The Lake District

We just got back to Santiago after spending nine days in Chile's lake district. We found cheap airfare to Puerto Montt, the hub of the area, which helped us avoid a couple 20+ hour bus trips down there. We arrived on the 18th and spent the weekend in the city. Our hostel was more of a home stay than anything else, which was a bit awkward at first. When we arrived, the owner's husband answered the door without saying a word to us and we noticed that their grandchildren were watching cartoons in the living room with their toys all over the place. We looked at each other with "what did we get our selves into"-looks on our faces, but everything turned out great. We had a comfortable bed and met a few really nice travelers who were also spending the night there. We had dinner together and talked about our plans for the next day. We decided to team up with a German guy named Enno and head to Alerce Andino National Park early the next morning for a short hike.
























On Saturday we woke up early and headed down to the bus station in hopes of catching an 8AM bus to the park. Unfortunately, the first one left at 9:00. We spent most of an hour walking around asking people where the bus was and getting bits of misinformation that led to a lot of confusion. Eventually we found a bus and made it out to the park. When we arrived at the entrance road, we found out that our "short hike" looked like it would include a seven kilometer hike just to get to the trails. Luckily we were able to catch a ride in the back of a truck with another group of hikers. The three of us chose to take a three hour route which included waterfalls, a massive tree, and scenic overlooks. On the way back from the park we caught another ride and were even brought back to Puerto Montt. That evening Enno's friend from Argentina arrived, so we spent the night talking about our travels and experiences over a few empanadas and bottles of beer.

The next day was highlighted by a region-wide power outage until the middle of the afternoon. We were pretty bored, so we decided to grab some warmer clothes at the mall and relax there for the afternoon, as the mall had its own generator.

The next morning we headed to Puerto Varas, a smaller German town near some volcanoes in the area. The city itself was very nice, but the weather did not cooperate with our plans for the next six days. We only had one day of sunny weather the whole time we were there, which discouraged us from doing any of the hiking or excursions that we were hoping to do. We were able to do a couple of smaller hikes and day trips to the surrounding area, but most of our time was spent in coffee shops planning for our time in Argentina. We also caught a few of the big football games over the weekend thanks to my iPad (and Jordan's website suggestion). All in all, it was good to be out of big cities, but we felt like we wasted a lot of time.


















We just got back to Santiago yesterday. We will take a bus to Mendoza tomorrow and begin our month in Argentina. We are very excited about the change in scenery and are getting excited for the holidays.



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Location:Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, and Frutillar

Valparaiso, Chile

During our long period in Santiago, we decided to go for a 'weekend away.' We left on Friday morning for Valparaiso. It is a small coastal city located about 90 minutes northwest of Santiago. We woke up, jumped on a bus and enjoyed the ride through lush forests before coming to the coast. The ride was a huge change from our rides through the deserts of northern Chile. It has been wonderful to see such different landscapes throughout our time in Chile.

We spent the afternoon walking around the city. The weather was very cold and windy. After a few hours we stopped for coffee and a chance to warm up. We continued walking and stumbled upon a great happy hour at a B&B overlooking the ocean. After some pisco sours we went back to the hostel. For dinner we headed to a good sushi restaurant. It was not as good as the sushi places in Asia, but it satisfied our wasabi craving.












On Saturday we headed to a local area that is known for its street art. We walked along this path that goes up a small hill near the water. We saw walls covered in graffiti art, colorful signs and decorated street lights and poles. We spent the afternoon going around the city and taking in the sites. For dinner we stopped at a small restaurant for pizza and beer. It was a great way to end the day after walking around for hours.












On Sunday we headed back to Santiago. We bused back and checked back into our hostel. We then stocked up on groceries for the week and relaxed all night.

We spent the next few days in Santiago. Fred had added pages to his passport while we were in Korea but I had not. I realized that I was down to only a few pages so on Monday we headed to the embassy. I simply had to hand over my passport, a piece of paperwork and money and come back on Tuesday. On Tuesday we headed back to the embassy and waited for night to come. We had tickets to the Chile vs. Paraguay World Cup Qualifying soccer match. Our tickets were general admission so we arrived at the stadium an hour early (around 7pm). To our surprise, there were no seats left. We ended up sitting on the steps in the very last row of our section. The seats turned out to be great, as we could see the entire field even when people below were standing. Everyone was dressed in red and crazy about soccer. The field was in the center of a track however between the track and the stands there was a eight foot 'moat' area. This keeps the fans from charging the field. To help keep this from happening, the stadium was filled with at least 200 police officers in full gear including helmets, face masks, and shields. After a 2-0 win, full of cheers, flags and road flares, we made our way back to our hostel.












On Wednesday we headed to a city lookout point. We took a funicular (an elevator/cable car mix) to the top of a large hill. From here we were able to see all of Santiago surrounded by mountains. The weather was hazy so we could not see as far as we had hoped. It was great to get an idea of how expansive Santiago truly is.









Thursday was our final day in Santiago. We spent the afternoon in the Plaza de Armas (city center) and walked around seeing all of Santiago's important buildings. We had lunch at a sandwich shop where we enjoyed a massive meal. After stuffing our faces we headed back to our hostel. We spent the evening talking with a Canadian couple and packing up our things. We left early on Friday morning for a flight to the Lake District!
























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Santiago: Week 1

We have spent the last few days in Santiago and are enjoying our time here. The capital city is much different than Peru and cities in northern Chile. There are huge skyscrapers, distinct neighborhoods, tons of colorful street art and outdoor cafes everywhere. The only problem is that there seem to be fewer people who speak English.








The first couple days we spent bumming around, exploring the city. We found the usual things: a main square, a cathedral, and an area full of museums. We also wandered onto a pedestrian street FULL of stands selling massive hot dogs and head-sized sandwiches. We spent one afternoon at the Museo Artes Visuales. The exhibits were really cool, but there wasn't a lot of space to put them in. We also picked up a pair of tickets to the Chile v. Paraguay World Cup Qualifier this Monday evening. A guy explained that the stadium was recently renovated. The usual (at least in South America) security measure of a huge fence topped with barbed wire between the fans and field was taken out and replaced with a massive pit. Now a lot more seats have an unobstructed view and the stadium is "more safe." We were kind of hoping to get the old experience. Oh, well.










The past couple days we ventured out into different parts of the Maipo Valley for tours of vineyards. Yesterday we went to Vina Undurraga. It was a bit hard to get to, but it was good to be outside of the city. Our tour guide was a university student that was about our age. We were the only ones on the English tour, so it was nice to talk to him about the way they make wine and things to do or see in Santiago. We walked around a small part of the fields and found out a lot about their pinot noir grapes. He told us that some parts of the vineyard were damaged by the earthquake last year, including a couple of huge vats that broke open. He said there was partially fermented wine everywhere for a couple weeks, but everything was almost back to normal now. After our tour of the fields and wine cellar, we sampled four of their wines. The two reds were alright, but the two whites were way too sweet.









Patagonian lamb roast. Unfortunately it wasn't for us.

Today we went to Vina Aquitania. It is a smaller vineyard that produces 10% of what Vina Undurraga produces (around 15,000 cases per year). Right away we knew that this place was a step up from many others in the area. The grounds were beautiful and everything was well taken care of. Our tour guide was very informational and we learned a lot about the processes of making different types of wine. The tasting at this place was a lot better than the previous day's. We only got to try three different kinds, but they were all really good. We picked up a few parting gifts at their shop, then headed back to the city center.












Tomorrow morning we are heading to Valparaiso for the weekend. We are excited to eat fresh seafood and relax by the ocean for a few days.

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Location:Gral Jofre,Santiago,Chile

Crossing into Chile

After enjoying our last couple days in Cusco, we hopped on a bus to Arequipa, Peru to begin our journey into Chile. The bus was very nice and we were able to sleep comfortably for a few hours on our way. We arrived in Arequipa just after sunrise (about 6 AM...ugh). Arequipa is the third largest city in Peru, but if you visit this place, you probably would not realize it. There are very few buildings that are taller than three stories and the usual sounds of car horns and people yelling were missing. We knew that it was going to be a fun place to celebrate the fall holidays.

Our first day in Arequipa was fairly relaxed. We spent a few hours resting up in our hostel before venturing out into the city. The owner of the hostel, Jose, recommended a great place for breakfast and lunch that was just around the corner. We headed there for some much needed coffee and snacks. After that, we headed to the Plaza de Armas. We sat in the park for a while and people-watched before trying to find a few of the city's attractions. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so almost everything was closed. So we grabbed some lunch at one of the patio restaurants then spent the afternoon/evening planning the next steps of our journey.



Plaza de Armas







The next two days were Halloween and the Day of the Dead, so we were very excited to see how people in Peru celebrated these holidays. On Halloween most families dressed their children up and headed to the main square to take pictures. We decided to head to a museum to see an Incan mummy. The mummy came from one of the nearby mountains and was originally a sacrificed girl from Cusco. What made this mummy special, though, was that most of its organs and tissue were still intact. She had been frozen shortly after she was sacrificed, which kept her body safe. We could see the entire body (including teeth, skin, and hair), which was creepy, but also really interesting. After the museum we headed back out to the main square. By that time some older people wore costumes, but they were usually heading to the bars for the festivities. The Day of the Dead turned out to be a day where almost nothing went on. The city was pretty much dead, so maybe that was their way of celebrating. We were a little disappointed because Cusco had all kinds of events leading up to the big day, but there was nothing in Arequipa. I guess we will have to try to celebrate it somewhere else sometime.

The following morning we woke up early to catch a bus to Tacna, Peru. Tacna is a small town in the south that is famous mostly for its border runs. They have a ton of cabbies who will escort small groups across the border, so we decided that would be the best option for us. We met up with a man on our bus named Ian from Manhattan, who helped us get through the whole process of picking a driver and filling out the necessary paperwork. The process was pretty easy for the three of us. The two Bolivians in our car were not so lucky, though. They were turned away because one of them did not have a valid excuse to enter the country. Bummer.

We have spent the last few days in Arica, Chile. It is a small coastal town that is a good stop on the way to Santiago. There is not much to see in the city, but we have enjoyed our time here. We met a few people here and were finally able to purchase some cheap flights that we had been eying for a while. Later today we will hop on a flight to Santiago. We have been very anxious to get there and cannot believe we are already going to be there!












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Location:Arequipa and Tacna Peru - Arica, Chile