Visit from holland and more chilean beauty...

Puerto Montt itself is just a big city, so when I picked up Tanja and the rental car we went to Puerto Varas. It was very special to have Tanja here after all those months travelling by myself. I had designed a route for us but we soon discovered it was way to much for 2 weeks, so we decided to skip some things and other things were decided for us by mother nature (like forest fires that were blocking the roads to some national parks).

In Puerto Varas we went to a national park to visit a volcano, when we got there the lift to get there was closed and there was a horrible strong wind, we then went on to see some other parts of the park. It was very touristic and organized, but maybe I still had my Patagonian glasses on😊 Its funny how spoiled you get if you see so many beautiful things, Tanja did like it so that was important.

The next day we travelled to Pukon, I already read February was not the best month and it was not … very crowed, busy and full of tourists (good thing it was Chilian tourists). But we managed to find nice hostels and do some nice things. One of them was we decided to cool down at the beach… hahahaha we were not the only ones…. Before you could reach the water you had to cross 10 meter of people that were laying side by side (zandvoort is er niks bij).

The other day we decided to climb a volcano, it was a physical challenge climbing over ice and snow with all special equipment like ice pick, helmet, special waterproof protectors and even a gas mask that we needed at the top. But it was amazing, beautiful views and weird to stand on the edge of an active volcano that is smoking and fuming. The way down was the best, it was like bob sledging, we had a little plastic thing we sat on and they made this half tunnels. It went fast and I felt like 5 years old again. (see the pictures)

The next day we treated ourselves to some hot springs to soak our sore muscles, which was heaven😊 We went to visit a little place called Licanray, also this was full of tourists (chilian) but had a nice vibe so we decided to stay the night.

We read about the indigenous coast and decided to go there, we did not book any hostel, so when we arrived in Bahia Mansa we decided to keep driving to the next little village, that was the best decision of the trip. We arrived in this little coastal town called Maicolpue, found a hostel on the top of a hill, with hammocks overlooking the sea and very nice staff. Hardly any tourists, pigs roaming the sandy streets, cows in the river, locals collecting seaweed, dolphins surfing the waves… Amazing. We did some small hikes visiting some deserted beaches, we went on a penguin tour and chilled in the hammocks.

The hostel told us about another place called Caletta Condor and it sounded like paradise so off we went the next day. The boat ride there was rough, very rough… High waves, small boat and at one point the steering wheel did not work anymore so one of the crew was sitting on the motor to try and steer. And all that time I was trying not to puke☹ In the end they took us to a bay with calmer waters where we waited for another boat. But soon all was forgotten, when we arrived in Caletta Condor it was a little paradise with white sandy beaches, some free roaming horses, indigenous mapuche people and beautiful nature. We stayed with a local woman and did a hike and chilled on the beach, we tried the water but it was way to cold. The cool thing was that on one side you had the sea and on the other a river. We could have stayed much longer but time was pushing us so we left with the knowledge of the existence of a little paradise. Most Chilean people do not even know about this place.

We went back to Puerto Varas and looked around town, visited a really cool museum of a local artist that makes and reuses everything and prepared for our own trips again. Two weeks went fast and the next day we dropped off the car and said goodbye…☹

After I left Tanja I took a bus to Chiloe island, it is an island next to Patagonia, but they have a very different culture to the rest of chili, this island was also able to fight off the Spanish the longest. Its famous for its wooden churches.

I started in Ancud, found a nice hostel walked around town and to a look out point. At the look out point you could see 8 vulcanoes on the shore, which was amazing as I visited some of them. Next day I hitchhiked to a bridge that was supposed to be beautifull but I was not that impressed so hitched back with a big truck. The next day in my search for the museum I met another traveller who told me that in the evening there would be a reggaeton concert and invited me to come with him. So after some dinner I headed there and I had so much fun dancing😊

The next day I hitchhiked to Castro, the biggest city of the island and ended up in a really nice hostel that was build on poles, the view was stunning. Met some very nice people there and we had a good laugh. On the day I arrived the “fiesta costumbrista” (local festival of their customs) had started and I saw the traditional way of making apple juice (very funny, see pics), the way they make traditional bread, a smoking hut for herbs and veggies, traditional dances etc. The next day I visited a national park with some very nice hikes, really next time I am here I will take a tent! So you can do the 2 or more day hikes to stunning places. I only visited some of the churches as hitchhiking was not as easy as I hoped for.

The next day me and another backpacker went on an adventure, we hitchhiked to a tiny little village where we had heard we could do some nice hikes. To get there took us till 3 pm and then when we were there, we were basically told if we did not have a tent we could not do the hike we wanted as it involved a boat ride and camping overnight, the second hike we were told about was also not possible if you did not have someone on the other end to pick you up. So mission aborted and mission getting back to Ancud started… As there were not much people there I begged a family if we could sit in the back of their truck, they said yes so if we did not mind sitting on top of a bed and some cupboards, of course we didn’t and off we went. Pfff we were both exhausted at the end of that day.

After some organizing I took a bus to Concepcion, which was interesting, It was a lively city but hardly any backpackers. I went to a nice museum there, made friends with the housekeeper of the place I stayed (she did my washing for free) in and practised my Spanish as no one spoke English.

After 2 days it was time to go to the nature again and I had my first Airbnb experience in south America.  The park I wanted to visit was quite of the beaten track and no cheap accommodation close by. So for 2 days in a row I was in different busses for 2 hours one way. But especially the 2nd day was worth it, I combined 2 hikes and on the first one I was all alone, very peaceful. And on the 2nd hike I came across this beautiful pool with crystal clear water as it was hot I really wanted to in, but it was freezing cold water, I dipped in and out again brrrr…

From here on the bus to Valparaiso, a very nice town on the coast with an alternative touch to it. Lots of vegan restaurants, graffiti/murals, nice atmosphere and a nice hostel, loved the place… Also the famous poet writer Pablo Neruda used to live here and I went to see his house (now a museum) to learn more about him. For the rest I just strolled the streets😊 One funny story about a mural with dancing skeletons. During one of the many earthquakes the people across the cemetery saw the skeletons dance as the all the graves opened and of course were very freaked out about it. One artist could see the joke and made the mural.

After Valparaiso I left Chili to go back to Argentina...