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The South American Odyssey
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The South American Odyssey

A 147-day adventure by The Craze for Travelling Read more
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    Sunset over Laguna Espejo

    January 9, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    There were beautiful views of the Futaleufú town from the viewpoint. The sun was just above the hills and the reflection in the lake made the waters of the Laguna Espejo look golden. We sat and waited for the sun to set. It was a fantastic evening and true to what Bernardo had said, it was worth doing this later in the day.Read more

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    Calafate berries
    Calafate berries

    Back in Futaleufú

    January 9, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    A few minutes after the sunset, we started the walk back down to the town. On the way, we stopped and ate a few Calafate berries. We were back in the town by about 9:30 pm. By now, we were hungry so we went straight to a restaurant (Antigua Casona) for dinner. Surprise... Surprise... Bernardo and Jose were there too. They had just ordered when we walked in so we joined them and had a good time together over dinner.Read more

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    Laguna Yelcho

    Off to Coyhaique

    January 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    As per the tickets we had purchased for the day, we took the 10:30 am bus from Futaleufu to Coyhaique. The initial 70 kms were back on the same route where we had taken the ride with the 9 of us in the SUV from the La Cabaña to Futaleufu, just in the opposite direction this time. We reached the Yelcho Lake by about 12 pm. This time, the journey was a very pleasant one with a nice and sunny day to enhance the experience. The glacial rivers and lakes looked a deep blue in color in the sunlight.Read more

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    Villa Santa Lucia damaged by the landslide

    Past the landslide area

    January 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Just past the Laguna Yelcho, we crossed the junction village of Villa Santa Lucia. This was the town till where the landslide had washed away the road and everything in its path. Even 25 days after the landslide, the clearing efforts were still going on. The whole village was empty and there were only the emergency crew and the army clearing up the debris and half broken houses. This had been the main reason why we were now almost 4 days behind our rough plan 😎
    We stopped around 1 pm for a food and toilet break before carrying on.    Read more

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    To Puyuhuapi

    January 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Most of the points we had marked to see on the way to Coyhaique were near Puyuhuapi, just South of the town, so we had bought the tickets till Puyuhuapi only. The hope was to find some tours or taxis who could take us to these places from Puyuhuapi. Another thing that had been encouraging was the fact that we had been told that there were quite many buses from Puyuhuapi to Coyhaique. This would be much better than the twice a week connection between Futaleufu to Coyhaique on which we were travelling now. This was also perfect in that my tickets from Coyhaique to Santiago to collect my passport was for the 15th Jan, giving us time on the way to do the planned activities.
    The route was very scenic with snow covered peaks in the distance and the beautiful blue river and lakes along the road.    Read more

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    Puyuhuapi bay
    Puyuhuapi bayHaving some fresh watermelon juice

    Puyuhuapi

    January 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We reached Puyuhuapi at around 4 pm. Tge bus dropped us just near the village center. Maria and Hristo waited with our bags while Melinda and I went around the town trying to find a place to stay and information regarding the tours etc.
    Our first stop was at the tourist information center. There we got some good information regarding the tours and things to do nearby. We also got some tips regarding the places to stay etc. We went around the village qnd saw some 15-20 places of stay. Eventually, we decided to rent a cabaña for 4 people right on the road coming into the village about 200 mts from the tourist information center and about the same distance from the bus stops. The cost of 40000 CLP for the 4 of us per night was a good price too.
    After settling down, we went to book a drop and pickup for the Queulat glacier for the next day. At the tourist information office, we had found that there was a person working at the Queulat Glacier National Park and that he picks up people at takes them there when he goes to work in the morning at 8 am and then returns at 5:30 pm after work. He charges 5000 CLP per person and has limited seats of about 9 people. We went there and found the place closed. We had just written a note with our phone number when the wife of the person came. She knew English so it was easy to communicate with her. She told us that the were no places with them for the next day but she told us she could ask a neighbor if they could drop us. After a quick discussion with the neighbor where she did all the talking for us, it was agreed that they will drop us the next day. The pickup would be at 8 am and the return would be at 5 pm and the charge would be the same 5000 CLP per person. There would be a few other people with us in the van. We specifically asked that if we wanted to do all the treks in the park and some who didn't want to do all what would they do, to which we were told that they would wait in the van for everyone to come back.
    Having arranged one whole day's excursion, we went to the fisherman who takes boat trips to got springs and into the fjords for a total of 50000 CLP for 7 people. This too had been told to us at the tourist office. When we reached the marked house, there was no one there. There was a phone number displayed on a board outside. We called and after a few tries were able to get through to the fishermen's wife. She told that the guy was away and that he would be available later. She confirmed the price of 50000 CLP for the boat and said that for the day after, it was just the 4 of us for now. We gave her our number and asked her to call back to confirm our place when the guy was back.
    Having done whatever bookings we could do now, we started our walk towards the viewpoint of the village on a hill nearby.    Read more

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    Mirador that wasn't

    January 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    The path to the mirador was just at the North end of village. We followed the track on Maps.me and reached the place in about 10 min. Melinda and I were climbing in front while Hristo and Maria were following a few tens of meters behind us. We totally missed the turn marked on the map about 70% up the way. About 200 mts from the turn, we reached a dead end. There were thorn bushes everywhere. We couldn't find any path anywhere and the gps also showed us about 10 mts off track. We turned back and saw Maria and Hristo coming. They had tried to take the turn marked on the map but there were too many thorns all across the path and they had not been able to go more than 4-5 mts. We climbed down back to the turn and tried to go in bit after managing to go about 20 mts, we turned back. The path didn't seem to have been used for a long time and there were thorny bushes all across the path and it continued like this till where we could see. We tried to find alternate paths but it was too dense and thorny so we gave up and started our walk down back to the beach. We walked around along the coast for a while till the sunset happened. After that, we had our dinner and went back to sleep at the cabaña.Read more

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    A colorful container toilet
    A colorful container toiletMap of the treks in Queulat National ParkVentriloquist Colgante visible between the mountains

    Ventisquero Colgante trek

    January 11, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We reached the pickup place at 8 am as jad been planned. The van wasn't there yet so we went to the supermarket nearby and bought some food stuff for our breakfast and for the lunch as well. We left Puyuhuapi at 8 am and reached the Queulat National Park around 11 am. We paid the entry fee of 5000 CLP per person and were dropped off at the parking place at around 11:20 am and the driver told us that he would come to pick us up at 2:30 pm. We protested since we wanted to do all the treks in the park, to which he said that 3 hours were more than sufficient for all and that he would leave if we weren't back by 3 pm.
    We decided to follow the treks 1, 2, 3 and 4 in that order. The 1st one was a 3.3 km trek uphill to the Colgante glacier. Just a few meters into the trek, we were able to see the glacier face far off in the distance. We crossed the wooden swinging bridge across the Rio Ventisquero and stated on the uphill trek.    Read more

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    Reached Ventisquero Colgante

    January 11, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After walking for about 1.5 hrs to do the 3.3 km trek, we reached the viewpoint at around 1 pm. The view of the glacier was breathtaking. The hanging glacier was many meter above the base of the mountain. There was a big waterfall below, formed by the melting waters of the glacier. The waterfall ended in forming the Rio Ventisquero river. We were totally mesmerized by the view amd it took quite a few minutes before we could take our eyes off it and started taking pictures.Read more

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    Lake Témpanos

    January 11, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We trekked back on the trek no 1. back to starting point and then did the trek no. 2 to the Témpanos Laguna. We reached there at around 2:40 pm. Now, we knew that the estimates being told by the driver were totally false. All of us are quite brisk walkers and we had managed to do both the walks in much less than the estimated times on the maps but we still wouldn't be able to do more than 2 out of the 4 treks. That really pissed us off and we decided to not go to the parking till be finish all our 4 treks.
    There was clear view of the glacier with the lake in front. At the lake, there is a boat ride one can take to the other end. But there were about 15 people waiting and they can fit only 7 people in the boat and each ride lasts about 30 min. We decided to skip the ride and trek back.    Read more

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    Interpretative trail

    January 11, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Back from the lake, we wanted to avoid going via the parking so that we don't meet our van driver. It was already 3:10 pm and we still had 2 small trails ledt to do. After paying so much as the entry fee for the national park, we didn't want to miss tjem just because the driver wants to get an early off.
    Unfortunately, we came out straight in the parking and the driver saw us. We tried to ignore his calls and continued walking towards the trail no. 3. He continued calling after us and then when we didn't respond, ran after us. He caught up with us when we were already a few meters in the trail. He told us to come so we could leave. We told him clearly that, that had not been the arrangement. We had wanted to do all the trails and had even confirmed that we would start back around 5 pm. The lady at the informacion center had said so, the lady organizing the drop and pickup too had said the same and even the owner lady had confirmed. So, the message was clear, we would not be leaving till we are done. He threatened that he would leave us and go now. To which we told him that he could go if he wanted, we didn't care. He started back in a huff and then suddenly remembered that we had not paid for the trip so he came back again after us and told us to pay 2000 CLP per person for the drop off. We told him that we were not going to pay anything since the agreement was a drop off and pickup and if he broke that agreement, then we were not obliged to pay anything. He threatened that he would report us to the police and they would catch us when we returned. We told him to do whatever and that we would continue with our treks. He left after that and we continued with our walk.
    The track was an interpretative trail with boards marking the interesting geological points. There were a lot of geological remnants of the glacier receding over many thousand years and they had made it quite interesting with a lot of information. We had to pass through very narrow gaps between rocks and below fallen rocks forming a tunnel.    Read more

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    U shaped valleys till the current glacierWith the giy who gave us a lift to PuyuhuapiFerry crossing near Puyuhuapi

    Getting back to Puyuhuapi

    January 11, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After the interpretative trail, we went to the short trails with the viewpoints of the glacier. From one of them, we could clearly see the U shaped valleys formed due to the movement of the glacier, all the way to it current location.
    Back at the parking, our van driver was of course not there. We decided to try and hitch hike our way back to Puyuhuapi. We tried stopping a few vehicles while walking out of the national park but weren't lucky. After about 3 kms walk, we reached the main road between Coyhaique and Puyuhuapi. We stopped here and waited for a ride. There was a girl from Israel traveling alone in South America from South to North. She to came and sat with us waiting for a ride to Puyuhuapi. We had to wait almost 30-40 min but still didn't get lucky. The Israeli girl went to the park ranger office to see if there was any option. She was told that one of workers was going to Puyuhuapi in 10-15 min and that he had a pickup van so we could all go. In the meantime, we continued trying to flag down vehicles we could take. A small truck stopped and agreed to take one of us to Puyuhuapi. We offered the Israeli girl to go for it while we continued waiting. In about 5 min, the pickup from the national park came and we all got a place to sit in it. We got a ride all the way to the ferry crossing, then across it and then to the village with the same guy. We reached back around 7 pm and paid him 4000 CLP as a tip.    Read more

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    2Fantastic dinner
    2Fantastic dinner2Senderos Puyuhuapi restaurantBreakfast at the same placeTrying to hitch a rideThat was the pickup truck we took

    Off from Puyuhuapi

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Getting off after our ride from the Queulat National Park, we found a nice restaurant Senderos Puyuhuapi where we had our dinner. The food was so good that we returned here the next day to have our brunch as well. We were lucky as we happened to be the last customers before they closed for a few days to go to the countryside.
    Before that, on the previous evening, we had still not heard back from the fisherman to take us to the hot springs and when we checked the weather, it showed rain almost the whole day plus we had driven along the fjord 2 times on the day before. So, we decided to skip the hot springs and instead go to Coyhaique. We went to get our tickets at the supermercado but were told that all the places in the 7 am bus were taken and that we could take it on the next day. We decided to hitch hike instead 😎
    The fisherman guy called Hristo's number late in the night around 12 am but having decided to move on from Puyuhuapi, he ignored the call.
    Not having any paln in particular, we woke up late, got ready, checked out and carried our bags to Senderos Puyuhuapi to have our brunch, it was almost 1:30 pm. We decided to try and hitch hike all the way to Coyhaique. The plan was to split up in whatever capacity we could and meet at the central plaza of Coyhaique. We were still in Chile and both Hristo and I had local SIM cards so we could sync up, just that I was using Claro which didn't have a good coverage in this area while Hristo was using Entel and had connection everywhere. The hope was that I too would get a connection in Coyhaique so we will be able to meetup. We walked 2.5 kms to the Southern exit of the village and waited there for someone to pick us up. After a while, a pickup came from the village and agreed to take 2 of us to the ferry crossing nearby where they were working in clearing the road. Melinda and I went with them. Just behind us, Hristo and Maria too got a lift till the ferry where the jeep in which they were travelling would stop a short distance on the other side of the ferry port.    Read more

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    2nd hitch ride of the day

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The workers that took us to the ferry, were able to cross over the que of vehicles all the way to the front since they had priority and dropped us at the ferry. Then they drove on along the road towards the clearance area. The ferry was about to leave and knowing that Hristo and Maria were coming with normal citizens we guessed they wouldn't be able to make it to the front of the que and would come via some subsequent ferry, Melinda and I went in with our bags. Within a few seconds, the ferry left the port. We went around in the ferry asking if any of the vehicles could give us a ride till Coyhaique. An old couple agreed to take us but they didn't have a place inside on the back seats so they offered us places in the back of the pickup. I was fine with that but Melinda was having a cold and wanted to ride inside the cabin since the distance too was 200 kms and it was raining on and off. We asked around with the other vehicles and finally found a geologist traveling alone. He had place for the 2 of us in his pickup but he was going only about 60 kms to Puerto Cisnes. We decided to go with him. The journey was very scenic with lovely views of the fjords and the hills around.Read more

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    Quelat Pass

    Over the Queulat Pass

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    It rained on and off and we were happy we were in the cabin, particularly after the Queulat National Park when the road started climbing in the mountains and it started getting very cloudy and rainy. We passed the Queulat pass at 500 meters above sea level around 4:30 pm. It was quite cloudy on the other side of the pass and a steady rain continued all the while.Read more

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    Our ride vehicleThe geologist with us

    Drop off at Puerto Cisnes

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After the pass, we stopped a while at one of the waterfalls flowing down the mountain side. The geologist dropped us at the junction of Puerto Cisnes road where his assistant was waiting to be picked up. It was raining quite heavily now but luckily, there was a bus shelter nearby. We dropped our bags in the shelter and waited a while for the rain to subside.Read more

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    A prayer place at the junction
    A prayer place at the junctionThe hotdog kiosk at the junctionMelinda in the bus shelterGetting ready for a lift

    Puerto Cisnes junction

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    At the junction where we were dropped, there was a hotdog kiosk selling warm hotdogs and coffee/tea. We left our bags at the bus shelter and ran to the kiosk to order some food. It seemed to be a very popular place. Every vehicle passing by on the main road or to the port stopped by for a quick bite. There were a lot of bikers stopping by as well. Around 5:15 pm, we were done with the food and the rain too had stopped so we crossed the road and stood waiting for a lift further.Read more

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    Mañihuales lake

    Off from Puerto Cisnes (ride 3)

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We didn't have to wait too long at Puerto Cisnes. Within about 10 min of us waiting there, a person came in a pickup. He was alone, going to pickup his family just 20 kms short of Coyhaique. We decided to go further with him hoping that the last 20 kms should be fine with any vehicle going in that direction.
    The route as it had been till now, was extremely scenic with huge mountains on both sides of the valley we were driving through. Unfortunately, the person who gave us the ride didn't speak any English and with my limited Spanish, we couldn't go beyond 10-15 min of small talk. The rest of the journey was spent listening to the music.    Read more

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    Off to Coyhaique (4th ride)

    January 12, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Within 10 min of waiting, we managed to get a ride with a lovely lady driving a pickup jeep. She was working at the university and had impeccable English so had some fantastic discussions while enjoying the fabulous scenery around. She was working as a social worker in different fields and was able to tell a lot about the social structure of Chile and the issues faced by the people. It was a very eye opening discussion about the domestic violence seen in Chile and the reasons behind it all.Read more