More About Chile

¡Buenos días desde el sur de Chile!

I’ve begun to make my way down to the south of Chile and the scenery has changed.  Instead of hot, dry climate and cool beaches, I’m now surrounded by lush, green vegetation and rolling hills.  It reminds me of a cross between the southwest of Ireland and the northwest US, complete with tree-covered mountains, lakes, sheep and cattle, and bright green grass.  

Since my last post, I’ve visited a few cities, the beach and a few national parks:  Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, the coast and its beaches, Pucón, Huerquehue National Park, Pozones hot springs (outdoor thermal baths), Valdivia, Kunstmann German brewery, Puerto Varas, Vicente Perez Rosales National Park by Osorno volcano with Petrohué Falls.  I´m now exploring Chiloé, an island off of the coast of Chile.

You can see my journey on a map by clicking here.

Snapshots from each city:

Viña & Valparaíso:
I landed in a deserted hostel by the beach.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard that it wasn’t that pleasant, but I did have the opportunity to find an Arabic cafe about five minutes from my hostel.  It was a quirky little joint with a bohemian, yet family atmosphere.  I had the most incredible vegetarian empanada (baked bread stuffed with goodness) and fresh atun juice (fruit from the prickly pear cactus), the best I had in South America.

Ashley, Juana and Juan Francisco

I also met family members (Juan Francisco and Juana) of one of my friends in Washington, Marian.  The couple picked me up from the hostel and whisked me around the coast, their home.  We started in Valparaíso and explored the entire downtown area, including ascending in the funicular to old German tour where we saw local artisans, curious European architecture made with corrugated iron siding, and Chilean traditional dancing.  We then sped down a highway which followed the coastline and provided views of aquamarine water and charcoal rock.  We stopped at a local restaurant for incredible empanadas filled with seafood (oysters, shrimp, and loco, a local sea creature), fresh local fish, white wine, and a mint liquor for dessert.  We also talked of traveling to Easter Island and of a few Chilean cities in the South.






Pucón

Josie, Ginny and Ashley

I arrived at a quirky, swiss-owned hostel and was met with the first rain of my trip, so it was suggested that I venture to the hot springs, outside thermal baths.  I took a 45-minute local bus and arrived in the middle of the forest to find other tourist and Chileans on holiday.  We all got in our swim suits and soaked in the 80 degree (25-30 C) water and just let the cold and refreshing rain sprinkle on our faces.  

I was determined to climb the volcano, but the weather was horrible so I never got the chance.  Additionally, I learned that two people died a few days earlier while trekking up the volcano, so was all right with sticking to the hot springs and national parks.  The next day, I went to Huerquehue National Park on a 10-mile (17 km) hike.  The whole trip took 6.5 hours and would have taken much longer, but I was traveling with two girls from Tasmania.  They kicked my ass.  We ascended to about 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) and they never needed to stop!  But, it was completely worth it.  The hike was gorgeous and had beautiful views of multiple lakes and a rare Araucaria tree.  We celebrated that night with fish, pisco sour (a local drink) and wine.  

Valdivia

Outside of Valdivia, on the river

Here, I recovered from my journey and met a group I would travel with for a few days:  Emma (from New Zealand), Eva (from Switzerland), Ernie (from Latvia), Saulo (from Brazil) and Leandre (from Brazil).  We ventured out to a smaller city, lazed on the beach, and went to the famous Kuntsmann brewery.  This area of Chile is heavily influenced by German immigrants.  The next day, we walked around the square, the river, the fish market and watched the fat sea lions lazily devour fish scraps from the market place.  Everyone decided to take the bus to Puerto Varas.   

Puerto Varas
We stayed at another German-run hostel and journeyed to Vicente Perez Rosales National Park where we swam in an aquamarine lake surrounded by views of three volcanoes and then went to Petrohué Falls and walked through an incredible park of cascades.  That evening, we bought and made a delicious dinner of homemade sauce, pasta, and a fresh salad.  

Eva, Ashley and Emma; Volcano Osorno

Some observations:

Light-packing - I did well (see below).

My one bag (left), my friend's two bags (right)

Americans - Where are we?  This must be a low season for American travelers because I’ve met only a few on my trip.  I’ve seen many Israelis, Germans, and Australians.
Conversions - Can we just convert?  I enjoy calculating to Celsius and the metric system in my head, but it would be easier if our systems were the same...
Plastic and Recycling - Bags inside of bags are not necessary.  How many times does my apple need to be wrapped up?  On the flip side, there are signs of recycling and composting in some hostels.

Next:  Puerto Natales, Glacier National Park, Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaria (to the ends of the earth, or at least South America)

Hope everyone is doing well and let me know if you’re enjoying my blog!

Luego,
Ashley