It´s All Coming Back Slowly

I stepped off the plane in Santiago with a sense that something good was going to happen. The routine was typical. Get through immigration, catch a bus and head to town. The smell of summer pentrated my nose as I left through the sliding glass dorrs at the airport. It was then I remembered that I was still wearing two layers of fleece which I had on due to the cold weather at the DFW airport. It seems as though I had been teleported to a different dimension overnight.

Buying the bus ticket to Puerto Varas was no problem. After depositing the backpack, I was off to the city center. Unlike the trains in Asia, the Chilean subway is NOT air conditioned. I´m lucky the trip wasn´t too far. So...How does one kill 9 hours in Santiago? Well, I made my way though the Plaza de Armas to the Mercado Central (no map needed). I had to get a taste of Chilean seafood as soon as possible. After that, I just strolled though the city taking a short nap in the Parque Forestal and taking a coffee at the BrainWorks cafe. Brain Works is one of those hipster cafes filled with mid-century modern furniture with Daft Punk and Fat Boy Slim blaring in the background. I was waiting for the techno twins to show up. I also remembered that the Chile cortado is actual cafe con leche. Not exactly what I wanted, but sufficient to cure my caffeine fix. Eventually I made my way back to the bus station and boarded the overnighter to Puerto Varas. I was suprised at how much Spanish I retained since August and which words eluded me.

I arrived in Puerto Varas at mid morning. The place kind of reminds me of Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, but more compact and nicer. The views of Volcan Osorno were spectcular. The first thing you notice when you get off the bus is the stiff wind which never really seems to stop. I think it´s a bit chilly and have two long sleeve layers on. However, some people are actually swimming in the water. They must be mad! The place seems to be a wind surfers paradise and there were a ton of people on the water.

I looked around for a good one day activity for tomorrow. My guide book is a bit outdated for this town because a few of the listed tour companies no longer exist. My hostel was pushing a canyoning excursion, but I wasn´t interested. I passed on the day hikes since I would be doing a ton of that later on. I couldn´t find anything that interested me, so I stopped in to the Orvis shop to enquire about flyfishing. The day trip was quite pricey so I went to a cafe to think about it over a cortado (cafe con leche). So Yeah. Say Yes to everything right? I ¨doctored down¨ and reserved a day on the river. I´ll likely never do this again, so I guess it is worth the cost. Hopefully, it will be a good experience and the scenery will be fantastic.

All of these experiences so far are quite familiar. It is weird getting into a routine, but a different one than what you were used to back home.