RememberTheFallen
Explorer
Several months ago my friend Daniel (Zolo on this forum) posted on Facebook about starting a motorcycle touring company in Chile. Then a couple weeks later he asked friends for help in getting the bikes broken in and testing some of the routes. Fortunately I have an amazing wife that immediately said "go for it" and also had a little money set aside for my van to pay for airfare. After talking to Daniel and looking at funds I was able to commit.
So on the evening of September 20th, three us of took a non stop Delta flight from Atlanta to Sanitago, Chile. The 9 1/2 hr flight in the middle seat was not fun for a guy 6'6" like myself but the excitement of the trip powered me through it. Because of a SNAFU in scheduling we had a 10 hr layover in Santiago before taking the domestic flight down to Puerto Montt. The layover allowed us to take a couple hours out in town to explore the capital of Chile. We hired a cab for 4 hrs to drive us around and explore. Santiago is a HUGE city with a population of around 6 million.
The first culture shock for me was the lack of English speakers or signs. Coming from the southeast where a lot of signs are bilingual and visiting Mexico where some English is known it was a big surprise. There are not a ton of gringos visiting this far south and hence no need for English. I had taken some Spanish in high school 20 years ago and studied on Fluenz but had not prepared enough.
Tallest building in South America!
We ate an amazing lunch in the fish market. I had a pisco sour, seafood paella, and a first of many Agua Con Gas (soda water but sounds much cooler in Spanish!).
After lunch we toured two high parks in the middle of the city. The first had an old missionary and statue on top. It was under renovation but still quite nice. Hiking and biking seemed very popular among the locals here. The second park was an old fort that wrapped around a mountain. It was cool to explore an old area with so much history right in the middle of modern city. We were limited for time so could not explore long.
After driving around a little more we were back to the airport to catch our domestic flight to Puerto Montt. We flew Sky Airlines from Santiago to Puerto Montt and Air Latam on the way back. Of the two I would recommend Latam (LAM) as the planes were nicer and service was better for the same price flight.
An hour and half later on another cramped flight we landed in a chilly Puerto Montt. Daniel met us at the airport and after collecting our bags we were off to his house outside Puerto Varas to get some sleep. Due to the mess up in flights it had taken us over 26 hrs to get there. Daniel's wife, Paula, had some amazing homemade empanadas ready for us when we arrived. After a quick meal and catching up I hit the sack for some much needed rest. I awoke 8 hours later in the same position I fell asleep in to a beautiful chilly Chile morning. We had arrived after dark the night before so this was my first chance to see the surrounding landscape. I was not disappointed! This is the view of the volcano Calbuco out of the shower window.
Not too bad, eh?
Will post more once I can get these pictures figured out.
So on the evening of September 20th, three us of took a non stop Delta flight from Atlanta to Sanitago, Chile. The 9 1/2 hr flight in the middle seat was not fun for a guy 6'6" like myself but the excitement of the trip powered me through it. Because of a SNAFU in scheduling we had a 10 hr layover in Santiago before taking the domestic flight down to Puerto Montt. The layover allowed us to take a couple hours out in town to explore the capital of Chile. We hired a cab for 4 hrs to drive us around and explore. Santiago is a HUGE city with a population of around 6 million.
The first culture shock for me was the lack of English speakers or signs. Coming from the southeast where a lot of signs are bilingual and visiting Mexico where some English is known it was a big surprise. There are not a ton of gringos visiting this far south and hence no need for English. I had taken some Spanish in high school 20 years ago and studied on Fluenz but had not prepared enough.
Tallest building in South America!
We ate an amazing lunch in the fish market. I had a pisco sour, seafood paella, and a first of many Agua Con Gas (soda water but sounds much cooler in Spanish!).
After lunch we toured two high parks in the middle of the city. The first had an old missionary and statue on top. It was under renovation but still quite nice. Hiking and biking seemed very popular among the locals here. The second park was an old fort that wrapped around a mountain. It was cool to explore an old area with so much history right in the middle of modern city. We were limited for time so could not explore long.
After driving around a little more we were back to the airport to catch our domestic flight to Puerto Montt. We flew Sky Airlines from Santiago to Puerto Montt and Air Latam on the way back. Of the two I would recommend Latam (LAM) as the planes were nicer and service was better for the same price flight.
An hour and half later on another cramped flight we landed in a chilly Puerto Montt. Daniel met us at the airport and after collecting our bags we were off to his house outside Puerto Varas to get some sleep. Due to the mess up in flights it had taken us over 26 hrs to get there. Daniel's wife, Paula, had some amazing homemade empanadas ready for us when we arrived. After a quick meal and catching up I hit the sack for some much needed rest. I awoke 8 hours later in the same position I fell asleep in to a beautiful chilly Chile morning. We had arrived after dark the night before so this was my first chance to see the surrounding landscape. I was not disappointed! This is the view of the volcano Calbuco out of the shower window.
Not too bad, eh?
Will post more once I can get these pictures figured out.
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