Valparaiso is one of those places that defines a country. It is a loud mouth of a city, colourful, unapologetic, it has trade and a good climate that puts Santiago to shame, Continue reading Valparaiso →

Valdivia is a pretty university town that was started up by German settlers. It has a civilised air to it, nice bars, traditions, great brewers! Yup, Continue reading Valdivia →

The bus journey from Castro to Puerto Montt was a lovely journey. Green rolling hills, a ferry across the Canal de Chacao standing on deck with spray in the face from a wind flecked sea. Continue reading Puerto Montt →

I had a weeks work to do in Castro so I found a neat little house to stay in with good Internet at the Hospidaje Familiar under the watchful eye of Orfilia and buckled down.

Castro was a lovely place to spend the week, brightly coloured houses gripping the side of a steep slope leading down to the sea, one of the last enclaves of the Spanish in South America. My hospidaje was a funny old place, it was above one of this bars where scantily clad women served beers to drunk sailors up until 11pm sharp when it would close it’s doors. The noise would be quite loud upstairs but I didn’t mind, it had character.

The early morning bus ride with a hangover, dealing with customs, gorgeous mountains, back to Chile. I love the idea of stitching my way back and forth across such a grandiose mountain range, as if it were a playground ride, something to skip over, surf down. This time to the rafting mecca of Futaleufu.
Continue reading Futaleufu →