Diego De Almagro Valdivia

After a rushed night of packing and mixed goodbyes, Molls, Meg and I were on a night bus heading south south south. We arrive in the morning after a pretty uncomfortable bus ride, however we weren´t complaining because we are quite the veterans when it comes to not so luxurious bus rides AND the ride was pretty gorgeous after Chile has seen spri...

Okay, really, it was walnut, but I was blown away how similar the recipe was. They also have watermelon down here, and some of the most beautiful hydrangeas I´ve ever seen (Nathan never wants to hear about them again at this point.) All these random slices of the south pop up in Central Chile, partly because of the similar climate (i.e. HOT, min...

Chile has the most unusual shape in the world, right, like some string bean or something? Or maybe one of those silver straws they use with the mate' cups in Argentina? They don't use those on this side of the Andes. Everything's different over here- no more gauchos, no more mate', no more Portu-Italo-Spaniol as lingua franca, no more fancy pret...

So we ended up leaving Pucon a little later than planned as the first bus to Valdivia. At the bus station we ran to a German couple who we had met in Talca, we followed them to a hostel that they had been recomended though it took a little longer than planned due to their poor directional skills. It was a little further away from the bus station...

Hola Nicholas. Make yourself comfortable. What have you been up to this week... Oh, it's been fairly quiet. On Thursday, I met the future mayor of Pichilemu, Chile and had a couple of pisco sours with him as he told me how he "removed" all his political opponents. Friday saw me visit the most random museum I have ever witnessed - the private col...

I wake up after a great night of sleep and go downstairs to a diningroom table featuring some awesome looking breakfast type foods. I start to dig in but the old geiser tells me that I have to pay extra for breakfast and that I can't have any. ****. Breakfast here is like a good looking hooker who you don't know is a hooker until you are just ab...

Valdivia is chiefly famous for having a fish market that draws parasites like sea lions, vultures, cormorants and caracaras. Shrewd marketing move. The market is on the banks of a river and the fish scraps are chucked over a fence onto concrete pontoons where sealions provide an efficient waste disposal service. They are assisted by various sea ...

Hola! Kate here finally. Have been itching a bit the last few days, literally, so apologies for not adding my bit. Not really much to add though Chris has been very very detailed with what we have been up to. Honestly, I am very surprised considering that he always has a beer in his hand. I didn´t think that he would be able to be patient enough...

Desde que dejé Hornopirén (lo más al sur que conseguí de la carretera austral), fuimos subiendo siempre haciendo dedo. Decidimos no pasar enfrente de Puerto Montt, pero pillar una ruta más por la tierra, sin ferry. Nos paramos una noche en casa de Belamin, que ayudamos a cortar algunos árboles con macheta. Seguimos el viaje, y nos encontramos co...

Valdivia was a bit of a surprise for us. We came to Valdivia with the expectation of another beautiful, mountainous town with snow capped mountains looming high behind as a backdrop to another wonderful city. Well, we were sorely mistaken. While Valdivia has some nice things about it...the town itself was not very impressive. It is in the lake d...