October 30
We may or may not have slept on the couch last night. In part because of the wine that fueled our hair drying session. In part because we could, as sleeping on a couch is a total novelty on this trip.
We had a nice chat this morning with a man/family from Germany. Well, he is German but he was born in Chile and his parents live in Chile. He has a BMW at home and wanted to talk about motos and Oregon, as he also works in Beaverton about once a year. He was very curious about our journey and our bikes and we had a nice visit. Later in the day when we were talking about him again, Ernesto asked me if I noticed his shoes. To my disappointment, I did not. They were brown Keene’s, worn with brown socks.
We got very lucky with the weather today and only had about 20 minutes of rain, and it was supposed to rain all day (~250 km ride). We both had a slight smile for most of the day from all the black faced ibises. Everything about them is goofy and we saw sooo many today. Their proportions are goofy, their bills are goofy, their legs are goofy. They fly the way puppies run. And their “call” is probably the most goofy; it is a squawk, honk, and quack in one. Ernesto said (after a long pause of talking about them), “I like ibises”.
We are in Frutillar en La Región de los Lagos. It is another lovely, affluent town, and this one is right on a lake and not a single tacky thing is in sight. It is very clean and sophisticated. Even the weeds are nice. Besides the lake and lake-based activities, the main attraction is the Teatro del Lago, a new and grand theater built in 2010. We didn’t get to town in time for the daily noon tour, but its location is pretty exceptional. Unfortunately the siding is already deteriorating/peeling around the edges, so they are going to have to do something to keep it nice. We were a bit taken aback by all the rules of the lake… We understand the logic behind no camping and no fires, but there was no swimming. The sign said it was too dangerous… wha? Too cold ok, but too dangerous? And no sports allowed. Maybe southern Chileans get really rowdy with their lake-side futbol? And there was no picnicking allowed. Seriously, why can’t we throw down a blanket and eat a snack on the lake?
I find it fascinating that I wanted and was missing shops in Frutillar. Despite not being able to buy anything (no room to bring it home), I wanted to look at arts and crafts and kitschy crap made by Chileans (or Chinese pretending to be Chilean). I was seriously frustrated and disappointed that there were no stores to go into! I think I had this USAmerican view that if the town didn’t have shops lining the streets, it wasn’t a real tourist town experience. Bizarre, especially for me at this stage in the trip. And totally messed up. Desculpe.
October 31
Knowing we had only a 30 km ride and the time-to-check-out and time-to-check-in game to play, we stayed in bed as long as possible, listening to the rain and the black faced ibises in their cypress tree nests. We went to breakfast at the last possible time of 10 am, and it wasn’t really worthy of calling it breakfast. There were warm rolls and some more of that rubbery ham and cheese. And the small plastic packets of instant coffee. MMM. I am very thankful for those days we have paid an extra ten dollars for a kitchenette where we could make scrambled eggs and wheat toast and some of my own Jetboil french press.
Our hotel in Puerto Varas was very kind on this off season day and let us check in at a record 11:30 am. We were out and about and walking around by noon and it is definitely our favorite town in Southern Chile. It has the lake, the volcano, the restaurants, and the shops! We window shopped for cutlery, jewelry, pottery, woolen goods, and all sorts of USAmerican staples like Patagonia (duh) and United Colors of Benetton. One of the main attractions is Iglesia Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, built in 1918 and the highest point in Puerto Varas. It is nice but is in desperate need of a power wash. We think Puerto Varas is beautiful, and despite its predictability, it is a gem of Chile.
We took a three hour lunch at a lake side log cabin next to the big casino. We had delicious sandwiches and very overpriced beers. At the other end of the restaurant there was a gang of 8-10 moto riders who had just ridden from Ushuaia to Puerto Montt (with the fancy BMW embossed-sponsored sweatshirts to prove it). They were in a very celebratory mood and had worked their way through rounds of beer, food, wine, and cakes. It would have been cool to talk with them about the roads ahead, but even if my Spanish was better there was no way I could have had a fun conversation with those guys… They were talking in Castilian Spanish, which in my opinion is the farthest yet from textbook Spanish. And they had really thick accents making it hard to understand what they were saying.
November 1
With only a 20 km to ride to Puerto Montt, we again played the check-in-check-out time game. There was no traffic and I think we hit every green light, so we were in Puerto Montt by 11 am. Prepared to just go and ask if we could park in the garage and come back to check in, El Senor was super cool and let us check in at a record 11:10 am. Muchas Gracias El Senor!
We had a list of errands and paperwork and we excited to get a few off the list before things closed for siesta. We went to our first stop, the notary, and it was closed, despite the clear hours that said they are open. Bajabierto?!? It is Dia de los Muertos which is an official holiday in Chile. Our paperwork and errands will have to wait until tomorrow. Sigh. In hindsight, we understand it was a holiday and so nothing was coming or going anywhere, including maid service, so our room was ready yesterday.
We quickly went to check out the ocean (hi ocean!), and we found “Two Couples by the Sea” or one of many other names, including “Worst Statue Ever”, and “WTF”. It is indeed large and strange. It has a papier mache feel (thanks spell check) that is extraordinary for a statute of that size. I don’t know if it's true, but it was apparently part of a civil movement in the late 90’s meant to inspire Chileans to love and breed post-corruption. It is certainly something of note on the malecon, and I greatly appreciated the female statue’s cankles and facial asymmetry.
With nothing open that we could find, we walked around until it started raining and then went to the only thing open. The mall. Sigh. And it was really crowded (hopefully because of the holiday). After three hours of mall walking we were happy to see the sun was back out, so we walked the entire length of the malecon. We were talking about how Puerto Montt wasn’t all bad (as other Chileans said this town wasn’t very nice). Sure it could use a massive paint job, a graffiti removal squad, and a community garbage clean up month, but it is right on the ocean with mountains and wildflowers and ibises. Just as we were saying that we realized it was low tide and was exposing the sewage pipe that was kicking out feces and random bits of toilet paper. The gulls were having a feeding frenzy. Sigh. Puerto Montt is also the epicenter of the farmed salmon industry. It is Chile’s second largest export (after copper) and luckily the appetites of the Japanese (22%) and USAmericans (33%) keep up demand. I was reading about it and although it has rebounded now, it crashed in the late 2000’s due to the ISA virus, which is transmitted when fish actually touch each other. Imagine how many salmon are in each pen or net… Sigh. Puerto Montt lost over 25,000 jobs when the salmon farming collapsed. I couldn’t see any evidence of the farming from the shore, but I’m hoping to see some when we set off on the ferry boat Friday.
November 2
It was a big day with Ignacio and Searates and Super Hero Butts. Ignacio needed three notarized pieces of paper, and we had enough Spanish to navigate the notary. The place was packed as apparently there is also a bit of a DMV function for vehicles. And I can only imagine how many things need notaries in a culture obsessed with receipts and pieces of paper… We waited 45 minutes to be helped, and it took the lady 45 minutes to help us. She was so incredibly kind to do everything she did for us, she even called Ignacio at one point. Gracias Senora! After the notary we took over the hotel lobby seating area and tried to make all the phone calls, emails, and verifications necessary to pay Searates to safely truck and ship our motos from Ushuaia to the USA. We broke for food for an hour, and ultimately it was eight hours of fussing. Unfortunately, even after Super Hero Butts, Chris of Paypal, and some amazing people at both our banks, we still can’t solve the problem and get Ignacio our money. We are at a standstill… and we are hopeful that a solution is on the horizon.
Given that we are boarding tomorrow, we finally read the emails and fine print about our ferry ride. Where do we need to be and when and what are the rules? There are only two details of all this that really matter. The first is that we are not allowed to bring any food or drinks on board, and this includes water as they have water stations all over the ferry. The second is that they don’t have a store or bar that sells snacks or alcohol. No. Just no. I will not spend four days off the moto relaxing on a ferry watching ocean and mountains from a deck chair in my sleeping bag without good snacks and a few glasses of wine. Unacceptable. Baja Ferries let us have noodle bowls for dinner and buy $1 Tecate’s as long as we wanted (which was well before most other ferry-goers). Yes our tickets include three meals a day, but we know damn well what to expect with that, and I guarantee some peanut butter crackers are going to save us on more than one occasion. My first thought was hiding things in our stuff sacks with our clothes as a “don’t go any futher” smell deterrent , and I think that would work great. The website says they have the right to inspect luggage, which means they will probably at least open our moto cases. With only so many stuff sacks and smelly clothing, how should we balance the smuggling of food and booze? Then I remembered the water bag. The 4L MSR Dromedary bag we haven’t used in months. Completely collapsible for superior packing efficiency, our burliest medium-to-large capacity water storage and delivery systems are perfect for everything from alpine- to road warrior-style expeditions. Armed with incredibly tough 1,000-Denier exteriors and now laminated with an improved BPA-free food-grade lining for better-tasting water, these bags can handle freezing and the abuse inflicted by expedition crews and hardcore adventurers. While we won’t exactly be in alpine or road warrior style conditions, there is no reason they can’t hold wine instead of water. And since it can conveniently be carried like a backpack under my moto coat, that is happening. Woo hoo! I jokingly asked Ernesto if he thought our plan made us alcoholics or really smart backpackers. He laughed and said really smart backpackers.
We may or may not have slept on the couch last night. In part because of the wine that fueled our hair drying session. In part because we could, as sleeping on a couch is a total novelty on this trip.
We had a nice chat this morning with a man/family from Germany. Well, he is German but he was born in Chile and his parents live in Chile. He has a BMW at home and wanted to talk about motos and Oregon, as he also works in Beaverton about once a year. He was very curious about our journey and our bikes and we had a nice visit. Later in the day when we were talking about him again, Ernesto asked me if I noticed his shoes. To my disappointment, I did not. They were brown Keene’s, worn with brown socks.
We got very lucky with the weather today and only had about 20 minutes of rain, and it was supposed to rain all day (~250 km ride). We both had a slight smile for most of the day from all the black faced ibises. Everything about them is goofy and we saw sooo many today. Their proportions are goofy, their bills are goofy, their legs are goofy. They fly the way puppies run. And their “call” is probably the most goofy; it is a squawk, honk, and quack in one. Ernesto said (after a long pause of talking about them), “I like ibises”.
We are in Frutillar en La Región de los Lagos. It is another lovely, affluent town, and this one is right on a lake and not a single tacky thing is in sight. It is very clean and sophisticated. Even the weeds are nice. Besides the lake and lake-based activities, the main attraction is the Teatro del Lago, a new and grand theater built in 2010. We didn’t get to town in time for the daily noon tour, but its location is pretty exceptional. Unfortunately the siding is already deteriorating/peeling around the edges, so they are going to have to do something to keep it nice. We were a bit taken aback by all the rules of the lake… We understand the logic behind no camping and no fires, but there was no swimming. The sign said it was too dangerous… wha? Too cold ok, but too dangerous? And no sports allowed. Maybe southern Chileans get really rowdy with their lake-side futbol? And there was no picnicking allowed. Seriously, why can’t we throw down a blanket and eat a snack on the lake?
I find it fascinating that I wanted and was missing shops in Frutillar. Despite not being able to buy anything (no room to bring it home), I wanted to look at arts and crafts and kitschy crap made by Chileans (or Chinese pretending to be Chilean). I was seriously frustrated and disappointed that there were no stores to go into! I think I had this USAmerican view that if the town didn’t have shops lining the streets, it wasn’t a real tourist town experience. Bizarre, especially for me at this stage in the trip. And totally messed up. Desculpe.
October 31
Knowing we had only a 30 km ride and the time-to-check-out and time-to-check-in game to play, we stayed in bed as long as possible, listening to the rain and the black faced ibises in their cypress tree nests. We went to breakfast at the last possible time of 10 am, and it wasn’t really worthy of calling it breakfast. There were warm rolls and some more of that rubbery ham and cheese. And the small plastic packets of instant coffee. MMM. I am very thankful for those days we have paid an extra ten dollars for a kitchenette where we could make scrambled eggs and wheat toast and some of my own Jetboil french press.
Our hotel in Puerto Varas was very kind on this off season day and let us check in at a record 11:30 am. We were out and about and walking around by noon and it is definitely our favorite town in Southern Chile. It has the lake, the volcano, the restaurants, and the shops! We window shopped for cutlery, jewelry, pottery, woolen goods, and all sorts of USAmerican staples like Patagonia (duh) and United Colors of Benetton. One of the main attractions is Iglesia Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, built in 1918 and the highest point in Puerto Varas. It is nice but is in desperate need of a power wash. We think Puerto Varas is beautiful, and despite its predictability, it is a gem of Chile.
We took a three hour lunch at a lake side log cabin next to the big casino. We had delicious sandwiches and very overpriced beers. At the other end of the restaurant there was a gang of 8-10 moto riders who had just ridden from Ushuaia to Puerto Montt (with the fancy BMW embossed-sponsored sweatshirts to prove it). They were in a very celebratory mood and had worked their way through rounds of beer, food, wine, and cakes. It would have been cool to talk with them about the roads ahead, but even if my Spanish was better there was no way I could have had a fun conversation with those guys… They were talking in Castilian Spanish, which in my opinion is the farthest yet from textbook Spanish. And they had really thick accents making it hard to understand what they were saying.
November 1
With only a 20 km to ride to Puerto Montt, we again played the check-in-check-out time game. There was no traffic and I think we hit every green light, so we were in Puerto Montt by 11 am. Prepared to just go and ask if we could park in the garage and come back to check in, El Senor was super cool and let us check in at a record 11:10 am. Muchas Gracias El Senor!
We had a list of errands and paperwork and we excited to get a few off the list before things closed for siesta. We went to our first stop, the notary, and it was closed, despite the clear hours that said they are open. Bajabierto?!? It is Dia de los Muertos which is an official holiday in Chile. Our paperwork and errands will have to wait until tomorrow. Sigh. In hindsight, we understand it was a holiday and so nothing was coming or going anywhere, including maid service, so our room was ready yesterday.
We quickly went to check out the ocean (hi ocean!), and we found “Two Couples by the Sea” or one of many other names, including “Worst Statue Ever”, and “WTF”. It is indeed large and strange. It has a papier mache feel (thanks spell check) that is extraordinary for a statute of that size. I don’t know if it's true, but it was apparently part of a civil movement in the late 90’s meant to inspire Chileans to love and breed post-corruption. It is certainly something of note on the malecon, and I greatly appreciated the female statue’s cankles and facial asymmetry.
With nothing open that we could find, we walked around until it started raining and then went to the only thing open. The mall. Sigh. And it was really crowded (hopefully because of the holiday). After three hours of mall walking we were happy to see the sun was back out, so we walked the entire length of the malecon. We were talking about how Puerto Montt wasn’t all bad (as other Chileans said this town wasn’t very nice). Sure it could use a massive paint job, a graffiti removal squad, and a community garbage clean up month, but it is right on the ocean with mountains and wildflowers and ibises. Just as we were saying that we realized it was low tide and was exposing the sewage pipe that was kicking out feces and random bits of toilet paper. The gulls were having a feeding frenzy. Sigh. Puerto Montt is also the epicenter of the farmed salmon industry. It is Chile’s second largest export (after copper) and luckily the appetites of the Japanese (22%) and USAmericans (33%) keep up demand. I was reading about it and although it has rebounded now, it crashed in the late 2000’s due to the ISA virus, which is transmitted when fish actually touch each other. Imagine how many salmon are in each pen or net… Sigh. Puerto Montt lost over 25,000 jobs when the salmon farming collapsed. I couldn’t see any evidence of the farming from the shore, but I’m hoping to see some when we set off on the ferry boat Friday.
November 2
It was a big day with Ignacio and Searates and Super Hero Butts. Ignacio needed three notarized pieces of paper, and we had enough Spanish to navigate the notary. The place was packed as apparently there is also a bit of a DMV function for vehicles. And I can only imagine how many things need notaries in a culture obsessed with receipts and pieces of paper… We waited 45 minutes to be helped, and it took the lady 45 minutes to help us. She was so incredibly kind to do everything she did for us, she even called Ignacio at one point. Gracias Senora! After the notary we took over the hotel lobby seating area and tried to make all the phone calls, emails, and verifications necessary to pay Searates to safely truck and ship our motos from Ushuaia to the USA. We broke for food for an hour, and ultimately it was eight hours of fussing. Unfortunately, even after Super Hero Butts, Chris of Paypal, and some amazing people at both our banks, we still can’t solve the problem and get Ignacio our money. We are at a standstill… and we are hopeful that a solution is on the horizon.
Given that we are boarding tomorrow, we finally read the emails and fine print about our ferry ride. Where do we need to be and when and what are the rules? There are only two details of all this that really matter. The first is that we are not allowed to bring any food or drinks on board, and this includes water as they have water stations all over the ferry. The second is that they don’t have a store or bar that sells snacks or alcohol. No. Just no. I will not spend four days off the moto relaxing on a ferry watching ocean and mountains from a deck chair in my sleeping bag without good snacks and a few glasses of wine. Unacceptable. Baja Ferries let us have noodle bowls for dinner and buy $1 Tecate’s as long as we wanted (which was well before most other ferry-goers). Yes our tickets include three meals a day, but we know damn well what to expect with that, and I guarantee some peanut butter crackers are going to save us on more than one occasion. My first thought was hiding things in our stuff sacks with our clothes as a “don’t go any futher” smell deterrent , and I think that would work great. The website says they have the right to inspect luggage, which means they will probably at least open our moto cases. With only so many stuff sacks and smelly clothing, how should we balance the smuggling of food and booze? Then I remembered the water bag. The 4L MSR Dromedary bag we haven’t used in months. Completely collapsible for superior packing efficiency, our burliest medium-to-large capacity water storage and delivery systems are perfect for everything from alpine- to road warrior-style expeditions. Armed with incredibly tough 1,000-Denier exteriors and now laminated with an improved BPA-free food-grade lining for better-tasting water, these bags can handle freezing and the abuse inflicted by expedition crews and hardcore adventurers. While we won’t exactly be in alpine or road warrior style conditions, there is no reason they can’t hold wine instead of water. And since it can conveniently be carried like a backpack under my moto coat, that is happening. Woo hoo! I jokingly asked Ernesto if he thought our plan made us alcoholics or really smart backpackers. He laughed and said really smart backpackers.