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  Puerto Varas, Chile
Saturday, March 25, 2006

It was another interesting trip on the bus over into Chile. I had been umming and ahhing on wednesday as to whether to stay in Bariloche for another day or make the move, as I really liked the place. But when I woke, it was once again raining and I figured it was probably a good opportunity to get on the road.

The rain did not stop the whole 8 hour journey, and the coach wasnīt quite so luxurious as the previous one I had been on. About 2 hours in, the water started to come through and drip on to me. I had been given a bread roll in a plastic packet, so had to quickly wolf that down in order to use the packet to catch the drips. Problem was it was like a small plate and the thing soon started to fill up, so that every drip sent a fine spray into my face as it splashed down. Not a lot of fun I can asure you. Thankfully the 2 guys in front got off after about an hour so I was able to grab the seat.

We got to the border (or so I thought) and all had to get off to show our passports. To be honest I wasnīt entirely sure what I was doing but you kinda follow everyone else. We got back on and drove for probably another 3/4 of an hour, before suddenly coming on another post, where we once again we had to all get off and get a new stamp in the passport. This time though all the bags were unloaded and had to go through an x-ray machine. As I watched on in horror, all I could think was "Great, thats my film done then", as it wasnīt exactly the most hi-tech thing Iīd ever seen. But it made me wonder, what the hell had we been driving through all that time? Was that all like no-manīs land?

I finally arrived in Puerto Varas at 9pm, in the dark and the rain.

Boat like the one I am travelling south on

This was no time to be wandering round everywhere looking for a nice hostel, grab the first one you can find! There was one listed in my guidebook just around the corner, good. It was run by a quite stout but friendly German woman, she didnīt speak English but we were able to sort things out. She showed me to my room.

This was funny, all I could think was it was like staying over at your Grandmaīs, only your Grandma is german and the influences are there! It was a tiny room, with a single bed. But what it did have was the fluffiest duvet. Quite bizarre.

Chile seems pretty nice, the people are friendly, and the town is by a lake with a great view of a snow-topped volcano on the other side. One thing I have noticed is the Chileans tend to stop at pedestrian crossings if you walk, where the Argentinians were happier to keep moving!

I have now moved to another hostel, again run by a German (there seems to be a lot of them around here). I have today booked my ticket to get down into Patagonia, the reason I came over into Chile. Whilst it is going to cost quite a bit more than going down by bus, it just looks like its going to be such an experience. It leaves monday and takes 4 days/3 nights, going through a mixtures of landscapes including amazing glaciers. I just hope the weather is good. It is actually a cargo ship that they allow passengers to use, so it will be interesting to see what my accomodation is like given that I am obviously going for the cheapest fare!

If you want to have a look, check this out www.navimag.com

With this in mind I guess Iīm going to be out of contact for a few days. Oh, and I havenīt resolved the missing money yet, but I am supposed to be meeting the guy for dinner tomorrow night. All very strange.

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Chilean Wildlife!

My little German grandmothers!

Night time by the lake, Puerto Varas

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