We arrived in Los Antiguos, AR kinda late, and were planning on being dropped off by the bus at a hostel, so we assumed that's where we would stay. Turns out everyone had the same plan, so they were full before we got there. And so was everywhere else in town. We met a couple from Prince George (I was diggin their Canadian accents) and a single British lady who were in the same boat we were in so we all wandered the town together. Eventually everyone continued on, but we gave up and bought what we hoped to be a cheap pizza (nope) and a beer. The people at the table next to us recognized John's hat... the dorky one we bought in Brazil to rep CA... from when we crossed them on the trail to Laguna de Los Tres. They were two guys in their late 20s from Mar del Plata, Argentina, a bit south of Buenos Aires, both named Diego. After chatting a bit they offered us a ride to the campground that we realized was our only option, about 2 km outside of town. After the meal, we piled in to the back of their sedan with our bags, since their trunk was full and drove to the campground. The reception was closed so we just chose a campsite near the Canadians, who had walked, but as we were setting up Diego came over and offered us the other two bunks in the cabaña they had already rented. Free beds, not having to unpack our bags, and good company!? Duh! We joined them in their cabaña and they pulled out their 2 liters of ¨the best beer in AR¨and a shiner from Mendoza, AR´s wine country, so we had a pretty nice night. The next morning they took off to continue their adventure, but left us with the left over alcohol, which we of course packed up in our waterbottle (who needs water!?) and wandered to the bus station to find a way to cross the border into Chile Chico, Chile. We were there early, so we set up the campstove and made fried eggs with onions and peppers and then took the bus a whole 9 km to Chile Chico.
We arrived in Chile Chico after the Google bag aka our pantry was searched at the border. We lost our ginger, garlic, honey, and half an onion. So sad. We gotta get better at.... eating it all before the border!? We were dropped off at the plaza in Chile Chico, checked out Lago General Carrera, the second biggest lake in South America and then got lunch and a coffee at a place that was rumored to have good coffee. It was better, but not really good. After the tourist office, where we got a map of the Carretera Austral, we walked to a campground we saw on the way in to town. There was no one there so we planned our next move with a couple cats for company. After a bit the family who owned it came back and said they were pretty closed for the season, but since we were there we could camp and they would open up the bathroom and the shower. AND THAT WE COULD HAVE AS MANY APPLES OFF OF THEIR TREES AS WE WANTED. So, you know, we feasted. After planning, apples, frisbee, sunshine, apples, beer, cats, apples, and planning we grabbed some groceries for dinner and had our first peanut butter sighting! And therefore purchase. Dinner was polenta round 2, super tasty this time too, this time with mussels and mushrooms. For dessert we had some apple bread pudding. About as good as the apple cobbler (as in the best ever). The next morning we mailed some letters, played some internet, and attempted to use the ATM, without luck. Then we waited for a ride out of town.
The second car that passed picked us up and took us about 2 hours down a gravel road around the lake. It was a fantastic day with some epic views. We were dropped off in a tiny town called where we waited, ate, and waited. After 4 hours there was maybe one car going in our direction and they were full. When it came, we decided to hop on a neighborhood van that took us to the next town, Puerto Gaudal, which was supposed to have another bus leaving from it in two days heading south. Everything was closed, since it is the end of the season. Someone may or may not have told John we could camp on the lake, so we headed that way. We ended up on a peninsula overlooing the lake in a strange abandoned park/art installment and saw a nice sunset. Someone had also told John that there was a bus at the crossroads that were 15 km away at 9 am, so we decided there was no chance of making that. We opted to wake up at a reasonable hour, at sunrise, and continue our walking and hitchhiking combo. We got picked up pretty quick and were driven to the crossroads where we sat and ate (apples and olives) and read and sewed and enjoyed the weather and sat and sat and juggled. 2 hours later, no luck. The first car going south picked us up. We thought they were going the entire distance we wanted to go, but actually they were only going another 10 or so km down the road to Puerto Bertrand. We waited there for about an hour before we decided it was way too nice out and that we were going way too slow (at this point slower than walking) so we bailed on our Southern hopes of Tortel and Patagonia National Park and went to camp near Lago Bertrand near another apple tree.We spent the afternoon on the shores of the lake playing backgammon and enjoying the views. I was wearing all of my layers (2 fleeces and a down coat) while John went for a swim. Crazy. Around dark a couple guys biking the Carretera Austral joined us at the campground, one from Santiago, the other from Chicago. We were a bit envious of their bikes, and freedom, but were distracted by the pressing task of making apple cobbler. John made the topping while I carmelized some apples. We constructed our most successful dessert yet and exercised some extreme self control to save the other half for breakfast.
We woke up to rain and wind around sunrise, packed up, discovered that our dessert had been eaten, and rushed to meet the bus that comes around 9 mas o menos. At least after 8 and before 10... so we got there at 8:50. We kept hearing phantom vehicles, really the wind, and finally caught the bus around 9:30 heading North the Coyhaique. For this entire adventure we had little cash, since the ATM in Chile Chico didn´t work and every other town was so small. We had planned on making it to Cochrane, a town in the South, to get cash, but since we had abandoned those plans we were still empty handed. Our new plan was to hope there was a bank near the bus station when we arrived so that we could pay for the bus tickets.
Bad news: there wasn't. Good news: it didn´t matter! Our bus fare was about 5 times cheaper than the previous one. We had enough cash to cover it and walked across town to find the cheapest hostel in our guide book, which didn't exist anymore, so we walked all the way back to the bus station area and asked every hostel their price. After settling, we came up with our plan for Coyhaique, the first city of any size in a month or so. Taxes! Woooooooooooo. Not.
We have been here too long now. And spent too long on the computer. John was successful, I had to file for an extension in the US and have to file by the end of the month on paper for Canada. On the bright side, we are tax experts, you get more updates from us (Moms! and Cali!! Get off facebook and study), we bought a camera because ours broke pretty much the second the plane landed in Brazil and has only been getting worse, we researched how to receive mail from the Vivio household with a new phone but no cookies, and met some nice people. I am very ready to go, though. Maybe South to Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo or maybe North to Parque Nacional Queulat.
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