Chile Chico, Puerto Ibanez, Coyhaique, Chile

Wednesday 28th March

Chile Chico, Chile

Next morning, the twattery continues from the ******* girls - their alarm goes off, which they don't bother to switch off. One of them is whisper/shouting across to her big arse friend to get up, and they do nothing to keep the noise down whilst they get ready. *****!

Anyway, it's a lovely day and we have some chores to do, so we crack on. Relieved that there's an ATM (that accepts Visa) in town, then we grab some food.

One of the chores is to try and sort out British Gas, who, 8 months after we left our house/overcharge us/refund us, tell us that we owe them more money, but after three weeks of trying to get them to explain what it is for, they have since called in the debt collectors. *****! (sorry for the bad language) - it's soooo annoying trying to sort these tiny things out - 02, Morgan Stanley, British Gas - you're all crap and need to get your house in order, and you can start by replying to emails that your customers send you. Though, to be fair, at least 02 replied when I had problems being overcharged numerous times when I sent a text message, they just didn't do anything to fix the problem.

There's a minibus that'll take us across the border to into Chile, to Chile Chico, at 11.30am, so all plans are set,and British Gas should now be off my back.

Meet a friendly Russian couple whilst we wait for the minibus at our hostel.

The border crossings were fine, though the Russian passports generated a little interest! and we arrive in Chile Chico, on the shores of Lago General Carrera, which isn't actually that far from the border.

No real plans for doing anything here, just a transit route.

Sort out some local currency, boat tickets (to Puerto Ibanez for tomorrow),and a small room in a local hospedaje, though held up whilst trying to do these things during siesta.

The accomodation is fine, but basic - we're staying at La Casona and it'll be great for the one night stay. Breakfast is included.

Changing money was a bit of a chore - the bank wouldn`t directly change Argentine pesos for Chilean ones - we had to get a guy in the supermarket to write a personal cheque, which we then cashed. Odd, but successful. There is an ATM here, but it doesn't accept Visa, just the Mastercard derivatives.

Didn't do much for the rest of the day - spent some time by the lake in the sunshine, climbed a lookout point at the edge of town (followed by a friendly dog) and tried to use the slooooow internet.

Read the guidebook and listened to some Spanish in the evening - Chris did a great job of getting the diary up to date - we're miles behind, which means the blog is also behind...

Thursday 29th March

Coyhaique

More chores ahead of our ferry trip to Puerto Ibanez mid-afternoon.

Our crossing is at 3pm - we're told to be there an hour before - why?? Not necessary! Anyway, the crossing is fine, though the passenger area is a little crowded, but we have seats.

A couple of hours later, we're in Puerto Ibanez and our minibus to Coyhaique is waiting for us.

Paul snags a legroom seat and is happy to enjoy the drive with his headphones on.

The scenery, especially as the sun goes down is pretty - the local peaks making amazing silhouettes.

It's about 2 hours drive to Coyhaique, though we were planning to travel with Aaron (a nice Canadian girl who we met on the minibus from Los Antiguos) into town and find some accomodation together - unfortunately, she was booked on a different minibus to Coyhaique.

In turn, we don't get dropped off at the same place in town, and also find out that the Youth Hostel (which we planned to go to together, 2kms out of town) was full - glad we had to phone ahead for their address.

Pleased to find an ATM and load up with cash - our favourite sound lately has been the whir of the ATM as it counts up the money before dispensing.

Found a nearby Hostel, recommended by the guide book - Hospedaje Lautauro. Quite close to the centre of town but seems like the place has changed hands. I wouldn't recommend this place to a dog, unless he already had mange.

It's quite late and we're hungry, but a lot of places in town are closing, so we opt for a bag of goodies from the big supermarket.

As we drift off to sleep, we hope to survive the night in the arctic shithole.

Friday 30th March

Back in to town in the morning (yes we survived, and surprisingly didn't wake up to a frosty coating on our faces).

First chore was to sort out a bus away from here, though the schedules for all the bus companies seem to be up in the air and erratic, and we're also unsure of how things will be affected by the upcoming Easter holidays. The helpful tourist info by the main plaza point us in the direction of Daniela buses, though as we arrive at their office, things aren't looking too good - the bus has no back wheels.

Annoyingly we missed the bus to Puyuhuapi that went at 8.30 this morning, so stuck here another night. We eventually track down a bus company leaving town tomorrow, and get booked up.

Meet Aaron by chance in town - she had a nightmare arrival in town, though thankfully got a cheap hotel room for the night. We meet for lunch, though the 'nice looking' place we go to seems to have run out of the first few choices of dish.

The blog continues to be out of date, so a lot of the afternoon is spent typing, and desperately trying to be humourous. Well, at least I got the facts in there.

Nothing else interesting done today and neither of us looking forward to a night in the grotty hostel, though we do spend some time in the uninviting, but warm, lounge - watching Los Simpsons, in Spanish.

Heading to Puyuhuapi tomorrow...

to be continued on next thread...