On the road again, and this time, into Argentina, and heading for El Chalten. This was to be only my second border crossing, and for some reason, I am always worried, just not sure how things will go with my van. I headed out of Chile Chico, picked up two hitchhikers heading for the border where they had left their motorcycles, Israelis, and quickly got to the Chilean side of the border, dropped off my passengers, and after a quick visit to immigration and customs, I was off for Argentina. I pulled into the line of cars, place was pretty busy, but it turned out that most were leaving Argentina, not entering, so whole process only took about 40 minutes. The last step is always the inspection by customs, but this time, they did not care about fruit, vegetables, meat, coca leaves, all they wanted to talk about was Trump, what happened? I had to laugh, and also had to pull out of the line, to the side, so we could chat about Trump, and implications for Argentina, Latin America, the world. I got to keep my fruit and meat. Then soon, down the road into Los Antiguos, Argentina. I quickly noticed a difference, nothing bad, just different, I was no longer in Chile. I also quickly picked up more hitchhikers, a young German couple, and off we went for Ruta 40, Perito Moreno and eventually El Chalten. Ruta 40 is kind of like Ruta 7 in Chile, the Carretera Austral, as many popular tourist destinations are reached off of Ruta 40, the main north-south road in western Argentina. We had left Chile, and the habitat made that clear, we were now in the pampa, dry and windy, really windy. We stopped in Perito Moreno, and I could not believe how windy it was, blowing like crazy down the main street in town. After a quick stop (I wanted to try and get a new sim card for my phone, but most stores were closed, some holiday in Argentina), continued south on Ruta 40, fighting the wind all the way. We ended up wild camping along Rio Chico, northwest of Gobernador Gregores, very windy, so glad I was not in a tent, though van did rock-and-roll most of the night. The next morning, packed up and headed for El Chalten, windy again, just crazy how windy it gets down in Patagonia. After another brutal stretch of ripio, dirt/gravel road, got off Ruta 40 and headed up Ruta 23 along  Lago Viedma towards El Chalten. It was still very windy, but as we approached El Chalten, the Fitz Roy massif came into view, impressive. The top of the peak remained mostly in the clouds, but was still an impressive, exciting sight, really cool to see such a famous Patagonian peak.

The town of El Chalten is actually very young, basically created by the Argentinian government in 1985 in order to get people there, and make sure the Chileans do not take over in that area. Apparently, the exact border between the two countries is not clear when you get south into Patagonia, and Argentina wanted to make sure they had a town there, so they build one, and encouraged the development of tourism in the area. This was easy, as Cerro Fitz Roy, and other mountains, were there, and in some ways, this area is the Yosemite of Patagonia, a mecca for climbers from around the world. Today, the town is a crazy place, busy, very busy, with hikers, trekkers, climbers, and other tourists from around the world. I stayed in a campground along the Rio de Las Vueltas, El Relincho, place was crazy. I climbed to my observation lounge on top of my van one evening, enjoyed a beer, and tried to count the number of tents in the campground, quit at 65 tents. The town was crammed with tourists, hikers and trekkers of all sorts, and from around the world, plus many older tourist who arrived by tour bus. There were also a number of overlanders, and as usual, some had some really impressive rigs. It was interesting. The German hitchhikers and I picked our campsites, me over by the fence facing the river, the German couple behind some bushes to get a break from the wind (not possible, place was crazy windy). I would see them later in the kitchen area, but they were off the next day for wherever. I would spend five nights in the area, four at El Relincho, and one at a Campamento Capri along Laguna Capri. It was amazing to hang in the town, and on a clear day, look up Fitz Roy, very cool. 

I biked from town up Ruta 41 past Chorrillo del Salto, much of the way to Lago del Desierto, and back, nice to get in a ride, though ate lots of dust kicked up by the cars moving along the dirt road. I also hiked the 4 km up to Laguna Capri, and back one day, before loading up my backpack to hike back up to Laguna Capri to stay a night or two. There are many trails to hike, and there are three campgrounds, all part of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and all free. There was no entrance fee for the park, and no fee to camp. This might in part explain why the place was so busy, and why there was so many people camping at Laguna Capri; I counted 37 tents after my night camping there. It was a great hike  up, all uphill, but good trail, and I got lucky and snagged a great spot to pitch my tent, at the edge of the "tent village", overlooking the lake. There were lots of trees around, and still windy, very windy, but a beautiful place to camp. I shot a time-lapse sequence in the late afternoon, and another one the next morning. There were some great views of Fitz Roy, and adjacent peaks, including those climbed in sequence by Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold (see "Line Across the Sky"). I wish I had more time, and energy, as the campsite at Poincenot was supposed to be great, plus the views from the trail Laguna de los Tres are supposed to be amazing. I felt so lucky to get great views of Fitz Roy, a place I have read about for many years. Has been a crazy season in these mountains, little climbing, too cold and too much rain, so lots of ice on the walls. I met a number of wonderful people, and, guess who I ran into again? I ran into Thomas the Dane, along with his two friends from Australia, very interesting. They had ridden down to Villa O'Higgins, end of the Carretera Austral, and rode and hauled their bikes across the border and eventually made their way down to El Chalten. It was good to see Thomas again, sure I will see him again on our way south. El Chalten is a crazy place, very busy, but definitely worth the trip. 
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My time in Parque Patagonia was great, but after five nights, it was time to move on. I took off pretty early, but was not in a huge hurry as I did not plan to make it all the way to Chile Chico in one day, as the roads are just too challenging. And, as I was heading out the 11 km to Carretera Austral, just amazing who I ran into, Thomas the Dane. Thomas is Danish, a biker (not motorcyclists), and I had run into him about five times already at different points along the Carretera Austral; he was easy to recognize as he had an animal tail hanging from one of his rear panniers. Sad, and funny at the same time, as we were traveling at about the same pace as we both headed south, he on his bike, me in my Sprinter. At this point, he was traveling with a couple from Australia, and they had also stayed at Los West Winds in Parque Patagonia the night before. It was sad that I did not know they were there, as I had lots of cold beer to share, and one thing I know for sure, bikers on the Carretera Austral are not hauling beer up and down the dirt and gravel roads that are the norm in this part of the world. Plus, we all know how much the Aussies love beer. I stopped the van, shook his hand, and took a picture. We chatted briefly, and both agreed that we would see each other again, just fate at this point. Both us were heading for Ushuaia, Argentina. It was nice to see him again, such is life as members of the Patagonia brotherhood, so many of us traveling the same roads, visiting the same beautiful places, so interesting and fun. The Australian couple were also very nice, and I actually did see them again very soon, at the point where the park road hit the Carretera Austral. They were all heading south, to Cochrane, and eventually to Villa O'Higgins where they planned to cross the pass (pushing their bikes) into Argentina, and eventually into El Chalten, Argentina. I was also heading to El Chalten, though I was heading north to the road along the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to Chile Chico and the Argentinian border. We chatted again, took some photos of the confluence of the Rio Chacabuco with the Rio Nef, and off they went, south, while I loaded up and headed north to the turn-off for Chile Chico.

I ended up spending the night in Puerto Gaudal along the lake, wild camping at the town dock. Then next morning, I took off along the shore of the lake, heading for Chile Chico, and, another brutal stretch of road. It is such a brutal stretch, it has a name, the "Paso de las Llaves", a scary stretch of road, ".... a 30-km stretch of road carved out of the rock face on the edge of the lake" (Footprint, Patagonia, 4th Edition). It was another exhausting drive, steep uphill sections where the van really struggled, curves and switchbacks, lots of gravel and washboard and potholes and rocks and drop-offs into the lake below. It was a long day. But eventually I made it into Chile Chico, great little town on the southern shore of the lake, Lago General Carrera, windy (and I mean windy, like blow your socks off), but cool place to hang for a couple of days before heading into Argentina, and down to El Chalten. I checked out a few places to camp in town, but ended up at a great hostal, where I negotiated the price down to $12,000 pesos, good deal with private room, shared bathrooms with great showers, and lots of common space including a kitchen, and a cool space to hang out and work on the blog. There also turned out to be a great mix of people moving through, and Jose, a professional photographer helped out around the place, run by a very nice woman with four boys (did not see a husband). I also found a place to exchange money, Chilean for Argentinian pesos, which later would prove to be important as getting money in places like El Chalten was a challenge. While the drive was scary, Chile Chico was great, and, it all meant that I would soon be in El Chalten, and get my first look at Cerro Fitz Roy, another special place on my check-list of must-see places in Patagonia. Off to Argentina. 

I really enjoyed my time in Parque Patagonia, best place I have visited so far. I hiked, biked, and, took many photographs. Below is a large slideshow of many more images from my time in Parque Patagonia. Maybe, I need to put together a book, I have that many images, including about a thousand images of guanacos, they were everywhere.
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There were a number of places which were definitely on my list of places that I must visit while in Chile and Patagonia, and Parque Patagonia was one of them. This is a new, private park, another project of Doug and Kris Tompkins, and Conservacion Patagonica. Conservacion Patagonica, a US-based nonprofit organization, was formed by the Tompkins in 2000. The first project was the creation of a new 165,000 acre coastal park in Argentina, Monte Leon National Park. Then in 2004, the 174,500 acre Estancia Valle Chacabuco was purchased, land which would become Parque Patagonia. The valley is adjacent to Reserva Nacional Lago Jeinemeni to the north, and the smaller R.N Tamango to the south. Together, the three parks would include over 640,000 acres of protected area in Chile. The restoration began soon after the land was purchased, many, many km of fences were removed, along with hundreds of sheep and cattle (25,000 sheep and 3,800 cattle), and many species-specific restoration projects were begun. The valley is ecologically important as the habitat represents the transition between the arid steppe of Argentine Patagonia and the temperate southern beech forest of Chilean Patagonia, and includes grasslands, riparian forests, wetlands, and uplands. The valley is now full of guanaco, and maybe 140 endangered huemul deer. And as prey returned to the valley, so did the lone predator, the puma. They also build a number of buildings, about 11 km from the Carretera Austral, including a lodge, a restaurant and bar, a visitors center, housing for park staff, and two campgrounds, all constructed when possible with local stone and recycled wood. I eventually stayed at both campgrounds, Los West Winds, which is only 2 km from park headquarters (i.e., visitors center, restaurant/bar), and the Stone House campground, 34 km down the road from headquarters, near the confluence of the Aviles and Chacabuco Rivers. They also are developing a network of trails, though at this point, there are only two trails from Los West Winds, including the 23-km Lagunas Atlas Loop Trail, a challenging hike, where the trail gains approximately 850 m over the first 7 km. The facilities are great, and the Los West Winds campground reminds me of the facilities at Parque Pumalin, except that I could not drive to the individual sites which have shelters, a picnic table, etc., I had to stay in my van in the parking lot. But I was not alone, there was always at least one other camper or overlander staying in parking lot with me. I would have liked to be able to drive to an individual campsite like at Pumalin, but they had designed things differently here. This was the case at both campsites, West Winds and Stone House. Also, while this park is still private, run by Conservacion Patagonia, or Tompkins Conservation, the plan is to transfer control to Chilean control by 2019 or 2020. This will be a Chilean park. The park is just amazing, beautiful, with guanacos everywhere. This place should be on everyone's list of places to visit in Patagonia, and yet, it does not show up on any maps which I observed. This is a huge, new park, with real potential. I loved my time there.

The images below are more about the facilities, and people who work in the park, along with Thomas the Swiss, who accompanied me to the park from Cochrane. He camped in his tent, and I stayed in my van. We had dinner together (twice) in the restaurant, great food, all-you-could-eat, though a bit expensive at $26,000 pesos. After a few days, Thomas took off on a trek, north out of the park and through R.N. Lago Jeinemeni, and eventually to Chile Chico.

I got to Coyhaique without problem, great town, though weather was not the best. I stayed at the Hostal El Nevado, $20,000 Chilean pesos per night, shared bath (with only one other room, which was only occupied one night, by two Americans, twin brothers), not bad. Coyhaique good place to fuel up, stock up (last supermercado) and get cash (last ATM on Carretera Austral). I got in a bike ride, Reserva Nacional Coyhaique which borders the town. I spent New Years here, and actually had fun, hanging out at the only restaurant that seemed to be open. It was nice to get a break from life on the road, do some shopping, get laundry done by professionals, get cash and fuel for the van, and even bought a fishing license so I could legally catch more fish in Chile.  It poured on New Years Day, time to work on the blog, and get ready for the run south, to Parque Patagonia, my next destination.

I spent a few nights in Coyhaique, then took off south, back on the Carretera Austral. I headed for Cerro Castillo, road paved, and wonderful, though not the most scenic stretch, until I headed into Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, and eventually down into the valley containing Cerro Castillo. I read that some of the best treks in Patagonia are in Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, though I met no one who had done any serious hiking there. I spent a night in Cerro Castillo, rained again that night, next day, off for Puerto Rio Tranquilo. 

The stretch of road between Cerro Castillo and Puerto Rio Tranquilo very scenic, but very challenging as well. The drive borders Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, and then Parque Nacional Los Huemules, and eventually, I got my first views of Lago General Carrera, the second largest lake in South America after Lake Titicaca in Peru/Bolivia. I got to Puerto Rio Tranquilo late afternoon, time for a beer, before picking my camping spot for the night, wild camping at the edge of the beach on the lake, pretty much right in town. I do have one serious regret about my time in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, as I did not get out to Catedrales de Marmol, peninsula made of marble, with caves that can be visited by boat. I did not got that first afternoon, evening, as it was a long day on the road, and I instead concentrated on taking lots of photos. I thought I would just go the next morning, but unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, too much wind, so they did not allow any boats to make the 20 minute journey out to the caves. Darn. So instead, took off pretty early, back onto the Carretera Austral. On my way out of town, picked up two hitchhikers, couple, young woman an American, guy was a Brit. Nice couple, and they ended up riding with me all the way to Cochrane, which was as far south as I planned to drive on the Carretera Austral. I also picked up a woman from Spain, traveling alone, dropped her off at the road heading for Chile Chico. It was another long day, but did drive by the road to Parque Patagonia, so got very excited for the next day when I would back-track from Cochrane to the pack. The last 17 km into Cochrane was another scary stretch of road, steep uphill climbs, drop-offs, blind curves, locals driving way too fast, typical stretch on the Carretera Austral. The Carretera Austral continues for another 230 km past Cochrane, to Villa O'Higgins, too far for me and my van, 230 km down, and 230 km back, all unpaved, and sure some stretches are brutal. This would mean I would miss visiting Tortel, an interesting little village, with houses and buildings all connected by cedar walkways. I did not have the time, needed to get to Parque Patagonia where I hoped to be able to spend some time.

Cochrane was not that impressive, and none of the campgrounds were anything special. We ended up stopping at a campground which was basically the backyard of a house, but nice enough, lots of homemade structures, hot water, and a kitchen area, plus, Wifi, which never really seemed to work. We were the only ones there at first, but I was amazed at how quickly the little backyard filled up, including a motorcyclist from Argentina, a huge camper from Chile, a Dutch couple in a WickedCamper I had met the night before in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, and Thomas, a Swiss backpacker/hitchhiker. Thomas and I would actually end up spending a lot of time together as he would decide to travel with me to Parque Patagonia the next day, a decision I know he would not regret. It rained again. Such is life in Patagonia, and, so glad to have my van, as I slept well, the pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof of my van.  The next day, off for Parque Patagonia. It was already the 5th of January, time was starting to fly by. But I was deep into Patagonia now, all was good.
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After just over two months in Peru, it was sooo great to get to Chile, a wonderfully easy country to travel in, great people, mostly good roads, a perfectly modern, middle-class country, very much like the USA in so many ways. I really have enjoyed my time in Chile, and will be back soon. Life in Chile so very similar to much of middle-class USA, and things are so very different from Peru. In Peru for example, they love tourism, they love our money, but they do not really like us. I never really felt welcome in Peru, and definitely felt less safe. There is definitely more ethic diversity in Peru, and a much more "exotic" feel, when compared to Chile (and Argentina as well). You definitely know you are in a different country when you are an American (from USA) visiting Peru. Things in Chile simply feel more like home, and thus,  you can concentrate more on being a tourist, and exploring, adventuring, doing whatever you want to do. Things in Chile are very comfortable, at least for me, for many reasons. For example, unlike in Peru, in Chile, they also love tourism, but they like us as well. And you get the feeling that even if I were not a tourist, I would be welcome in Chile, and I would have many friends. Things are good here, affordable, safe, and often so beautiful. I drove from Arica in the north, to Cochrane in the south, and plan to visit Punta Arenas way down south, and everywhere I have visited so far, very enjoyable experience. I recommend a visit to Chile for all, so much to see, such wonderful people, great combination. Visit Chile! Oh, and don't forget the wine, wonderful! Plus, the further south you go in Chile, the more the beer culture develops, many wonderful microbrews in Patagonia.

I started filming my drives some days with my GoPro, just to give people a sense of what the Carretera Austral is really like. Even though this is the main, the only road through southern Chile, most of it is unpaved, rough, challenging, but often very beautiful (the scenery, not the road!). I have close an hour of footage, and I hope to edit and compile, put together a short video of a ride on the Carretera Austral, someday. I did not film any paved sections, why? What is the fun in that? The video below is pretty typical of many of my many days on the Carretera Austral were like. This video was shot while traveling south of the Ventisquero Colgante in Parque Nacional Queulat, mostly, and while this was not the roughest section of road I traveled, it was pretty typical. Come take a ride with me, on the Carretera Austral. (Note: I had to greatly reduce file size in order to upload the video, so the image quality is not 4k, as shot.)
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 After a fantastic few days in Parque Pumalin, even if it rained most of the time, it was time to get serious, it was time to head south into the heart of Patagonia, it was time to hit the Carretera Austral. And after Pudus, an earthquake and a great time hanging with Nick, fishing, and even a little hiking and biking, I was pretty excited, hopefully the terrible taste in mouth left by my Peruvian experience would soon disappear.  We were heading south on the Carretera Austral.

The road stretches almost 1200 km (or 1156 km, 718 miles, depending on which source you consider), from Puerto Montt in the north, all the way to Villa O'Higgins in the south. The road is unpaved most of the way, and sometimes, it is brutal, my van, and thus I, struggled at times. One day we drove for six hours (with stops for photographs of course), and only covered 120 km. You can do that math, it was slow-going much of the time, brutal washboard sections, potholes which peppered the road like bugs on your windshield in summer, and switchbacks, steep uphill sections, mud, construction areas, gravel, a total lack of a shoulder most of the time, and locals driving red, 4WD pickups, politely, but really fast. There were occasionally white pickups, maybe silver, but no blue, or green, definitely no orange, just lots and lots of red pickups. But, while the road is mostly bad, even horrible in stretches, the scenery, well, it can be amazing. It is an incredible stretch of road, we just had to take our time, go slow, and hope that nothing breaks or that we don't slide off some cliff into a river gorge, lake or fjord.

The Carretera Austral was the brain-child of former President Augusto Pinochet. He proposed the massive project, to build a road connecting the Pan-American Highway in Puerto Montt, to the southern coast, and Patagonia, in response to perceived threats from Argentina, he felt a road would allow the army to protect Chilean Patagonia from Argentina. The project started in 1976, and by 1982, you could drive from Chaiten to Coyhaique, with other sections, north to Puerto Montt and the south to Cochrane, being finished soon after. Now, I use the word "finished" to point out only that you can drive the Carretera Austral today, from Puerto Montt (plus three ferry rides early) to Villa O'Higgins, but the road is far from finished. There are paved sections, especially up north, but after Villa Cerra Castillo, it is all gravel and dirt, potholes and washboards, all the way to Villa O'Higgins. This is a tough road to travel, beautiful, even raw and brutal at times, but just an impressive stretch of road. And what is just totally amazing to me, even a life-long biker like me, is the number of people on bicycles, fully-laden with panniers, handlebar bags, front panniers, even BOB trailers, going up and down, on this road, it is just amazing. I will talk about this later, but know, the real studs of the Carretera are those folks on bikes, total studs.

Left El Volcan, and immediately picked up hitchhikers, something which would become the norm, even almost a requirement as I headed south on the Carretarra Austral. This couple, German, very nice older couple (relative to others I would pick up along the road), he was an experienced traveler in Patagonia, she worked for Patagonia, the company, in Europe, and immediately noticed my dedication to the company, pants, nanopuff jacket, hat and fleece nearby in the van. I dropped them off in Chaiten, then headed to another hot springs, Termas El Amarillo, but road was totally iffy, so instead went into Parque Pumalin, again, the southern section, get into a campground early. The weather was nice, rain had finally stopped, so needed to hike or bike, do something, and getting a campsite early is nice. I tried to get to a campsite up near a lagoon, think glacier nearby, but road again was just not something I felt confident about, so ended up at campground Grande, nice, but not El Volcan. I did later meet a great German couple in the 'Big Grasshopper', big Sprinter, modified by pros as a camper, just beautiful inside, and very green on the outside. I biked around, explored, place nice, and very quiet, to bed early, many miles to cover the next day.

I traveled, picked up more hitchhikers, including two Israelis who would end up riding with me three separate times. I also picked up two Chilean hitchhikers on their first visit this far south from Santiago. I tried to get down to Futaleufu, maybe do some whitewater rafting, some of the best whitewater in South America, but road brutal, 40 minutes and 12 km later, I turned around and headed back for Ruta 5, the Carretera Austral. Continued south, through La Junta, Reserva Nacional Lago Rosselot, and eventually into Puyuhuapi, where I ended up at campground La Sirena, along fjord. And guess who had gotten there before me, my two Israeli friends, Sagi and Dean, who I picked up first thing in the morning but dropped off when I turned off for Futaleufu. Funny. So we arranged, next morning we would travel together again, to Ventisquero Colgante, the hanging glacier in Parque Nacional Queulat. Next morning, now the 29th of December, we three took off south, and on the way out of town, picked up three more Israelis, five of them, and me, way too many Israelis in one van. We hiked the 3.3 km up to the Ventisquero Colgante together (well, they jogged up and I trundled along behind), great view, but there were something like 15 people there in addition to me and my Israelis. Back down quickly, and I had already decided to stay at the campground in the Parque, campground right beside the parking lot for the hike to the hanging glacier. I got Sitio 1, great site, while my Israeli friends took off, still heading south. Campsite, great, just wonderful, though 'park ranger' ended up dumping five young Chileans at my site with me, apparently the campground filled up, so time to double-up. They were nice folks, all spoke some English, and all were medical school students (totally different system, they started at the University at 18 years old in the medical field, do 4 years, then residency, etc., very different), and none had any camping experience, I had to let them us my stove to cook dinner as none of them could get their borrowed stove to work. Up early, weather great, off for the Bosque Encantado, 'enchanted forest', for another 3+ km hike, and another glacier, laguna, but this one was just wonderful, much better than Ventisquero Colgante, and the trail, beautiful early, crossed a river later, and views of glacier right from near the edge of the laguna below the glacier, wonderful. And as I pulled into the parking lot for the hike, guess who I saw hitching along the road, my Israeli friends, Sagi and Dean. And after my hike, 3+ hours later, they were still there, so they loaded up for the third time, and we took off again, heading south, on the Carretera Austral. I made it to the biggest town in this part of Chile, Coyhaique the next day, after spending the night in Villa Manihuales. I have yet to see those two Israelis since. 

We had finally made it to Patagonia, to Chaiten, it was a good day after a long night mostly spent on a ferry crossing the Gulfo Corcovado. Chaiten is just over 3,000 miles from Arica, where I really started my Chilean adventure. It was raining, still, but whatever, water on one side, mountains and volcanoes on the other side, I was in Patagonia, this counts as a good day. Ok, a good day, but not great, it was raining, and I lacked the enthusiasm to camp, so wandered around Chaiten, looking for a place to crash for the night. After a mostly sleepless night, first waiting for the ferry, then riding the ferry, I was tired, hungry, and of course, thirsty. Now Chaiten is not big, and parts of the town have yet to be rebuilt after the volcanic eruption in 2008 which caused the town to be evacuated. There was even a question as to whether the government would let people return, but they did, and Chaiten is slower rebuilding and growing, the gateway to the Carretera Austral and Patagonia, at least for me. I think the famous Carretera Austral actually officially starts in Puerto Montt, but that route requires three ferry rides, and I did want to check out Chiloe, so for me, the road started in Chaiten. 

I ended up at a wonderful little place, selected mostly because of the price, the homey look of the place, and the owner, great guy. Place, Hospedaje Don Carlos (an exception to the norm for hospedajes), cheap with shared bath, think it was $15000 pesos, hot water, great WiFi, and Don Carlos, the owner. I checked in, shower immediately, and logged on, trying to catch up with the blog, a nearly impossible task. I worked all afternoon, then wandered around town, bought some supplies and tried to find a place to eat, a struggle, but found a great little pizza place, had a monstrous hamburger, then to bed early. It had been a long day. It was the 23rd of December, almost Christmas, looked like it would be Christmas in Parque Pumalin.

Parque Pumalin is considered by some to be the largest, privately owned nature reserve in the world, with an area of about 715,000 acres. The park, which eventually (if not soon), will be given to the Chilean government, was the first major conservation project of Doug Tompkins, US citizen and founder of The North Face, and co-founder of Espirit. We will hear more about Doug Tompkins later, amazing man, and conservationist, along with his wife Kris. The park is important as one of the last refuges for temperate rainforests in Chile, and home to a number of threatened plant species, including alerces and araucaria. This area might be one of the most diverse temperate rainforests in the world. Alerce trees are especially important, as few old-growth stands exist, anywhere, and this amazing tree species can live to be up to 4,000 years old; only bristlecone pine trees, and maybe some redwoods, live longer. I stayed at the El Volcan campground, 29 km north of Chaiten, beautiful place. There are 12 sites, each with a small shelter and picnic table, and each also has a gravel pad for parking a vehicle, perfect for my van. The sites are also well spaced, you do not have noisy neighbors right next to you. And all around, mountains, even a glimpse of a glacier, and an active volcano, or two, a wonderful place. A total bonus for me, was fact that there was a small stream not 15 m from my site, stream channel lined with ferns and other low plants, a stream just filled with little trout. The morning bite was amazing, every cast, got a hit, and often a fish. Had not had this much fun fly fishing in a long time, maybe ever, just a blast. 

I biked a bit, hiked a bit, and fished while I was in Pumalin, but unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, it rained, a lot. There are a number of good hikes in the park (check out www.parquepumalin.cl/en/), but only one which started from the El Volcan campground, up to a small glacier. Although the weather was not great, still very much enjoyed my time in Pumalin, a great place to spend Christmas. And, Christmas eve turned out to be lots of fun, as Nick, a fellow American, from Colorado, had seen me and my van, with Maine plates, and he stopped by for a chat. Nick was hiking, backpacking and mostly hitchhiking around Patagonia and I guess, other parts of Chile. As a result, he was not hauling around lots of ice cold beer, like I was. So, we chatted, and drank beer, snacked on whatever we had (he seemed to really enjoy my horse meat jerky), the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening. It rained most of the time, even poured, but the shelter was great, even if things got very chilly later in the evening. Though it did rain most of the afternoon, there was a short period later in the afternoon when the rain stopped, and I think the sun even tried tried to make a brief appearance. It was then that Nick and I were treated with our first of two Christmas presents. We were sitting at the picnic table in the shelter when I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, two small animals slowly grazing their way right at us. We were sitting in the shelter as though in a blind, so they obviously had no idea we were there. I was not immediately sure what the animal was, though thought it must be a pudu, not many other small mammals which look nothing like animals up north are in Chile, mammal diversity is pretty low. My camera, with zoom telephoto, was sitting on the table beside me, so it was easy to slowly and quietly grab my camera and start shooting. It was obviously a doe and her fawn, fawn still had spots along its back, very cool. They wandered to within 15 m of the shelter before I think she sensed something, and they quickly moved off, just as it began to rain again. I have since talked to many Chileans who have never seen a pudu. This species is the world's smallest species of deer, and they are threatened, and they are small, even tiny, especially compared to deer species common in the United States such as white-tailed and mule deer. It was a great time, hanging with Nick, drinking beer and talking, and seeing a very rare animal, unique in some ways, wander right up to us sitting in our shelter. A great early Christmas present for both of us, Christmas in Pumalin.

I awoke late on Christmas Day, 2016, and a bit hungover, was a long afternoon, evening drinking with Nick, though definitely worth it. It was not raining, though there was little blue to be found in the sky, and the wind was still blowing as I would quickly learn is often the norm in Patagonia. Nick was heading north to catch the ferry, while I was thinking about staying night, hoping that the weather might clear and I could finish the hike I had started a couple of days earlier, up to a small glacier which you could actually see from the campground. Nick stopped by on his way out, have a cup of late-morning coffee before he hit the road. We were sitting in the shelter, drinking coffee and chatting when it happen, slowly at first, before things really started to rock. The ground started to move, an earthquake. We jumped up and out of the shelter, and first checked the nearby volcano to make sure there was not an eruption in progress, that would be bad. No eruption, just an earthquake, and quickly we both realized, this was a big one. It is just amazing to stand there while the ground shakes back-and-forth, and I mean, shake, almost enough to knock you off balance. And you should have seen my van, shaking violently on the old suspension and new shocks, it was wild. We both figured it was a big one, much more powerful than the 4.8 I experienced one night in La Punta, Peru, this was a serious quake, and oh so cool. It seemed like it lasted for at least a minute, if not more, and there were definitely at least a few aftershocks, all of which could be easily felt. I was so glad to be outdoors, in nature, surrounded by mountains and natural vegetation, and not in some city. I think when in such a setting, experiencing a quake is something you really feel, head to toe, it is more than just an simple experience, much more existential. To feel the Earth shake under foot, violently, suggests forces almost beyond human description. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, are all examples of the potential furry and wrath of Mother Nature. But a powerful earthquake, seems different to me, deep, powerful, unpredictable, though very cool, at least as long as I am not staying in some dive, three-story hotel made of bricks and clay when it happens. Pudus, then earthquake, Merry Christmas in Pumalin. 

​Note. I would later learn that the quake was indeed a big one, 7.6 to 7.7, centered not far from Quellon on Isla Grande de Chiloe, and thus not far from Parque Pumalin.

I mostly try to camp, in my van, why I spent thousands to ship my van to South America, and deal with the total insanity that was Peruvian customs, etc. But, there are times when I need to upgrade a bit, especially when I need WiFi, or maybe a hot shower, or just need to be in a city to take care of certain "business". So then the confusion began, hotels, hostals, and hospedajes, what the heck is the difference? And around Santiago, Chile, you can throw in motels as well. Ok, I realize that you seasoned travelers know there is a clear difference, but what about the rest of us? Once I really got on the road, used MAPSME, GoogleMaps and iOverlander to point me in the right direction, and then I quickly learned that these different types of accommodations are just that, different.

First, hotels in Peru and Chile are pretty much like hotels around the world, though obviously you do get what you pay for, 5-star hotels will cost you, whether in Cusco, or Paris, France, but they are nice, very nice. Here in South America, hotels have private bathrooms, WiFi in the room, TV, always hot water, and breakfast is included. And like in the USA, the "free" breakfast can vary, from great, to something you might expect in a Days Inn in West Virginia, USA. Hotels are always more expensive that hostals and hospedajes, but sometimes convenient WiFi and a hot shower is nice. Hostals, they are all over the place, from dirt-bag, backpacker dives (though obviously most backpackers are NOT dirt-bags), to wonderful places which if not for shared bathrooms for some rooms, these would definitely fit into the class of a hotel. For example, I stayed in Hostal El Nevado in Coyhaique, a fanstatic room, large, two windows, and did have to share a bathroom, but shared only with one other room in the hostal, and there were people in that room only one of the nights I stayed there. So yeah, biggest difference between a nice hostal and a hotel is that hostals have some rooms, if not all, with shared bathrooms. And in many hostals, especially those which cater to the bikers and backpackers, even sleeping quarters are shared, some have basically large dorm rooms, sleeping up to eight people or more. I have slept in a number of hostals, a couple, like El Nevado, were great, but, I am not a fan of sleeping in a room with a bunch of complete strangers. I do not mind sharing a bathroom, do that at every official campground where I have stayed, no big deal, but just not keen on sleeping in a big room with a bunch of other folks, however nice. I must also mention that one cool thing about some hostals is that I can park in their courtyard (or just yard or basically a field at times), sleep in my van, but use their facilities like bathrooms and WiFi. This is what I did all three nights while I was in San Pedro de Atacama in Peru. This can work great, and sometimes, you even pay less than those travelers staying in a room. And finally, there are these places called hospedajes, and they vary a lot as well. In big cities like Lima, Peru, you can rent a room in a hospedaje by the hour, are basically "flop-houses", frequented by highly questionable clientele. I did not stay in any of these places. What I discovered is that most of these places are pretty much dives, but are cheap, and if you just need a place to crash after a long day of traveling, guess they work. But I would much rather sleep in my van than stay in these places, Hospedaje Gaby in Aguas Calientes, Peru, was a dump, had to beg for toilet paper and a towel, and floor was not ever really clean. I think I slept with my cloths on, did not even trust the sheets. I generally avoided these places, so sometimes they are fine. I stayed at Hospedaje Dona Ruth in Villa Manihuales, on my way to Coyhaique, Chile, and it was fine. The room was tiny, the mattress sucked, but place was pretty clean, there was hot water, and WiFi. Plus, they served food, and it was a long day of driving, so it was nice to get a hot shower, and have something to eat, no menu, just what they were serving that day. I enjoyed it, so sometimes, hospedajes are not all bad, just not preferred. If you have the cash, usually you cannot go wrong with hotels, and hostals can be just great. The nice hostals have common areas like the kitchen, or just a common room where WiFi available, great place to meet other travelers. I avoid hospedajes, unless I look at the rooms first, and have no choice, definitely prefer camping to staying in these places, they can be real dives.

So when you travel in South America, you have many options of places to stay. I prefer to camp in my van, even wild camp where you just park somewhere, hopefully with a great view. But for those times when a hot shower and great WiFi are important, just check out your travel app, look around, and do not be afraid to negotiate, I often got a better rate than advertised, just asked for it. Happy travels! 

Although I am not sure where Patagonia officially begins, and think it does depend on who  you talk to, for me, once I got to Chaiten, I was in Patagonia. That would be where Expedicion Patagonia would officially begin.

I really enjoyed my time in Pucon, great little town on the lake, I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. And Volcan Villarrica, just amazing, tall, conical, snow-covered, with little puffs of smoke blowing from the top. At night, at least on a clear night, you can see a bit of orange, the glow of lava flowing out of the cone. It seemed cloudy every night I was in Pucon, but the day I left was beautiful. 

After I left Panguipulli, I again headed south. Many, including Luis, an American I met at the campground in Pucon, said I should head to Valdivia, interesting place, German heritage, and a brewery, Cerveceria Kunstmann. Valdivia is supposed to be one of Chile's most scenic cities, but the detour would cost me at least a day, and I was on a mission, get to Patagonia before Christmas, and, I wanted to visit Isla Grande de Chiloe before catching the ferry to Chaiten. I guess I would have to pass on a visit to Valdivia.  Maybe next time.

I quickly got back on Ruta 5, and headed south, first past Rio Bueno, then Osorno and Purranque, towards Puerto Varas, just north of Puerto Montt. The weather quickly turned for the worst, rain, and lots of it, all day. I had decided to head to Puerto Varas for a few reasons, including the facts that the town lies on the southern shore of Lago Llanquihue, and the town is much smaller than Puerto Montt. Also, there was supposed to be a nice place to camp just outside of town, right on the lakeshore, so, I was off for Puerto Varas. Well, it rained all day, really poured, and by the time I got to town, the streets were running like rivers as the town is not flat, the land flows down from the highway to the lakeshore, and it was pouring. I took a quick look around town, including a look at a couple of hostels and places to camp, decided for sure to head to the place north of town along the lake. It was still pouring. I got out of town, and actually ended up driving all the way to Frutillar, the next town up the west shore of the lake; the campsite was further away than I thought. But, the campground, Playa de Werner was great, and again, I was the only one camping there. And I was really glad to have my van, and that I did not have to pitch a tent; it was still pouring. The place sits right on the lake (though fence along the campsites prevented easy access to the lake and water), owned by an old German, Werner. Bathrooms were great, hot shower was wonderful on a rainy day, though WiFi was pretty inaccessible, as there was a family party going on in the building where WiFi was available, lots of people, so I felt uncomfortable intruding. Whatever, had some organizing to do, dinner to cook, cold Cristals to drink, plenty to keep me busy. It was still raining, but, that did not stop me from going for a quick swim before my hot shower. Water temperature was brutal, though interesting when you go from cold air, into cold water for a swim, then back into cold air, just does not seem so bad, well, not terrible at least, and of course, headed off immediately for a hot shower, then the cold Cristals and more beans and rice and whatever green or orange or red stuff I had to add. Slept well, constant sound of rain drops on the roof of my van helped get me to sleep quickly.

Next day, made it to Puerto Montt, big city, tons of traffic, and with Christmas right around the corner, place was crazy. Stayed at Hostal Pacifico, room tiny, but cheap, hot shower, WiFi, and safe, off-street parking for my van. Had time to wander around a bit, grab a bite to eat, and work on this blog, though city, not a fan. I guess I had expected something different, less crowded and crazy, more a gateway to the south, to Chiloe and Patagonia. But, Puerto Montt was just a big, crowded city, and I was happy to leave.

I left Puerto Montt early on the 18th of December, headed for Pargua and the short ferry ride to Isla Grande de Chiloe. Trip a short one, though weather again threatened to be unpleasant. After the ferry, drove up to Ancud, did a little shopping before heading to the northwest corner of the island, towards Punihuil. From there, you can get a boat tour of small islands with penguin rookeries, but man, the roads were crazy, even those which were paved. Everywhere you went, winding, steep up, and down, often narrow roads were the norm. And often the pavement would quickly end, and the van would struggle, the steep, uphill gravel roads were brutal. I could not get a penguin tour, seas too rough for the small boats that afternoon, so headed to a camping spot high on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, Ballena Azul. Place also has a Fogon, or small restaurants, plus hot showers and an amazing view, all for only $4000 pesos. I could not actually drive down to the campsites, with small shelters and tables, so parked near the restaurant, along fence, with views of the rocky coast and waves down below. It started to rain again, though sun did try and fight back a bit now and then. I ate at the restaurant, mussels, some meat, bread, a pile of food, also for only $4000 pesos, a good deal. Hopefully the weather would improve, as I had a few days to explore Chiloe before catching the ferry to Chaiten.

Well, unfortunately, I did not get to see much of Chiloe, not Parque Nacional Chiloe, or Queilen, not the many historic and interesting churches or the colorful houses on stilts, did not really see much of anything as it rained, pretty much the whole time I was on the island. I drove around a bit, visited Casto (not impressed), and spent a whole day in Quellon waiting for the ferry (which leaves at 3:00 am). Guess the spirits, the trolls, witches and mermaids said to frequent the island were out-and-about, imagine they love the foul weather which I heard (and learned first-hand) dominates on the islands. I did meet a fun German couple who shipped a VW van (much different from my '75 van, first vehicle I owned), who were also a bit stranded by the weather, and who also needed WiFi and electricity. Nothing you can do about the weather, except move on, and hope things get better. Unfortunately, that did not happen, but after the five hour ferry ride to Chaiten during the early morning hours, to finally get there, even if in the rain, was great. I felt that I was finally in Patagonia. I exited the ferry, drove to the small plaza in Chaiten, and took a nap. It was still raining.

The transition seemed to abrupt, at least in my mind, in the way I remember things. I had been driving hard, as other than the wonderful time spent in San Pedro de Atacama, I had been on the road, Ruta 5, the PanAmerican Sur, forever. And all along the way, from Lima in Peru, south into Chile, Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta, up to San Pedro and back down again, it was all desert. And other than Lake Titicaca, and the salars high above San Pedro, there was little water. It was all desert. So I drove, always heading south, rarely stopping until the day was over, continuing to pee in a bottle at quick stops along the way, snacking on Oreos or peanuts, maybe some fruit if I had any, always driving. I did have to stop for diesel occasionally, but at 100 kph, van seemed to run forever on a tank of fuel. We left Arica in the north of Chile on the 30th of November, and on the 9th of December, arrived in Talca, 2,289 km away, and this does not include the detour up to San Pedro de Atacama. But I was now past Santiago and Valparaiso, we were out of the desert, and our next destination, Pucon, did not seem that far away. And each km I drove got me closer to Patagonia, so every effort seemed worth it. Pucon was still 532 km from Talca, another long day away. But seeing rivers which carried water, trees and flowers, green, yes the color, and not brown and tan, and even rain drops, I was out of the desert, and moving quickly into the Lake District, land of lagos and volcanoes, I could not wait. So off to Pucon and the Lake District we went. I could not wait.

Got to Pucon after another long day, but found a great campground where I would stay for a few nights. It was raining when we arrived, but found a site, and quickly met the campground manager, Jose, and an American, Luis, who was fluent in Spanish. They were off for town, just down the road along Lago Villarrica, and to the market. I needed ice, if nothing else, so I tagged along. I did not take any pictures in Pucon, too bad, a great little town, resort town, wooden buildings, lots of bars and restaurants, guiding services for trips up the volcano, or rafting down the local rivers. Reminded me of bit of small resort towns out west, except Pucon sits along the shore of Lago Villarrica, a big lake, and always under the watchful eye of Volcan Villarrica, an active volcano just south of town. I enjoyed my time in Pucon, and in campground La Poza. Jose did not speak any English, but was always helpful, and the American Luis, nice guy, and a wonderful translator. I met a few other campers, including a Kiwi, Paul Chainey, who seemed to be traveling the world on a shoestring, and did enjoy my time in Pucon. Biked out to some waterfalls one day, was real domestic another day (was raining that early that day, so good day to clean the van, continue to organize things, and do some laundry later when the sun came out). There was WiFi in the common room in the campground, but pretty weak signal. I tried to connect with Josh and Tess, couple from Colorado I met in northern Chile, did not happen. It was nice to be in a larger town, yet very relaxed place. I ate asado with the boys one Sunday afternoon, and partied pretty hard that night (I had lots of cold beer, so I was popular). It was a productive, and enjoyable couple of days. But after three nights, it was time to move on, and this time, needed a hot bath, off to find some thermal springs. They are all over the place east and north of Pucon, all cost about $8,000 pesos, but some are just big, blue, hot, swimming pools, while others are much more natural, much more fun.  After three nights in Pucon at Parque La Poza, went to Las Termas Pozones, great, before heading to a private campground right down the road, Agrocamping La Araucaria, another spot recommended on iOverlander. The hot springs were a series of very natural-looking, rocky pools, with handrails, which varied in temperature from just warm, to almost scalding. I loved it, very low-key, very relaxed, and very natural, rocky pools of very hot water, very few people, and maybe only seven or eight meters away from the pools was a beautiful, rushing river. And the campground was only minutes away from the hot springs, and I was the only one there, and old guy running the place, just great, and so happy to see me, see someone. The six or seven campsites all were in a strip of forest which border a nice small, river. There was no hot water, but the bathrooms were clean, and since I was the only camper, a theme which would continue for a number of nights, it was very quiet. I did have an interesting visitor later in the evening, Michael I think his name was, Canadian, who had been living in Chile for many years. He came to Pucon as a ski bum, and never left. Interesting guy, college educated, and fun to chat with. 

After my night at La Araucaria, became a road warrior again, the urge to keep moving south took over, and off we went. I did stop at another hot springs, big, blue swimming pools, yuck, camped at an overpriced private campground near Neltume, Camping Rio Chan Chan (and he did not even turn on the electicity at the site, or for hot water), and drove on probably the scariest road I had been on in Chile, before finally getting to Panguipulli, great little town overlooking Lago Panguipulli, and great campground, Camping Puchaley Laequeh (they had wonderful cabanas as well). And again, I was the only one in the campground, third night in a row. I did meet two couples who had met on the road, one from Australia, the other from Holland; they stayed in a cabana near the campground. From here, we would continue to head south, towards Puerto Montt, and eventually to Pargua where you catch the ferry to Isla Grande de Chiloe. And then, after a few days on Chiloe, would then catch another ferry to Chaitan, and Patagonia. I was getting close.

Anytime you travel to another country, visit another culture, your explorations should include more than museums, waterfalls, and beautiful natural places. You should also explore the food culture as well. This can be fun, if you have inclination, some money, and sometimes, a pretty tough stomach. I love trying different foods, and will eat almost anything, or at least try almost anything, at least once. You can get in trouble if you are not careful, many tourists get sick, even violently so, after eating some foods. But, in places like Peru, and especially in Chile, it seems to be very safe to eat almost anything, though do have to watch street food in some areas.

It has not been my primary focus to explore all the different types of food and dishes during my travels, whether still imprisoned in Peru, both Miraflores and La Punta, and later in Chile. I did not get a chance to try all the different foods you can find, especially in Peru, and especially in Lima, where they are very proud of their food. But, I did explore a bit, and there is definitely some very good food to be found in both countries, though you will find more diversity in Peru. Heck, there are like 100 different kinds of potatoes in Peru, lots of choices there for sure. Well first off, if you do not like seafood, you will really be missing out, in both countries. Just look at a map, between the two countries, Peru and Chile, there must be close to 8,000 miles of coastline (really have no clue, just know there is a LOT of coastline). Seafood is everywhere in both counties, it is very good and fresh, and my favorite, especially in Peru, was ceviche, ate it often, never got sick, and loved every bite. And in places like La Punta, the seafood is as fresh as it can get. I remember watching a fisherman still in his boot deliver just-caught fish to a restaurant close to the seawall in La Punta, and I swear, 10 minutes later it was being served to me in ceviche. Also, my favorite restaurant in Miraflores was La Mar Cebicheria, owned/run by a famous chef in Lima, ate there every Sunday afternoon I was there. And it was always great, amazing ceviche. If you do like seafood, you just cannot go wrong, from a ton of different kinds of fish, to shrimp, shellfish, even octopus, it is all great. And of course, you cannot visit Peru without trying coy, or guinea pig, at least once. I had it twice, always a bit overprice, and once, a bit overdone, but it was good. Am I going to race out and start raising guinea pig to eat when I get back to the United States, probably not. Do give it try though when if you get to Peru, you kind of have to. I also had alpaca a few times, once as a burger, and it was great. There are few other dishes in Peru which you need to try, including anticuchos (meat, usually beef heart or liver, marinated, skewered and grilled, very good), lomo saltado (strips of beef, marinated, sauteed with chilies, onions, tomatoes, other stuff), tiradito (goes by other names, and like ceviche, is marinated raw seafood, but here, fish, thinly sliced before lime juice, onions, peppers which make up ceviche added), cupe de camarones (shrimp chowder), arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), quinoa and potatoes of course, and tacu tacu, Peruvian form of rice and beans (often with seafood mixed in). Generally, is tough to go wrong in Peru, order almost anything and you will likely enjoy, including street food, and food sold at the open markets found in every city and village. I did not always know exactly what I was eating, but it was almost always good.

Things in Chile are bit different, as there is less ethnic dishes and variety, definitely fewer potatoes, quinoa and no coy, but still all good. Some areas have a significant German influence, especially down south, and their ceviche is as good as any I ate in Peru. So again, long coastline, lots of great seafood, and all that I have tried, excellent. Plus, when you get further south, lots of salmon as there is lots of aquaculture around Chiloe and surrounding islands. I am not a fan of farmed salmon, but the couple of time I did eat it, was great. And they definitely eat more meat in Chile, and sausage is everywhere. Chicken is always present, but Chileans love their asado, or parrillada, grilled meat, usually beef. Think for many Chileans, Sunday afternoons are all about sitting around a wood-burning grill, grilling up all different kinds of beef and sausage, drinking wind and beer, and apparently, women are rarely present. And with the asado, they often serve pebre, sliced tomatoes with onions, chilies, spices, bit of oil, all served at room temperature. In addition to parrillada, Chileans also love their empanadas, stuffed pastries, stuffed with all kind of stuff, including cheese, meat, all kinds of seafood, beans, whatever. In larger towns, you will also find lots of street vendors selling sopaipilla, fried bread made of pumpkin and flour, filling stuff, and almost anything grilled on a small wooden skewer. I enjoyed a meat soup, carbonada, more than once, every little restaurant has their own recipe, includes potatoes, carrots, broccoli, green peppers, lots of vegetables. And up north, you often find humitas, boiled corn leaves filled with seasoned, ground corn, also common in Peru. And while not common, llama is on the menu at some places, and the llama tacos I had in San Pedro de Atacama were wondeful. I know there are many regional specialities, lots of many different kinds of food to enjoy in both countries. But I tried not to eat out that much, I am all about hiking, biking and camping. Though if you do get down here, be sure to explore, there is a lot of good food to be enjoyed in South America.

And finally, you cannot have a discussion about food without talking about beer, beer is food you know. As most of you know, I like beer, enjoy beer, drink it probably too often. I do wish I enjoyed wine more, knew more about wine, as there are many, many wonderful wines available here, especially in Chile. I tried a glass here, or there, and drank a bit at times while with friends in La Punta, but I just do not enjoy a glass of wine as much as I enjoy a bottle of beer. Unfortunately though, the selection of beer here in South America is nothing like what we enjoy in the United States. While some told me there is a growing beer culture, a number of new microbreweries, in both Peru and Chile, you simply will not find the variety that you do up north. Now this does not mean that I have not been drinking beer, it simply means that you often drink what is available. And that is what I have been doing, find something that is ok, stick with it, and explore what little variety exists when I get a chance.

So far, my favorite definitely is Cusquena, brewed in Cusco, Peru. I definitely had more than a few Cusquenas while I was in Peru, and I have even found it for sale down in Chile a couple of times. They make three kinds, but their Golden Lager is my favorite. After that, there is not much exciting to the beer culture in Peru. Pilsen is brewed in Callao, so is popular in La Punta, and Cristal, which I think might be the same as the Cristal widely available in Chile, is ok. I tried a Arequpena a couple of times, but outside of Arequipa, this beer was not readily available. And of course, there is always Corona and Heineken, they seem to be everywhere in South America.

In Chile, there is definitely more selection, guess that German influence again, though once you get out of the larger towns and cities, even this variety goes away. I have been drinking mostly Cerveza Cristal, ok, another pale lager, and Escudo is not that bad. I tried Royal Guard, and Becker, no thanks. But as I have traveled further south, there is definitely lots more to choose from. Kunstmann out of Valdivia is well-known, and they have a few different kinds though I have not tried them all. And the other day, I had a pale ale from Finisterra in Puerto Cisnes in Patagonia, great stuff. Another beer from down in Patagonia, Austral, brewed in Punta Arenas, was not my favorite at this point, but only had one time. And finally, I tried to visit a brewery in Coyhaique where I stayed a few nights, D'Olbek Beer, but they were never open. Guess I should not have been surprised as I was in Coyhaique over the weekend of New Years. I have only tried one of the different types of beer brewed by D'Olbek, very good, but much of this new variety of beer is just not readily available. I need to get to a supermercado when I can, as that is where you are more likely to find some variety. So in conclusion, do not go to South America, Peru and Chile, expecting a great variety of beers, just is not here. Things are getting better, but they have a long way to go. Beer drinkers in the USA are pretty spoiled, the selection of beers is almost overwelling. I love many different IPAs, and now, the big beer specialty stores can have 30 or 40 different types of IPAs alone. Here, have not seen a single local IPA, though know somebody must brew one. Beer is food, but here, more like a grilled cheese sandwich, than lobster or king crab legs. I am fine with that, as long as it is cold, and after I just finished a 6.6 km round-trip hike up to a hanging glacier and back, still tastes great.

In between my visits to Reserva Nacional Pampa de Tamarugal, and Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar, I headed up into the Andes again, into the high desert, to the Atacama. There, I visited the absolutely cool town of San Pedro de Atacama, this place is a must-see for anyone traveling in Chile. Is a quiet little town, a place which in some ways reminds me of what Santa Fe, New Mexico in the United States might have looked like 70 years ago. The town is dry, but irrigation channels give the town life, an oasis in the high desert. Plus, it seems that everyone is on a mountain bike, so that alone made me feel perfectly at home. There are cool shops, and many restaurants, plus lots of hotels and hostels, a backpacker's paradise. Had llama tacos one night for dinner, just great. I bet I met people from more than a dozen countries, including Canada and New Zealand (Scott and Jennifer, I think), Holland, Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Argentina, Brasil, United Kingdom, Australia, and of course, Chile. Scott and Jennifer were on small motorcycles, 400 cc, and had ridden their bikes all the way from Toronto, though USA, Mexico and Central American, and then down from Columbia to Chile, very impressive. I parked and camped in my van for two nights in the courtyard of a hostel, Hostal Puritam, and had access to bathrooms and showers, and even had some shade. The first night, there was a Dutch couple there, rented a little Suzuki with a roof-top tent, from a company call WickedRental (or something like that), colorful vehicles which I would see all over Chile. I stayed in San Pedro for three nights, though the third night I had to move, no room at the previous place, so moved down the road to Hostal Casa Campestre. This was a very cool hostel, though more about tent camping, bikers and backpackers, not overlanders like me, parked in dirt parking lot, no shade. I biked a lot, including a trip out to the Valley of the Moon (Valle de la Luna), about 30 km round-trip, and drove up high one day, over 12,000 feet, visited the Salar de Pujsa which was beautiful, and the Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, which was a bit of a disappointment (mostly because there was not really anything to see, and I almost got stuck in the sand). The salars are shallow salt lakes, and flamingos, and vicuna are everywhere. There are volcanoes, high peaks, salt lakes, hot springs, and, the Atacama Desert, driest desert in the world. I loved San Pedro, just a great place to explore, get on a bike and ride, and then chill later at one of the many restaurants, enjoy a beer, and llama tacos. You need to get here if you ever get a chance, one of the coolest towns, and place I have visited so far.
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I prefer, if possible, to camp at established campgrounds, and I quickly had great luck in Chile, including two national parks/reserves. South of Iquique, right along Ruta 5, I stayed two nights at a campgound in Reserva Nacional Pampa de Tamarugal, and then north of Chanaral, I stayed one night in Parque National Pan de Azucar. Both were great.

R.N. Pamp de Tamarugal, in the desert of northern Chile, is basically a plantation established to preserve one species of tree, the almost bush-like tamarugal tree. This species of tree is well-adapted to desert life, life in the Atacama region, but was almost wiped out during the nitrate era in this part of Chile. This small reserve helps protect a large grove of trees, planted, but still, very nice. The campground was great, each campsite almost felt like a cattle or goat pen (they do allow some grazing by both species in the reserve), but with a light and electricity, a picnic table, and your very own tamarugal tree. Plus, the bathrooms were great, hot water, and clean, with separate sinks for washing clothes, and sheets, which I did. I stayed there two nights, hiked a bit, and bike all over the place. Was always nice to stay someplace, more than one night, much more relaxed. I had neighbors both nights, including an older couple with a serious overlander rig, thing a tank, swear I read about them somewhere. Think they were Dutch, but they spoke basically no English, so never really chatted. Then, the second night, a small van, obviously modified as a camper pulled in, with Chilean plates. But, to my surprise, and delight, the van contained a couple of Americans, Josh and Tess from Salida, Colorado. We chatted, enjoyed a beer together, do enjoy meeting folks from the USA, as there are few which I have run into during my travels. Josh is a rafting guide, guides out of Pucon, Chile during the southern summer, then they return to Colorado do guide during the northern summer. Enjoyed our chat, interesting folks. 

​Further south, quite a bit south of Antofagasta (and after my visit to San Pedro de Atacama, see next post), and just north of Chanaral, camped in Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar. I would have loved to have had more time here in this rugged, beautiful, and surprising biologically rich park. The park stretches 40 km along the coast north of Chanaral, just spectactular coastal scenery. Although this area is still basically desert, there is much biological diversity; there are approximately 20 different species of cacti in the park. But unfortunately, the legacy of Peru continued to haunt me, so I was only able to stay one night. And while the road into the park was brutal, it was definitely worth a visit, even if for only one night. I camped in the first campground I got to, facilities nothing special, but sites right along the rocky coast, and less than 100 m from a sandy beach. The water was a bit chilly, and currents I guess can be dangerous, but I went for a swim anyway. I parked my van along the shelter which exists at each site, backwards, and left one door open all night. I went to sleep looking out at the ocean, the crashing waves on the rocks, and a large island not far off the coast, sounds of the ocean all night. I slept great. I was not alone in this campside, there were two guys from Argentina on motocycles, seriously loaded, and a wonderful Dutch couple in a rented RV. It was a very pleasant place to spend a night, warm showers, campsites right on the ocean, quiet, serene, just beautiful. I just wish I could have had more time to explore.

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I finally made it safely into Chile, and I was very happy to leave Peru. But, the delay in Peru had been costly, both in terms of time, and money, so now, the race began, the race to get south to the Lake District, Chiloe, and Patagonia. After crossing the border, I headed to Arica, less than an hour drive down Ruta 5, the PanAmerican Sur in Chile, a road which would in a way become my home until I got all the way to Pargua, took the ferry to Chiloe, and even all the way to Quellon where I would take another ferry to Chaitan, and Patagonia. I spent a lot of time on Ruta 5, traveling basically the entire length of the most important, and traveled road in Chile. Thank heavens it is mostly a great road, often essentially a 4-lane interstate like those in the USA, posted speed limit, 100 to as high as 120 kph. It was mostly a great road, and the van and I handled it all well, though do have one complaint. The Chileans love tolls, toll booths seem to occur every 80 km or so, and, every time you exit, you pay again. For example, on the 8th of December (the day I drove past Santiago in the middle of the country), I paid four tolls (for which I kept receipts, might have been more) for a total of $11,250 pesos, or US$16.67, and I traveled less than 600 km that day, including some off Ruta 5. Look, I actually like tolls, a true "users tax", more you drive on a road, the more you pay, a fair and just tax. But come on, there is one main road in all of Chile, runs basically almost the entire lenght of the country (except for Patagonia), and they just kill you with tolls, plus they do not accept EZPass down here. 

Well, I was traveling, to Arica, and then south. Stopped at some cool places to camp, take a few photos, and San Pedro de Atacama was great (more on that later). I was mostly a road warrior, driving 500+ km per day, paying lots of tolls, peeing in a bottle in my van along the side of the road so I did not have to exit (and pay another DAMN toll, just to pee). There are an occasional service plazas, fuel, but they seem pretty infrequent at times. So, I just drove, enjoyed the scenery, and found places to camp with my iOverlander app. It took a number of days, but, eventually, made it to the Lake District, where things get very nice, and very different from the desert I had basically been driving through since leaving Lima. Below, a map of my route, and more text and pictures to follow. Traveling is fun.

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Although it was not planned, I ended up spending over two months in Peru, and most of that time was spent trapped in greater Lima, first in Miraflores, then in La Punta. And again, while I do not hate all Peruvians, and I made many good friends during my time there, I cannot look back foundly on my experiences in Peru. Looking back, what will I remember about my time in Peru, both the good, the bad, and sometimes, just the interesting?
1. Peru loves tourism, loves our money, but they do not really like us. I rarely felt welcome in Peru, whether in the cities, or even out in small towns along the PamAmerican or those bordering Titicaca. I also did not always feel safe, traveling alone, with my van.
2. Corruption is pretty pervasive, especially in the port city of Callao. Many Peruvians even told me that I should just try and pay off officials, and others in Callao, only way to get my van and gear.
3. There is a lot of poverty in Peru; 10% of the 10 million people in greater Lima do not have access to clean water or a sewage system.
4. Even with the amount of poverty you see, Peruvians are a proud people, proud of their heritage, their history, and proud to be Peruvian. They are generally an athletic people, well-dressed, and respectful, especially of their elders.
5. Peruvians love dogs, they are everywhere, including many street dogs, especially in places like Callao, and in rural areas. I bet there are at least two stray dogs for every dog which clearly has an owner. And of course, with all these dogs, there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of dog scat, stuff is everywhere. Disgusting.
6. They love speed bumps in Peru, in and around Lima, they are everywhere, and sometimes, they are huge. I even ran into speed bumps along the PanAmerican Highway.
7. Anyone of authority wears a uniform, they all have whistles, and use them often, often for no apparent reason.
8. Peruvians love their horns, buses, taxi cabs, everyone, they drive around and honk their horns at everyone, at everything. It is so annoying, oh so annoying.
9. I could not wait to get out of Lima, sounds of dogs barking, horns honking, and car alarms, constant, every second of every day, all night long.
10. They are not good drivers, and in Lima, they are maniacs, just crazy. I drove little in Lima, and even that, my early morning escape, white-knuckle much of the way until I was well south of town.
​11. Food is good, even excellent, when you can find it, and/or afford it. Peruvians are very proud of their food, especially in Lima, and it is good, very good. I was told that two of the top 50 restaurants in the world are in Lima, definitely good food, but, can be expensive, and to some extent, the overall food culture might be a bit overrated.
12. There is very little to no recycling, and trash is everywhere, despite the efforts of many neighborhoods to have people out there picking up trash, all day. I was so sad one day, up high in the altiplano, came across a group of vicunas right along the road, but when I stopped to get a picture, could not do so without a bunch of plastic bags and trash in every picture I would have taken. So, I did not take any photographs.
13. I don't think it ever rains in Lima, or most of Peru in general, outside of the Peruvian Amazon. I spent over two months in Peru, and I experienced rain one time, the evening I arrived to Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu. That was it. It is dry, virtually all desert, just sucks the moisture out of you. 

It was already the 26th of November, I had been in Peru way too long, time to get out of Peru, into Chile, time to run for the border. Headed out of Puno early, climbed a bit above town, and Titicaca, quick look back, then back onto the altiplano, and eventually down from the high plains, toward Tacna, Peru, only 30 km from the border. Was a nice drive, do enjoy the altiplano, and just amazed that people live there, with their llamas, sheep, and even a few cattle. Was another long day, but with little traffic, and downhill pretty much the whole way, it was a relatively easy day. Struggled again finding a hotel with secure parking for my van, offstreet parking that I could enter, van so high. But found a place, ok, right in town, a bit pricy, do what I could at that point. 

Up early, and off for the border, hoping to pass without issue, still worried about getting out of Peru, so difficult getting my van and equipment into the country, just was not sure what they might do when I was leaving. And of course, Peruvians a pain until the end, they hassle you until you finally leave, bounce you from immigration to customs, and back, and then almost another inspection before I was finally able to drop off my TIC (Peruvian permit for my van), and almost a hour later, drive off into Chile.

On the Chilean side, nothing but people willing to help, point you in the right direction. They understand, I am a tourist, and all tourist do one thing, we spend money, so why not do everything you can to make it as easy as possible to enter? And they did. I still had to visit immigration, get a brief inspection, allow some food to be confiscated, but all so easy. It took me weeks and cost me thousands of dollars to enter Peru, it took me less than two hours and cost me nothing, other the cost of some food, to enter Chile. I was very happy to leave Peru, and hope that I never return. Peru is full of criminals, especially in Callao. I was very happy to be in Chile. Now, time to head south, need to get to Patagonia by Christmas. Time to travel.

On the road, again, pretty much recurring theme, lost time in Lima, must keep moving, Patagonia is my goal, not southern Peru. Headed out of Arequipa early, tried to miss some of the traffic, did not happen. After finally getting out of town, the climbing began, again. It was the 22nd of November, and I already felt like I was running out of time, I unfortunately would not have as much time as I might have liked around Lake Titicaca, simply no time, again. I already had to miss canyon country north and west of Arequipa, Colca and Cotahuasi Canyons, the deepest canyons in world; Colca Canyon is 10,440 feet (3182 m) deep. The climb this day would take us from just over 7,000 feet elevation in Arequipa to over 12,000 feet along the shores of Lake Titicaca, a huge lake high in the Andes. We climbed and climbed, and eventually into the altiplano, just beautiful landscape, even if stark and apparently lifeless. The road wandered up, and down, though mostly up, into the Andes, extinct volcanoes coming into view along the horizon, it was a beautiful drive, and the van again handled the gain in altitude like a pro.

Made it first into Juliaca, then headed east towards Puno. I stopped at a place called Sillustani, site of ancient burial towers overlooking Lake Umayo. This location to camp, turned out to be the first of many, and I mean many, places recommened on the app, iOverlander, just great, and an amazingling useful tool to help you find a place to camp, wild or in a campground. Sillustani was great, even if you are camping in a parking lot, at over 12,000 feet in elevation I might add (as I stuffed another wad of coca leaves into my mouth), as they have 24-hour security and a locked gate. Plus, Lake Umayo is very nice, and, there was a smaller lake, and wetland, along the road into Sillustani just below the ruins and the small village of vendors, a bar, etc., a lake where I saw my first flamingos, cool. I rarely felt safe camping in Peru, and never "wild camped", or just pulled off the road somewhere and stayed for the night. While in Peru, I was either in a hotel or hostel, in a place like Sillustani, or in a national park like Paracas. And as it turned out, even in Sillustani, I was harrassed by some strange dude at 8:30 pm, very annoying. The burial towers at Sillustani are old, some are believed to pre-date the Inca Empire, though the Colla people who built the towers did coincide with early periods of Inca dominance in Peru. I enjoyed two nights there, really loved sleeping in my van and not in a hotel. I explored parts of the shore of Lake Titicaca for a day, even went for a swim, short swim, interesting place. Then after two nights at Sillustani, I headed down the lake to Puno, big place scattered along the shore of Lake Titicaca, a medium-sized city at 12,556 feet (3,827 m) elevation. I managed to wander around town, narrow, really narrow one-way streets, to find Hotel Qelqatani, recommended by Fodor'sTravel Peru, one of the few places recommended that I could afford. Place family run, father, then son, very nice people, and really worked hard to make arrangements to cram my van into their off-street parking facility (when I left, backed into and crunched a rain gutter, sorry). Room was great, shower felt wonderful, and was a pretty short walk down to the lake, and even shorter walk to the main square (yes, another Plaza de Armas), with lots of shops and restaurants. Checked in, showered and headed for the plaza, needed a beer, or course, and something to eat. And very quickly, noticed the strangest thing, at least for me. They LOVE pizza in Puno, swear every other restaurant, and there were many restaurants, Puno all about tourism and Titicaca, served Pizza. What about trout, fish from the lake? Or maybe an alpaca burger? Seemed like all they want to eat in Puno is pizza, just strange to me, very strange (though did have pizza one of the two nights I was there, was excellent, very good pizza).

Titicaca is a huge, cold lake, one of the largest lakes in world based on surface area, but it is not that deep considering its size. The mean depth is only 25 feet (7.5 m), which is not deep. But, it is considered to be one of, if not the highest elevation lake which is navigable, at an altitude of 12,500 feet (3810 m). And it is cold, I swam it, I know; water temperatures stay very close to 38 degrees F all year around.

I had one full day in Puno, and I spent it as a total tourist, something I generally prefer not to do, and after what happened to me in Peru, cannot afford to do. I paid the S/.100 for an all-day trip out on the lake, first to the Islas Los Uros, and then to Taquile Island. Lunch was included for the S/.100, and it turned out to be fantastic. I got picked up early, and off for the docks, with about a thousand of other tourist heading out for 1/2 day, full-day cruises, or even overnight homestays on islands in Lake Titicaca. My group was small fortunately, and pretty fun, and included a woman from Mexico, an older couple from Australia, a mother-daughter from Paris, a fun British couple, a young woman from Columbia, and me, along with our guide. This seemed like a pretty typical mix of tourists, though we were missing someone from Holland, or maybe Germany. I met many, many people from the Netherlands, and many from Germany as well. We loaded onto our boat, which looked exactly like the other 127 boats all lashed together in one big raft in the harbor in Puno, and off we went. I always like a good boat ride, and it was nice to spend some time out on Titicaca, it was a nice day, sun, few clouds, no wind at that point, and while still a bit chilly as the boat chugged along, I enjoyed hanging out on the roof deck of the boat with a few of our party. It took an hour or so to get out to the Islas Los Uros, the series of floating islands found along part of the southern edge of Titicaca. The floating islands are made of totora reeds which grow only along the shallow south-western part of the lake. Who knows how long it takes to "make" an island, as they are surprising large, large enough for up to three families, and usually about 3 m think. We learned that the islands typically last up to 25 years, depending on how they are built, wind and waves and storms, etc. We visited only one island, for about an hour or so, which included a short ride on one of their traditional boats, also made of reeds (plus these days, a few hundred plastic bottles for added boyancy). The families do not get any money from the tour operators, they instead hope to sell you something, stuff which pretty much looks like all the stuff I have seen for sale to tourist all over Peru, from Lima to Cusco to Puno and Islas Los Uros. I bought something, felt like I had to, support these folks, their willingless to let us visit, and to keep their traditional way of life alive. Individual islands, families, only get visitors one day every two weeks, but, think they get four or five groups of tourist each day, and based on the size of the boats, you might have as many as 20 tourist in any one group. If everyone who visits buys something, then they are doing ok. Was an interesting place, even with the solar panels sticking up from at least one of the reed huts on the island.

We then headed off to Taquile Island, another place in Titicaca where the traditional culture has surived, in part because of tourism. They charge everyone who lands on the island S/.8, which is not much, but if you get a 300-400 tourist visiting on many days, they are making some real cash. And, you are not allowed to take their picture, unless they give you special permission. Their traditional dress is cool, very colorful, including guys who wear hats with balls on the end of a tassle. The traditional dress is not only colorful and interesting, but it is also informative. For example, married men where their hat different from unmarried men. We really did not spend much time here, walked up the hill to the central plaza, wandered through their craft shop, lots of woven, knitted things, before heading down to small outdoor patio for lunch. And lunch, it was great, grilled trout from the lake, rice, some veges, all washed down with a warm Cusquena. We all sat there in row, overlooking the lake, was a very enjoyable lunch. Then, if was back down to the boat for the long ride back to Puno. It was a long day, but enjoyable. I am not one for those touristy things, but guess it was worth it, would have never walked on a floating island otherwise. Plus, the people in the group were very nice, enjoyed the day. In many ways, this was my last day in Peru, at least as a tourist, as the next day, the two-day run for the border would begin. Enough of Peru, had been there entirely way too long, time to get into Chile, need another stamp in my passport.

Before we leave Peru, how about a little ride with me, short ride (still working on longer videos). I biked all over Lima, and to Callao a number of times, doing business in the port, meeting with shipping agents, visiting Aduana (customs), and basically trying to get myself killing. Actually, I ride on sidwalks mostly because I do not want to get killed, taxis and combibuses, they are crazy! Below, video, a short ride, hopefully which will give a different perspective of life in the streets of Callao, the streets of Peru.
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As some of you who know me well understand, I am a gear head, I love gear, camping gear, biking gear, paddling gear, even photographic gear. Got no wife, no kids, but I have three tents, three sleeping bags, a pile of dry bags of all different sizes, shapes and colors, and, I have three camp stoves (four if you count my old, now antique SVEA 123 from decades ago). And, I ended up bringing all three on my trip to South America. And that isn't the worst of it. As it turns out, I am potentially only able to use one of them, and the problem, getting appropriate fuel canisters, meant that I had to buy another stove while here. Yup, now have four camp stoves and only one of them is really of any use down here. Pathetic. So, the problem? The problem is all about fuel, and trust me, I did my research before I left, and felt justified in bringing all three stoves. First, I have my 2-burner, Camp Chef Everest stove, love it, works perfectly in my van. I even designed my kitchen platform in my van to fit the stove beside my sink. The stove works great, but only with propane cylinders, cylinders with a certain thread size. Based on my research, it sounded like you could get these "gas" cylinders in larger cities, and especially in Chile where there is more of a camping culture when compared to Peru. NOT! I wandered all over Lima on my trusty steed, my Scott Scale 760 mountain bike, and visited every store I could find which sold camping equipment, nothing, no propane cylinders which would fit my 2-burner. What is going on Coleman? I figured Coleman 2-burners were everywhere, but I guess not. Bummer. In addition to my Camp Chef 2-burner, I also brought my always trustworthy MRS Whisperlite International which I have had forever. This is a great stove, boils water in minutes, works fine at altitude, and very fuel efficient, though dirty to work with, plus, which is key, it will burn almost any liquid fuel in additon to white gas, including unleaded gasoline, kerosene, even cow piss if you have to. If I cannot get white gas, prefer to burn kerosene, much cleaner, but could not find white gas or kerosene anywhere in Peru. Kerosene showed up at COPAC fuel stations in southern Chile, so my Whisperlite an option, in a pinch. I also brought my little MSR Dragonfly, tiny little stove, but only burns the isopropol mix you find in those red cylinders readily available in the US, a gas mix, and appropriately threaded cylinders, which I could not find anywhere, in Peru or Chile. So where did this all leave me? When I finally escaped La Punta, greater Lima, headed off to Paracas, I had no working stove. I did buy a gas cylinder, company call Doite, European I think, the only cylinders I saw anywhere, but my Dragonfly did not fit the threads, and they were a totally different thread design when compared to what my 2-burner needs. I am finally on my way, planning to camp in my van as much as possible, and I have no stove, nothing, even to heat water in the morning for coffee. Damn. Here I am, finally starting my South American adventure, my van and I are finally on the road, with three camp stoves, none of which I can use. Double Damn, and quite pathetic actually, especially when considering how much it cost me to ship all my gear on top of what it cost to ship my van. What an idiot.

Well, the stove insanity had to end quickly, had to have coffee in the morning, so when I got to Arequipa, I had to break down and buy another stove, yes, another stove, I now have three tents, three sleeping bags, and FOUR camp stoves. I bought a single-burner Doite stove which fits the Dolite gas cylinders which seem readily available, had no choice, needed a stove, a working stove. I am now hauling around four camp stoves, three of which I cannot use (well, Whisperlite will work if necessary), and the one I do use, not a fan, just seems cheaply made, definitely not of MSR quality. Plus, when screwed on top of the larger of the two sizes of gas cylinders sold, a bit unstable, and not great for cooking in the van. But what could I do, have to have coffee in the morning, a must, an absolutely necessity. I had to have a camp stove which works. So sad, and pathetic.
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While I would have enjoyed another day in Paracas, I had to go, many miles ahead of me, both horizontal and vertical, before I could get out of Peru and into Chile. There were a few places I hoped to visit as I headed south out of Peru. I felt like I had already been in Peru for too long, and my attitude was terrible. I did want to see Lake Titicaca, so the route was easy to plan. After leaving Paracas, I headed back down the PanAmerican Sur, south through Ica and the Peruvian wine country, and into Nasca. I would then head along the coast to Camana before heading inland, and up, to Arequipa and eventually Lake Titicaca. The climb from sea level to Titicaca would be over 12,000 feet, the first real test for my van. 

I made pretty good time to Nasca, with a quick stop at the oasis of Huacachina just outside of Ica. What a crazy little place, just nuts, packed with tourists, dune buggies, even "snow boards", plus many bars, shops and restaurants all surrounding a small lake, the oasis. I stopped for a beer, wandered around, watched the crazy dune buggies, huge things, hauling tourists by the hundreds up, down, all over the dunes. I guess you can also use snow boards and ride down the dunes as well. I had no time, or interest, place was just crazy.

The road to Nasca was fine, desert, some ups and downs, and always, lots of trucks. I stopped to climb a tower to check out some of the famous Nasca lines left by an ancient civilization, or aliens, no time or money to take a flight in a small plane. Found a great little hotel in Nasca, right off the main plaza (Plaza de Armas, every town in Peru has one), and with great offstreet parking for my van in a courtyard behind the hotel; they even game me a room overlooking the parking area. To bed early as another long day on the road to follow, and it turned out to be one of the most challenging days on the road I would experience for many weeks.

Next morning, on the road early, another day with nothing but blue skies, though was really windy early. At first, great road down to the coast, even with the wind, made good time. But once I hit the coast, that nice little drive along the beach I had hoped for based on the map vanished, and a crazy, and very scary drive ensued. The road was just nuts, carved out of the huge bluffs, mountains really, that came down to the edge of the Pacific, often with shear drops which had to be over a 1000 feet. The road curved around the edge of these bluffs, up and down, scary switch-backs, and downhills, and always, trucks and buses everywhere. And when you throw in some wind, it was brutal, I had no fun at all. By the time I got to Camana, I was crushed. Struggled a bit finding a place with secure parking, ending up in a little beach "resort" just down the highway from the center of town, area ironically called La Punta. Ended up in a hospejeda, total dive, but cheap, and with a big gate, locked, to keep my van safe for the night. I had to beg for a town and even toilet paper. I think place only cost me about US$10, and I was so tired after the brutal drive, I really did not care, as long as my van was safe.

The next day, the theme for the day became quickly obvious, all about climbing, and climbing,  up to Arequipa, from sea level to 7,710 feet (2,350 m) in elevation. Was nice to see mountains again, the Andes, and volcanoes, and chew some more coca leaves of course. The road was good, often even straight, even if it always seemed to be going up. And, experienced a first along the way, along a perfectly straight stretch of road, on another beautiful day, saw my first dead body along the road, covered in a sheet, but still, a first. There had been a recent accident, small SUV, driver side totally crushed in and vehicle thrown off the road a few meters, Policia National all over the place, and there by the SUV was obviously the body of the driver covered with a white sheet. Looks like another monument will be constructed soon. One (of many) interesting things about Peru, and Chile as well, is that they build little monuments at the site of traffic fatalities along the road, and, there are lots of them, even on perferctly straight stretchs of road like the road I drove and saw my first dead body. I think they are always in a hurry, pull out to pass a truck or bus, then they get creamed by an oncoming truck or bus. There are monuments along every climb, and downhill, along every straight stretch of road, and sometimes more than one on obviously dangerous curves, and extreme drop-offs. At first, kind of bothered me, but guess after so many miles and miles of driving, you get used to it, though is amazing how large and extensive some of the monuments are. And there are very sad monuments as well, like the ones with two large crosses, and three small crosses, the site where a family of five all lost their lives in an accident. Sad. But I survived, van climbed like a mountain goat (well, .......), and I made it to Arequipa without incident. Was another long day, but the scenery was often amazing, the high desert can be beautiful, even if just a thousand shades of tan and brown. And when you throw in the mountains and volcanoes, very nice, even if the roadside is lined with blue, white, and red monuments, all with crosses, and flowers, and other decorations. I was finally starting to enjoy myself a bit, the adventure had clearly begun, I was no longer in Lima.

Struggled a bit to find a suitable hotel, secure parking for my van always an issue, but ended up at a great place, even if pretty expensive, La Casa de mi Abuela. My room was great, and van, very secure. I decided to stay for two nights, had some shopping to do (still had no working stove, even though I actually had brought three stoves with me, will address in a later post), and was looking forward to chilling a bit, had been on the road for four days, crazy coastal road, lots of wind, and climbing, we were both tired. Plus, van was a mess, nothing really organized, as I left La Punta ina bit of a rush, need to spend some time in my van, and not behind the steering wheel. Although Arequipa a big city, think it is the second largest city in Peru, was tiny compared to Lima, and looked like an interesting place to explore. So, the final push to Titicaca would have to wait an extra day, I needed a break. 

Finally, early in the morning on the 17th of September, 2016, after just over two months in Lima (first Miraflores, then lovely La Punta), I was on the road, heading South, Patagonia was only, like 2,000 miles away or so, was not exactly sure at that point. I was just relieved to be finally on the road, even if I was leaving my US$800 fridge behind. Had to happen, had to leave, every day I stayed in La Punta cost me at least $50, if not more, had to go, had to finally hit the road. I got up early, made my way from La Punta across town, and onto the PanAmerican Sur, and into the desert. Van was just as happy as I was to be on the road, ready to travel and log some miles. I was finally leaving Lima behind, hopefully never to return.

I headed south through huge dunes, nothing but sand and rock and hills, a theme which would repeat itself for days and days, and days. I initially headed for Paracas, a town, and national reserve, a desert peninsula sticking out into the Pacific. I could not wait to sleep in my van, out there, somewhere, overlooking something cool. I had planned this trip for years, planned for me, and my van, traveling, exploring, wandering, seeing what we can see, sleeping wherever we can along the way. Our first stop would be Paracas.

The town itself, very cool, great beach, many shops and restaurants, all about tourism here, especially trips to Isla Ballestas. Isla Balletas is a chunk of rock off the Paracas Peninsula, home to many birds, including Humboldt penguins, and plenty of sea lions. Unfortunately, I had no time, or money, for the boat ride out to the island, so I only stopped in town to look around, pick up some supplies, and grab a beer at one of the many bars along the beach, place was packed, not the bar, but the beach. Was quickly on my way to Reserva National de Paracas where I planned to camp (well, sleep in my van, which some might not consider camping, but I do, and can't beat my 6 inch memory foam mattress, beats sleeping on the ground any day). Paid S/.20 to enter the park, and into the dunes, rocks and coastal desert we went. It was beautiful, though midday light did not lend itself to amazing photographs, was still a very different, and interesting place. And again, I would not have enough time to spend here, a theme which will recur over and over again. The delay in Lima was costly. It was very windy, a very dry, sandy coastal desert, but beautiful in its own right. I found a parking area, brand new (they were actually still working on it), with stairs to the beach; a couple of rangers said ok to park/camp for the night. Hung out, as day-trippers left, the sun faded, drank a beer, or two, and very much enjoyed finally being on the road. My trip, my adventure had finally begun. As soon as the sun disappeared behing the dunes, I was in bed, and quickly asleep. I slept well.

Up early, but no coffee, real bummer, my stove did not fit the gas canister I bought; issues with stoves, another recurring theme. Headed out, stopped for a quick ride on my bike, needed to do something active. Riding on the sand was great, place so wind-blown, sand actually not as much sand as rock, like pavement, hard, and great for riding. Rode for about an hour, some climbing, got hot quickly, time to keep moving. Loaded up, and unfortunately, after a very short visit, had to say goodbye to Paracas, quickly back on the the PanAmerican, heading south. 

Finally, it happened, after what seemed like weeks and weeks, oh, it was weeks and weeks, I finally got my gear, except my fridge. I was totally pissed about the fridge, as I had been told, been promised, by more than one person, that I would be able to get "all" of my gear, and get the hell out of Lima, any day. Well, that did not happened, I was lied to yet again. Such is nature of doing business in Peru, and especially anything associated with the port of Callao, all a bunch of criminals. But it finally happened, I got an e-mail early in the afternoon on the 15th of November, two months after I arrived in Lima, from my customs broker instructing me to be at the Neptunia SP warehouse in 30 minutes, after waiting weeks for you to do your job, you suddenly tell me to be at the warehouse to pick up my gear in 30 minutes, really? And, they said, "bring cash", but not how much. So I hurried back to Villa La Punta, then hurried to an ATM to get more cash, had some, but figured I had better get more. I then scrambled to grab a cab and off to Callao and Neptunia I went. It took me almost an hour, cannot get anywhere in and around Callao in 30 minutes. Met someone from my customs broker's office, waited over three hours, and finally they appeared at the gate (I was not allowed in the facility), appeared with what I thought was all of my gear, and with a bill for over US$900, I about fainted. I did not have that much, and could only withdrawal US$200 at a time (and really, per day), but was so pissed, I had no intention of paying them that much anyway. We headed for La Punta to drop off my gear, and then when they opened the door of the truck, I asked about the fridge, and they said, no fridge, I thought my head was going to explode. They basically stole my fridge, even though I was promised I would be able to get all my gear. But at that point, I was too exhausted, and just ready to get the hell out of Lima, I quickly formulated my plan of escape in my head, unloaded my gear, and told them I would not pay them any more money until I got "all" of my gear as promised. I threw everything into my van, they took off, and I almost jumped in my van and left that moment, I was so pissed, so pissed. A calmer head prevaled, I needed some time to organize my gear a bit, and say goodbye to my new friends in La Punta, so instead of leaving, headed off to Elmer's bodega for a beer.

The next day, the 16th of November, I organized things in the van, did some shopping, began my stall tactics with my broker and the warehouse, and then went to Ricardo's house/appartment (3rd floor, beautiful place, great outdoor deck, high ceilings, wondeful) that evening for a little party, Ricardo, Charlie, and Vaughn. Before that, Ricardo and his wife took me to a wonderful restaurant right down the street from where I had been for the last month, place I thought was reserved for naval personel, where we had a pisco sour, or two, and some fantastic hor dourves. Had a great time, my last evening in La Punta, lots of fun. Then slept in my van for the first time in Peru, in South America, and at 6:00 am on the 17th of November, I was finally on my way, I drove out of La Punta, through part of Callao, San Miguel, San Isidro and Miraflores, and eventually, I was on the PanAmerican Sur, the PanAmerican Highway heading south, finally. I had escaped!

For many reasons, I just am not going to go into all the details of what happened to me, how I was treated, and/or how much it cost me in terms of time, and money, it is just not important at this point in time. What is much more important is what has happened since, so I will only provide a quick summary here. Customs officials in Peru, at the port of Callao, simply just did not understand that I was a tourist, and as a result, they treated me like an importer, even like a criminal at times. They held me captive in Peru, first in Miraflores, and then later in La Punta. They cost me thousands of dollars, in terms of what I felt were totally unnecessary fees and cost, and in terms of the delay, staying in a hotel for weeks on end is not cheap, even in Peru. They made things very difficult, they did not even know their own policies and rules, they lied to me on at least two occasions, and generally treated me very poorly. I told them many times, I am just a tourist, and asked them many times, do they treat all tourists like this? Their response, this is different senior, but it is not. Whether I drove my van full of equipment across the border from Ecuador, or brough my van and gear into the county by boat, it does not change the fact that I am a tourist, a temporary visitor, I am importing nothing, I do not have a tax ID number, I plan to leave as soon as I can. It did not help that my customs broker, my clearing agent, DASA Logistics, were almost as bad, all a bunch of incompetent idiots. The whole process was terrible, costy, and left a scare that will never heal. I hate Peru, full of a bunch of crooks. And the problems run deeper than just what happens at the port of Callao. I told many people, Peru has many, many problems, and these extend to their tourism industry as well, the only part of their economy which is currently growing. Peru loves tourism, and the dollars tourist bring in, but, they simply do not like tourist, they do not like us. With one exception, I only found one person who was involved with the port who was sincerely interested in helping me, a tourist, bring my van and gear into the country so that I could explore Peru further, Alex Gomez from Transmeridian. Other than Alex, I met no one who was sincerely willing to help me, whether at BJ Logisitics, Vanguard Logisitics, DASA Logistics (who I paid), Aduana (customs), Neptunia SA (warehouse people where stuff is stored until it clears customs), the US Embassy, etc. All I wanted was my van, and then my gear, so I could go. Instead, I was imprisoned for just over two months, it was not fun. 

But, I did get my van, and eventually most of my gear, though they did take my Engel portable refrigerator. Is a bit of a story, but, problem was they they have import restrictions on refrigerators in Peru, antiquated law going back to the Montreal Protocol, ozone protection, etc. My fridge was 100%CFC free, I provided documentation from the manufacturer (MSDS, letter stating fact that unit was CFC free and used perfectly harmless refrigerant), as specified on the Peruvian Customs webpage, but they confiscated it anyway, and to add insult to injury, they later fined me S/.1200 (or about US$340) for illegal importation of a refrigerator, though again, I was not importing anything, I am a tourist.

So, moral to the story? Do not start your trip in Peru, and heck, I would ask everyone to not go to Peru, period. They want our money, but they generally have no interested in us, in helping us, in understanding tourists and who we are. They only want our money. Now, I met a number of wonderful Peruvians, and while I hate Peru, I do not hate all Peruvians. But after the way they, at Customs, at my broker, at the different warehouses treated me, it is easy to understand why I feel the way I do. I planned this adventure for a number of years, and Peruvians put all my entire trip in jeopardy. I will have to shorten my trip, limit certain activities, and generally see and do less than I had planned. Peruvians associated with Callao, the port, cost me much, and I will never forget, never forgive.