Backpacking South America

We had a great stay in Santiago. There are so many things to see and do. As we previously noted, we had a great time visiting with our new friend Stephen and wandering Parque Metropolitano and the Botanical Gardens, and sharing a delicious meal with him two days later.

After our day with Stephen, we spent the next day walking through the old city.  We started by hiking to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia for panoramic views of the city and to explore the hilltop fortress.

We then made our way to the Mapoche train station, which is now a cultural center. Walking around the empty, immense train station was a peculiar feeling – somewhere between a museum and a feeling like you’re the last person on earth.

From there, we wandered to the central market (mostly fish and restaurants) where we had a positively disappointing, overpriced ceviche. Even though everybody says “You don’t want to miss this place”; it’s possible to pass through just for the experience of what they have, but I would definitely recommend passing over the restaurant selection.

Our date with our new friend, Stephen, finally arrived. After spending the afternoon bustling around town trying to find good deals on wine, we settled on 2 Sauvignon Blancs, 1 Carmenere, and a dessert wine. We checked into our hostel (Andes Hostel, comfortable hostel, disorganized staff) to find Stephen already in the midst of preparing a fume for the entire filet of fish he bought at the market that day.

Aside from being a three-star chef, who by the assistance of Julia Child found himself in culinary school and cooking in top restaurants and for famous people around the world, Boy George included, eventually he took the long rode to Croatia and started a catering company, but is once again on the road seeking out his next culinary adventure.  However, this is only half the story.

Carra and I prepped the rooftop patio for cocktail hour and our first two courses and while waiting for our guest Enrique to arrive, we polished off a bottle of white wine used for cooking…can’t let a good thing go to waste.

Our first course was a super fresh Waldorf Salad with substituted fresh figs for raisins. Surprisingly, for the first course, we moved to the Reserva Carmenere, which paired perfectly well with the figs.

Unexpected things happen all the time.  Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not so good.  Our first full day in Santiago, Chile wasn’t going exactly as planned, but it wasn’t way off course.  We wanted to visit the city’s largest and probably most interesting park, Parque Metropolitano.

We tried the day before, but the Funicular (a cable car) to take us to the top of Cerro San Cristobal inside the park, was closed.  So, we tried the next day; while waiting for the Funicular, which was supposed to start service at 10am but was still not open at 11am when we arrived, we sat and chatted waiting to catch a ride to the top.

When it finally opened and started taking passengers, we were collecting our things, when a gentleman started talking to us.  We weren’t sure about his objective, but we went along.  After all, everybody has a story to tell.

The short exchange quickly moved to an actual conversation.  We’re in no rush, let’s hear this guy’s story.  Stephen is a three-star chef who runs a catering business in Croatia, where he calls home right now.

Happy New Year! This post arrives a few days late, but hopefully you’ve all had wonderful celebrations and have a clean slate for the upcoming year.

We started our journey August 19, 2009. We’re now more than 4 months in and I think the greatest adventures still lie ahead of us. Our plan has changed slightly, but not significantly. The biggest change to our original plan is that we will make it to Ushuaia via Argentina and Chile and fly back north, instead of retracing our steps or taking a combination of a boat ride and bus trip spanning several days.

Anyway, here is the rough outline of our travels in 2010 that will take us through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Central Chile – Santiago to Chiloe

From Buenos Aires we’ll make our way to Santiago, Chile and spend a few days exploring the city and nearby wine regions. We then begin making our way south through the Central Valley (more wine…), volcanoes, and lakes of Chile. When we reach Puerto Montt, we’ll take a ferry and a few days to explore Chiloe, an island with wooden churches and mysterious other-world feel.

Southern Argentina – Bariloche, Lakes District and the Glaciers

We’ll cross into Argentina from Puerto Montt, Chile and stop in Bariloche.