Blogpost 18 - Villa La Angostura to Santiago
Awoke again to beautiful day in Angostura. We new we had a long days driving so we got away early, and in to town to shop for dinner and then to spend our last Argentine Pasos before crossing back to Chile. We also bought 4 sweet treats in a bakery and had a nice coffee in a cafe before heading off.
The drive was once again was fantastic scenery and way different than we had expected. We reached the Argentinian border and were processed quickly and back on the road to go over the pass into Chile. It was an amassing road that climbed high up into snow country. The roadside was lined with pumice like volcanic debris from a large volcanic eruption they had in that area less than ten years ago. Large areas of mature trees had died as a result of the eruption.
We passed over the top and into Chile but it was a long drive down hill to the Chilean border control post. The documentation went smoothly but their biosecurity control took away most of the food we had purchased for dinner that night, chicken and fresh verges and the last of our peanuts. We scoffed as much as we could including our bananas and apples before he could take them away but clearly we had to give up the raw chicken.Then on to Ensenada where we had great trouble locating a suitable place for the night. Finally ended up in a small hotel where we had no kitchen and had to buy dinner so we avoided bean and rice again. Believe me that was a positive outcome.
Next day we had only a short drive to Puerto Varas to buy dinner at the supermarket for our first night back in Chile. It was very cold so another coffee which was also expensive and only Luke warm before heading on to Puerto Montt Airport to catch the flight back to Santiago.
All went well until we got on the plane to find that they had put us in row 38, it should have been called row 37.5 as there was no way we could recline the seat. It had no window and the tray table in Gaye’s seat was filthy.
An hour 40 flight back to Santiago, the local airport bus into the city. It’s a 45 minute ride. It’s a big place.
Then a short walk to the apartment we had booked. We thought we had it sussed again to find that they had no knowledge of our booking. Not a fan of booking.com but we have used it a bit. It’s now about 7.30 and hot and tired. We found a nice looking hostel on line and booked it. 1.5 km walk to get there but we are fit and off we went. Knocked on the door but no one answered. Another hostel guest returning to the hostel let us in and we contacted the manager who was out for the night. It turned out that he was full and sound we should not have been allowed to make the booking. I now dislike Booking.com even more. It’s now 8.30pm and still hot.
Back on google we located a hotel about 1.5km away that had a room. It was called Hotel He Wang. Not sure what we would find. It turned out to be on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floor of a big building and it’s as good as any good hotel in NZ. We finally got into our room by about 9.30, still hot but releaved. We managed to laugh a bit. Somehow we coped and all is fine now. We decided to stay two more nights to take us through to Tuesday when we fly home.
Spent today wandering around Santiago. We have found it much better than what we had found it when we arrived 3 months ago. Nice mid twenties temperature so it was shorts and tee shirts again. We spent a few hours this afternoon in the Museum of Memory and Human Rights which documents and explains the 1973 to 1988 take over by Pinochet and all the atrocities he and his Junta we responsible for.
Quite sobering and to think we just drove Ruta 7, the Carretera Austral Road that he was responsible for the building of.
The day I referred to above was now yesterday and today is now today. I trust that makes sense.
So today we went on a walking tour of the city with a big group and a very good guide. He explained a lot about the development of Chile and of Santiago in particular. He shone a bit more light onto the coup and the Pinochet era. It now makes much more sense. The government that was ousted by the coup was heading down the socialist/communist line and the 15 years of Pinochet’s rule got rid of all the people who supported that government to ensure that it was very unlikely that a socialist government would be elected into power in Chile again.
The guide also explained how the development of the city has been influenced by how things are done in France. They have adopted a lot of systems that operate well in France such as legal and financial systems.
The guide also took it to some of the more trendy parts of the city with lots of small cafes and bars. The city is just alive with people, colour, statues, cafes and bars, lots of trees. We really like it. When we’re first here back in September we were not impressed by the place. It seemed dark and cold. We are pleased we have seen it in warmer times and have found the time to explore a bit.
We have had trouble trying to find a good restaurant to eat at tonight. Many places are closed in Santiago on Mondays. We will head out shortly to se what we can find.
Tomorrow is our last day. We head to the airport at about 8pm with our flight departing shortly after midnight. We are now looking forward to getting home and catching up with you all.
beautiful! And thanks for your wonderful blog - nothing like vicarious travel!!
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