar – you actually have to haul arse if you want to see them. At their base is a turquoise blue lake with not a ripple on it, and given we were the only people up there at the time, (yet another perk of the off-season hike) you really do feel like you have the entire park to yourself. 

Torres del Paine - The Blue Towers

It’s funny, you hike up for 2 hours just to see some rocks, take some photos and freeze your arse off and you come away from it saying – shit yeah that was worth it. But really it was! We have been told that as the sun rises the 3 peaks seam to light up from the top down, like God’s very own candle sticks.

Completion of the famed 'W' hike!

After this we made the decent as quickly as possible. Dodging frozen streams and small waterfalls we all made it down in one piece and no real falls. We only really had 30 minutes of darkness but with a full moon out we actually didn’t need to use our flashlight.

This left us with a very manageable final day to hike out to our collection spot – 12km downhill. We had planned to have a nice sleep in, cook up pretty much all our remaining food and make the leisurely stroll out. Well that would have been nice but it wasn’t too be. Not too sure what it was but both Nic and I had the urge to throw up all night, so much so that at 5am I got up to give it a go, but to no avail. I did get to see the full moon directly above the tower’s tops which unfortunately didn’t translate to a sweet photo but you’ve always to see the brighter side of things.

The final day was rather uneventful, you have seen all you came to see and now it was just a matter of just getting the hell out there – back to civilisation, a hot shower, proper bed and food that actually tastes like food should. The final 7km of the day is hiking along a road where if you are lucky someone might offer you a lift – of course we weren’t one of the lucky ones, and those final 7km near on killed each and every one of us. But we made it!

The torturous final 7km

We had been recommended that we take the direction we took for the hike, as if you go in the opposite direction you see Torres Del Paine on Day 1 or early on Day 2 and the rest might just seem like you are hiking for the sake of hiking. We were also gifted our best weather days for the Torres which made for happy campers!

The five days were without a doubt the hardest 5 days I have gone through, but also some of the most memorable and beautiful experiences I have ever had. We have yet again made friends for life, and memories that will remain with us until we both get Alzheimer’s. But hey that’s life!

If you ever get the chance to hike any part of Patagonia, grab yourself a waterproof jacket, some shitty food and make hay while the sun shines – and if doesn’t shine, who cares! That’s PATAGONIA and the Big 3!

One last look back at Torres del Paine National Park

Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales: Endure the Pain, Take the Bus?

Puerto Montt

After catching a rather pleasant overnight bus (we had thought we were getting fully reclined [first class style] seats but ended up with semi cama [recline] which turned out a hell of a lot cheaper and actually not too bad) we arrived in what would soon be known as the asshole of Chile – Puerto Montt. The top things to do in Puerto Montt are the bus station (seriously Lonely Planet rates the best thing Puerto Montt has going for it is that it is a gateway to all the other places of Patagonia) and the ferry port. To top things off it was raining!

The view for the majority of the time

We were due to only spend one night in this lovely place but at about 8pm we got an email from Navimag saying the boat had been delayed due to bad weather. To cut things short we ended up getting to spend 3 nights in Puerto Montt where it rained for 3 days straight – fair to say Puerto Montt is not high up on our hit list.

When we finally did get to board the ferry the sun was out so we were hoping for an early departure so we could make the most of the unexpected sunshine. We didn’t! We ended up catching a bus to the ferry at 10am, 

boarding the boat around 11am and then proceeded to sit in the port until 6pm while they loaded the ferry with all the other vehicles, etc. (Navimag is more of a transport company than a tourist ferry).

The next 3 days we spent on the boat with mainly wet and cold conditions outside. It wasn’t all bad and the scenery (when you can actually see it) is amazing. Not that we have been to the fjords of Scandinavia but we imagine the Chilean fjords are very similar.

The Chilean Fjords

When the sun was out most people we outside taking in the view and getting snap happy. We did get so see a pod of porpoises playing in the waves (very briefly) and numerous seals but really it was more about the landscape, which for me once you’ve seen it for 5 minutes, not much is going to change for the next hour or so.

Sunrise on our final day

Still we were glad we did the trip (it was a whole lot more appealing than a 32 hour bus ride which we are looking at doing to get back to the marvellous Puerto Montt) but we wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. If you like sitting on your arse looking at the same picture for hours on end (Maus and Nic) then knock yourself out and get on board Navimag. If not, endure the pain and take the bus!

Double Bagging It!

Santiago: Not A Whale’s Vagina

For all you oldies reading this blog, that is a quote from a popular movie of the 21^st century – please do not be offended.

We hadn’t heard much positive feedback on Santiago, or Chile on a whole but we put that down to most of our friends possibly hitting Chile on the back end of the best 4 months of their lives, travelling down the east coast from Columbia through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, etc. And really Chile is just a plausible place to fly home from.

This was one of the reasons we thought we would hit up Chile and Santiago first. And yes, Santiago is just another big city, but a pretty quiet and sedate one at that, which fitted us perfectly. We felt like all our time in Melbourne and Sydney was spent eating and drinking far too much, so we were hoping to use Chile as a bit of a detox before Brazil and the World Cup which I can only imagine would make our time on the Australian east coast seem like a Wiggles concert (early call but I am thinking Brazil may be like going on tour with Guns ‘n’ Roses).

We had a quiet few days getting over ‘jetlag’ and finally got out to seeing the place when the sun showed its face.

Santiago is actually quite a picturesque place for a dirty, grey concrete jungle, nestled in between the Andes on the east and the Chilean Coastal Range to the west. There are a few hills to climb to get some great views of the city and surrounding mountains which we eventually got out and stretched our legs on over the last couple of days.

The Andes

Chilean Coastal Range

One of the hills, Cerro San Cristóbal, has Santiago’s version of Christ the Redeemer, but rather the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was a nice 6km hike or venicular (funicular) ride up. Being our usual ‘frisky’ (Big Gib’s version of frugal) selves we didn't bother checking the price of the venicular and started heading up the hill. This was after our poor attempt the previous day where we took a right instead of a left and ended up at the zoo, and given it was only $3 AUD with our student cards (yes we pose as students when being frisky backpackers) we thought, ‘why not!’

Zoo Highlights ~ White Tiger

Zoo Highlights ~ Jaguar

Virgin Mary Statue atop  Cerro San Cristóbal

So after setting a cracking pace for a good 5 minutes we realised that walking in tight, skinny leg jeans was probably not the best idea to hike a hill in. But ‘thems the breaks’ so we kept on keeping on and actually made good time which made us question whether we heard the info senorita correctly when she said 6km (but for the benefit of making us feel better we will stick with the 6km). At the top you are rewarded with the best views of the mountains and the city itself (along with free tap water!)

Down Town Santiago and Cerro San Cristóbal on the right

After this we found a nice local restaurant that was filled with only Chileans, which is usually a good sign that the food is good and more importantly cheap. Well the food was good but probably not as cheap as we had hoped. But we put this down to the sizings as we were able to get a doggie bag and make lunch stretch for dinner as well. This was all after Callum’s tendency to order offal nearly stuck again. Apparently ‘beef stew wadding’ is actually the stomach, and lucky for all of us the waitress was good at charades and warned us of this horrendous choice (we saw it later and trust us it looked horrendous).

We are now currently (well as I am writing this at 12.22am) sitting back to enjoy a 12 – 14 hour overnight bus ride down to Puerto Montt where we will jump on a 3 night ferry through the Chilean fjords down to Puerto Natales where we plan to hike through Torres del Paine, Patagonia for 5 or so days... if the weather is kind to us (forecasting rain, wind and snow so lucky we’ve got our ‘waterproof’ skinny legs jeans with us).

Peace out kids.