Last day in Santiago

San Miguel is a fairly run down area south of the centre of Santiago. In an effort to improve the environment mural artists were commissioned to paint huge murals and an outdoor museum was created.

The journey there involved the subway - again it was very crowded. This time Martin got on and the doors shut on his rucksack so squashing our lunch! He had to wait for me at the next stop.

We returned to the city changing twice on the subway. We managed not to get squashed and to get on the same train.  Although at one point Martin was on the escalator, I was on the stairs and after running parallel for a bit they started to go in different directions. It was disconcerting but we ended up on the same platform.

We walked through the city stopping to watch the start of a bike charity ride;

Walking through plazas with wisteria trees in full bloom;

The National Library is mentioned in guidebooks as containing free public loos but actually it's a lovely building with several exhibitions including one showing costumes worn in Atacama desert dance festivals.

We made a short visit to the building which was used as a detention centre by the secret police from 1973-1975. Outside the names of the victims are engraved in the pavements and the banner suggests there are still problems in current times....

We sat in the shade in the main plaza with a singer on our left and chaps playing pan pipes on our right.

We estimated that we have learnt about 140 Spanish words although Google Translate has been a boon. Both of us agree that we prefer Chile to Argentina. The land is more fertile and the people so friendly. After a quiet morning we will catch our flight home on Sunday - keen to see family and friends but sad to end our trip.

A disappointing day out

We decided to have a day out on the coast in Valparaiso, a 90 minute bus ride away.

To get to the bus terminal we had to take the subway which was hot and crowded. I got on just as the doors were closing, one of which slammed into my arm. Martin was left standing on the platform so we communicated through the doors that I would wait for him at the next stop.

On arrival in Valparaiso, we had a 30 minute walk through the commercial sector. There was a street market on and it was a chaotic and noisy walk. I kept saying it will be better when we get to the old town as I had read several travel blogs which extolled it's virtues. It never did get better. There were some colourful houses and murals but on the whole it's a shabby place with poor housing and not at all what we had been led to believe. It was really disappointing.

We kept at it though, climbing up into the hills to follow the route I had marked on the map to see the famous murals.

There are numerous funiculars to assist the residents to get to their homes on the hills.

An impromptu slide;

A local park where people hire bikes for the kids to cycle round on presumably because with the hills they don't otherwise get a chance. There was also a drum group playing.

After our lunch we didn't hang around for long and despondently walked back to the bus terminal.

Smog

Our next step was to climb up Cerro San Cristobal to take in the view of the city and the surrounding mountains. It was a hot and sticky walk up. At the top is a statue of Our Lady and a chapel,  and preparations were underway for the Pope's visit in the new year. We could not see the mountains because of the smog which was a real shame.

It was really hot so we went home for a siesta. Later in the afternoon we went to the memory museum. This was all about the military coup in 1973, life under Pinochet's regime and the atrocities committed by the secret police. It was a sobering visit. No wonder there were always protesters on the A30 outside the house where Pinochet lived when in the UK. 

Murals

Santiago

Because of British Airways we have 3 days here - a month before our trip they cancelled our Saturday flight home and rescheduled us to Sunday.

On our first full day we walked up to the bohemian Bellavista area to see murals. On the way we crossed what I'd hoped was a nice river we could walk along another day but it was just a channel of fast flowing muddy water.

We wandered around taking lots of photos.

Pucon to Santiago

We were up and gone from the hostel by 5am to walk to the bus station for our 5.30 bus. It was just getting light but everywhere was quiet. We passed a black dog which was lying down. As we turned a corner two dogs started barking and wriggled under a fence to get at us. One was especially ferocious. As Martin was trying to get him away, round the corner came the black dog. He saw both of the dogs off and quietly escorted us to the terminal!

Martin confirmed with the conductor that we would be getting off the bus at Quepe where a taxi would be waiting. All seemed ok. We couldn't sleep as we had to be alert for the stop. After an hour and a half we estimated we would be right on time for the taxi. But at a bus stop about 10 minutes before Quepe the conductor came to us and rattled away in Spanish. It appeared that they would not stop the bus to allow us off in Quepe and we had to get off now. A lady tried to argue with the driver and explained a taxi was waiting for us but to no avail. The conductor had got our bags out of the bus so we had to get off. 

So there we were on the main Pan American highway with lorries thundering past, 6 km from the airport. We started walking. On the turnoff for the airport we started to hitchhike. The first 2 vehicles sped past but they were private transfer minibuses so no surprise there. Luckily the next vehicle was driven by an airport worker who kindly stopped and took us the rest of the way.  I have written to the bus company to complain as it was their employee in the Pucon terminal who told us to make these arrangements. 

There was still plenty of time before the short flight to Santiago so we spent the money saved from the taxi fare on coffees. On arrival we caught the stopping bus to the centre as we couldn't check in until 2. After I paid for our fares I stored the return tickets with our passports, stowed the change in my purse and thought I'd put my purse in my handbag. I was on a double seat with a handbag, a rucksack and a large man next to me and the rear wheel arch under my feet so it was a bit cramped. Just before we got up Martin picked up something from the floor behind my seat and said oh someone's dropped their purse. It was mine! I must have dropped it and it slid off the wheel arch to the floor behind me. How lucky - it had lots of cash, my cards and our railcard in it.

After lunch in a pretty square and a bit of people watching we found our small apartment which is on the 14th floor of a block. It's not great being in a city after the beautiful fresh air and countryside of Patagonia.

Our usual routine on arrival followed - visit the tourist office and shop for food. There was what I can only describe as a "hoodie" type youth manning the info centre, lounging in the chair. He was not at all engaged at the start but he did warm up eventually.

Someone has looked out for us today what with the protective dog, the kind driver who picked us up, Martin seeing the purse.... and this evening a man stopped me as I was about to cross the road and saved me from being mown down by a cyclist. 

Last day in Pucon

On our last day in Pucon the weather was hot and sunny. We went down to the lakeshore to see if we could find a path from the beach to the mouth of the river. We caught up with Jun and the 3 of us tried to make our way through tall bushes along a sandy path but had to turn back as it was too overgrown.

After a drink in town we returned to our room for a long siesta out of the sun and to pack.

In the evening we chatted to a young couple from Rio who told us about the corruption and crime which is causing their generation to leave if possible.  Later we had wine and lots of laughs with Jun, Denise, Solange and Rodrigo. Rodrigo showed us a video of the volcano erupting in March 2015. We said our goodbyes and went to bed setting our alarms for 4.45.

On horse back at last

After a morning chilling at the lakeside I got ready for my ride. I was picked up first but there were only 4 in the group so we didn't have to call at many places before setting off to the ranch which was 20 minutes drive away.  The ride leader asked if anyone needed the loo before we started riding. I said yes but regretted it. Instead of going into the house I was shown to a wooden shack which contained a drop toilet. All I could think about was the one Chilean poisonous spider which hangs around in such places and tarantulas!

We were introduced to our horses after being assessed for riding experience, height and weight. I was told mine was lazy so would need 'motivation', went very slowly downhill and didn't like other horses so if others got close and her ears went back I had to pull her away.... okay....

The countryside we rode through was fabulous and we crossed a few fast running rivers. I was Billy No Mates at the back with my horse keeping her distance. When we cantered I soon learnt she needed a whack to get her to move on from a trot.

I had one scary moment near the end. Drivers in Chile do not slow down for horses. One driver was going too fast, started braking by the others ahead but skidded a bit on the gravel road by me. My horse understandably took fright, turned and tried to get away. I lost a stirrup but managed to stay on board and pull her up but I was glad we didn't have far to go. But suddenly there were lots of hornets around bothering the horses. I was desperately hoping mine wouldn't get stung and was very relieved to see the ranch. We were on the horses for over 3 and a half hours and boy did I know it when I tried to dismount.

We had a great evening chatting with Jun and Denise and Solange, two lovely and friendly sisters Chilean by birth but brought up in both Chile and Australia. Rodrigo made us all an Earthquake cocktail - a Chilean speciality. Delicious! Then he called us out into the yard as the top of the volcano was glowing orange.

Three Lakes

A big walk was planned for today. We caught the 8.30 bus to the National Park Huerquehue. The walk was scheduled to take 3.5 hours up and 3.5 hours down. There were buses back at either 14.10 or 17.10 so it had to be the 17.10 but that carried with it the worry whether everyone would fit on that last bus. Once we had paid the park fees we set off at a pace uphill. We got to the top lake in 2 hours. We had a lovely quiet spot for lunch and a paddle but after a while lots of other walkers arrived. So we set off down at a slower pace and stopped to see the cascades. However we still had a long wait for the bus. Thankfully we both got a seat - some people had to stand all the way for the hour journey after walking all day.

When we were sat waiting for the bus someone spotted this tarantula wandering around......

Good to see landing gear works;

Coming in to land;