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South American adventure

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4-5 December - flying home to London

One taxi ride, two flights, two airport lounges and one happy mama waiting at Heathrow.  And so ends our American Adventure and backpacking fun, without question the most challenging, rewarding and amazing two-and-a-half years of our lives.  On to the next adventure then:  back to London town!

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4-5 December - flying home to London

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3 December - Santiago, Chile

Our last full day of traveling had arrived, and we had decided the previous evening that we simply couldn't end on a sensible, travelmin note.  Our last day called for lots of wine and merriment, reflecting on our journey and the adventure that lies ahead: moving back to London.

Of course, we had to watch the rugby first, the last of the Autumn Internationals against Australia.  We managed to get Daddy's SkyGo account working but OMGeeeeee, it kept on cutting out at crucial moments!  Bloody foreign wifi.  Still, we won, HURRAH, and England remain unbeaten in 2016.  So we headed out in high spirits to celebrate and found ourselves in a hub of amazing restaurants, terraces with outside seating, live music and general merriment in Bellavista.  We sat down at Barrica 94 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Multiple wine flights.  Amazing food.  Reminiscing.  A few tears.  A lot of laughs.  The photos that I took were mainly of our drunkeness at the end of the evening, in our hotel room feeling very tipsy and silly.  We love you, Chile!

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3 December - Santiago, Chile

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2 December - Santiago, Chile

In an attempt to both avoid the heat of the day and get ourselves onto UK time, we decided to head out on a run early in the morning. We had forgotten what it is like to run in the centre of a city: so pollution-y! But we still managed a 5km at a nice moderate pace, enough to feel like we deserved a good breakfast and more wine come lunchtime. After the run, walking to the laundry place and back and then on towards the metro station, my left knee was seriously hurting again so I ended up having to wear my knee brace again. Not a great look, a pretty dress and a knee brace! But I was grateful for the pain relief it gave me, as one can tell from the smiley pictures :) We took the metro (modern and fast... but tickets can only be purchased using cash, so not that modern) to the Costanera Center, the highest building in South America, and went up "Sky Costanera" to the 63rd floor. The haze meant we couldn't see very far, but it was amazing to be up in the clouds and walking around the impressive viewing gallery. The shopping mall below was extensive and busy. We managed a quick look around El Mundo De Vino before the crowds became too much and we decided to get out. Le Bistrot, with a lovely courtyard outside space, was a perfect getaway... with more wine!

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2 December - Santiago, Chile

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1 December - Pucón to Santiago, Chile

Though we had to leave for the airport at 6.45am, Walter (host extraordinaire) had all the breakfast things out by 6.15am so that we could still have the full choice and eat before we left. Glorious! Tummies full, we loaded our things and ourselves into the minivan and passed a pleasant hour and a half to Temuco airport talking to the other English couple about English things. It is going to feel odd being back in England for good. I'm so used to being a foreigner, either in the U.S. with my "exotic" accent or in South America trying to get by with my GCSE Spanish. I will feel quite ordinary with my middle-of-the-road accent! Once again, Olli and I were the first people in the airport that day. So bizarre. We checked in once they opened the SKY airlines desk and then headed up the escalator to security... which was also not yet open! We peered through the glass doors until someone came out and let us through. Nothing open post-security, of course, but at least we eventually managed to get on to the free wifi. SKY airlines came up trumps again: flight bang on time and luggage quickly delivered. Definitely worth a slightly uncomfortable hour long flight for ~£40 instead of ~£180! We left the terminal and found our transfer van to the hotel. Hello, Santiago! We were delivered to Luciano K, a gorgeous Art Deco boutique hotel in the Lastarria district, recommended by Sally. With our bags dumped, we headed immediately out for lunch and for what we came for: more steak and wine! The restaurant we picked, Bocanáriz, was highly rated and also highly recommended by Bart, the mad Dutchman on our W trek. We loved the wine flights and had a sparkling trio with a starter of ceviche and then some classic Chilean reds with our meat platter and empanadas. Excellent! Our hotel has a roof terrace with a bar and heated swimming pool (heated! Why?! It is over 30•C and sweltering here) and so we enjoyed a glass of wine on the balcony as the afternoon turned to evening. Wonderful relaxation for the end of our trip.

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1 December - Pucón to Santiago, Chile

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30 November - Pucón, Chile

Our day pretty much exactly resembled the day before, other than that we decided to abstain from the alcohol in anticipation of multiple days of drinking in Santiago. A lovely breakfast, some tanning, fresh lunch ingredients, gym, dinner and decking. Utterly marvellous. Tomorrow we leave early in the morning for Temuco airport. We have managed to befriend another English couple who also need to get to the airport, meaning the transfer will be half the price for us, hurrah! From Temuco we will fly to Santiago, the last stop on our trip before flying back to London. It has all gone extremely fast and I can't quite believe we will heading home in just a few days. It is sad that this part of our adventure must come to an end, but we are also really excited about getting home to see family and friends, to go skiing(!) and to start our next chapter. Salud!

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30 November - Pucón, Chile

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29 November - Pucón, Chile

Our decision not to do the Villarica volcano trek meant we had a bonus day to enjoy Pucón and the gorgeous warm weather. After our amaaaaaazing breakfast, we settled into the comfy chairs on the decking (Victoria: sun; Olli: shade) and basked in the warmth. Need to make the most of it as it will be cold for a long time upon our return to England! Although the weather was not a factor in our decision not to do the trek, we did feel further vindication sat out on the deck. It was soooo windy, even down in the town. Looking up at the volcano and seeing its smoke billowing sideways, it was clear that it would be blowing a hoolie up there. We were glad to be on terra firma. We took our time wandering the supermercado at lunchtime, indulging my love of walking every single aisle. We spied the merquén spice that Olli loves and made a mental note to stock up before we leave for Santiago the day after tomorrow! As we were missing out on a hike and therefore some exercise, we decided to check out the local gym. Not bad at all, multiple cardio machines, weight machines and free weights, all for 6,000 CLP (~£7.15) per person for a day pass. Sold! We went for a session during the ~34•C temperatures of the afternoon, attempting to escape the heat. Not brilliant air conditioning in the gym, but good enough! We came out feeling that we thoroughly deserved a good meal and some wine. We ate in the kitchen but then retired to the decking to finish our bottle of wine in the last of the evening sun. Absolutely blissful, will happily do the same tomorrow!

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29 November - Pucón, Chile

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28 November - Puerto Varas to Pucón, Chile

The day dawned brighter than the previous two days, the sun finally shining and giving us beautiful views across the lake and beyond from our room. We got downstairs for breakfast by 7.30am and ordered our taxi, then had to deal with checkout... unfortunately another checkout experience that left a bitter taste in the mouth: trying to screw us over on the exchange rate again! But you can't fool the Backs. We got the taxi to the supermarket and purchased lunch and goodies for the five hour bus journey to Pucón. JAC buses were not the nicest we have travelled on but, my goodness, what music choices: purely medleys of songs from the 70s, the 80s and 80s/90s films. Glorious. The five hours ended up passing by quickly, helped by lunch being an absolute mission because we'd decided to make gourmet rolls complete with avocado, chutney and merquén (a delicious Chilean spice mix that Olli has become obsessed with). We got off the bus in Pucón in glorious weather and our hostel was helpfully located less than 300 metres from the bus station. We had very little by way of expectations for Hostal Müller, knowing that it would be only $200 for three nights and we'd had to go for a twin room. However, it is fast becoming our favourite hostel on the ENTIRE TRIP. Walter, the host, is so helpful and lovely. The twin beds easily slide together to allow for snuggling. The breakfast is amazing and includes (i) choco flakes (a must), (ii) brown bread (this is really not a thing at many breakfasts in South America), and (iii) real honey. There is a kitchen that can be used by the guests, well-stocked for cooking. It has decking with comfy chairs outside. Plus, it is only a few minutes walk from the centre of town. Amazing! We were due that afternoon to head to the agency with whom we would be climbing Volcán Villarica, the impressive, smoking volcano that provides the backdrop to Pucón. We arrived there at around 3.30pm and duly had the briefing, equipment check and filling in of forms and waivers. Then we walked through the town, into the supermarket, back to the hostel and back to the agency to pay for the excursion when we found ourselves delaying and sitting on some steps nearby. We were both having doubts. The risks involved with climbing the volcano are real and well-documented. We are in good physical fitness following the W Trek so our ability isn't in question, but the doubts around the risks were hard to reconcile. We feel so grateful that, thus far on our trip (touch wood), we have remained fit and healthy (other than the food poisoning) with no injuries and we both were feeling that we didn't want to compromise that so close to the end of our trip. We also have already trekked with crampons (Perito Moreno), seen stunning scenery (everywhere) and been to the crater of a volcano (Hawaii) so the trek hadn't made our bucketlist for the trip in the first place. In the end it was an emphatic, joint decision to not go through with the trek. We returned to the agency to cancel and felt an overwhelming and emotional sense of relief when we walked out of the door. We carried on walking, out of the main part of town and to the lakeside beach in order to walk off the adrenaline. Turning back, we headed to the supermarket to buy ingredients for Olli's famous spaghetti bolognese. We didn't expect to be able to cook again this trip, such a nice change from eating out! We slept soundly, happy in our decision and grateful for the chance of a lie in.

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28 November - Puerto Varas to Pucón, Chile

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27 November - Puerto Varas, Chile

Today was a day of relaxation :) With the weather still iffy and crazy rain showers throughout the day, it was the perfect excuse to have a leisurely morning. We had a big breakfast and then settled in to follow the final F1 of the season and to have a Skype with Char (and her fabulous hat). We ended up doing a supermercado run to cover both lunch and dinner and enjoyed eating with the view from our balcony until it bucketed down again. Cue another long Skype with mes parents, a bit of life admin, an early dinner and an early night! Off to Pucón tomorrow...

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27 November - Puerto Varas, Chile