15th November
The border was close by.. We started driving up the Andes, and suddenly the road was
The border was close by.. We started driving up the Andes, and suddenly the road was
gone back in time? No, we later found out that it was a yearly race, and Sebastian's
full of old fashioned cars, and we were in the middle, what was happening? Had we full
of old fashioned cars, and we were in the middle, what was happening? Had we gone
back in time? No, we later found out that it was a yearly race, and Sebastian's father
was one of the drivers, he had spotted us and reported back to Sebastian that we were
still alive, and the van was in one piece.
As we got closer to the border we started seeing snow, Alex was amazed, the last time
had seen snow was in Spain when he was 3!
We got out and took some pictures while Alex touched the snow as if it was gold.
Later the snow got thicker and it was colder when we got out to take more pictures and
have a snack in a mirador,
lovely scenery.
The border was not a problem, except that the Chile side took our honey.
We were soon on our way down the other side of the Andes, the vegetation changed yet
again, it was almost tropical, the amount of greenery, big leaved plants covered the
walls on the side of the road, we later found out that they are curanto leaves, used to
cook the typical Chiloe dish: Curanto.
In some places it was hard to see ahead of us, there was a lot of fog, we passed a fancy
hotel with thermal waters, I, loving anything that has to do with water, would have
really liked to rest there for a night, but our lonely planet guide book said it was
expensive, too expensive for our budget.
Further down, we started seeing lakes and big expanses of grassland with many
grazing cows, we started seeing the relic vehicles on their way back to Argentina, it was
a sight!
What drew my attention were the amount of houses advertised as tea houses ( we later
tried one in Trevelin and realized what we had missed out on.
All the fields were fenced, this made it difficult to stop for lunch. But we finally found
a place next to a lake surrounded by spring flowers and had a bowl of "motor home
made" veggie soup.
We stopped in Osorno to visit a supermarket to stock up, alas there was no place in the
parking lot so we parked on the other side of the road.
Shopping was much more expensive than Argentina, but there was great variety of
vegetables, so we were happy.
When we neared the van we spotted a guy trying the doors, I ran and shouted, he and
someone else bolted in the other direction, I sped to the van thinking that we had been
robbed, luckily everything was normal, maybe we arrived just on time, maybe they
were just curious about the vehicle.. We will never know.
We still did not know where we were going to camp, we headed south, all of a sudden we
were on a highway, and every few kms we were charged, and we had no idea where to
get off, we ended up in Puerto Montt. Found a camping, but I did not care to use the
bathrooms, we were charged 10 us. We drove to the Angelmo market and couldn't beleive
our eyes when we saw the size of the shell fish, we bought mussels, oysters, salmon and
sea urchin roe, the happy round red faces of the people has stuck in my mind ever since,
now I regret not having sat down with them, and cooked my own mussels or clams on
those ambers that everyone was using to make their snack or warm their hands.
Needless to say we returned
to the van for a seafood feast and
a bottle of Chilean white wine that
we had chilled in the stream that
run through the camping.
16th November
The weather was bleak, we returned to Angelmo to buy some more sea food, and headed
towards Chiloe, the road ran by the shore, everything was grey, there was a calm feeling
about the landscape, I think the being so calm had something to do with it.
We stopped at a beach and walked for a while, the returned to the van to eat a seafood
pasta, which was
delicious.
We drove on towards Pargua from there we would find out if we were in time to catch a
ferry to the island, we were, the ferry's run all day long. So suddenly we found
ourselves on our way to Chiloe, this had been a dream destination, for a long time, a
reason to celebrate, Regina, Fernado's sister had given a bottle of Whiskey when she
visited last August, we had had it with us since, so what a better occasion? It certainly
warmed us up :-) Alex and I put layers of clothes on and stood on the top of the ferry to
enjoy (?) the freezing air.
We arrived on the island, he houses drew are attention, apart from being very
picturesque, they looked like they would blow away if a gale came, but it seems that i
am wrong as we were later told that gales are common, as we later found out.
It was still raining, The water was full of black necked swans, and it was misty a
completely new experience for us
As we drove we decided to find a room somewhere that we would have room for the kids
to run and not feel locked up in a small van, We had to drive to Ancoud to do this, we
found a camping that also had room, the rooms cost just a little more than it cost to
camp, around 45 us, very simple but had heating and leg space, and even a little
garden with flowers. The enrtance instead of having gravel was filled in with mussel
shells, which left off a fishy smell, strange. We settled in, had a nice shower and
dinner, and we played games for a while.
17th November
In the morning we went into town to drop of our laundry, and shop a little, the market
did not have as much character as Angelmo, but was less tourist orientated. I bought
different types of potatoes, blue chicken eggs, and more shell fish and salmon.
The lady's at the stools patiently explained what the fares they were selling were, as
many vegetables were completely new to us, like the Curanto leaf stalk and the big
packs of seaweed.
We then went for a walk to an old fort, and returned to our shack for lunch in the
garden and then a walk on the beach nearby, the hotel's dog made friends with Isabelle
and joined us, we lazed on the hot stones and I would have happily fallen asleep if the
kids hadn't jumped on me.
We then went for a drive around the island to try and see the Penguins, the island is
amazing, rolling green hills, ox's and carts, people waved at us as we passed. We came
to a place were you could walk down to the beach, this we hadn't counted on, we thought
that we could have made it in the van, and it was already 5 o clock, well another time.
We later found out that we had taken pictures of penguins without knowing, we just
had to enlarge a picture we had
taken, Alex was the one to notice.
continue
The border was close by.. We started driving up the Andes, and suddenly the road was
The border was close by.. We started driving up the Andes, and suddenly the road was
gone back in time? No, we later found out that it was a yearly race, and Sebastian's
full of old fashioned cars, and we were in the middle, what was happening? Had we full
of old fashioned cars, and we were in the middle, what was happening? Had we gone
back in time? No, we later found out that it was a yearly race, and Sebastian's father
was one of the drivers, he had spotted us and reported back to Sebastian that we were
still alive, and the van was in one piece.
As we got closer to the border we started seeing snow, Alex was amazed, the last time
had seen snow was in Spain when he was 3!
We got out and took some pictures while Alex touched the snow as if it was gold.
Later the snow got thicker and it was colder when we got out to take more pictures and
have a snack in a mirador,
lovely scenery.
The border was not a problem, except that the Chile side took our honey.
We were soon on our way down the other side of the Andes, the vegetation changed yet
again, it was almost tropical, the amount of greenery, big leaved plants covered the
walls on the side of the road, we later found out that they are curanto leaves, used to
cook the typical Chiloe dish: Curanto.
In some places it was hard to see ahead of us, there was a lot of fog, we passed a fancy
hotel with thermal waters, I, loving anything that has to do with water, would have
really liked to rest there for a night, but our lonely planet guide book said it was
expensive, too expensive for our budget.
Further down, we started seeing lakes and big expanses of grassland with many
grazing cows, we started seeing the relic vehicles on their way back to Argentina, it was
a sight!
What drew my attention were the amount of houses advertised as tea houses ( we later
tried one in Trevelin and realized what we had missed out on.
All the fields were fenced, this made it difficult to stop for lunch. But we finally found
a place next to a lake surrounded by spring flowers and had a bowl of "motor home
made" veggie soup.
We stopped in Osorno to visit a supermarket to stock up, alas there was no place in the
parking lot so we parked on the other side of the road.
Shopping was much more expensive than Argentina, but there was great variety of
vegetables, so we were happy.
When we neared the van we spotted a guy trying the doors, I ran and shouted, he and
someone else bolted in the other direction, I sped to the van thinking that we had been
robbed, luckily everything was normal, maybe we arrived just on time, maybe they
were just curious about the vehicle.. We will never know.
We still did not know where we were going to camp, we headed south, all of a sudden we
were on a highway, and every few kms we were charged, and we had no idea where to
get off, we ended up in Puerto Montt. Found a camping, but I did not care to use the
bathrooms, we were charged 10 us. We drove to the Angelmo market and couldn't beleive
our eyes when we saw the size of the shell fish, we bought mussels, oysters, salmon and
sea urchin roe, the happy round red faces of the people has stuck in my mind ever since,
now I regret not having sat down with them, and cooked my own mussels or clams on
those ambers that everyone was using to make their snack or warm their hands.
Needless to say we returned
to the van for a seafood feast and
a bottle of Chilean white wine that
we had chilled in the stream that
run through the camping.
16th November
The weather was bleak, we returned to Angelmo to buy some more sea food, and headed
towards Chiloe, the road ran by the shore, everything was grey, there was a calm feeling
about the landscape, I think the being so calm had something to do with it.
We stopped at a beach and walked for a while, the returned to the van to eat a seafood
pasta, which was
delicious.
We drove on towards Pargua from there we would find out if we were in time to catch a
ferry to the island, we were, the ferry's run all day long. So suddenly we found
ourselves on our way to Chiloe, this had been a dream destination, for a long time, a
reason to celebrate, Regina, Fernado's sister had given a bottle of Whiskey when she
visited last August, we had had it with us since, so what a better occasion? It certainly
warmed us up :-) Alex and I put layers of clothes on and stood on the top of the ferry to
enjoy (?) the freezing air.
We arrived on the island, he houses drew are attention, apart from being very
picturesque, they looked like they would blow away if a gale came, but it seems that i
am wrong as we were later told that gales are common, as we later found out.
It was still raining, The water was full of black necked swans, and it was misty a
completely new experience for us
As we drove we decided to find a room somewhere that we would have room for the kids
to run and not feel locked up in a small van, We had to drive to Ancoud to do this, we
found a camping that also had room, the rooms cost just a little more than it cost to
camp, around 45 us, very simple but had heating and leg space, and even a little
garden with flowers. The enrtance instead of having gravel was filled in with mussel
shells, which left off a fishy smell, strange. We settled in, had a nice shower and
dinner, and we played games for a while.
17th November
In the morning we went into town to drop of our laundry, and shop a little, the market
did not have as much character as Angelmo, but was less tourist orientated. I bought
different types of potatoes, blue chicken eggs, and more shell fish and salmon.
The lady's at the stools patiently explained what the fares they were selling were, as
many vegetables were completely new to us, like the Curanto leaf stalk and the big
packs of seaweed.
We then went for a walk to an old fort, and returned to our shack for lunch in the
garden and then a walk on the beach nearby, the hotel's dog made friends with Isabelle
and joined us, we lazed on the hot stones and I would have happily fallen asleep if the
kids hadn't jumped on me.
We then went for a drive around the island to try and see the Penguins, the island is
amazing, rolling green hills, ox's and carts, people waved at us as we passed. We came
to a place were you could walk down to the beach, this we hadn't counted on, we thought
that we could have made it in the van, and it was already 5 o clock, well another time.
We later found out that we had taken pictures of penguins without knowing, we just
had to enlarge a picture we had
taken, Alex was the one to notice.
continue
 |
| |
 |
