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The South American Odyssey
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The South American Odyssey

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    Our vehicle
    Our vehicleCascada La VirginCoyhaique below

    Cascada La Virgin

    12. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    On the way to Coyhaique, we stopped at the Cascada La Virgin since our host wanted to make a phone call. This gave us the opportunity to come out and take pictures of the Cascada La Virgin waterfalls. I finally got some connection for a few seconds and was able to receive messages from Hristo and Maria that after getting off from the 1st ride, they had found the bus to Coyhaique waiting to get on to the ferry so they had bought the tickets for the bus and were able to ride directly. But, they jad taken the ferry after ours so they were still a bit behind and would reach Coyhaique about 30 min after us. Before I could reply back, the data got disconnected and the only message that I could sent was OK 😁
    Around 8 pm we reached the last stretch from where the road climbs down into the town. Here I got data again and was finally able to communicate with Hristo and Maria and told them we would wait for them at the main plaza.    Lue lisää

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    Our host for the last ride to Coyhaique

    Coyhaique finally

    12. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We finally reached Coyhaique around 8:15 pm. Hristo and Maria were expected to reach there around 9:30 pm. We were dropped off near the main plaza bang opposite the tourist information office. We thanked the lady. She even gave a reference to a hostel her mom was running in case we weren't able to find anything. She wasn't sure if there were places available but promised to help out if we were stuck without a place. That was such a lovely gesture. We were feeling bad that we couldn't offer her anything in return.
    While waiting for Maria and Hristo, we went to the information center which strangely was still open. Here we got a lot of information regarding the things we could do from the town. We also got information regarding where to look for the hostels etc.    Lue lisää

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    Hostal Austral

    Coyhaique room hunt

    12. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    We started our room hunt after Maria and Hristo arrived. Almost every hostel seemed to be full due to some sports event happening in the town. Either they were full or too expensive for our budget. Finally, we decided to stay at Hostal Austral about 300 mts from the main plaza. It wasn't the best place but for our situation it worked just fine. It was a school converted to a hostel. Even the furniture from the classrooms was still there, all moved to ones side and bunk beds placed all over the classrooms. There were only 3 bathrooms for a total of about 30 possible occupants in all the rooms. I had my flight to Santiago in 2 days so I didn't want to change the hostel so Melinda and I booked for 2 nights while Hristo didn't like the place so they decided to stay there for 1 night only and look for another place for the rest of the days.
    Next morning, Hristo went out looking for an alternate accommodation but found everything to be more expensive or too far. Finally, just when he had given up he decided to check on booking.com and found one place for 2 just 50 mts from our hostel. It was a bit more expensive but much better in comfort and more practical in the bathrooms etc. They moved their stuff to the hostel.    Lue lisää

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    Main square CoyhaiqueA church choir sings in the main squareHaving Mote con Vaseillo

    Planning for Coyhaique

    13. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The rest of the morning was spent in the main square planning for the coming days. We had to go to the tourist information center nearby multiple times with various questions before we came up with a plan to see the local sights during the rest of the day and Cerro Castillo trek on the next day. Then on 15th I would fly to Santiago while the rest could go to the 2 national parks within 10 kms of the town. Then I would be back on the 17th morning and we could all travel further south. There were only 2 buses a week going south from Coyhaique and these too were fully booked most of the times, so we decided to rent a vehicle instead (if possible) amd then directly from the airport we could continue South on the 17th Jan.
    It was almost 4 pm when we finished with our planning.    Lue lisää

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    Views around Coyhaique

    13. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After finishing the planning, we decided to go for a walk outside of the town of Coyhaique. There was a route suggested by the lady at the tourist information center where she had said we could have nice views of the hills and the Rio Simpson. Maria was a bit tired so Hristo walked her back to the hostel while Melinda and I walked along the trail suggested.
    The route goes the Western side of the town along the river Simpson. There is a lovely walkway along the rover about 50 mts above the river level. At regular intervals, there are viewpoints and parks. There is even a cycling and skating track next to the path. The views of green hills and the blue waters of the Rio Simpson were quite a sight.    Lue lisää

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    2Views from Mirador ChorilloMate Rotonda

    Mate Rotonda

    13. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    When we had reached half way through our walk from the North to South, Hristo joined us. There are some old steam run vehicles displayed in the open air here. From here we walked further South to the Mirador Chorillo. There were very lovely views from the viewpoint. After that, we ended our walk at the Mate Rotonda, so called since it has a statue of the Mate cup and bombilla.
    Mate is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, that was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní and also spread by the Tupí people. It is prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water in a shared hollow calabash gourd and is served with a metal straw from. The straw is called a bombilla in Spanish, a bomba in Portuguese, and a bombija or, more generally, a masassa(straw) in Arabic. The gourd is known as a mate or a guampa; while in Brazil, it has the specific name of cuia, or also cabaça.

    Coyhaique has a special association with the drink. One can find a lot of shops selling mate herbs, gourds and the bombillas.    Lue lisää

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    Piedra del IndioCloser view of the face like formation

    Piedra del Indio

    13. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    From the mate rotonda, we walked half way back the way we had come and then took a short diversion down to the bridge across the Rio Simpson. The bridhe though frequently used, is a metal rope bridge where only one vehicle could pass at a time. From the bridge, we could see the rock formation in the form of the face of an Indian (the indigenous people).
    We walked over to the other end of the river before turning back and going to the town. There, Maria joined us and we had our dinner.    Lue lisää

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    A nice evening at Edith's place

    13. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    After dinner, we went back to Hristo and Maria's hostel to see if we too could move there once I was back from Santiago. There, the people staying in the house had all gathered in the living room for a round of drinks. We sat and chatted for a while. There were 2 beds available but Melinda didn't want to sleep on a bunk bed due to her claustrophobia, so she decided to continue her stay at our present hostel only while I was to Santiago. We left just before 12 am, just in time before our hostel gates woule be locked. Back at the hostel, Melinda felt that it would be more convenient to stay together at Hristo's and Maria's place so I messaged them to reserve a place for us, but didn't get a reply back till we slept.Lue lisää

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    Switchover of plans

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    The plan had been to meet at the corner nwar our hostels at 7:45 am and the walk to the bus station nearby to catch the 8 am bus towards Rio Tranquilo. This bus stops at Villa Cerro Castillo where we wanted to do the full day trek to the Cerro Castillo mountain.
    We woke up at 7 am and were ready to go by 7:30 am. There still was no reply from Hristo regarding the availability of the beds for the 2 of us in their hostel. So, we left our bags in the hostel and extended our stay in the current hostel only. We were at the agreed corner waiting for Hristo and Maria at 7:45 am. No one showed up. Hristo's status on the Messenger was still showing inactive for 14 hours. We assumed that the party in their hostel had lasted till quite late and they were not able to get up. After waiting for a few minutes, Melinda and I went to the bus station. There, we figured that since it was a Sunday, only 1 bus out of the 3 that leave at 8 am was going and that too was full with no places available. We tried negotiating with the driver directly but were told that all the seats were full. The bus left at 8 am without us. Having nothing to do, we sat outside the bus station eating biscuits and other snacks we had packed for the day. Just then Hristo and Maria reached there. They were surprised we had not waited for them at the agreed place while we were surprised that they had not responded to our messages for 14 hours and then had appeared 5 min after the bus had left. To which Hristo was surprised that he had not received any messages and not known which bus stop to go to had gone to a different one 1st and had got late due to that. It was then that we realized that due a recent update of the Apple OS, he had stopped receiving notifications for the last 2 days.
    In any case, there was not much we could do here now, so we decided to go to the other agency (Don Carlos) that we had been informed, had a bus on the same route at 9:30 am. We reached the agency to find it closed since it was a Sunday and they had buses from Mon-Fri only.
    Having nothing left to try for this day trip, we went and had our breakfast. After that, Hristo and Maria decided to go for the walk they had missed the previous evening while Melinda and I went to the park in the central plaza to enjoy the sun in the cold morning. While sitting there, just on a hunch, I decided to check if the tourist information center nearby, was open on the Sunday. It was!!! 👌👌
    There, upon asking if we could do anything nearby in half a day, they suggested we go to Coyhaique National Park. We didn't even need a bus to get there. The entrance was 2 kms from Coyhaique town and a 1 km inside from the main road. I messaged Hristo about this and that Melinda and I were planning to go for it. Now, that we had fixed the messenger problem, he received them immediately and messaged back that they too would join. We decided to meet up at a common point outside of the town. Around 1 pm we met up and walked North across the bridge to the side path that lead to the entrance of the national park. The path was quite steep and it ws quite sunny. The views of the surroundings were quite breathtaking.    Lue lisää

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    Coyhaique National Park

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    We reached the entrance of the national park at around 2 pm. There we got a brief explanation of the different trails. There are 2 different loop trails. The longer one goes to the top of the mountain and takes about 7-8 hours while the shorter one goes halfway to the mountain path and the diverges through the forest to join the mountain trail on its loop back. The rangers suggested doing the shorter one and the it would take us 3-4 hours.
    The trail was well marked and the initial path lead through some dense forest area.    Lue lisää

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    Laguna Venus

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    The trail continued through some thick forest. This place is one of the Puma checkpoints as well so we were keeps oir eyes and ears open on case we come across one. After about 45 min more, we reached Laguna Venus. Another nondescript lake. Here, Hristo decided to go back and do the Cerro Cincaho trail while we continued further on the current trail. We both had data on and off so we decided to sync up whenever we get the connection.Lue lisää

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    Laguna Los MallinesLaguna Verde

    Laguna Los Mallines

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Another 30 min later, we reached Laguna Los Mallines. There was a lookout viewpoint next to the lake. We stopped there for a while tp enjoy the view and take pictures. After that, Melinda wanted to stay there for a while and asked us to continue. We decided to meet at the park entrance and if there were any trail crossings, we would mark our direction with an arrow on the ground. Maria and I continued further and reached Laguna Verde after about 30 more minutes. There were quite a few people there and they had even built small wooden shelters for BBQ etc. Families were picknicking there and there was a vehicle parking just nearby. Here, there were a few different trails but all lead towards the entrance, so after waiting for Melinda for a while, we continued further to meet at the park entrance as agreed.Lue lisää

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    2

    The witch's house

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Just a few meters after Laguna Verde, we came across the mirador over the Coyhaique town. Right next to it was a ladder going down into the forest where the trail continued. A few minutes later, we came across the Witch's House. There is an interesting story behind the place that I got to know later from one of the park rangers.
    When this area was still uninhabited, a few natives moved there and started living as shepards, grazing their cattle. When the big meat companies moved there, they found the land very suitable for the cattle to feed on. They set up industries there and started taking over the land. But, according to a law in Chile, they could not take over the land where someone was already living. So, the natives, built a house overnight to claim the land. Since it came up in one night, it is called a witch's house. A short while later, we reached the entrance just before 6 pm. There, we waited for Melinda and Hristo to come back.    Lue lisää

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    Lost Melinda!!!

    14. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    It was starting to get a bit chilly in the shadows so Maria and I sat in the sun waiting for the rest to return. At 6:30 pm, Melinda still hadn't returned so we started getting a bit worried. We didn't know how long she wanted to sit alone at the lake where we had left her but 30 min felt like a good time for her to join us. Around this time, the park ranger's jeep went in to check for vehicles inside since they were were closing at 7 pm. After that one could walk out but the vehicles would not be able to cross the barrier. We decided to wait for the jeep to come back and if Melinda still didn't return, I would take a lift till Laguna Verde on the jeep and try and trace the 4 km path to the entrance from there.
    Just a few minutes before 7 pm, the park ranger came back. I tried to explain to them our situation and that I would need a lift in the jeep till Laguna Verde to find Melinda. Luckily, one of them understood a little English and with a mix of my broken Spanish, we managed to understand each other. At this moment, Hristo came back from his trek. He had not seen Melinda on the way, so basically, from Laguna Verde to the entrance, was eliminated since if Melinda was in that section, he would have seen her.
    We decided that Maria would stay near the park entrance and charge her phone in the office (they were still open for a few more minutes and Maria's phone had run out of power) and send a message to me if Melinda would return. Hristo too had run out of power on his phone as well as on his power bank so he left his phone there. Hristo and I took a lift till Laguna Verde and instead of coming back to the entrance, we decided that I would trek back to the lake Los Mallines where we had last seen Melinda and Hristo, since he had trekked 8 kms extra on a very steep section, would instead drive with the ranger to a road point near the lake and start walking from there. That way we could eliminate another section if we didn't find her.
    We proceeded as per plan and unfortunately met each other in the middle of the trail with still no sign of Melinda. We had continued to call out her name while we were walking but had not heard anything. It was getting quite late, and the sun was a few minutes from setting. Inside the forest, it was already quite dark and with pumas on the prowl, we were getting quite worried now. The park rangers didn't seem to care much though, they had just dropped Hristo and had gone back and left us on our own. We sorted out another section of the trail and decided to split up along 2 parallel trails going further back and wait for each other where they met. That way we would eliminate another section of the trail. In the meantime, at every crossing I had passed, I continued marking arrows towards the entrance, just in case she came there from a different direction, hopefully sje would notice them and know where to go.
    Hristo and I walked towards the place where the trails split. It was just at this moment, I got data for a brief moment and got the message from Maria telling that Melinda had reached the entrance.
    We immediately dropped off our search and looked up the shortest way to the entrance. We were still about 5 kms away so I messaged back that we would take an hour to reach back and then started our long and slow walk back to the entrance. By the time we reached the entrance, it was past 9 pm and the sun had already gone below the horizon. Hristo had already walked about 38 kms and I about 30 kms so we stopped at the entrance for a while to recover a bit and figure out what had happened.
    Eventually, after checking out all the details etc, we figured that Melinda after stopping at the lake for about 10 min started her walk but instead of walking towards the entrance had immediately turned back along the path where we had come from. Then she had reached the junction where Hristo had gone up the hill and thinking that was the route to the park entrance had climbed the hill, then figured something was wrong since she didn't see any of us had turned back ans retraced her steps back to the entrance. This was why Hristo too had not seen her on his way down since she never went to the 2nd half of the trail. After a few minutes, we trudged our way back to Coyhaique, extremely tired but very happy that everyone was fine. It had been a worrying experience and the lessons learnt were for all of us to have an offline copy of the maps and if any of us didn't know how to read the maps then never lose sight of the others. To have our phones and power banks fully charged on the night before the treks. These came in quite handy later in the trip as well.    Lue lisää

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    Off to Balmaceda

    15. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    It was the day to fly back to Santiago to fetch my new passport and some of the credit cards that Shuchi had couriered to the Swedish embassy in Santiago. The airport for Coyhaique is at Balmaceda some 60 kms away, right at the Argentina border. My flight was at 4 pm so I had booked a shared pickup at 11 am from the hostel. I had already checked out and left the big bag with Melinda who was continuing to stay there. After that, I went to the police station about a km away to see if I could get a copy of my case here itself. It was a bit hard communicating since none of them spoke English and my Spanish was quite basic. Eventually, I understood that since I was a foreigner, I could a copy only in Santiago and only in the center that was marked on the report slip. Now, for giving me just that useless information, the police guy wantrd some money. I just acted dumb and told them "no comprendo" and walked out back to the hostel.

    I waited till 11:30 am. No bus showed up so I asked the girl at the reception to check. She called them a couple of times but no one picked up the phone. Then she called another agency that have an airport drop. They wanted me to come to a supermarket some 20 mts away in 10 min for the pickup. In the meantime the 1st agency called back on her number and informed that the bus would be there within 10 min. Finally, the van arrived at 12 pm and we were off to Balmaceda.
    The route was very scenic with green rolling hills and lakes. There were some interesting rock formations as well. It was a lovely sunny day.    Lue lisää

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    Salto Pollux
    Salto Pollux21

    Salto Pollux

    15. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    On the way, we passed the Salto Pollux, a beautiful waterfall along the roadside. There were lovely fields of rapeseed spreading a fantastic carpet of yellow color on the green countryside. We reached the airport around 2:45 pm. It a very small airport with hardly anything around it. Even inside, there are a few car rental counters and nothing much besides that.Lue lisää

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    Cerro CincahoFjordsOsorno volcano and Llanquihue lakeLago Puyehue and Lago Rupanco

    Off to Santiago

    16. tammikuuta 2018, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    At the airport, I ran to the bag drop counter since I didn't have a passport so I knew it would take some time and the departure was in an hour. At the counter, I told them about the theft in Santiago and showed them my police report and a paper copy of my previous passport. After a few minutes of consultation with the superiors, I was cleared for take off. I got my ticket and was checked in. At 4 pm we took off as per schedule.
    It was a clear day and we could see the beautiful views below. We passed many of the beautiful places we had visited during our road trip in the last few days.
    The 1st sight was that of Cerro Cincaho where we had walked so many kms the day before. Then came the fjords between Chaiten and Hornopiren. Then the iconic Osorno volcano near the Llanquihue lake. Just North of Osorno were the lakes of Puyehue and Rupanco.    Lue lisää

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    Reached Santiago again

    15. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The flight crossed over some lovely countryside with lakes and mountains. As we started descending towards Santiago, the air became a bit more dense with pollution reducing the visibility. We landed at 6:30 pm. I took the shared van for a drop off to my hostel. Just outside the airport there were a lot of Carabineros. All along the road for quite many kms there were policemen standing on both the sides. I was thinking if we had landed in Santiago for the 1st time today, we wouldn't have gone far with our highway walk 😉
    Later I saw on the TV that the pope landed in Santiago just an hour after I had. The security was for him. There had been a few riots and church burnings in Chile to protest the pope's indirect support of the pedofile bishop who had been appointed as the bishop of Osorno despite having a clearly declared a pedofile after investigations.    Lue lisää

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    My room in the hostel
    My room in the hostelChill out area2DinnerHostel from outsideThe courtyard and the dining placeHostel Egali

    Hostel Egali Santiago

    15. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The Hostel Egali was just about a km from the Swedish Embassy in a nice neighborhood. The room was a mixed dormitory. It was neat and clean with personal lockers for everyone. It checked in and went for a walk to get my bearings around the place. Everything in the city was closed. All shops, commercial centres, restaurants... everything. All due to pope's visit. Finally found one place that was open. Had my dinner and came back to sleep early. It was going to be a long day next day.Lue lisää

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    Empty streets in Santiago
    Empty streets in SantiagoEmpty restaurantsArtesanal marketCrowds gathered to see the popeFlags, caps and buntings etc with pope's pictures

    A bitter sweet day in Santiago

    16. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    I woke up early, had my breakfast and walked to the Swedish Embassy. This day too, the streets were empty. Everything was closed. There was no public transport. The restaurants too were closed. I was wondering if pope's visit would spoil all my plans for the day.
    Luckily, the Swedish Embassy was open. I got my new passport and the courier with the credit cards. After that, I took a taxi to the police station about 15 kms away where I would get a copy of my police report. The place was was closed and one of the person there told me that it would remain closed for another day due to the pope's visit. Dejected, I decided to check at the immigration office if they were open to get a copy of the immigration papers that I had lost in the theft. I would need this to travel out of Chile. There were 3 offices marked on my map. The nearest ome was 3 kms away. I decided to walk there. The streets we're totally empty. People were staying at home fearing rioting and arson due to the pope's visit. I reached the place marked on the map only to find it closed. The next immigration office was shown less than a km away. Having nothing else to do, I decided to check it as well.
    I reached there around 11:40 am. It seemed closed but the gate for the vehicles was open so I went in. There was no one around. I started looking into the various windows to see if I could find my way in. That's when one of the windows opened and a person asked what I was looking for? I explained that I had lost my immigration slip in a theft and I wanted a copy. He told me to come in and have a place. The entrance was from a side door well hidden from the main entrance. Here, after sitting for a while I was put through to an immigration officer who spoke English. After listening patiently to my issue he told me that since I was a foreigner I needed to go to ome of their special branch in the downtown that handles external cases and that I needed to hurry since it was a half day working only. I got a the address from them, thanked them, rushed out and called a taxi. The taxi took me to the office in the downtown just as tge tome showed 12:15 pm. Luckily, the office was still open. Here too, the gentleman who I talked to, knew English so I was able to explain the issue. He said that I could get the copy in that branch but that I would need to come the next day since they were closing now. I told them that I was leaving the next day early in the morning. He asked if I was leaving the country and I lied that I was leaving for Argentina the next morning. Then he asked one of his subordinates to look up my record based on my old passport number. He got the verification in a few minutes after which he took an immigration slip and filled it with my details and the new passport number and then signed and stamped it and gave it to me. That was it!! He didn't ask for any money, no favors or anything, just gave the slip to me and said that show this with the police report slip and I should be fine. I thanked him and walked out happy. At least some things were working out.
    It was 12:30 pm by now and I was hungry. I stopped by a local restaurant and had my lunch. After that, I walked about 2 kms to the central plaza. The whole place was fortified since the pope was coming there. There were police everywhere and people had gathered around the barriers to see the pope. There were vendors selling flags, caps, tshirts, buntings and every paraphernalia one could think of with pictures of the pope. There we people waving flags and singing. I walked back to my hostel about 4 kms away. Everything was closed in this area as well. I went out just to have dinner and then slept early.    Lue lisää

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    The unique blue church outside Balmaceda airport
    The unique blue church outside Balmaceda airportGiving a ride to 3

    Back to Coyhaique

    17. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    As has been the case all along, the pope's entourage messed up my plans again. This time to leave the city of Santiago. My flight was at 9 am so I asked for a shared pickup for 7:30 am. The receptionist at the hostel called the most popular one TransVIP. They didn't have any vehicles available in the morning due to the pope's visit. There is only one more shared airport drop company Delfos. He called them up and they suggested a pickup at 5 am. All the rest of the vehicles in the morning were fully filled. With no other option, I booked my place in it.
    I requested an early breakfast and was provided with it. At 5 am, the van came and we headed for the airport. At the airport, I had enough time to check-in and after a long time, I didn't have to explain anything about my theft etc 😁
    The flight was on time and we landed at 11:30 am at Balmaceda. Hristo had been scouting for car rentals simce the morning in Coyhaique but they were all very expensive so when I landed they weren't there to pick me up. I went around to the car rentals in the airport to see if I could find something cheaper. There were 4-5 counters there but either they were fully booked or more expensive than in the town.
    Finally, we decided that Hristo would rent one from the town and tjen come over to pick me up and then we'll continue further South from there. I asked them to pick up some food for me on the way since there was nothing at the airport. Finally, they arrived with the vehicle at around 3:30 pm. We had our food opposite the unique blie church outside the Balmaceda airport and and then were off.
    Back on the Carretera Austral, there was a que of hitch hikers wanting a lift towards Rio Tranquilo. We picked up 3 of them (2 girls and a boy, all from Chile). They wanted a ride till Cerro Castillo on the way. None of them spoke any English so we had some problem understanding each other initially. Then we were off.    Lue lisää

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    2Clouds around the Cerro Castillo peak

    Mirador Cerro Castillo

    17. tammikuuta 2018, Chile ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    Just before the road snakes its way down to the valley of Villa Cerro Castillo, there is a beautiful viewpoint. We stopped for a while at the viewpoint. The scenic beauty of the valley was stunning. The road was like a serpent lying on the green slopes of the valley. The view of the Cerro Castillo mountains was very clear but the peaks were covered with clouds.Lue lisää

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