Day 4: Rainy Day and Tuesday... Chiloe Island

If yesterday was a fantastic day for touring, today is quite the opposite. The weather has been dreary and rainy all day until almost 5pm, the sun was out. A different tour company, still one of those small cargo vans with 12 passengers, a guide and a driver. All Chilean except me and a German girl. I was told that the guide speaks english, of course, she did not. Or she really did not try. After her giant introduction of today's agenda and probably introduction about the islands, when we got the first stop, I asked her "hablas english ok?" She said, "No" and then "so-so". So, I said I understand very little spanish, and if she can give me important information like when we are coming back to the car, or how many minutes we are spending in this location. It is not the first time I am on a full spanish tour so I am kind of used to it. The only inconvenient part is that everytime we stop somewhere, I need to make sure I understand when we are coming back to the car.

Chiloe Island is a huge island, so we and the vehicle took a ferry across the channel to the island. The ferry was literally at snail pace. Today it was just raw weather wise, I had my layer and still felt a little chill, so I stayed inside and looked at the calm sea and we were moving very very very slowly. The island kind of reminded me of Nova Scotia actually but not as nice. We made stops in a couple of towns. The first two were pretty much a waste of time, there was really nothing interesting to see or take pictures for. Meanwhile, we passed by some ship factory or warehouse and some colorful houses, I wished they would stop closer to that area, so I can walk back to snap some photos, instead of this stupid fort with tourist traps vendors.

The third town Dalcahue was a little better, but still not a whole lot catching my eyes. After we went on a boat tour, where most everyone got wet from the waves, it was not fun on a dreary day like this. People were either hungry or tired. We were going to have lunch as it was getting quite late like 1:30pm. Earlier the guide explained the food selection to everyone and took everyone's order. When she came to me, I said, "ok I heard comida, something to do with eating, right?" Yes, but she had no intention of trying to repeat the options in english, so I heard "pollo", "asada", "papas frites". So, "pollo y papas frites para mi" then, y bebida "sprite". Not until we got to the restaurant and all sat down at a communal table, I saw what everyone ordered, many seafoods, salmon, hake or sea bass, a whole bowl of clams and other shellfish. And this asian fella had a fried chicken leg and french fries. It was a good chicken leg, but geez, if I had known the options, I would have wanted some of the seafood.

At lunch, it was when everyone was loosening up a bit. The German girl started the conservation, who comes from where, her name is Josephine, she is taking a 2 months break between jobs, and going on a long solo vacation. I had met other Germans like her before, they are very self-dependent and self-sufficient. I admire that. She was in much better shoes, since she spoke spanish. She spoke to me the most, and then there was another "pothead" chilean couple, I believe they were from Santiago, they also tried to speak to me some. The others pretty much just stuck to themselves.

Last town to visit is the capital of the island, Castro. Not quite that Castro in San Francisco. Also church, square, more or less the same thing. Until we were about to leave, the sky was totally lightened up, blue sky. Could we have that weather earlier? I think I would like to see Chiloe Island on my own, rather than with a group. We passed by some interesting things that I would have taken a lot of pictures with, but we were not stopping at those places, but rather stopped at the main square with the freaking churches and gift shops every town we go. It was kind eh..

Got some updates on the Antarctica tour. The tour agency sent out an email that because of the weather forecast, they are moving up the flight to King George Island, Antarctica. We were originally scheduled to fly on Friday morning, but now we are leaving at 5pm tomorrow. Drake Passage which separated Antarctica and South America is known to be rough and have unpredictable weather. I checked King George Island, and it looks like they are expecting a few days of snow. Anyway, we'll see how that goes. Tomorrow, I have an early flight to Punta Arenas where we will check in with the tour group and we will have to go through the "biosecurity" (covid test and anything else), finger cross I will pass with flying colors! I have not tested positive once during the last 3 years, I do not plan on getting a positive result coming all the way here either!!

Forgot to mention about this crazy yellow flowers I saw all over the island, the yellow were so bright, it was almost look like god dump some yellow paint on the leaves and say hey here are some colors for ya!

Day 4 Photos: Here

Day 3: Petrohue Waterfalls and Osorno Volcano

Today has been an amazing day I have to say. Finally got to see some amazing mountains and waterfalls. They are the primary reasons I picked this location to visit. If nothing else I get to see tomorrow because of the predicted rain, today I have accomplished what I came here to see so I am all set.

It was a small tour group, some of us met at the agency office, others were picked up along the way. They were from all walks of life, there was an older couple and their son from Peru, a Colombian father who was sitting next to me and his young kid. The Colombian father said he could translate for me if needed since the guide has limited english. And the Peruvian family were speaking to me in kindergarten level spanish plus a few english words. That Peruvian father consistently made sure that he would take my pictures with my phone and camera. All the pictures he took sucked but he was so sweet! There was also a retired American couple and her daughter and son-in-law. The parents lived in Portugal these days. We chatted a bit about America. They were from Texas originally, but no Trumpers thank god. A Chilean girl from Santiago and another couple not quite sure where they came from. All in all, everybody was very nice.

As we drove around the mountains through the other side of the volcano, we started to see the peak, turned out this area is very rainy usually, that is why the volcano is often covered by clouds, especially the side facing Puerto Varas. I was so glad that the peak saw its face today, though the volcano was actually smaller than I imagined. There are actually 3 volcanoes sitting next to each other: Osorno, Calbuco and sitting further behind is Tronador. Osorno and Calbuco are both active. Osorno's last eruption was 150 years old, while Calbuco was 7 years ago. Holy shit.

Our first stop was Petrohué Waterfalls, on a cloudless day, the Osorno volcano is right in the center backdrop of the waterfalls. It would have been amazing to see, but today the volcano was under the clouds when we were at the waterfalls. Still the waterfalls were so blue and green, I enjoyed my hour hiking around the waterfalls area on our own. I waited but the peak was not gonna come out before we left. After the waterfalls, we stopped by the Lagos Verde where we got on a boat and cruised around the lake. It was ok, not a must for me, for 6000 pesos. It was all very peaceful nonetheless.

After that, we went to lunch, which was kind of outrageously expensive, relatively speaking. The tour itself is only 30000 pesos equivalent to US$35, that lunch with a salmon and rice and a juice cost 21000 pesos. That would have been a hard pass if I would do this again. But at the restaurant, they did have the best view of the volcano. After lunch, everyone was kind of sleeping, but we were ascending the volcano next. Little did I know when we got up there, we had the option to take the chairlift to go further up to see the crater. It looked really scary, so I was not going to do it. But the Americans were like, "you are only gonna be here once! You are not coming back again!" I know, I was so scared. I started to walk around. But then, they decided to go, and asked me again, ok fine. I would tag along behind them, thinking it would ease my fear.

Going up was not too bad, even if I look down, it was not very tall. The ride was about 13-14 mins, there was a second cable to go further up but it was not running. I was glad actually, the second cable rail was going beyond the clouds. We walked around the crater, I felt very hot, not sure if it was the sun or the earth was actually warm. There were red crater, there were cliffs looking over the entire area, lakes, valleys... absolutely stunning. The Americans and I further chatted, what I do, where I have been, and about Hong Kong. They travelled quite extensively in Asia actually. It was just nice talking to people who are so open-minded and well-travelled. About 4pm, we are coming back down, that was terrifying, I barely looked down once or twice, I really cannot. There was a trail of yellow dots along the hillside, that is where I peed my pants. I was going to take a video, nope I cannot, both hands are holding the handrails so tight.

The tour was technically ending at the descent, and we were transported back to town. I was googled that you are supposed to tip the guide here, no one did. Anna (the guide) and Paulo (the driver) were beyond surprised that I put out 7000 pesos to give them, it was hardly 10 dollars US or practically two and a half coffee at the volcano cafe. They did spend the whole day with us, I feel good about that decision to leave a tip. That is so against my asian frugal self.

Back in town, I went to take some cash out from a Scotiabank ATM (partners of Bank of America), and I realized what a dump mistake it was for me to exchange some US$200 US local money at the airport. The rate at the ATM was so much better. Per airport rate, 7000 pesos was 10 US dollars, at the ATM, 7000 pesos was 8 US dollars. That is a huge difference. Damn!

Did my laundry and had some ramen which was not very good. So far, I have zero luck with meals here. Nothing I would go back for a second time.

Day 3 Photos: Here