Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas and Chiloe

Well I have been in Puerto Montt for a few days. I am staying at a rather expensive hostel but it is nice to splurge sometimes. It has heating in all the rooms (this is rare in chile!) and I have my own bathroom with a bath! It was very exciting to have my first bath since I left. Also the owner is super helpful and gave me lots of tourist tips, which was really great as I knew it would be it is difficult to travel this time of the year, but it is a little more so than I thought. Many tour companies close for winter, there is less frequent transport and tourist offices close early which shut on weekends. The good thing everything is cheaper!

Puerto Montt is a pretty large city they have two big shopping malls here. It is also one of the biggest Salmon fishing ports around. Most of the houses are made of shingled wood which makes them pretty cute, but they look a bit old and battered.

















The rain followed me here, so the first day was pretty mellow. The next day the weather cleared up and I took a bus to Puerto Varas which is by a lake and a very pretty touristy city. I had to wait 2 and a half hours until my next bus to Petrohue so I walked around and had me some cake! When the bus arrived I went to the Saltos de Petrohue, which is a waterfall. I walked around the national park which was empty and the scenery was spectacular as the sky was clear and the falls raging from all the rain. Also volcano Osorno towers over the forest. It was so great to finally be out in nature again. Then I headed back to Puerto Montt.

















The next day I took a bus to Chiloe which is an island of the coast, you take a bus which travells across on a barge. I visited the town of Ancud. Chiloe is kind of like Tasmania, the people are a little backward, but it probably has even less going for it! Well apparently there is good seafood (but due to previous illnesses I am staying away from that). I went for the weekend, however everything closes at 12 noon on Sat and everything is closed Sun. So there was not too much to do my first day. I walked around the town seeing the sights which did not take too long.

My main reason for going was visit the national park and penguin collony. However there were no tours running as there were no other tourists, so I was going to borrow a bike to ride out and then hitch a boat ride with the local fishermen. However it rained again so no penguins!

Well, you can call me Captain Hull from now on. Tomorrow I am catching a boat to Puerto Natales in Patagonia. It is a big boat and we will sail through the fjords of Patagonia for 3 days. Although I am not a huge fan of boats ¨apparently¨ the ride is not too rough I am really looking forward to it, the scenery is meant to be spectacular. Check out http://www.navimag-ferries.com/english.asp for more info!

Turning into Uter?

Many of you may not know that there is a very large German influence in Chile. In the 1800´s the government granted land in the South of Chile to Germans from the black forest. Also after the world war many Germans came to seek refuge in Chile.

There presence has had a significant influence, mostly postive (apparently according to my teacher there are a few neo nazis in Chile). In the lake district many of the houses resemble German styled cottages. There is a German influence in the food as well. Many restaurants have menus in spanish/german (and sometimes english too) and there is a german fast food chain called ¨Fritz¨, where the staff where hats and lederhosen!

Also as I think I have mentioned that there are many chocolate and cake (kuchen) shops. After not eating cake for about 5 months it is quite exciting and I have been treating myself to cake and chocolate. The other day I had to wait 2 and a half hours for a bus so I went for cake. Because the weather has been so bad, I have not been as active as normal and I am worried that I am turning into Uter from the simpsons.

¨Dont make me run I'm full of chocolate!¨

Did you you know? In the dubbed German version of the show, Üter is Swiss and not German; for the German audience Üter's frequent references to chocolate fit more to stereotypes the Germans connect to the Swiss and not themselves, although for most people the character fits well to popular clichés about the Germans, like wearing leaderhosen.

Pucon

Well I am in Pucon, a town in the Lake District of Chile. It is a very beautiful town. It has a very european influence, many of the buildings are wood styled cabins and remind me of what a small town in Germany or Switzerland should look like. Normally it is very touristy every second shop being a tourist agency or a shop geared at tourists, but as it is winter there are very few tourists here. There are lots of lovely bakeries and chocolate shops as well.

The town is near two lakes and looming in the background is a perfect conical volcano. It is very picturesque and there are many hotsprings as well.

Pucon is also the adventure capital of Chile with many activities such as; climbing the volcano and then sliding down, horse riding rafting and hidrospeeding (like rafting but without the raft).

But Pucon sucks, the three days I have had here have had very terrible rain. Which means I have spent most of my time in the hostel by the fire hopelessly looking out the window. Many of the activities are cancelled in the rain. So the most adventurous I have been is going for a walk through the town and around the lake.

One good thing is that nearly everyone at my hostel is a native spanish speaker. A guy from Spain, a guy from Chile, a girl from Peru and some Brasilians (who normally speak Portuges), so I have been able to practise my spanish a lot which is good.

I got to see the volcano once but did not have my camera, so here is a picture of what the volcano and lake should look like.















But bear in mind all I got to see was grey clouds everywhere

Santiago

I stayed at this fantastic hostel here and it kind sucked me in. It had such great facilities, lounge room with big tv and 700 dvds to watch, free breakfast, kitchen and table tennis. Best of all, lovely staff and a good vibe.

So I stayed here for a week after coming back from easter island (I was here two days before). I did not waste my time here, I went to a spanish school as well and took another week of lessons. I had some great teachers and it was great to finally revise some grammer and speak a bit more spanish (when you hang out in hostels you speak so much english).

Apart from that I did not do too much study. I watched a lot of movies I had missed out on in the cinemas. On my last weekend here I did the touristy stuff. I went to a winery, the plaza and the central market. On my last day here some friends and I went to the centre where we stumbled upon a parade will of sailors and military men. It was an anniversary of the Chilian naval victory I think it may have been over Peru, we were not that sure. We did go to a bar where there were many drunken sailors, singing along to an accordian. That day I also went up a big hill to get a look over Santiago where I saw all the buildings and mountains hanging out in smog. The polution is bad here, people say that about all cities, but here you notice it a lot. My asthma has been a bit of trouble. However Santiago seems a cool city, they have a metro which is really good. I took it to school everyday and my hostel is in a university area so there are a lot of super trendy young people around.

I am a bit sad to leave actually but it is time to move on and get back into the nature.

I would like to put up photos but I stupidly formatted my memory card. Lucky it was a fresh one with only 12 photos on it. But I am still a bit bummed. I know if you go to a photo shop they can retrieve the photos but I have tried explaining in spanish and they seem not to understand the problem. So I will leave you with a quote from Isabel Allende a famous Chilean author about Santiago that sums up my sentiments.

It would be a pretty city because it is well cared for, clean and filled with gardins, if it did not sit under the dark sombrero of pollution that in wintertime kills infants in their cradles, old people in nursing homes, and birds in the air.

Ok so I stole photos from google.

This is Santiago on a good day.

This is Santiago on a bad day.

Alicia Hull vs Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Do you remember that episode of the Simpsons Homer vs New York? Homer was really excited about going to the city and then lots of bad stuff happended and then he ended up hating it. That was what my first 2 days on Easter Island were like.

I arrived and was given a flower necklace from the lady at my hotel then spent the afternoon checking out the town and had some dinner. I rarely eat fish but on this one occasion, I had pasta with some fish in the sauce (thinking it would be ok having fish on an island). The next day I had to cancel my tour and I was so sick I spent the whole day either in my bed or in the bathroom. I loaded myself up with antibiotics determined to get better as soon as possible.

The next day feeling slightly more human I went to visit the museum. In the afternoon my plan was to rent a scooter and zoom around the island. On my way from the museum to the town a huge storm rolled in of the coast and I got soaked and had to run back to the hotel and hide in my room from the rain (the storm cut power out on the island for about 5 hours).

Well it sounds like a sorry tale but things did turn around for me.

After the storm cleared, I went to a traditional Rapa Nui dance performed by a local dance group called Kari Kari. It had the potential to be cheesy and touristy but it was fantastic. They had great costumes and music and performed several different traditional dances for us. All the dancers in the group were quite young and had so much energy they were really enjoying themselves.

















The next day was a beautiful day and I got to take my tour that I rescheduled from when I was sick. Wow what an amazing place! Our tour was great really informative about the culture and history of the local people. Lots of history of the moai (the big statues) and ahu (platforms).

















We visited several ahus which were platforms to which the statues were placed upon. Moai were errected on the ahus when a local cheif died and his body burried in the ahu. The statue was carved and errected on the ahu to represent the spirit of the cheif. The moai overlook villages. This means that ahus were built right on the coast line and the moai looking inland over the village, never out to sea.

All the moai on the island were toppled during wars on the island. We visited several platforms with the moai restored upright and also platforms where they are still toppled.

















We visited the volcano where all the moai were carved. From this volcano they were transported all around the island (how they were transported is one of the mysteries but there are several theories). The largest moai ever carved was 21 meters long but never made it out of the volcano and the longest carved and moved was 10m. There are several moai not completed lying around the volcano.

We also visited the only platform where the moai look out over the sea (this was to believed to be because they were overlooking an imigration voyage).

I kept bumping into this Japanese girl Rie who was staying in the room next to me in the hotel , she was very lovely and we had dinner together and spent the next morning on the same tour.

The next morning I took another tour to the village of Orongo, where the birdman cult resided. Basically after the wars when the moai were toppled. To find a new king a competition was developed which involved climbing down steep cliffs and retreiving an egg from a birdsnest on an nearby small island. The winner was declared king for the year.

After the tour it was off to the airport and back to Santiago. Well the first two days on easter island were a bit dissapointing but I was so glad that things picked up and I had a fantastic time in what is such a truely amazing place.

You do not know how third world you have been until you leave?

My travelling through North, Central and South America lead me through a slow transition from 1st to 3rd world nations. However it happened so slowly that over time you do not really notice as things start to become the norm. It is not until you get back to a modern city like Santiago in Chile do you realize how you have changed. Things that were once normal now seem strange, things such as:

- Dogs on leads. The other day I saw a man walking a dog on a lead. So strange after only seeing stray dogs roaming the streets in packs and having doggie gang bangs, with amused tourists pointing and laughing.

- Supermarkets! Once in the last 3 months have I been into an Australian sized supermarket. Shopping is usually done at markets and small local shops. I walked into the supermarket in Chile only to wonder around like an idiot marvelling at all the choices.

- Being able to drink the water and also being able to brush your teeth with it.

- Milk in a carton! for so long I have been drinking powdered or canned milk.

- Putting the toilet paper into the toilet! Not in the little bin beside the toilet. I still have to get out of the habit of looking for the bin.

- Pedestrian crossings. You know the ones with the little green men and you walk across. Have not seen one since New York.

- Cars with seatbelts.

- I know there is more, but I will think of it soon!

Bolivia

I was thinking about not coming to Bolivia. I let some of the scare stories get to me and sure it is a country with not the safest reputation, but the time I have been here I have had no trouble at all.

I am so glad I came, it is a truely amazing country, the landscapes are awesome (desert to jungle to colonial towns that should belong in europe) and each city varies with a completely different vibe. There is a definate mix of rich and poor here. It has its fare share of problems with a history of violent strikes and demonstrations and is very unstable politically. Although it does not have the history and preserved culture of Peru, I feel that still it is far more interesting country.

I was here for May day. It was quite subdued, just marches no exciting stuff. The Bolivians are very family orientated which is nice to see. A lot of them are quite cute too, they have really big dark eyes here which give them are very cute factor, especially the kids.

The local people here are interesting. They are sometimes very indifferent, they want nothing to do with you and are almost rude. On the other hand I have met some of the loveliest and heart warming people here as well. I guess that sums up the country, difficult but very rewarding. I am so pleased that I made the effort to come here.

La Paz

Well this is my third time back in La Paz. It is a very hard city to describe. It is a city where you definately you feel you have to be on your guard, but despite its reputation I have not felt unsafe.

First time here I arrived on a bus which was boarded by the tourist police who took our taxi numbers down and the hostel we are going to. Two months ago two tourists from Austria went missing presumed to be kidnapped from an illegal taxi.

















But it is a city of two sides, almost verging on being cosmopolitan but always maintaining these traditional signs everywhere. The city is nestled in between mountains, however unconventionally the cheap properties are high up on the hills and the more expensive in the valley (it is too cold high up). There are big skyscrapers, cosmopolitan cafes and restaurants. There is also burger king but at lunchtime many woman set up shop on the street corner with a big pot of soup and people come with bowls to get lunch.

The streets are full of vendors and shoe shine boys who look quite scarey. It is a social stigma to be a shoe shine boy and to avoid embrassing themselves and their families they hide there face. This usually means wearing a balaclava or a baseball cap and scalf over most of there face. They do look scarey but all they are doing is trying to earn a living. At times it can get just a little annoying because they will try to shine your thongs/flip flops. I got the one female shoe shine lady (who had no mask) to clean my suede hiking boots for me and they came up super spiffy.

I have seen punks here, hip hop boys, and yet the old men still dress spiffy and the woman mostly all in traditional outfits: long hair in two plats, bowler hats, full skirts and scalves (see picture of May day march).

There are shops on the streets but no one ever seems to go in them. I have not seen a supermarket. Instead pretty much everything is sold on the streets; stationary, clothes, food, toiletries, they have no milk bars just people on the streets with little stalls.

I have done some interesting things here, visited the coca museum, which documents the history of the leaf and its uses over time. Also the politics associated with it, did you know many countries are allowed to legally grow Coca, for example the US? But no South American country where it is used traditionally is able to.

I have eaten at some great restaurants here, and suprisingly have not been sick. I went to a family fun park (not for the rides) but because it has great city views. But the city has a great family vibe with lots of people taking the kids to parks and for icecream where there is always some giant animal jumping around in the street.

Best of all here is the shopping, I went nuts. You can buy hats for $1.5 US, scalves, jumpers and traditional weavings. They are all so beautiful and cheap!

















Difficult to describe but a really fascinating city. I was here for May day which I thought may get a little rough but the marches were quite mellow just people with banners and the odd firecracker.

Even more to scare mum!

World´s most dangerous road!

Well my jungle trip was cancelled. Some kind of bird flew into the engine of the one functioning plane that the airline had. So the airline had to cancel all flights and I could not make it to the jungle. I could do it on a bus, but that would take 30 hours and involves quite an awful bus ride (part of it on the worlds most dangerous road). I was a little dissapointed but not upset, you come to expect these things in Bolivia and South America so there is no point letting it ruin your trip or getting worked up about it.

















Not wanting to spend a whole week in La Paz, I decided to push my mountain biking trip forward and spend a few days relaxing in the lovely town of Corico.

















Well it has been a long term goal of mine to mountain bike down the worlds most dangerous road. It runs from La Paz to Corico. It sees over 100 deaths per year. A few reasons for this are:
- It is only really wide enough for one car or bus (but has two way traffic).
- It is cut into mountains and has shear cliff drops of 1000m
- the road is unpaved and has no barriers.
- the worst reason of all, the crazy Bolivian bus drivers.

















The road starts at an altitude of 3600m near snow capped mountains and you descend 2000 meters (in only 64 Kms) to the town of Corico set in low land cloud forrest. The scenery on the ride is truely spectacular, but you have to watch the road more.

But it is great fun to mountain bike. I did it with a really reputable company http://gravitybolivia.com who had great bikes (dual suspesion) with a great safety record. It was such a fun day. I loved being on the bike, at times it was a little hairy but not too scarey. I have some great photos, which I will be put up soon.

Alternativly the company takes some photos which are available on the web here is the site.

http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/sign_in.jsp?aid=768a5498cf45780b7afe

"photos" is the password.

I have spent the last few days hanging out with my friend paul in Corico at a cool hotel, with a pool, sauna and generally just lounging around reading. Today it is off to La Paz so I can take my flight to Chile.

Now I have to take the bus back up the road which I am more scared about than coming down by bike.

Sucre

Well I have spent the last two days in lovely city in Bolivia called Sucre. The bus ride there was again interesting. I would have had to wait a few hours for the next bus unless I took the offer of sitting in the cabin behind the driver on a shelf with some blankets, it was quite an interesting experience. Sucre is a lovely old colonial city, they have a great fruit and veg market.

















My first day there I met some cool guys from New Zealand and we visited a site nearby which has the longest dinosaur tracks in the world it is very interesting as they are vertical on a wall in a quarry. They were found there by workers, it is believed that tectonic movements have shifted them to their current vertical position.







In true bolivian style we got to touch and walk right up to the tracks, and saw a model of the site made of plastic dinosaurs and a tin can! I thought it was great, better than the new flashy visitor centre that is being built on the site.





Our guide Juan Carlos was really cool too, he met up with us later and took us to this beautiful convent which has spectacular views from the roof. Sucre looks more like it should be in Italy than Bolivia. Unfortuately my camera has stopped working and I do not know why.

The next day we drove to a town about 80Kms away for their Sunday market, which had lots of weavings and crafts so I did a bit of shopping. I had to change plans and catch a plane back to La Paz. There is a shortage of buses due to May day being a public holiday.

I am now in La Paz. The flight was not too bad considering it was a Bolivian airline. I needed to make it back to La Paz so I could take my jungle trip but this is now in doubt as the airline to the jungle is apparently not flying due to an accident with a condor. But it being a public holiday I can not contact my travel agent so I am not sure what the go is. I will keep you all updated.