Beaching it in Northern Chile

After arriving in Iquique, which is a beach town on the northern coast of Chile, at the ungodly hour of 5.30am I hopped in a taxi and headed straight to Backpacker's Hostel.

After partially checking in I was able to leave my bag in the left luggage and endeavoured to find a quiet corner in the lounge to get some sleep. About 20 minutes of light cat napping later, I was joined by an English couple, Mitch and Clare and a Frenchman named Thomas.

Once the sun had finally risen, it was a gorgeous sunny day. Not wanting to waste it catching up on sleep I joined Mitch, Clare, Thomas and a Dutch guy called Jimmy on a trip to the ghost town of Humberstone, which was one of my main reasons for coming to Iquique, well that and the beach of course. 

We caught a micro from the town centre for 2,000 pesos each and were dropped off by the side of the highway. The village was a short 10 minute walk away and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is now a museum as I expected it to be like Pampa Union, the town I saw on the way to San Pedro de Atacama.

Humberstone used to be a thriving sodium nitrate mining town. In 1929 synthetic ammonia was developed by the Germans and this marked the start of the decline for the town. Operations in the town finally ceased in 1960. Entry to the museum cost 3,000 pesos.

The first part of the town is where all the dwellings were, along with the hospital. It is possible to wander around some of the buildings and a few felt quite eerie. As the town grew in population so did the amenties available to residents and there was a theatre, basketball stadium, school, hotel, pub and even a swimming pool! I couldn't get over how well preserved everything was.

On the other side of the town was the main industrial area where all the mining took place. In contrast to the town this area was very rusty as all the buildings are made from corrugated iron. We were also surprised to see that a lot of the machinery remained in tact and hadn't been looted.

We spent a good three hours just wandering around before catching a micro back to the town.

The Backpacker's Hostel isn't located in the centre of town, rather it is set just metres from the beach and of course a visit to Iquique wouldn't be complete without at least some beach time. I spent a pleasant afternoon catching some rays and going for a dip - the water was very pleasant.

The town centre is a good 15 minute walk from the hostel and Calle Baquedano is the main thoroughfare. It remimded me of something from the Wild West with wooden boardwalks and buildings. It was really pleasant and the end of the road opens out into a square with a rarher elaborate fountain.

The only thing seemingly lacking in Iquique at this time of year (well it is autumn after all) is much of a mid-week night life. However, we did find a bar offering cheap(ish) mojitos along Baquedano. We were the only people in there along with a load of Chilean bikers so it was quite entertaining especially when they all rode off into the night.

I could have very easily spent more time in Iquique relaxing on the becah and staying in the hostel, which had a really great atmosphere. However, I had to push on further north to Arica.

Buses to Arica leave fairly regularly from Iquique with several departures a day. I managed to get a ticket for 6,000 pesos with Pullman Carmelito. I opted to do the 40 minute walk the to the bus station, which in hindsight was a bit ambitious in the heat, with a slight hangover and all my stuff. Needless to say by the time I got there I was very hot and bothered and to top it off the bus was 20 minutes late.

The five hour journey was fine despite the steward taking my passport for a large portion of the journey as he said it would make it easier when we reached the checkpoints on the way. This made me quite twitchy, mostly because I was worried I might forget to get it from him in the commotion getting off the bus and getting my stuff. Thankfully he banded it back before we reached Arica.

I arranged to stay at Arica Unite, which is situated a 20 minute walk from town but is only 10 minutes from the bus station. Arica is in the far north of Chile and is close to the border with Peru so as you can imagine it is a main interchange point for people heading that way or coming back.

It is also possible to get to La Paz from Arica and this is the journey I planned on making. 

I had one full day in Arica and decided to check out the Museo Arqueologico. To get there I took a colectivo amarillo, which is a taxi with a set route and can take more than one passenger at a time, heading to Azapa. The colectivos depart from Calle Chacabuco. The driver dropped me off outside the museum and explained where I would be able to get a colectivo back to town. The journey cost me 1,000 pesos.

Entry to the museum was 2,000 pesos and upon arrival I was handed a large sheaf of papers, which was the English translation of all the exhibits. The museum has exhibits on the various civilisations that lived in the region and it also houses some mummies from the Chinchorro culture (6,000 - 2,000 BC).

The museum was good but didn't really tell me much I didn't already know from the museum in Salta. The mummies were interesting and very different to the ones in Salta due to a different process used when preserving the bodies.

Catching a colectivo back to Arica was fairly easy and I wasn't waiting long before one appeared. I got dropped off at Calle Chacabuco and wandered to the centre where you can see El Morro, which is one of the main focal points in the town. If I had planned my time better I could have walked to the top as the views would probably be quite spectacular.

Needless to say I'm glad I made the journey back to Chile to visit these two places.

Six people, three days, a 4x4 and a lot of salt

In San Pedro de Atacama I decided to take a three day 4x4 trip finishing in Uyuni, Bolivia. Emily, Kris, Korbin and Tas, who I'd met on the Pachamama trip were also planning to do the same so we decided to go together.

We went to several agencies around the town to get quotes. Most agencies all offer the same trip, but with this sort of thing going cheap probably isn't best. Eventually we settled on a company called Atacama Mistica as it was mid-priced at 85,000 pesos.

The only problem was that due to the weather the usual route to the border wasn't open, which would mean we'd miss first day's activities in order to drive to the crossing further up. We decided to wait for a couple of days until the situation changed by which time we realised there were elections in Bolivia and this means no one can work as they should be voting. So it was we opted for a departure the following day to minimise disruption.

We were given a list of things to bring for the trip including 200 Bolivianos, snacks, five litres of water each and toilet roll. As the majority of this journey would be at altitude I also took along various coca products to help with any symptoms including tea and sweets. San Pedro de Atacama is already 2,400m above sea level so we had, had time to acclimatise a bit, however on the first day of the trip we would be going up to 4,900m. 

At the Bolivian border

We were picked up at our hostel at 8.30am where we were taken to the Chilean border point in the town to get stamped out of the country. It was then a 40 minute drive out of town up into the mountains to the Bolivian border. It has to be one of the most relaxed border crossings I have done. Just an official sat in a small brick building stamping passports, no bag checks or anything.

It was all quite surreal and a little chaotic as we were on top of this mountain with snow all around us and lots of other tourists all trying to find their relevant jeep and driver. 

After the border formalities we were taken to the only other building on the mountain for breakfast. Our expectations had been low but quite a spread had been laid on - rolls, biscuits, coca tea, yogurt and apples.

We were then introduced to our driver, Nelson, who loaded our luggage on top of the 4x4 - a Toyota Landcruiser. We were also joined by a German guy called Mathis. Needless to say it was quite cosy in the vehicle but being short I didn't find legroom that much of an issue.

From the border we entered the national park, which cost 150 Bolivianos and our first stops were a couple of lagunas - Laguna Blanca (White Lagoon) and Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon) - both were incredible.   

From there we went to a hot springs, where it was possible to have a dip, although I decided not to as the pool was very busy. We then saw some geysers and I was shocked at how close we were able to get to them. 

We stopped at the Refugio where we would spend the night. It was very basic, no showers just basins and three toilets but it would do the job for one night. All six of us were in the same room, which actually had a bit of a hospital ward feel about it.

The beds were adorned with lots of blankets all with interesting designs ranging from horses and tigers to puppies. We had lunch, which consisted of hot dogs, mashed potato, cucumber and tomato. It was surprisingly nice despite being packet mix mash. 

After eating we went to the final laguna of the day - Laguna Rojo (Red Lagoon) where we saw flamingos it was amazing and the lagoon was really other-worldly.

Back to the Refugio I was feeling the affects of the altitude (4,300m) and had a slight headache. So I had a quick siesta before supper, which was a vegetable soup followed by spaghetti and a tomato sauce.

As soon as the sun set it got really chilly in the Refugio and as we had to be up early the following day we were all in bed by 8.30pm. For fear of being really cold in the night I pinched three blankets off the empty bed next to me making a grand total of seven on my bed - needless to say I had a perfectly toasty night.

The next morning after a breakfast of pancakes, dulce de leche and coca tea we made our way to the first stop of the day the stone tree. The stone tree was exactly that, a rock formation in the shape of a tree. Around the tree were loads of other volcanic rocks in various formations and it was really intriguing as to how some had become the shape they were.

We visited a couple of other lagunas, Honda and Chearcota before stopping for lunch at Laguna Hedionda. It was a lovely day and  Nelson set lunch up for us on one of the  picnic tables outside - rice, tuna, tomato, cucumber and some lollipops for dessert.

After this we stopped at a point where we could see Ollague volcano. We ended up there a bit longer than planned due to an issue with our 4x4, which seemed to involve a lot of the other drivers standing round looking at the car and giving their opinions. After about 40 minutes the issue was resolved and we were on our way again.

We had a brief stop in the village of San Juan before reaching the salt hotel on the edge of the salt flat where we would stay the night. In comparison to the Refugio it was positively luxurious. The walls of the hotel were made from salt bricks and the floor was covered in a kind of salt gravel. We were also able to take advantage of the one hot shower there, which had a time limit of 8 minutes per person.  

Dinner was chicken legs with chips and fried plantain we also had a bottle of vino tinto to share.

The next day we were up at 5am ready to leave at 5.30am to see the sunrise over the salt flat. It was quite eerie driving over the salt at that time of day as it all looked very blue, we stopped at a point where we could get out and watch the sun come up. It wasn't the best sunrise ever as there were clouds but it was still good to watch.

We then stopped at an Fisher Island on the salt flat where we had the chance to wander round and get a different perspective. I was quite out of breath at one point as I forgot about the altitude and walked too fast up a hill.

From the island we continued across the salt flat, for a while I found it difficult to process that it was salt because it is white you automatically relate it to ice. However I can confirm it is definitely salt as at one of the stops I did have to try some just to make sure. I also found it impressive that the drivers know which way they are going as everything looks the same to me and there are no definite tracks.

We had time to stop to take the standard perspective bending shots, that the salt flat is famous for.   

We then stopped at a statue made from salt commemorating the Dakar rally. From there we went to a salt lake, the water was so clear it was like a mirror.

Then we had for lunch in the small town of Colchani before visiting my second train cemetery this trip. The engines were a lot older than the ones at Baquedano and there was even a swing constructed between two of the engines. After this we reached Uyuni our final destination.

It is difficult to put into words how utterly breath taking this trip was. Everyday we saw something better than the last, it has definitely been one of the main highlights of my trip so far.

Pachamama By Bus - Part 2

After returning from Castro I had one day in Santiago to get ready for the next leg of my trip with Pachamama By Bus - this time heading north. So it probably wasn't the wisest of ideas to go out the night before until the wee hours - oh well at least I was spending most of the next day on a bus.

My idea had been to take the bus to San Pedro de Atacama where I would then hop off and cross to Salta in Argentina before heading to Bolivia. However, as you will read below the weather had other ideas. My ticket for 6 days travel cost 148,000 pesos. 

There were five of us leaving from Santiago on the bus and unlike the southern one we were all of a similar age. Emily had booked to do this route too so we were reunited again for the fourth time. The other people on the bus were Meike from Germany and Tas and Kris, a couple from London. Kris is also the first Polish person I have met on my travels.

We were told we would meet our guide Catalina in La Serena, which was the last stop of the day. So it was just us and our driver Pedro until then. We stopped for lunch in Pichidangui, where I had my first cheese and shrimp empanada, it was a fried one so the cheese inside was like lava!

In La Serena we met Catalina and like Francisco the guide on the previous trip it was also her first tour. La Serena is well known for being a main producer of papaya products and we stopped in a market where you could buy pretty much anything made of papaya. I ended up buying some sweets, which reminded me a bit of fruit jelly sweets but not so artificial tasting. The city also has 29 churches so it isn't surprising that we saw a few while we wandered around.

Our accommodation for the night was in Hostel Nomade a wonderful old building, which at one time used to be the French consulate. Inside it had high ceilings and lots of period features. On arrival we were also welcomed with a shot of cactus Pasco it was really nice and didn't taste alcoholic at all.

The next day after being woken periodically by the cockerel in the garden from 4am onwards we headed to Bahia Inglesa stopping at Punta de Choros on the way.

In Punta de Choros we were able to take a boat trip to the National Reserve Penguino de Humboldt. We were given lifejackets to wear and I'm pretty sure mine wouldn't have been of much benefit had I gone overboard as it was far too big.

The boat trip took us alongside some of the islands in the reserve where we got to see pelicans, Peruvian boobys and Humboldt penguins. We were also lucky enough to spot a couple of sea otters and several bottlenose dolphins.
 
We were able to get off the boat on Isla Damas. The beach on the island was amazing and I don't think I've ever seen water so clear, unfortunately we weren't allowed to go swimming. The boat tour cost 10,000 pesos and entry to Isla Damas cost an additional 2,500 pesos.

We we were staying two nights in Bahia Inglesa and the following day the weather was good so we headed to the beach, which was a stones throw from the cabin we were staying in. However, the gate to the beach was locked and the only way we could access it was to crawl under a gap in the fence, which thankfully wasn't that well maintained. 

After walking up the beach and commenting that the sea didn't look that inviting the wind must have changed and brought with it a smell I have never smelt on a beach and hope I never have the misfortune of smelling again. It was akin to raw sewage.

Further up the beach we saw signs saying you couldn't swim - don't know who would want to with that smell lingering in the air. Thankfully it turned out we were walking in the wrong direction and the nicer beach was further towards the town. By the time we got there we only had 30 minutes before we had to head back and go to the fishing town of Copiapo for lunch.

In Copiapo we visited the fish market, which is where we had lunch and I had congrio again. At the back of the fish market in the dock area were loads of pelicans, gulls and sea lions, which seem to hang around waiting for scraps of fish from the market. 

Later that evening we had a BBQ and met a young German couple who would be hopping back on the bus the next day. The BBQ was really good although we had way too much food and a lot of steak ended up being leftover.

The next day we were heading to Antofagasta and would cross the driest part of the Atacama desert. During the night there was a massive thunder storm, but being on the coast we didn't really think much of it. However, the rain lingered and I can now say that I am one of the few people to ever see it rain in the Atacama desert. Thankfully it eased off enough for the two stops we made at the old cemetery of Oficina Chile, which was where there used to be a nitrate mine. It was quite weird and I felt a bit funny walking around the graves. After that we stopped at the Mano del Desertio (hand of the desert).

In Antofagasta we went straight to see La Portrada, which is a rock formation in the sea shaped like an arch. I was particularly fascinated by the colours of the cliffs here.

After spending a rainy night in Antofagasta we were given the bad news that due to the condition of the roads and flooding in places we may not make it to San Pedro de Atacama. This was particularly gutting as this day was billed as being one of the best on the trip. Needless to say spirits were a bit low, however we did get to stop at the train cemetery in Baquedano and had fun messing around on the old carriages there. However, I would recommend not wearing flip flops as there was a lot of broken glass along with excrement possibly human and animal in between the carriages. 

After leaving Baquedano we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and reached Calama, which is the biggest town before San Pedro. While we were there we got news that the road was ok and we would get to San Pedro as planned. When we arrived the usually dry and dusty roads had turned to mud the main street looked like a scene from Glastonbury festival when it rains!

We stayed at Hostal las Kanas and in the reception we saw on the news that a state of emergency had been declared in Antofagasta, where we had been just hours before, due to the flooding. Copiapo was also underwater another place we had been just a couple of days ago. It was quite scary as we'd had such a narrow escape. Of course it took three days before the floods even made the news in the UK due to Jeremy Clarkson and Zayn Malik dominating the headlines.

As the areas affected by the flooding aren't geared for rain, a bit like in the UK when we get snow, many of the major roads had been cut off due to mudslides. This included the main route back to Santiago, the border area with Argentina and also the Bolivian border in the mountains above San Pedro.

Rather than spending just a couple of nights in San Pedro we had five, for me it wasn't too much of a problem as I'm not on a tight schedule but for some of the passengers it was a bit of an agonising wait to hear if they would be able to leave to make connections elsewhere.

San Pedro is probably one of the more touristy towns I've visited on my trip, mainly because it has become a good launching point for people wanting to get to Uyuni in Bolivia via the salt flats, but it is quaint all the same.

Most of the buildings in the town are made from adobe mud, which are sometimes whitewashed, in comparison to places I've been to up until now I suppose it looked a lot more like you'd expect a town in South America to look.

The main street is full of tour agencies and shops selling alpaca wool jumpers, textiles etc. If you aren't going on to Bolivia or Peru it is worth getting stuff like that here but if like me you are then wait as it is all available there and at a much cheaper price.

While we were in San Pedro we went to the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), which has many rock formations akin to the surface of the moon and the Mars Rover was actually tested here due to the conditions being similar. We went just around sunset and at our last stop we were able to walk to then top of a huge sand dune and the views were incredible, some might say out of this world (sorry had to be done).

It was during my stay in San Pedro that I decided to reverse what I originally intended to do and go on to Uyuni followed by Salta.              

Pachamama By Bus - Part 1

While I was in Santiago I looked up a company I’d read about called Pachamama By Bus, a long distance hop on-hop off service specifically tailored to independent travellers. The company has a Northern route and a Southern route and I planned to do both starting with the South, which is detailed in this post.

The company is based at the Princesa Insolenta hostel, which is where I was staying in Santiago so it was easy for me to get more info and pay for my five day ticket, which cost 110,000 pesos.  

On the first day of the tour there were eight of us travelling from Santiago and after picking up two couples and a guy, who were all in their sixties, I was hoping that the final two passengers might be a bit younger.

I got a shock when who should get on the bus but Emily, a girl I’d shared a dorm with when I first arrived in Buenos Aires and hadn’t seen since Puerto Iguazu. The final passenger was Lindsey another solo female traveller from Canada. Our guide for the trip was Francisco. 

On the first day we headed to the coastal town of Pichilemu, which is known for being a great place to surf. When we arrived there was an option to have a surfing lesson for 10,000 pesos. Having lived on the coast of England for the majority of my life I have never surfed, but something about trying it in Chile appealed – mainly that the sea would be warmer. What I hadn’t considered was that the lesson would be in Spanish.

Wetsuit on I waited for my instructor and part of me hoped for a handsome, muscular Chilean, however when he showed up he was more salty sea dog than the Adonis I’d been hoping for.

After introducing ourselves we headed to the beach where he told me we had to warm up by going for a run. I’m sure we must have looked fairly ridiculous running along a sandy beach on a hot day in full wetsuits.

After the run it was time to practice on the beach what I’d have to do in the water. It was surprisingly easy to pick up what he was asking me to do in Spanish and I think I lost count of the amount of times I said ‘Si’ to show I’d understood. He would occasionally bark ‘flat foot’ at me as I had a tendency to arch my front facing foot.

Once he was satisfied I’d got the action down we headed for the water, perhaps a bit sooner than I’d anticipated. In the water the first wave I caught I managed to just about stand up before toppling over, however after a few more tries I actually managed to stay stood up and gained a thumbs up from my teacher. Towards the end of the lesson we tried some bigger waves and I managed to stand up again for the last wave of the session.

That night we had a BBQ, which was a good way to get to know the other people in the group and everyone was very friendly. During the BBQ Emily and I attempted to cook oven chips in a pan on the grill – it wasn’t a total disaster but if we’d had oil we may have been more successful.

The next day was a long driving day and after an early start we travelled the 466 miles to Pucon, which is where the Villarrica volcano is. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, so active in fact that just two weeks beforehand it had erupted causing the town to be evacuated. Thankfully it was only a small eruption so the town was open again when we arrived.

Villarrica volcano

Unfortunately it meant that I didn’t get the chance to walk up it, but I was told it would be possible to hike up Quetrupillan volcano instead, which is also higher than Villarrica. It took me a while to decide whether to do the hike because it involved having to leave at 6.30am. I was also told it was much more physically demanding than Villarrica, but as one of my main reasons for wanting to go to Pucon was to walk up a volcano I decided to do it. I booked the hike through Aguaventura for 40,000 pesos this included transport to the trail, a guide and equipment.

The next morning I headed to the agency where we had a quick briefing and were told the conditions looked good for the day. I also met the three other people doing the hike – they were all French – and our guide, who from the side looked like Peter Andre.

The start of the trail was about 40 minutes out of Pucon. The first part was through forest and I found the going slightly more difficult as I ended up behind the oldest member of our group 67-year-old Serge, who was walking with two ski poles and every time he walked through a narrow gap with dense foliage it would catch on the poles and flick back at me. When we stopped for a break I took the opportunity to make sure I wasn’t behind him again.

After about two hours we reached the end of the forest and the start of the main ascent. The terrain was probably some of the hardest I’ve encountered as it was all loose dirt and sand. As we climbed further up the views were amazing and we also had great view towards Villarrica volcano too. By this point the sun was out and it was hot.

The final 30 minutes to the summit were excruciating, my calf muscles were so tight from all the uphill walking every step was painful. I was also pretty hungry but I found this helped me to keep going as I knew I’d be able to eat once I got to the top. As we reached the summit there were five condors circling above us – an awesome sight.

Once at the top we had a well-earned rest on the edge of the crater, which is now a glacier. I can now also say I’ve had a nap on a volcano as in the sunshine I just couldn’t help but close my eyes and drift off for a few minutes. We stayed at the summit for about two hours before making our descent.

What had taken us the best part of two hours to climb earlier took a mere 40 minutes to descend before reaching the halfway point. Another hour and we were back to the start where we celebrated with a well-deserved beer. I didn’t dare take my boots of as I knew I’d never get them back on again.

Back at the Aguaventura office I had a quick turnaround before being picked up by Francisco and the other passengers to go to Los Pozones hot springs, which was exactly what I needed after a day of hiking and my feet certainly appreciated it. The springs were in open air natural rock pools and as it was a clear night we could see loads of stars too. It’s also the first time I’ve properly noticed that the moon is the wrong way round here.

Next day we drove through the lake district to Valdivia, the countryside in this part of Chile really reminded me of England -very weird. We stopped at a market in Conaripe for lunch where I tried a humita, which is mashed maize steamed in the leaves of the corn, it was really nice and filling.

Valdivia is located between the rivers Calle Calle, Cruces and Valdivia. It is also home to several sea lions, which we saw on pontoons really close to the path. Our accommodation didn’t have a kitchen so Emily and I headed out to eat. I’m not sure if it was because it was Sunday but there only seemed to be one restaurant open, but it was nice enough and we shared some grilled congrio - conger eel.

From Valdivia we headed to Puerto Varas, which is where I’d be hopping off the bus and going on to the island of Chiloe. We stopped in Puerto Montt on the way, which is the main departure point for people heading to the far south of Chile.

We had a great lunch in a small restaurant near the fish market. The restaurant was decked out with two long tables and I don’t think more than 15 people would have squeezed in there. I had a dish called curanto, which consisted of two pieces of salmon covered in melted cheese and topped with a sausage. Sounds rather strange but it was really nice.

In Puerto Montt three people hopped off and as two had previously hopped off in Pucon it just left myself, Emily and Lindsey going on to Puerto Varas.

Puerto Varas is a picturesque small town on the shores of Lake Llanquihue and it was where I bid my farewell to Pachamama By Bus. Francisco had been a great guide and was really knowledgeable about each place.

I would recommend using the company if you are short on time and the option to hop off means you can spend longer in some places if you wish. For me it was a welcome break to have someone else do all the organising.

 

Seduced by Santiago

 

From Mendoza it was time for me to head to Santiago, Chile. I'd heard that the bus journey across the Andes was particularly spectacular but there could be long delays at the border crossing. I decided to take the first bus out of Mendoza at 7.30am so I would be able to appreciate the scenery in daylight and hopefully not get too held up at the border.
 
It was a 6 hour journey and I chose to travel with Andesmar again as I know what to expect with them.

We reached the border crossing after about 3 hours and I had been glued to the window the whole way, the views were spectacular as we wound our way through the mountains. I was also intrigued by a railway track that ran parallel to the road and hoped it was no longer in action due to it being in various states of disrepair.
 
The border crossing took about 40 minutes and I obviously hadn't learnt my lesson after the carrot incident as I remembered halfway through the journey that I had spices and a tin of tuna in my bag. I will blame the early start for that one! I ticked the 'something to declare' box on my form as I really didn't want to risk being fined. However, I needn't have worried as nothing was said and my big rucksack didn't get singled out for searching after having the once over from the sniffer dog and x-ray - phew.

I arrived in Santiago pretty much on time and got a taxi to the Princesa Insolente Hostel in Barrio Brasil. The hostel is pretty funky and I loved the décor.

When I went out to the supermarket my first impressions weren't great - a few seedy looking bars and sex shops (the first ones I've seen on my trip). However, after exploring the neighbourhood further during my stay I came to like its quirks. Nearly every building is covered in graffiti of some sort and most of it is really good. I like the mix of big old crumbling mansions in among the more modern buildings and just watching the day to day goings on of the locals. It is the kind of neighbourhood I imagine back home would end up becoming overrun with hipsters given half the chance.
 
I had five days in Santiago, which is more than enough time to take in the main sights. 

First stop was the Mueso de la Memoria, which is all about Chile during the Pinochet years and was within walking distance from my hostel. I had read a bit about the history prior to coming to here, but the museum really brought home what the reality was like for many Chileans during that time.

Entry was free and it's possible to get an audio guide for 2,000 pesos - I would recommend getting this as pretty much everything is in Spanish. I would also suggest making sure you have low denomination notes as they didn't have enough change for a 10,000 peso note when I went. This meant I got a much less detailed English booklet for free. Not having an audio guide did give me an opportunity to practice my Spanish reading and I found I was able to get the main gist of most of the exhibits - if only my speaking was as good! 

After having spent a good part of the day in the museum I headed to Parque Quinta Normal, which is just opposite, for some fresh air. As it was a Sunday it was a hive of activity, families having picnics, children racing round on bikes, young couples kissing, ice cream and drink vendors peddling their wares and even some breakdancing.

It was probably the noisiest park I have ever been in and I enjoyed just aimlessly walking and people watching. I went back to the park later in the week and it was pretty dead so I would recommend going at a weekend if you can.

 

Next day I took the metro from Republica to the centre of Santiago and had a wander round. I started by going up Cerro Santa Lucia, which among other things used to be a convent. There were Italian style fountains, a chapel and even a Japanese garden. Watch out for the sprinklers on your way to the top though, but as it was a really hot day I was glad to cool off. From there I strolled past Palacio de Bella Artes, which is set in the Parque Forestal, towards the Plaza de Armas. 

I then walked down Paseo Huerfanos and Paseo Ahumada, which is a pedestrian shopping street and as it is near the main business district it was full of people in suits at the time I passed through. 

Hot dogs or completos are a popular snack in Chile and I passed several places serving them, I don't normally eat them at home but as I was peckish I didn't need much persuading. I opted for an Americano, which came topped with salsa verde, tomatoes and mayo.

My last stop was the presidential palace, Palacio de la Moneda, also the site of the coup in 1973.

The following day I visited Cerro San Cristobal. I took the funicular, 2,000 pesos return, from Estacion Central at the end of Pio Nono to Estacion Cumbre. Then it was a short walk up to statue of the Virgin Mary, which stands on top of the hill overlooking the city. The views were pretty good and would have been even better if it weren't for the smog shrouding everything in the distance.
Back down the hill I wandered around La Vega Fruit Market, Central Market and Tirso de Molina Market. Chile prides itself on it's fresh produce especially fruit and vegetables and I enjoyed walking around La Vega seeing what was on offer - including loads of dried fruit.

I finished off by going to the oldest dive bar in Santiago - La Piojera (The Fleahouse), which is akin to a ruin pub in Budapest. The bar is famous for a drink called the terremoto - earthquake (sweet white wine, grenadine, bitters and ice cream) it was actually quite nice but pretty lethal, another and I'd have probably been on the floor!

On my final day I went to La Chascona, which was poet Pablo Neruda's Santiago home. Entry cost 5,000 pesos and came with an audio guide. Neruda designed the house to be shiplike so it was pretty unusual - I actually wouldn't mind living there. I loved all the various pieces of art and ornaments in the different rooms.
I wasn't that familiar with Neruda's work before going to the house but his poetry is beautiful and I will definitely be reading more when I return to the UK.

I had lunch at Galindo a restaurant serving traditional Chilean dishes in the Bellavista neighbourhood. I tried Pastel de Choco, which is a bit like a pie made with mashed maize and filled with beef, chicken, olives and an egg. I also had Porotos Granados, a stew made with white beans and mashed maize. The one I had also included bits of squash and a sausage. Both were really yummy but filling so I ended up taking the leftovers with me!

Despite being surprisingly taken with this smoggy, colourful, vibrant and at times shabby city, after five days I was ready to head south again to some smaller towns before it starts getting too cold. 

Journey from Patagonia to the Land of Fire

I am writing about my journey to Ushuaia purely because nothing I had read beforehand about taking an overland route really went into detail about what happens, so as you will see below I was fairly unprepared. This makes for a good story afterwards but at the time was a little stressful and bewildering (especially when I had already made a 20 hour journey prior to this one).

Most buses to Ushuaia leave from Rio Gallegos, which is where I picked mine up from too. Firstly, the best piece of advice I can give to anyone travelling by bus in Argentina is (in my experience) that most will arrive at the final destination later than scheduled so if you are getting a connecting bus leave at least 2 to 3 hours between them to be on the safe side.

I was travelling with Tecni-Austral and when the coach arrived it looked more like a police riot van with a big heavy grill over the windscreen. I'd heard that some of the roads were unpaved so assumed this is why they had the added protection and not because we were going to be attacked by pitchfork wielding locals - but you never know!

The coach wasn't the best I've been on, but considering the journey should take around 10 to 12 hours and was during the day I wasn't too worried. 

At the Terminal de Omnibus in Rio Gallegos make your first port of call the desk of your coach provider. For part of the journey, which I was unaware of at the time, the coach will cross into Chile so it is sort of like checking in for a flight but not so stringent. The person at the counter will check your ticket and cross your name off the list of passengers due to travel. 

The only reason I went to the desk was out of habit to check the bus was running etc. However, a couple of passengers didn't do this and had to rush back inside to do so before they were allowed on-board.

Unless you want a hefty fine, make sure you dispose of or eat any fruit and vegetable products you have on you. I don't know if this is true of all the coach companies but the host on the bus I was on came round just before the border with a bin for any food you might want to throw away.

I panic ate the two carrots I had on me much to the amusement of the host and some of my fellow passengers. Well, they were likely the only vegetables I was going to have that day so I wasn't going to waste them. I also had a couple of bananas but they hadn't travelled well so I was happy to dispose of them.

The border formalities took a little while as you have to be stamped out of Argentina and stamped back into Chile as well as putting all your hand luggage through an x-ray.

Back on the bus and by this point having consulted the map app I have on my phone, I guessed we would be reaching a water crossing. The map wasn't wrong and soon enough we reached it.

The weather by now had turned and was windy, rainy and cold so I'm not going to lie I probably didn't appreciate crossing the Strait of Magellan as much as I could have done.

Also, bearing in mind I had come from further north than a lot of people on my coach I looked like that one tourist who comes back to the UK from warmer climes still in summer clothes.

Unlike the majority of other passengers on the coach, who looked liked the contents of an outdoor adventure store had thrown up on them, I'm pretty sure I was the only one rocking flip flops! I did have a fleece and was wearing trousers albeit of the thin cotton kind so I didn't look entirely like a fish out of water.

Once we reached the other side we got back on the bus and had another couple of hours driving along unpaved roads - imagine a coach swaying from side to side like a boat rocking on a rough sea and that's pretty much what the journey felt like!

We reached the next border crossing and were stamped out of Chile (this was much quicker than getting into the country). Don't worry at this point if you haven't got a stamp stamping you back into Argentina as the Argentinian border post is a bit further up the road.

When we reached Rio Grande, which is about 3 hours from Ushuaia, we are told to get off the bus as there will be another coach arriving to take us the rest of the way. No indication as to how long this might be, but at least I wasn't the only one in this predicament as the majority of people on the coach were going on to Ushuaia. After about 30 minutes the new coach arrived we all piled on and 3 hours later arrived at the end of the world only 3.5 hours late!

Despite all the faff involved and getting on and off buses and ferries, I'm glad I took an overland route. Although the scenery did get very monotonous at times, it was stunning - vast plains of windswept, sun bleached emptiness occasionally punctuated with the odd hill, lake or lone estancia. 

As we drove into Ushuaia, even though it was dark, I could tell we were in Tierra del Fuego as the terrain became more mountainous and I imagine in daylight it would have been quite spectacular.