Chile is a country in South America and located at the Pacific Ocean.
Impressions of my Vlog
Torres del Paine
Torres del Paine is one of the most famous national parks in Patagonia and there are two well-known hiking trails: The 4 to 5-day W-Trek named after the shape of its path and the 8-day O-Trek, that includes the W-Trek. Highlight are the nail-shaped granite rocks. Starting point is the 2-hour bus ride away city of Puerto Natales.
Chiloe
Chiloe is a mystical island known for its wooden churches under UNESCO heritage. Worth seeing were the pile dwellings in Castro and km 0 of the Pan-American Highway, which is 30,000 km long and goes from Alaska to Chile.
Puerto Varas & Pucon
The two cities of Puerto Varas and Pucon are on the way from Chiloe to Santiago de Chile. In both you can hike on volcanoes. When I was there in May, I could not go hiking because of bad weather.
Santiago de Chile
The capital Santiago de Chile has a Christian statue on a mountain with a beautiful view like in Rio. I liked the zoo, which also had native animals.
Easter Island
Over 5 hours of flight time from Santiago de Chile is a small island in the middle of the ocean. The locals call it Rapa Nui, we know it as Easter Island, since James Cook discovered it on Easter Sunday. With a little luck I could find a few weeks in advance a „cheap” flight. I flow from Santiago with food for 6 days and camped. It was a unique experience to see the Moai with their huge heads. It’s crazy how they carved them out of the rock and placed them all over the island. I rent with other travelers a car, and we drove to the relics of this Open-Air Museum. On the other days, I hiked a lot and enjoyed the tropical-sunny weather.
Valparaiso
Valparaiso is a colorful port city near Santiago. Everywhere is graffiti and many things were decorated with mosaic. I reached the colorful houses on the hills with elevators.
Atacama
In the north of Chile lies the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places in the world. Sand boarding was great fun and I swam in the lagoon Cejar on the water surface as in the Dead Sea. At sunrise, I was at Geyser El Tatio at 4300 m, one of the highest and largest geyser fields on earth. The Moon Valley looked like the moon landscape and the sunsets were gorgeous.
Planning
- I visited Chile on my world trip through Latin America:
- 1. Bus from Ushuaia (Argentina) to Puerto Natales for hiking in the 'Torres del Paine' National Park.
- 2. Bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate (Argentina).
- 3. Bus from Bariloche (Argentina) to Puerto Montt and then to Ancud and Castro to see the island of Chiloe.
- 4. Bus from Castro to Puerto Varas.
- 5. Bus from Puerto Varas to Pucon.
- 6. Bus from Pucon to Talca to visit a friend
- 7. Bus from Talca to Santiago de Chile.
- 8. Flight from Santiago de Chile to Easter Island and back.
- 9. Bus from Santiago de Chile to Valparaiso.
- 10. Bus from Valparaiso to Mendoza (Argentina).
- 11. Bus from Salta (Argentina) to San Pedro de Atacama.
- 12. 3-day tour by jeep from San Pedro de Atacama to the high mountains and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
- I used for my planning and can recommend the Lonely Planet for South America and the Rough Guide for South America.
Transportation
- All major cities are connected by buses and there is always central bus station (span. Terminal de Busse).
- Some travel times and prices were listed on BusBud or Rome2Rio.
- More bus companies were available at the bus station. The travel times either hung out or I asked.
- Most of the time, the ticket was 10% cheaper when I paid with cash instead of credit card. The tickets on BusBud were more expensive, but you save the time to go to the bus station.
- For longer distances within Argentina, it may be cheaper to take a plane instead of the bus. You can buy a ticket a few days in advance.
Food & Drinks
- Pisco Sour is very popular and you can buy it mixed in the supermarket.
- I had often Empanada. That are stuffed dumplings with cheese (span. Queso) or vegetables (span. vegetariano) as vegetarian options.