San Pedro de Atacama
I don’t like Calama. It’s a larger regional centre, it has the airport and it might be important for mining but it is a boring place with a few expensive hostels and little to see. I was also very nearly robbed. That had been the experience on my first visit and I was keen...
Read MoreParque Nacional Puyehue
I regressed to Osorno in Chile for a new camera and American dollars! I was accepted by Gonzalo to surf his couch when he contacted me somewhat apolegitically to tell me he had planned to go hiking with a friend in Puyehue National Park at the base of the Andes, and that I was...
Read MoreCorral
Walking through the streets of Corral was a weird feeling. The city is sort of being abandoned and you can see it. It feels like the paint is peeling. We followed a creek up to some small falls which provided altitude for a different vista of the bay from the other side to Niebla....
Read MoreNiebla
Niebla. Sunny one day, con niebla the next. Actually rainy the next. This is not cool if you want to play tourist, well, I mean, it is cool, actually it’s cold. Look, point is, the weather is unpredictable. Niebla is on the coast where the river Valdivia meets the ocean. The river opens out...
Read MoreValdivia / Niebla arrival
Quiet streets slip by as our bus rolls into Valdivia. The temperature has dropped, bright red moving words at the front of the bus tell me a damp 14c awaits us at the terminal. I’m glad I packed jeans in my day-pack. I glance down streets as we pass, each deserted, illuminated at points...
Read MoreLas Condes y Vitacura
This is wealthyville – where people with plata build shiny glass buildings, line avenues with trees, wear expensively understated clothing and drive modern vehicles. The chileans have a word for it – cuicos. The term is laden with socio-economic significance and could be roughly summarised as – south yarra. Vitacura has a bright, upbeat...
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