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It is always difficult to say goodbye to friends, even if you have only known them a week. My travel companion for this last week is returning to Santiago and I will continue solo on to the south to Coyhaique. And a six hour bus ride before a flight isn't exactly appealing in that state either. But, goodbyes will hopefully turn into "see you down the road"...
I slept on and off the entire bus ride so I didn't see much of the scenery. I had stayed up late the night before trying to finish my volcano flight video and it was a torment trying to get it to upload to Facebook or YouTube, but I finally got it before I left Pucon.
Arriving at the bus terminal in Puerto Montt it was pretty easy to find a cab to get me to the airport, which was pretty far out of town, so ended up costing about $14. Checking in was easy and I played on my iPad while I waited to board. I was supposed to get the window seat in my aisle but this lady was already sitting in my seat when I got to it. So, I just sat next to her and enjoyed the view from a few inches to the right. The landscape, of what I could see, was absolutely gorgeous, transforming from deep blue waters to grey and white mountains. We landed without a hitch (and briefly flew into Argentinian airspace because the Balmaceda airport is very close to the border). I was able to find a easy transportation transfer bus ($8) which dropped me right off at my hostel. I didn't get to see much of town because I was one of the first people to be dropped off. The entrance to the hostel is very nice (see pics) and I was warmly greeted by Thomas, Sandra, and their 1 year and 9 month old son Mateo.
The hostel is quite small, with two private rooms with king beds and one 6 bed dorm room. Everything is very nicely decorated in a laid back style. The common room is large with two big picnic tables which offer complimentary tea and hot water all day. They have two hanging chairs from the ceiling and a fireplace, with benches lining the walls with brightly colored red/orange/yellow pillows in fun designs. The hostel is divided into the front area of the common room with the guest rooms upstairs, and the back of the house which is where the owners (and I) will live. They have no public kitchen for the guests but we do serve a pretty filling breakfast. I will have all meals included and free room, which is bigger than my train room so I'm pretty happy with that. Haha. The weather is very nice right now in the mid 60s. We have a washing machine but we hang dry our clothes. The toilets are a little funny because you can't flush the toilet paper or it will clog the pipes, so you have to throw all paper into the waste bin (oh joy!).
There was only one guest last night when I first arrived but two more Chilean guys showed up at around 11. We had dinner of meat, egg, and cheese on bread. I was happy to be under wifi again so I could message and talk to friends of whom I needed to catch up with.
I think I will enjoy this place. I am a little afraid I will get a little bored, but I think I will be able to find plenty of projects to occupy myself with. The surrounding scenery is beautiful. The hostel owners are super chill and their kid is pretty cute and hardly ever fusses. The little boy speaks Spanish and German but no English so I think him and I will have to develop our own interesting relationship of dancing goofy gestures. Haha.
I am interested to see how I adjust to this slower paced life. I've been going strong on this vacation so far and also before in the Circus. It will be nice to have time to focus and chill for a while and figure out where I want to go next in life. Cheers to life experiences!
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