Vertical Valparaiso

The hills in Valparaiso make San Francisco look flat. The port (which boomed during the California gold rush) is 44 meters deep about 10 meters from shore, which gives you a sense of the slope. The hills form neighborhoods, and those hoods each have their own flavor - some funky, some old school, and some just mazes of staircases and ramps. The preferred form of public transit is via Ascensore, a near-vertical elevator contraption up the side of a hill (like a funicular but different). They're pretty cool, and we love them. Especially going up.

Hippies

This just about sums up the young folks we've met in Chile:

Altos de Lircay - Feb. 9-11

From Talca you can access a few parks in the Andes. Chile isn't wide, and so 24 hours (including a night in Talca) after visiting the coast we found ourselves camping in Altos de Lircay with a British ex-pat who lacked a camping stove (which, apparently, is a requirement for entering the park - regardless of whether you  plan to cook). On day two we had a great 12-13 mile hike up into the Andean foothills (about 7,000 ft.).

Pics here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/5981084450504891633

Talca looks bad, Constitutíon smells worse, but they're well worth a visit.

When we told Chileans we were planning to visit Talca, without exception they gave us a look of concern mixed with confusion and asked: ¿Porqué? Why?

We would explain: it's surrounded by vineyards, there's a funky old train to the coast and easy access to national parks. They would nod politely and suggest somewhere else - usually Pucón. The ticket guy on the bus checked with us twice to make sure we really did want to go to Talca.

When we arrived, it wasn't hard to see why everyone was confused by our choice. Talca suffered severe damage in the 2010 earthquake and things only recently began to reopen. The original train station was falling apart, buildings still had entire walls missing and anything fixable was under construction. It's also not a town set up for tourists - people live and work there, but not many just come to visit.

We liked it. Being Americans who couldn't speak much Spanish, we were a novelty and people went out of their way to help us figure out the local bus to a winery and the train to the coast. While it isn't the prettiest of towns, it has tons of fresh fruits and vegetables (thanks to miles of surrounding fields and vineyards), an easy to use bus system that will take you almost anywhere, and constant (bad) street entertainment.

We were less enamored with Constitucíon when we arrived. It's a papermill town on the coast that also suffered in the earthquake. A tsunami destroyed many of the beach side restaurants and drowned hundreds camped in the islands near town. Because of the papermill, it also smells pretty bad. Fortunately, the beach is upwind from the paper mill (by about 100 yards). But is downwind from the large sea stacks along the coast where hundreds of pelicans, seagulls, and cormorants were nesting. So, its one or the other wafting in the breeze...

We ended up having a nice beach day in Constitucíon, thanks to a lucky off shore wind, but the best thing about the town is getting there and back. The Ferrocarril Constitucíon is a 1961 passenger train with two cars that follows the Rio Maule from Talca to Constitucíon with views of the valley and vineyards along the way. It stops in one- or two-building towns with no other public transportation, or in some cases, no road access, all surrounded by fields. These are the places whence your organic grapes and tomatoes appear on the shelves of Whole Foods in February.

Much like Chile itself, these two somewhat gritty towns are very honest in their aspect. Imperfect, but hard-working. Confusing, but friendly. And above all, looking forward.

You can find a few pics here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/5981082374574962225

Sights of Chiloé

We posted earlier about Chiloe, and how hard it was to sort out travel there. But in the end, it's a beautiful place with long, empty beaches, colorful towns, and wildlife from penguins to parrots.  Here's a sampling of our photos, including some hikes in Chiloe National Park, the market and Palafito houses of Castro, kayaking at dawn at Chepu, and hiking along a deserted coast to a Penguin colony. It was a full five days..

https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/5980623192709602817

Dogs

The streets of most towns in Chile are full of dogs. Some mangy, some adorable, and mostly very polite. It's something of a political question down here, as locals debate whether to run an expensive sterilization campaign or simply round them up and kill them. Luckily, the latter option seems less popular. Besides, how could you hurt this little guy?

Patagonia recap

It's been well over a week since we left Patagonia,  but it's still with us. The wide open landscapes, stunning scenery, and unique wildlife were a great way to begin this whole adventure while hiking the Circuit in Torres Del Paine. We also spent about a week in Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas, two very southern towns.

Puerto Natales, despite being on the water has a distinct mountain - town feel.  Buses of trekkers roll out to Torres every morning; the cafes, hostels, and pizza joints are packed each night with tired but happy adventurers, grins on their faces; and dirt bag climbers in beat up vans await a break in the weather for their shot at glory.  It's a cool little town with its own distinct rhythm, buzzing with high-season energy while we were there, despite the daily rain showers.

Punta Arenas is a different beast. Hard by the strait of Magellan, it's where Sir Earnest Shackleton recovered from his ordeal and organized the rescue of his men. Today, it's a bustling town from which cruise ships, antarctic expeditions, and other excursions depart. Including one to a penguins colony, which we joined on a rare sunny day. 

In short, Patagonia was awesome. Here's a link to a gallery of a few photos from P. Natales and P. Arenas, penguins included:

Album link: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/5977817781627453121