The wind that shakes Chiloe
Hi everyone,
First of all, I would like to thank you all for visiting our blog and leaving nice comments from time to time, it´s good to hear from you too.
Back to our story, we spent the 11th of November celebrating the end of the 2nd world war in a pub. We got so pissed ! ...Only messing. We spent the day walking around the lake Gutierrez in Bariloche. Very nice trekking path through the forest with waterfalls and rivers. Then we reached a nice little beach where we sunbathed a few hours. Take it easy ! That´s my motto.
The next day we took the bus to Osorno, Chile. Again, the same story to cross the border. Get off the bus on one side, get your passport stamped and got on the bus on the other side. That´s only to leave Argentina. Do it again a few miles further to enter Chile and there you are. Oh, I forgot to mention that the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere, a few meters from the border, to pick up a barrel left in the ditch. Strange... Anyway, we made our way to Osorno only to take another bus to Chiloe. According to local people Osorno is not worth seeing, so we spent only 10 mins there !
Chiloe is a small island in the south of Chile. The biggest town is Ancud in the north of the island. In 
Chiloe you feel like you´ve taken a ride on the DeLorean in Back to the Future and landed in the 19th Century. People make a living from agriculture and fishing, the roads are really bad, the wooden houses are colorful but in poor state and the Chiloean make you feel like you´re an alien. I guess the island looks better when it´s sunny and warm, but it was raining most of the time during the two days we spent there and the wind would not stop blowing. On the photographs it seems to be sunny but I assure you it was freezing ! The main places of interest on the island are in Ancud, except the Panamerican road crossing all Chile, which ends (or starts depending where you are) in Quellón. You can walk on the quays, visit the fort used against the Spanish invaders and see penguins if you´re lucky ( ´told you it was cold ! ). We didn´t see any but the colony in Peninsula Valdes was enough for me.
The best part in Ancud was the hostel. More like a B&B actually. The Hospedaje Patricia, named after the owner´s daughter, was like a temporary family for us. Sonia who runs the hostel is very kind and it was a pleasure being her guests. We had a nice double bedroom, breakfast was included and the first night she invited us to share some fish with all the family. Yummy ! Carole and I only realised the day after in the evening that they had been expecting us for lunch too ! Sonia even drove us to the bus station this morning and hugged us goodbye.
I am writing from Valdivia a bit further north. After all the wind and cold in Chiloe we are really glad to be heading north now. Still, it´s not as warm as Ilha Grande in Brazil (see "Take me down to the paradise city). Valdivia is in the lake district and it must be nice with a little bit of sun. As we arrived only a few hours ago we´ve only visited the botanic garden next to the University of Science. It´s beautiful. We´ll see if we have more time tomorrow to go to Isla Mancera which only interest is a fort...It´ll depend on the weather.
Our next stop will be Pucón, probably tomorrow. I´ll see you there.