Ancud, Chiloe, Chile: Visions of PEI danced above their heads

By ferry and bus to Ancud, the largest town on the archipelego of Chiloe, and ringing in with about 40,000 people. It is a quiet little town with tons of wood houses painted different colours and all in varying states of decay due to the damp, wet weather which frequently envelopes the island.

Of course we weren´t spared an introduction to this weather, as we arrived in blowing winds and a type of rain that spares nothing from its damp and wet fingers. Everything gave up being waterproof including our rain jackets and pants, probably a sign of what is to come on the island and as we head south along the coast.

We gave up on camping and hunkered down in a hostal complete with a hostal grandma who has spent most of the time jabbering away in Spanish, regardless of the fact that we have told her a few times to slow down. She persists, saying we can talk fine, and we persist with our ¨si, si¨whenever she talks to us (most of the time she is just asking if everything is fine and the other times she is asking if we are going to the island nearby with lots of penguins).

It feels like we have stepped back in time... the island is pretty rural and the houses are beautiful in their technicoloured peeling paint. Modern cars ply the roads, but people with small boxes selling fish and produce line the streets and the occasional sheep tied up beside the ESSO station attest to its rural roots. The harbour is cute and the boats are painted bright colours and stand out like beacons in the mist and rain.

We want to travel to a few other towns on the island and then catch a ferry to the south... however traveling on the island is easier said than done.. We spent the morning visiting the bus terminal and a few other ¨bus stops¨ which involves a lot of asking locals and checking the rumoured stopping points of buses. Finally, we found a bus meeting point, which it seems none of the locals we asked knew about.... it was on the third floor of the supermarket.. which seemed like a mistranslation when we heard it...

But upon reaching the third level of the supermarket we realised that there was a small ramp which enabled buses to climb to the third floor parkade. Filled with diesel fumes there were a variety of buses, all leaving Ecuadorian style, kind of whenever, wherever, except not with the frequency. The buses kind of leave when they want like Ecuador, except if you miss that bus, there isn´t one in 30 min like in Ecuador, maybe if you are lucky in three hours or so, but then again, you can´t really be sure when it is leaving because it also kind of leaves whenever...

Tranquilo, tranquillo..... so we may end up in Achao tomorrow (which is where we want to go).. but then again we may not because there is only one bus....

In the mean time we hope to enjoy some seafood, enjoy the shingles and vernacular wooden architecture of the houses and the islands famed churchs... and along the way we hope to catch a ferry, before we get trapped on the island for another week.

Puerto Montt: Port Town Blues

Another bus ride come and gone, except to get to Puerto Montt from Bariloche we were once again to cross back into Chile, and thus with every border crossing we cringe, waiting for some mix up, adventure or otherwise hellish time getting through. Not so with this one.

We bought our ticket from one of the more dodgy looking offices. When we say dodgy we don´t mean like Peru dodgy, but we mean that there is an office and a computer and electronic tickets, it just isn´t as glossy as some of its competitors in Chile. We bought our ticket, still hoping for the best, and the best we did get... What service! They filled out all of our border crossing forms in advance and organised the line ups efficiently and quickly... it was a breeze and quite unexpectedly, we found ourselves in Puerto Montt amidst circling touts and gloomy skies.

They tell us the spring and summer here in the south of Chile and on the coast has been especially dreery and overcast, and we were not spared this when arriving in Puerto Montt. We got touted by a New Yorker who has a family house and a few rooms... upon a tip from her that it was cheap night at the movies we ended up seeing Todos Los Hombres Del Rey (All the Kings Men) in english, while smacking our lips for popcorn drizzled not in butter (we forgot that in Chile they pretty much only eat sugar coated corn and we were a little disapointed).

We shopped in the malls that have sprung up to cater to the tour boats and cruise ships that come through and we stocked ourselves up on gators and a tarp for what is sure to be some hikes in the rain to come. (The Patagonias are known for some wet, rainy and windy hiking... but we hear spectacular none the less).

The town runs along a main strip that pretty much transforms itself from run down market shops to trying to be nice malls and shopping stores. Produce abounds on the streets and even outside the big grocery stores. It is surprising that even though so many cruise ships and boats stop in Puerto Montt, it stills has quite the shaddy aura to it, and although it was a pleasant enough, we couldn´t help being reminded of some parts of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia... which is fine enough on its own for us... but for some people who say ¨This is Chile, it is suposed to be civilised¨(we are quoting here from someone who will remain anonymous) and also for those who would be coming off a cruise ship it had a little different flavour from what we had expected..

After shopping and sending another package in the mail we quickly jumped a bus that was due to leave two minutes prior for the island of Chiloe.

Christmas: Jo, Jo, Jo...Tienes Nog?

Christmas Eve in Bariloche. We (Justine and the two Chris´) spent the day out hiking. The bus to the trail head, to our surprise, was following its regular schedule all day long. So, by 11am, we were at the bus stop waiting; having already had breakfast, showered, gone to the supermarcado for lunch stuffs, and buying food for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas morning breakfast, and Christmas dinner.

The bus ride took an hour, and the route passed along the lake front. Bariloche is an up and coming resort town. The place is inundated with hostals, hotels and bed and breakfasts. Although it is situated in the most picturesque setting: beautiful blue lake, surrounded by pristine forest and majestic mountains, it is hard to believe that all the buisnesses are able to survive.

We spent the day hiking Cerro Lopez. The trail up was steep to start, but ended up following a switch back road for half the distance ending at a refugio. The refugio is situated beneath granite spires covered in snow, with an amazing view of the lake and surrounding area. We spent some time enjoying the view then trudged back to the trailhead to await the passing bus.

Christmas Eve here is a little bit bigger than Christmas, but being that we were staying in a hostal full of Israelis, two muslims and us, there really wasn´t much of a ¨festive¨feel going on. It was kind of fun explaining to people what Christmas is all about, as many of the people at the hostal had never celebrated or talked really with people who celebrated Christmas. We played a few Christmas carols from our Ipod and went for a walk just before midnight. A lot of families and locals go out and have dinner at restaurants and celebrate Christmas out to dinner or for a drink. We missed the throngs of people though, as another part of Argentine nightlife is also that things don´t really get going until well after midnight, and then they go all night.

Christmas morning dawned sunny and as warm as can be on a giant lake at 1000m plus. We would love to say it was a wonderful Christmasy moment, but the truth is, it really could have been any other day. We had mamosas at breakfast and otherwise slept in and have relaxed today. We bought a few chocolates at the ubiquitous chocolate shops in town (as it turns out a lot of stores are open in the afternoon of Christmas day) and in the place of a roasted chicken we are going to have milanesa, which is a breaded flattened chicken and some ravioli. Cooking can be a bit of a shoving match as some of our hostalmates can be quite different from the Canadian way of cooking and living. ... so we are enjoying a chilled, relaxed and otherwise really, really low key Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas to all from Argentina.

Bariloche: Lakes, Mountains, Chocolate...Ompa Lompas??

We left San Martin on the 23rd hoping to arrive in Bariloche in time to be able to find a hostal to hole up in until after Christmas. It was another bus ride, that was supposed to be filled with exceptional views for three hours and 45 minutes.

We had read about it in our travel guides and even flirted with the idea of sending our packs ahead to Bariloche, renting bikes and dedicating two days to riding the route. It didn´t take long in the bus before we were happy that we didn´t opt for the bikes. It was very cloudy and rained almost the entire trip. And, to top it off, the route was gravel and under construction. On a nice day, it would have been spectacular.

We arrived in Bariloche, and were immediately struck by its uncanny resemblance to a Canadian Ski Resort town. This city would fit nicely in Banff or Jasper. The stores are stocked with everything the deserning outdoor shopper could want. But what makes it even better, is that Bariloche is known for its Chocolatierias. They seem to be on every street corner, selling fresh, homemade Chocolate.

Without much trouble, we found a hostal. Chris, from Seattle, decided to join us for Christmas, so, the three of us are sharing a dorm room in a hostal filled with non-Christmas celebraters. The hostal, as so many down here, seems to be vacated predominantly by Isrealies.

With that worry out of the way, we headed out to do some window shopping. It isn´t too hard to imagine that we did end up in a Chocolate Shop. And what a shop it was. We stepped through the doors expecting a quaint little shop, but were awestruck to find ourselves in what can only be described as a grocery story utterly dedicated to Chocolate. We can now say that we understand the term: "Like a kid in a candy store!"

We went out for dinner that night at a local restaurant. Our dining party included us as well as Chris 2, an Isreali couple, and two Muslim girls from Alabama. We were surprised that there were very few lulls in the conversation, and the evening was filled with stories, laughter and joking. If Christmastime could be and is about people coming from the world over together for good conversation and a nice time, then this was it.

To end the night, the Chris´ stopped off at a gringo pub for a night cap. To their utter amazement, they met two guys from Dawson City that were sitting beside them at the bar. Lets say it again, it´s a small world.