Chile - Wine, Surfing, and Hiking

The first few weeks in South America were fairly quiet by design as we eased into a completely different kind of travelling. The US was easy. Having the car and trailer allowed us to go where we wanted, when we wanted. Our bed, kitchen, dining and living rooms were all contained in a 16' trailer attached to our car. We spoke the language reasonably well, although I never did manage to master "y'all."


South America was different. We've visited Latin America several times over the last few years, but always for short two week respites from the Yukon winters. We had our travel plans confirmed and our accommodations booked. We didn't speak hardly any Spanish, but for the most part we were visiting popular tourist areas where English was relatively common.

Now we were faced with six months in countries where most people spoke Spanish. All our belongings, including trekking gear, was jammed into two backpacks. With a few exceptions, our itinerary was vague and reservations and travel bookings were nonexistent. For the most part we would be traveling by bus and staying in hostels to stretch our budget over six months.

We also had to adjust to the sun. It still rose in the east and set in the west, but it moved across the northern sky from our right to our left. I felt completely disoriented travelling for the first few days.

We did have a hostel booked for two nights in Santiago Chile when we arrived. As we explored the city a little bit the day after our 36 hour travel marathon, there was a clear difference between Santiago and other Latin American capital cities we'd visited. It felt safe and looked prosperous. Our general rule when we land in Latin America was to get out of the big city as quickly as possible, but Santiago felt like a place you could enjoy spending some time if you enjoyed big cities.

We don't really, so after taking in the views from Cerro San Cristobal, eating a traditional Chilean dinner and catching up on our sleep after our 36 hour travel marathon, we headed south.

The view over slightly smoggy Santiago from
Cerro San Cristobal.

Anyone who has ever looked at an atlas knows that Chile is very long and narrow, but travelling the country by bus really reinforced just how "skinny" the country is. Chile averages only 175 kms from east to west. As we drove down the main Highway 5 in the middle of Chile, the towering Andes mountains (second highest in the world after the Himilayas) were ever visible in the east. The peaks of the Andes form the border with Argentina. A quick right turn and an hour of driving over rolling hills and the Pacific ocean was easily visible.

The first stop was Santa Cruz in the heart of wine country in the Colchagua Valley. We relaxed for a couple of days, made a mockery of our budget with a great meal at the Vino Bello restaurant just outside of town, and did a winery tour. Owned by the Marnier family of Grand Marnier fame, the Lapostolle winery was small but spectacular. The round main building was dug down five stories into the rock. At Lapostolle, they believe that pumping bruises the grapes/wine, so at each phase of the wine making process, the wine was moved by gravity down a level to the next stage.

The highest level of the Lapostolle winery. Crushed
grapes are dropped from the metal floor into
the large barrels below.

Wine is later stored at a lower level in smaller barrels.

What initially appeared to be the lowest level included a large glass topped tasting table in the centre of the room. However, the final part of our tour was a surprise descent to the lowest level - the owner's 6000 bottle personal wine cellar.

The top of the tasting table lifts to access
the 6000 bottle wine cellar below.

Part of the owner's private collection.

From Santa Cruz, we travelled west to the coast for three days in the top Chilean surf town of Pichilemu. It was still quite early in the season, so the strong winds and relatively cool temperatures inhibited our tanning, but we enjoyed strolling along the boardwalk, exploring the beaches, and even caught a surfing competition. Pichilemu is a tourist town, but attracts mostly Chileans from Santiago. There are lots of accommodations and restaurants, but few signs of it becoming "Americanized" as Latin American beach towns closer to the US have been.

Next we travelled southwest to Pucon. Pucon is a popular tourist destination on Lago Villarrica surrounded by volcanoes, hot springs and mountains. It does attract lots of international tourists. Volcan (volcano) Villarrica is visible from every part of town.

The view of smoking Volcan Villarrica from
downtown Pucon.

Visitors come to climb Villarrica, to kayak or raft several area rivers, or relax at one of hot springs. It had been more than three weeks since we'd been backpacking, so we opted for a three day hike in nearby Parque Nacional Huerquehue.

We took a local bus to the park gates, then headed up the Huerquehue Lakes trail that wound its way past several lakes with occasional views of Volcan Villarrica. Many people were doing it as a day hike, but it appeared that we were the first this season to carry on through the park to the Rio Blanco hot springs. We had left North America in the fall, and arrived in Chile in the spring. The days were slowly getting longer and warmer, but it was still early season for hiking. It was a fairly short day to Camping Renahue in the middle of the park where we were the only campers, and another short day hike out to the hot springs on the other side of the park.

Hiking through Parque Nacional Huerquehue.

It felt wonderful to pull off our sweaty hiking clothes and sink into the rustic tubs at the hot springs. We were the only guests there when we arrived and the swimming pool was just being filled, but the riverside dugout tubs and larger concrete tub were ready to go.

Cyd relaxing in the hot springs beside Rio Blanco.

On the other side of the river. No explanation for the
slightly stunned look on my face.

After soaking several times we slept well, then opted to do the hike back in one day rather than two. It was a long day over trails that were rough, muddy and overgrown in places, but we made it back an hour and a half early for the last bus back to Pucon.