THE BOOZE CRUISE AND BEYOND

(Chillin' in Chile Part 6)

Travel Tales Index - Chillin' In Chile Index - Chile Pix

Having finished our hike in Torres Del Paine, the only way to return north through Chile was by a once a week cargo/passenger ferry. The ferry left Puerto Natales at midnight on Thursday and arrived in Puerto Montt Monday morning with one stop midway. Thursday afternoon, stopped by the ferry company and found we could "check" our luggage and they would deliver it to our bunks before we boarded. The trip included all meals and dorm style bunk beds, but prior to boarding we did a little shopping to make sure we had all the essentials. We took 3 1/2 liters of wine, 2 bottles of pisco, a couple packages of chocoloate chip cookies and some chocolate bars. Now you know why I referred to it as "The Booze Cruise"!

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Our Lovely Cruise Ship
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Booze Cruise Berths

After boarding, the next three days were spent hanging out in the bar/lounge on the top deck, talking to other travellers, watching the beautiful mountains, glaciers, islands, seals and dolphins we were sailing past and doing a little bit of drinking. Unfortunately, I had to spend a lot of time holding on to Lois' belt since I was afraid she might try and jump in the water with the dolphins!

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Surreal Landscape Along Cruise
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Don't Jump, Lois!

Since it was a cargo ferry, some of our fellow passengers were cows - three tractor trailers full of them. After three days, there was a noticeable "perfume" in the air. There seemed to be two types of people on the "cruise" - those traveling for a long period of time with a couple sets of clothes and wearing the same ones every day (ie. us) and those with about 43 suitcases and wearing a new outfit everytime you turned around. The last night of the voyage we all had a pretty good party, going until everyone's booze ran out.

On arrival in Puerto Montt, we headed by bus and ferry to the island of Chiloe. Chiloe is known for a few things including its laid back atmosphere, variety of wooden churches and great seafood. The interesting thing is that many Chileans we met raved about Chiloe, while most of the foreign travellers basically said it was "okay". We found Chiloe was inundated by young (15-20 year old) Chileans whos were on school break and hitchhiked down to the island. The central square in every town was full of kids. Most had backpacks and sleeping bags and were camping out or sleeping in the parks. This seemed to be a rite of passage for most Chileans from Santiago and other big cities. Chiloe is a suburban/rural area so parents felt their kids were safe going there and they themselves had gone there as children. For most Chileans, when they spoke of how wonderful Chiloe was, they were remembering the trip(s) they had taken there as young adults. We would have to agree with other travellers and say it was "okay".

Our first stop on Chiloe was the town of Castro. Given that it is an island, most of the people originally made their living fishing. We spent our time walking around, checking out the church, taking day trips, watching them load and unload small cargo boats, checking out the local "artesania" (mostly knitting) and eating "curanto". Curanto is a Chiloe specialty which consists of a large bowl with a hodgepodge of steamed seafood and meat - mussels, clams, mollusks, fish, sausage and chicken. It's so famous throughout Chile, there is actually a song about it!

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Chiloe's
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Wooden Churches
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This Is Hard & Tiring Work

From Castro, we made our way to Cucao, on the seaward side of the island. Two Brazilians had recommended Posada Chela as the place to stay, so we checked it out for ourselves. Usually, recommendations from fellow travellers turn out to be the best and this place was no exception. It was run by an older (late 60s) retired couple. The place was a little mini farm/estate (estancia). A total of 35 acres with 30 sheep, 15-20 cows, horses, ducks, chickens and huge vegetable and flower gardens. We had upstairs rooms and there was a sitting area with a view of the ocean and the sunset in the evening.

For Lois & JoAnne, the highlight of our stay at Posada Chela was Chiquita (little one). Chiquita was a calf who's mother had rejected her and the couple had bottle fed her and kept her in their house through the winter since they had no barn. Chiquita was now 1 1/2 years old, but still responded to her name and loved to have her head scratched. Of course, when JoAnne went out one morning, called Chiquita and she came bounding over, JoAnne got a little scare because, friendly or not, she was pretty big! JoAnne almost started to run away, but Chiquita slowed down just as she got to JoAnne and waited patiently for a few pets.

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View Of The Estancia
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Chiquita
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Cucao Seashore

From Cucao, we took a minivan to Dalcahue where we waited for a bus to take us to Achao, another laid back Chiloe fishing town. In Dalcahue we made a costly mistake. We don't know exactly how it happened, but we piled all our bags on the sidewalk while waiting for the bus to Achao, one of us watched the bags, the others ran off and took care of a few errands and somehow, somewhere, between waiting for the bus and finally getting on it, our camera bag was stolen. Having something stolen sucks, but far worse is all the pictures that were lost - Los Cuernos, Las Torres, Castro, Cucao and everything in between. Thankfully, JoAnne had also been taking pictures (and lots of them!), so she gave us a CD of her photos. I guess that no matter how many times you travel, no matter how vigilant you are, you make one mistake and there is someone who sees it and takes advantage of it. Plus, we were traveling on Friday the 13th! The one thing we will do is buy a smaller camera next time which easily fits in a pocket or day pack and doesn't need its own camera bag...

There wasn't much to Achao, so we took a day trip to Curaco del Velez which didn't have much except for a number of restaurants by the water selling fresh oysters and seafood. The oysters were 20 - 50 cents each, depending on size and there were incredibly good and big seafood empanadas for 75 cents. So, we got a great lunch out of the day trip! On Sunday, we returned to Dalcahue where there was a festival and market going on. The place was packed with Chilenos and foreign tourists.

The first part of the market, for tourists, was woolen goods - knit caps, sweaters, scarves, blankets and shawls - all hand made from homespun and naturally dyed wool. The other part, for locals, was everything but the kitchen sink - shoes, sneakers, used clothes, produce, fish, household products etc. The in-between part of the market was something you seem to see all over the world. The "hippies", "beach bums", "slackers" or whatever name you like - people who don't seem to be from the area, but are currently living there, eeking out a living selling small jewelry, earrings, bracelets, etc as well as offering hair braiding, palm reading and other services.

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Oysters Are Yummy
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Dalcahue Festival

From Dalcahue, we traveled to Ancud, Temuco, Chillan and then Santiago in 3 days. A total of about 650 miles. Thus ended our trip to Chile in the same way it started, with a lot of bus rides! We probably covered more ground on this trip than anyone we have ever taken, including Paul's 6 month odyssey through Mexico and Central America (1994-1995). However, with the one exception of the van ride from Santa Lucia to Coyhaique, it was very comfortable and easy travel. By far, the hightlights were Torres Del Paine, the overall outdoor beauty and the friendliness of the Chilenos. Unfortunately, Lois' sprained ankle did cast a bit of a shadow over most of the trip. She didn't let it stop her from doing too much, but it was a continual concern, especially during the Torres Del Paine backpack. It turns out, she had torn 3 tendons in her ankle and after some physical therapy it took until September before she felt it was back to full strength.

As mentioned in our first e-mail, Paul originally had set out for Southern Chile in October 1994, but only made it to Costa Rica over the course of 6 months. Just after returning from that trip, Paul & Lois "hooked up" in New Orleans and have been together ever since. Nine years after originally setting out, Paul finally made it to Southern Chile with Lois in tow. You might say this brings Paul full circle and he can stop travelling, but most people know better than that! Coming soon to an in-box near you - Rajasthani Ramblings.

Final Notes on Chile

$3692      on food, accommodation & local transport = $66/day
$1480 on plane tickets
$  200 on entry fee to Chile
$    50 on guidebooks
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$5422 total expenditure in 56 days.
 
Average Cost For A Room: $14.50
 
3200 Miles travelled via land (car/truck/bus/hike)
  600 Miles travelled via water (boat/ferry)
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3800 Total Miles Traveled


THE END OF CHILLIN' IN CHILE



                 


all content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2004.