Waves and wine

Before I start, I thought you might like to know that I am writing this as we sit here in our hostel in Santiago being serenaded by the sounds of rioting and demonstrations taking place literally around the corner from us (maximum 40 metres up the road!). The sweet smell of tear gas is in the air, which tickles the nostrils and brings a slight tear to one’s eyes. I suppose it gives the place an interesting atmosphere but it definitely isn’t what we came to Chile for, so it has added a new dimension to our trip!

Anyway, enough of that (especially as Hoff will cover it in more detail in a later blog). Back to Puerto Montt.

After handing back our hire car (having driven around the airport twice, not just to see the sights but because we missed the hire car return turning again), we got on a bus to Puerto Montt proper. There we initially wandered around the town, sweating as we lugged our kit whilst looking for place to have some food before our long overnight bus to Santiago. We were suddenly really keen for pizza but despite an hour of searching, we found nothing but seafood. So foodless and rather grumpy, we retired to the bus terminal food court and ended up with a Chilean KFC-style bargain bucket, complete with empanadas. It wasn’t quite what we had wanted but it filled a hole and set us up for the night. After an hour or so sat on the grass outside the bus station, reading our books and looking out over the bay, we boarded the bus and settled in for the 14 hour trip to Santiago.

We booked Cama seats, which basically means that they recline a long way and you get more leg room. Think premium economy on a flight. Buses in South America often have lots of options (some even have a Business class which folds flat into a bed) but we’d never splashed out on such luxury, and to be fair they were pretty comfortable. The bus pulled off and soon we were in the land of nod, our sleep only being interrupted by the comings and goings of passengers embarking and disembarking as the bus made its scheduled stops on our route north through the night.

14 or so hours later and as the sun rose, we started to make our way through the outskirts of Santiago. Shouldering all of our gear at the bus station, we threaded through the throng of people and luckily found a taxi to take us to the car hire pick up. With that sorted, we were on our way to the Chilean coast. As with many South American capitals, the lanes on the roads in Santiago aren’t particularly well marked, nor are they adhered to by other drivers, so I had to remember all my London driving skills (aka being a total a**ehole) just to get us through a number of junctions and onto the motorway. Once there, the toll machine in our car started beeping as we went through all the various checkpoints, and had we not been briefed about this beforehand, we’d definitely have been petrified that we were getting zapped for speed limit or other such infringements!

(As an aside, it sounds like the police have had enough of the students kicking off just around the corner and are gearing up for a charge; there’s been a marked increase in the ‘pop-thump’ of tear gas canisters being fired, and my eyes have started streaming and my nose is running again. Fear not, I shall struggle on valiantly to bring this blog to you).

We arrived in Concon, the seaside town to the west of Santiago, a few hours later, and settled into our BnB. Hoff immediately discovered that they had Netflix and was soon watching an episode of Greys Anatomy. Having essentially watched Amazon TV dry whilst out here (we’d had enough of watching Grand Tour on all our buses and flights), this was a big moment (for Hoff at least) which ultimately culminated in her persuading me we needed to get Netflix for the rest of our trip. Not long after that, we opened a bottle of red wine and fired up the parilla (bbq in South America) and were chowing down on steaks and grilled veg. It was lovely and warm outside, and thoroughly pleasant. We retired to watch more Greys and make the most of the enormous room we had managed to wangle. It was nice to have a proper bed and our own clean bathroom. Travelling does really make you appreciate the little things!

The following day, after a 5km run along the seafront (which was harder then we remembered a 5km being and I suspect as a result of a lack of real phys in the last few months), we decided to travel up the coast to spend some time on the beach. It was sweltering – pushing 36 degrees – and we could only really manage an hour or so before we gave up and headed home. Despite two applications of sun cream during that time we still managed to catch the sun a bit, which shows you how strong it is here at this time of year. We stopped off at a local fruit and veg stall to grab some supplies for the evening, and once again had a cracking parilla accompanied with some cold beers. Again, it was pretty pleasant. We watched yet more Greys Anatomy and did feel a bit guilty that we were being lazy, but then again, having been on the move non stop for so long, we secretly liked having the down time.

The next day was more of the same – lounging around and sunning ourselves on the beach. I’d really got into a book about a chap who was cycling around the world without using any motorised transport (except boats) and it was giving me some ideas about planning some kind of bike trip for Hoff and me, but this was swiftly vetoed by Hoff when I brought up the idea. I suppose we had better finish this trip before planning others, but I shall continue to mull it over in the background. Supper was home made fajitas and a beer, and we called it a night by watching Friends (I know, super rogue right!).

On Saturday morning we loaded up the car and set off for Santa Cruz. Two hours south of the capital, SC is surrounded by vineyards which sit in the Colchagua valley. Nestled in between a couple of rivers, the soil and temperature make it a perfect environment to grow red wine grapes such as Cabinet Sauvignon and Carminere. We were looking forward to a few days of wine tasting, and rented a couple of bikes and set out to explore the surrounding area, first going to the Apalta sector which is supposed to be the best. We tasted a few wines, which were pretty cheap by the glass (£1-2 for a decent wine is pretty good, especially compared to London prices). We made friends with an Australian chap at our second tasting and he gave us some recommendations for places to go in the area, and then at our third place we had a private tour at one of the premier wineries in the whole region. It was really interesting to learn about how Chilean wine makers, completely accidentally, saved the Carminere grape from extinction, and what to look out for in a top quality and poor quality wine.

The following day we went to the other end of the region to try some slightly different wines. It’s amazing how moving just a few kilometres down the road can have such a dramatic impact on local weather conditions, which in turn have a huge impact on the taste of the wine. Our final place of the day was lovely as we again had a private tasting. It’s worth noting that these weren’t by design and purely by chance. We learnt more about the political situation in Chile over a glass or two of lovely Cab Sauv – the former having had a negative impact on the number of people coming to try the latter, hence we were the only people to have ventured out to see this particular vineyard this day. Nicolas, our guide, spent a couple of hours with us and even brought out a bottle of seriously expensive and rarely opened wine (the owners daughter had visited recently and they had a bottle open that needed finishing, lucky us). We finally cycled home much later than expected and definitely a little tiddly, and that evening we had a pizza at the restaurant attached to another of the vineyards we’d visited earlier in the day. As the sun set on the vines it was a lovely way to finish the day and went some way further to cementing our view that Chile had been our favourite South American country on our trip.

Once again, the car was loaded and we were on our way back to Santiago, having negotiated a discount on our bike hire (thanks to Hugo, our lovely host who couldn’t have done more to look after us). Hoff took us the scenic route which meant we avoided lots of traffic and the majority of the toll roads, and we were soon driving into Santiago. I dropped Hoff at the hostel and set off to hand back the hire car. On my way around one of the major roundabouts, I was waiting to filter into the traffic heading right. Suddenly a young guy, shirtless, wearing a mask, and carrying a huge fire extinguisher, blocked my path. He asked (rather demanded) money for what I think was to support the student rioters. Playing the dumb tourist card (shaking my head and mouthing something about not speaking Spanish), I tried to wangle my way out of the situation. He got rather agitated and for a moment I thought we were about to lose the damage deposit on our car hire (should I be concerned that at that point I was thinking more about money than my own safety?), but he stepped aside and let me pass, suggesting that I go and do something nasty to a particular member of my family.

I arrived back at the hostel safely and met Hoff. Recalling my experience, we laughed it off as a one off. Little were we to know that things would get a tad more interesting in the days to come…..

Ps – a little hello to my friend, Patts. Thanks for your messages, and we hope you enjoy reading this blog and that it makes your commute a bit more bearable!