Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hola!
Hope all is well in sunny England!
We finally got a day where it reached over 15 degrees since Brazil yesterday, we didn´t know what to do with ourselves in the 20 degree heat. It´s back to about 12 today though, and the hideous Berghaus jacket is back on..
I last wrote when i was in Puerto Varas. We didn´t do that much there, it was pretty quiet but really beautiful. We got to meet our guide Marcel´s family and went out to a lovely seafood restaurant which is supposed to be one of the best in South America. It was really very nice and we got lots of free drinks and desrt because they were so happy to see Marcel, which was a nice touch.
After leaving Puerto Varas we had a 7 hour bus journey to Pucon. Pucon is all about the mountains and active Volcano and the surrounding area. it´s a massive ski resort and there´s lots of walks up the Volcano that you can usually partake in. Obviously, as we are having the worst winter EVER, there wasn´t the opportunity to go to the top of the Volcano because of the snow. We however were able to do a walk half way, which was good, but i didn´t see any lava or anything, so i was a little disappointed, i mean that´s what an active Volcano is all about right? In the town there are traffic lights that indicate if you should worry about the Volcano or not. So red is run etc..Whilst we were there there was a really loud siren going off. we all looked at each other a bit scared, but were shortly reassured that it was not signalling the volcano going off, just a siren to let everyone know it was midday..strange.
We got a really sunny day the second day we were there, so we all went off to do ziplining. Again, this is something i wouldn´t normally do, but i wanted to show willing and have a go. After getting harrassed up and going on the first run, i began to really enjoy myself. there was one that was a kilometre long which was hilarious and also slightly scary. all good fun.
The place we were staying at was a little log cabin that only had parafin gas heaters, so getting changed and ready every morning was a real effort. We quickly learnt our lesson not to leave the heater on all night though after we were all nearly comotosed from the fumes on the first night. We all didn´t wake up til past lunchtime and felt dizzy for the rest of the day. ahhh nothing like a bit of gas poisioning to start the day.
As we didn´t have great weather in Pucon alot of the time there was spent watching rubbish films, sitting by the fire and drinking. The nightlife was pretty good, but they seemed to have been a little obsessed with Rod Stewart, Do you think i am sexy was played at least 5 times in the time we were in Pucon, what a treat!
Luckily we got a nightbus to Santiago a couple of days ago when we all started to get a little restless. The bus took about 13 hours, which is now a breeze for a veteran like myself. After dropping the stuff at the hotel ( which is 3 star luxury...i actually got my own room and everything!) we went off exploring. Santiago is a nice city, but i think i´ve now been a little spoilt with Rio and Buenos Aires. The city is also shrouded in smog, which makes everything look more than a little grey.
A few of us decided to walk arrond and go to the San Cristobel statue that looks out over Santiago. You take a finicular train from the bottom and can stop at the zoo on the way. We didn´t bother with the zoo and went straight to the top. The views over the city were pretty impressive. The statue however was not. It was so small and it was a bit like ´erm is that it??´ i suppose it had quite a lot of living up to after Christ the Redeemer.
We then had a bit more of a walk around the city being tourists taking pictures and visiting the markets. That night Marcel took us to a member´s club in the city which was great. We had a lovely dinner and were joined by some people from another group which was a nice change. We then followed him to Bella Vista, another of the neighbourhoods to go out. It was all very cloak and dagger when we arrived at this seemingly normal house on a quiet street. He knocked on the door, all paid 3 pounds and were lead through a corridoor to a canvenous club. there was a band on in one room and music in another two rooms. The drinks were ridiculously cheap and it ended up being a brilliant night.
Yesterday after a massive chilean breakfast ( bread, bread and more bread) a few of us went in search of some culture. We ended up at the pre-coloumbian museum. we couldn´t find it for ages, but was told we had to use the other entrace, through the adult cinema..of course, cultural centres are always right next to each other.
Anyway, the museum was really interesting and i felt good to have actually done something other than eat, drink and lounge. We did a bit more walking around the city, visited one of the football stadiums and then returned to the hotel to say goodbye to a couple of people ending the trip here in Santiago and then meeting the 8 new people joining for the Atacama crossing.
Everyone seems really nice, there are no obvious freaks anyway. It´s great because everyone is really excited about this part of the trip and there sounds like there is going to be so much to do and see, and as Bolivia is supposed to be such an unpredictable country, which riots, strikes etc every week i am sure it won´t boring. We´ve all been warned that it will reach around -20 or so at night when we reach the salt flats on the atacama crossing. i can not even favom it being that cold. i have been shopping today for some more extremely sexy thermals and more gloves. (there´s a reason i haven´t posted any pictures yet we are all white, fat, hungover and dressed like michelin men- not exactly the holiday i was expecting!)
Anyway, i have my last night in santiago tonight before catching the bus to La serena tomorrow. after that we get the nightbus to San Pedro De Atacama and then begin the three day Salt flat crossing next tuesday. We stay in the 4x4´s most of the day, and hotels made out of Salt at night. Apparently one of them has a dead flamingo hanging from the roof. i asked why, just because of course. I´m jumping ahead, but i doubt i´ll have much or any access to the Internet until next weekend, so wanted to keep you all well informed of my movements.´
I´ll try and upload some pictures soon so you can see how hideous and hilarious i look.
I hope you are all well and enjoying your summers so far.
Missing you all.
xx
- comments