Monday 13th February- Last full day in Buenos Aires and then home

Following breakfast we joined the Tourist Bus which makes about 20 stops around Buenos Aires where you can hop off and on. Actually compared to some tourist buses we have been on this one was quite comfortable with space for your legs, open to the sun upstairs and air conditioned down stairs.

 Street Graphiti

It arrived on schedule AT 10.32 just outside our hotel and then we spent the first hour upstairs but then it was getting quite hot and so we nipped downstairs and grabbed a couple of seats in the air conditioned section.

Headphones were offered and there were nine languages to choose from and the announcer provided some useful information as we went around town except that when he stopped talking on came the boring Tango music.

Perhaps because it was a sunny day and we had started from a better part of town we both agreed that BA looked much better than last time when we walked around except that there is still lots of rubbish lying around the place.

We got off the bus for a sandwich and then walked about a mile and half to join up with the bus again and we had to wait about 25 minutes as the first bus that came was full. In the meantime we had passed a Plaza with notices condemning the Brits over the Falkland Isles whilst the TV is also full of UK fighter jets being posted there!!!

Get your hands of Our Islands

Multi Dog walker

The journey continued around the Boca Juniors Football stadium and these guys are the favourite football team in the town and all houses and bars and shops were daubed and painted with the Boca colours of yellow and blue. For some reason the bus had to stop for about fifteen minutes but they did not inform anybody and the driver and his ticket collector friend just got of the bus and went in to the café whilst we all waited on board.

We got back to the Hotel around four pm after a pleasant day and Noel did the British Airways check-in procedures for our flights tomorrow and caught up on photos and blogs.

Tonight we had dinner with an ex business colleagues of Noel at a great meat restaurant and the steaks are so large that Jennifer and I shared a Sirloin and we stayed off the potatoes whilst our host  colleague chose as an excellent Malbec/Malbec wine. Why it’s called a Malbec/Malbec is that they use two different Malbec grapes, one from low down on the hillside and the other much higher up the hillside and this gives an extra good taste. The restaurant was right by the river side and we sat outside and it was great to catch up after these many years.

Tomorrow morning its packing suitcases for the last time and catch a taxi to the Airport to connect with our long BA 15 hour flight back to the cold and snow.

It’s been a fantastic trip, all the arrangement that were made worked except for those with a certain airline. We have tried several types of Hotel from small Boutique through to large chain hotels and also had some excellent wines and food.

The cruise on Seabourne was excellent, really excellent but rather pricey but would we do it again and thei the answer is defiantly, yes. We would like to have spent more time in Chile and also go to Peru but time and money soon run out.

So this will be the last entry for a little while although I may get around to giving a parting shot of comments if time permits.

Well its 11.45 pm in Buenos Aires and its still 28 degrees centigrade and restaurants are packed as the Argentinians don’t start visiting restaurants until at least 10 pm, a little bit like Spain.

So its goodbye from her indoors and goodbye from him the Blog writer

Sunday 12th February- From a Building site to Buenos Aires

Gosh did it rain overnight, and as the wind came up the Hotel was shaking and we had to close the window which made it a little bit warm and airless, however travelling in deepest Patagonia would always be interesting.

I did mention yesterday the challenges of travelling with Aerolinus Argentinus and their various flight schedules. Well our original flight booking to Buenos Aires from El Calafate was the AE 1693 due to leave at 12.40 and arrive at 16.40 but then I discovered following a recent experience to check the details again and so after looking at the web site where I found the same flight number on the same day going to the same place leaving at two different times we decided for safety sake, that we would use the earlier time of 11.30 rather than the 12.20 just in case.

So it was not too early this morning but we did have a disturbed sleep thinking that the Hotel or at least the roof would disappear down the road overnight but somehow it held on.

Usual breakfast and paid the bill and off to the airport and the line-up for check in was small, brilliant, and then we handed over the passports etc and the guy checked us in and gave us boarding passes and told us to purchase Airport tax but whilst on the way we noticed that the flight number and departure time on the boarding pass was completely different to any of the few we had found recently. We went back to check in desk and asked what is happening and the agent said it’s ok, we have put you on the direct flight to Buenos Aires at 13.05 and it will arrive roughly the same time as your other flight which needs to stop at Bariloche. So now we have to wait three hours in a brand new departures building which still has workmen drilling and banging and the road outride has still got oil drums and building equipment all over the place where you would normally disembark from your car. Oh the joys of travel. So our flight will be shorter and we will hopefully arrive at the same time.

Dust everywhere

Flying on domestic flight in Latin America is very different to the Uk and other major carriers. When leaving from London on BA they checked there was no hand baggage on the floor, even newspapers must be put away and you have to put all bags in the locker etc. Not here, people come on board with two handbags and a coat and they sit down as though on a bus and the announcement, says put everything in the overhead compartments and the stewards walk up and down, no doubt leering down the front of dresses etc, (actually that’s wrong as he looked almost asleep with his eyes keep closing during the safety announcement which he also did in a half-hearted manner and totally ignoring the lady clutching her two bags with a coat covering her seat belt?? When checking in do they ask how much hand luggage  do you have and what size is it, NO  absolutely no interest whatsoever, but they are happy to chat about the weather.

Normally I write this blog the same evening or the following morning so I won’t forget anything but as I have some time to kill I though why not start now. Jennifer had gone to do a little shopping and at the moment the pile drivers etc are going and then Jennifer came rushing back to say the check in area is filled with builder’s dust which almost obliterated everything in sight.

So Noel went off to investigate and there was thick dust everywhere and covering the passenger checking in???

We looked at the TV for flight info, and what could we see. See photo.

Anyway we finally boarded our new flight forty minutes late, somebody did tell me that a flight schedule is only an indication of what time it might depart, and that seems to be true.

Flight Information Board 

Forty minutes later the trolley dollies come around and ask how would you like you ham and cheese roll? So I ask do you have one that is perhaps two days old and the roll has absorbed all the dampness from the ham due to it being packed in tight plastic, Of course Senor we have plenty like this. Would you like a drink sir, yes please and if you have some luke warm water because there is no ice left, that would be fine!!!

We finally arrived at BA and the taxi driver was having a Chelsea badge and so we talked about football, I say talked more of mish mash of names and words.

We stayed at the Hilton tonight and using up points and then went for dinner along the waterfront whilst it was still early, not for us but the locals.

Tomorrow we will take a tour bus ride around the town.

Saturday 12th February- Another view of the Glacier

We had a late mooring rise as we have had too many early mornings lately and after breakfast caught the shuttle coach in to town to change some USD in to Peso’s and also a little shopping.

The only exchange place in town was closed until 6pm through to 8pm tonight, the nearest ATM had a sign saying not working and the other ATM had run out of money, but the good news is we got the bottle of water. So pretty much a wasted journey but the Hotel came to the rescue and did exchange USD$ 100.00 for us and that will tide us over nicely for time being.

The tour coach was again late at 14.15 (30 minutes late) but you get used to this and we were on our way to look at Moreno Glacier from above and the side and this entailed a bus ride of about ninety minutes. The weather was perfect again and we spent three hours up and down stairs visiting the various view points and really enjoying the views.

We left there about 7.30 pm and after doing the usual El Calafate Hotel tour we arrived back at our Hotel just before 9 pm, tired and hungry, but not wanting to eat a main course and so we both had a starter of Garlic prawns on Malbec bread, and the prawns were also cooked in onion bits, together with one glass of wine.

Writing this at 10.30 pm there is a gale blowing outside with lot’sa rain.

Finally when checking on flight departure times, did I mention the Aerolinus cock up website, which shows the same flight operating at completely different times and today there was another new flight time posted, about an hour later than originally shown. So We checked the Al Calafate Airport departure board on-line and it still shows the original timing of 11.30 and not 12.20 and so we will go to the airport nice and early just in case.

Tomorrow will no doubt be a boring day with almost a five hour flight time which includes an hours stop in Bariloche, seem to remember being there.

In the meantime our knees ache and Noel ankles have swollen with the stairs etc.

Finally, just to make matters worse Chelsea lost 2 nil to Everton whilst the ARGENTINIAN Hotel male receptionist is a Tottenham supporter and they won 5 goals to nil and did he look happy?

Friday 11th February- WOW and WOW Again

But first back to the Taxi driver from yesterday who informed us that the choices were his private car or a boat which takes seven hours and people fall asleep and it’s not really nice, well if I should meet him again a kick in the privates would be most appropriate for the following reasons.

Glacier Moreno

The coach was due to pick us up at 07.15 and we were ready after a quick breakfast and eventually at 07.40 the mini coach turned up and took us ten minutes to join and even bigger coach. We departed down the coast road of Largo Argentina, which is the largest lake in Argentina, and eventually after about half an hour we arrived at our destination. We had to buy ticket for the National Park at prices dependent on your country of origin, Brits and Americans paid most. Different boat trips and operators all depart from same place and we were pointed to ours called Quo Vadis, a really big ship which had been delivered to the lake by truck, which in itself would have been interesting.

Whisky with Glacier Ice

The ship had two main seating decks with viewing platforms at the top, back and sides and takes about 280 passengers. As were late arriving all the best window seats had gone and we sat in the middle  row and then a large tour group arrived making a hell of a noise and we thought they should most likely quieten soon, we hoped We were on the top passenger deck and a few minutes later there was an announcements , something about ‘Uppsala Club Class’ and they had spare seats at extra cost and so like a bloody rocket Noel went to investigate and quickly booked two seats at the very front of the boat in a a separate quiet cabin with great view, brilliant. What we had not realised that this price not only included all the coffee and tea you could drink, but Champagne and later large glasses of Whisky with Glacier Ice, see photo and sandwiches etc. No one at the travel agency told us about this at all, Oh well.

We visited several Glaciers and went through ice from glaciers which had melted and broken off and the ship got within 100 metres of the Glaciers which in some cases were over 150 metres tall (Moreno) and so impressive.

Words cannot express the magnificence of this area and to say we were almost speechless would be true and perhaps one of the most amazing trips we have ever completed. Only the photos can do it justice.

We arrived back at the Port at about 15.45 and then back to the Hotel after a good drive through the town as they dropped of people at different Hotels and as we were last to get off we saw a lot of El Calafate town. This town relies 90% on tourism and it shows, there is even a small Casino but it is not a pretty town.

We had a cup of tea outside looking over the Lake and the weather had changed totally in the day from grey and rain in the first hour and within three hours it was excellent sunshine and blue skies and warm.

We had dinner in the Hotel again and it was very good again

A really great and memorable day and we both think that this was the highlight of this complete five week tour, whilst tomorrow we take a different tour and see the Glaciers from a different perspective.

Thursday 9th February-An early morning

Well the alarm went off at around 06.20 which is just after midnight as far as we are concerned and far to early to raise one head.

Anyway we did and hit the shower and had our packaged breakfast as the main restaurant would not open until at least 08.30 and so we shared half a yoghurt and bit on some biccies. Not great but will do.

We departed for the Airport on time and our previous days recce paid off and we arrived some 35 minutes later and parked the hired car and walked in to the terminal which was pretty much empty apart from a couple of cleaners and one young lady behine the Airline check in desk.

No problem she said your seats are allocated but the flight is late…. Oh well and we went for a croissant in the café with a coffee and not bad really.

On the way to the Airport there are many double yellow lines in the centre of the road which I guess are the equivalent our double white but there is a slight difference in that a double white says do not cross or you will go to jail but in Argentina it means its ok to overtake and try to avoid oncoming traffic if you can, and this practise was very noticeable on the way to the airport. The flight departed 45 minutes late and was an old B737 with the old type of water flushing toilets, boy those were the days, but we arrived in El Calafate some one hour and forty minutes later and it was windy as the aircraft was all over the place.

They scan incoming hand carry here for some strange reason and if your check in cases are too big for the X-Ray machine then they wave you by, what this is all about I have no idea and I asked our driver and he said it’s a disaster when more than one flight arrives and nobody has been stopped anyway in the last few years???

The driver was supposed to advise on trips but seemed more inclined to sell us his own personal driver services at twice the price of an organised trip and so we told him we would call him which we did not.

The Hotel is on the side of yet another lake and the room overlooks the lake and although the room is warm, to open the window would mean that everything would leave the room with the strong winds, let’s hope the winds drop.

We took the Hotel shuttle in to town, well I say town but it is much more of a hick town really and with dogs everywhere as usual chasing cars and causing general havoc.

We had a light lunch and then found a travel agent who could fix our glacier visits at less than half the cost the driver wanted and then headed back to the Hotel for a quiet afternoon as we were both a little jaded after early morning.

We tried the Hotel restaurant tonight an both had the Patagonian Lamb stew which was really good indeed and of course washed down with water and and another red substance.

The trip tomorrow, would you believe leaves at 07.15 and just in time for a quick brekkie but we need to take lunchtime food as the boat we are on for some reason only sells drinks and not food and an eight day without food will not be good.

The wind is still blowing like crazy as I write this at 10.30 pm and we shall try to open the window to see what happens and if there is no blog tomorrow it means we are in the lake somewhere holding on to chairs and bed and perhaps two red suitcases.
No photos today… but hope to have some nice shots of the Glaciers tomorrow

Wednesday 8th February- A dusty drive around Bariloche

The sun was shining again this morning and the wind had dropped since yesterday and at 0900 the hire car was being delivered and so after breakfast the car was delivered. In the meantime I had emailed the Hotel in El Calafate to arrange a car to meet us at the airport upon our arrival and with no response, and then their web site was not responding and I was naturally getting a little nervous.  I decided to phone the Hotel but the lady who answered the phone her English was just as good as my Spanish. So I passed the matter to the current Hotel receptionist where we are staying to see if she could help and then left for drive around a couple of the seven lakes.

But first, more mundane things, Jennifer dropped the clothes that needed washing in to a local place and we would collect them later in the day and then we departed down the coast to the LLAO LLAO Hotel, pronounced ZHAO ZHAO.

It’s a big and very nice Hotel with a fantastic views but being so big it felt a little impersonal compared to our much smaller Hotel. A coffee outside on the veranda watching the boats arrive and leave the small port below we took off back around the lake and arrived at the Swiss Village which may look like a Swiss Village when it snows but I cannot say it really looks like a Swiss village at this moment. There was dust blowing everywhere and every time a car went along the road the dust blew in to the air and we were just about to leave and an enterprising young lady in a Swiss style national dress stopped and offered the menu of her restaurant. She said some words in Spanish which of course we did not understand and we told here we spoke English and so she changed to Pigeon English to explain that on the menu they have  Bif, Prk and Kitten. I think she means Chicken well at least I hope so, mind you there aren’t many cats around this place just a few dogs as usual.

We decided that this very dusty place was not for us although there quite a few tourists there and good luck to them. There is another issue that adds to the dust problems in that many roads are not surfaced and so when it is dry it is so dusty, your remember those photos of cars driving across the African desert with plumes of dust and this is exactly what it’s like. The Government should focus on this matter to reduce pollution and enable people’s health to improve as both Jen and I notice very much when breathing the dust in the air.

About ten minutes later we came across a little Café with the best view over the Lakes and distant mountains and so we had a snack there before continuing back to Bariloche and out the other side just to look where the Airport is as we don’t want any surprises when dropping the car back. Somebody had mentioned that the Airport is twenty minutes from our Hotel but after driving some of the route it really is about thirty five minutes away.

We returned to the room to finish some emails etc and both remarked on the sign in the large shower. There is a four inch white panel fixed to the wall with a bit of metal sticking out for about an inch with a label on ‘Don’t Press’ we have no idea what it is or does and what would happen if we pressed it on purpose or even accidentally. There is almost an overpowering urge to press it and say sorry it was a mistake. But more to the point what does it do??, perhaps we will never know.

The Hotel confirmed that Taxi arrangements were fixed at El Calafate and that the guy who meets us will help finalise the tour of the glaciers etc and so then we went to collect the washing and fill up the car with petrol and back for a rest in the sun and write blogs and do emails etc.

Dinner was questionable, do we stay in or go out or have room service is always a big question when you have been travelling for a while but in the end we decided to stay in and had a very nice meal ,and of course a glass of something and then waited for our meal to go down and then went back to the room for Noel to play the TV channels as they have Satellite connection with loads of programs and in the end we watched the end of ‘Doc Martin’ with Martin Clunes followed by the first part of ‘New Tricks’ instalment. This seems rather strange watching these programs from little old England deep down in Patagonia, no wonder the Presidents believes it is time to raise the 30th anniversary of the war for the Falkland Islands after watching these programmes.

Tomorrow morning is another early one with the alarm set for 06.40 to enable a 07.00 departure to connect with a 09.05 flight.

Tuesday 7th February- A day trip to down town

We awoke to a beautiful blue sky and overlooking the lake from our very nice room but did notice that it was a bit windy.

The Hotel phoned the travel agent who confirmed that Jennifer’s binoculars had arrived safely in Bariloche, thank heavans, and so we caught a cab to collect them and also have some time looking around the town. This whole area is driven to try and replicate the Swiss housing designs and it is everywhere with wooden houses and hotels and this is because there is a strong Swiss and German influence from immigrants many years ago. We walked through town and there are many shops selling chocolate, and these are large shops and one the side of Waitrose in Weybridge, just selling chocolate and ice cream. We found the Church and took some photos and then had a coffee and said let’s go to the Bank to exchange some Chilean money and USD to enable us to have enough Argentine cash for the rest of our holiday. The Bank was packed, and I mean really packed, and so we wandered around inside for about ten minutes looking for signs that may say exchange but no and then eventually what seemed like a very nice man asked if he could assist, I explained the matter and he said join this queue here which I did for about twenty five minutes and finally it was my turn. It is strange that you stand in queues and ahead of you are solid barriers 7 feet high and when you are called you go round the barriers to the desk where a very polite young man said, sorry we don’t do exchange in this bank and after enrolling several of his colleagues he explained that I should go four blocks down the road and there would be an exchange office. And so after about thirty five minutes in the Bank and a waste of time we headed down the road and eventually found the exchange place and it was empty and so in a few minutes the money transaction was complete.

For lunch we found a very busy typical small café where we ordered Empanadas (a bit like a Cornish pasty only smaller) whilst watching the TV which was showing Liverpool vs Tottenham on repeat..

We returned to the chocolate shop and had a brilliant ice cream and as the wind was now quite strong and the dust everywhere, particularly the remains of the Chilean Volcano dust which obliterated much of this town just over a year ago.

Back in the Hotel by mid-afternoon and Noel checked on flight departure times as it would appear that Aerolineas Argentinas has changed all the flight departure and arrival times of our flights  since we booked them with no notification whatsoever and so our 10.15 flight tomorrow is now leaving at 0905, damn that means another early morning.

The internet at the Hotel has slowed with technical problems, oh dear here we again.

For dinner we decided to use the Hotel restaurant again as its good food and near at hand and easy to get back to the room without taxis. Tomorrow we hire a car for the day and tour around the area.

In our earlier visit to Argentina and in the last few days I have spoken about what the locals thinks of the Falkland Island issue and all have said it’s a ploy to divert attention away from the real problems at home. Others have said if the lady in charge cannot control Argentina why should she get worried about a few small island and most Argentinian don’t care where the island are British or another nationality and where are they anyway.

Monday 6th February- Next stage of the Andes crossing.

Bags at the door by 0815 please and scrambled egg like you have never seen before and so back to toast and ham and cheese for breakfast.

At 0915 the coach arrived, a strange looking animal from Mercedes, engine perhaps only, it was short and the seats had no head rests and it was a four wheel drive coach complete with tyre chains for the time the snows arrive.

We go on the bus and were driven 100 metres and told to get off as we were at the Chilean Immigration office, we could have walked that. And so we filed one by one in strict order of the list for the immigration man to check all papers and put stamps in the passports.

A dejected Jennifer

After about thirty minutes we were ready to leave again and this time we went down roads where no private cars are allowed in the direction of Argentina and we climbed steep tracks with the back wheels’ spinning with nice long drops down a few hundred feet about five inches away from the back wheels at about 30 mph, quite exhilarating really and then  we came after an hour of bumpy roads to the Argentine border and again we had to wait for immigration as the boat coming from Bariloche had arrived and there were about 40 passengers all in a line for the one immigration officer. Our lot of 14 passengers tagged on the end and about one hour later we were ready get on board the catamaran.

The boat left and after about twenty minutes Jen realised that she had left her excellent binoculars on the coach which was now heading back to Chile. Damn and blast as they are really good glasses. Anyway we thought we would ask the courier if he could do anything and he said he would try but communication is by short wave radio and in the hills you must realise that this can be difficult. In addition another passenger on the coach might decide to keep them. Oh well looks like an insurance claim.

The boat, this time was from Puerto Frias on Lago Frias and the journey through the high mountains reminded us of the fjords in New Zealand and thank heavens the weather had improved compared to yesterday where it was grey and very misty and today the sun was out, bloody brilliant.

We arrived at Puerto Alegro where boarded another coach for the fifteen minute journey to Puerto Blest where we had to wait for several hours and so we had lunch in the only Hotel there , not too cheap and and sort of OK.

Finally we were called to re-join the boat for about another ten minute trip to see some more falls on the otgher side of the Lake and if you feel like walking up the 700 steps to the top, Jen did but Noel chickened out with knee worries.

Finally we were on the last leg of the journey in brilliant sunshine and although everything was great Jennifer was depressed about losing her binoculars and also cross at her self at the same time for allowing it to happen. Cheering her up was not an easy task as suddenly a couple of condors appeared on the scene and no glasses to see them properly.

About twenty minutes before we finally arrived at the final port of disembarkation the courier arrived with the news that the binoculars had been located and by a series of people they would/should arrive in their office in down town Bariloche by about 9.15 tonight, relief all round.

The driver from the Hotel was there to meet us and earlier in the year I had compared the two main good hotels in town and had chosen the smaller one of the two and so we arrived and were well greeted with a free bottle of Chardonnay or Malbec, if you wish, and agreed some slight changes to the room and so now we have a large bath overlooking the bay, a sauna and steam shower all in the room so we should now be able to get clean.

We are staying at the Charming Hotel (http://www.charming-bariloche.com/en/tarifas.php)  with a great view over Lago Naheul Huapi and the Andes mountains in the distance.

We tested the bottle of white and then had dinner overlooking the bay and watched the sun come down before retiring. Tomorrow we have to go in to Bariloche and hopefully collect Jens binoculars.


Reminder that all photos from this trip are on
http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5431753

Sunday 5th February- Up and over the Andes Mountain range

We have all heard of the film ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ (which incidentally was showing on Santiago TV the night before we left) but maybe you have not heard of four coaches and three boats to cross the Andes. Good friends of ours did this last year and recommended it to us.

Chilean Granny Toilet issue rip off merchants

So at 08.00 prompt the tour coach turned up to meet us at the Hotel and took our bags away with airline tags, good so far, and then we did a tour of several other local hotels where we collected additional passengers and then off we went and the first stop was to see the very nice Petrohue Falls. It is only a short walk from the coach about 600 metres to the Falls and back and we were informed that if we needed the Loo we should arrange it here as it would be about another hour to the port to meet the first boat.

Dutifully we all went up to the toilet block where two elderly ladies sat outside with a table with a large roll of loo paper on it and also stacks of pre torn sheets which they were passing out and most people including us sighed and said how much?. So we bought two packs to be safe and when the work had been completed we both found next to the washing bowls area a large machine dispensing loo paper by the ton free of charge. Talk about granny rip off merchants and being scammed by two old ladies bugged me for the rest of the day.

However we left the falls and eventually arrived at the small port on the Lago Todos Los Santos (Emerald Lake) where several other coaches appeared and so there was about a hundred people on board. The couriers and organisation were first class.

The Lake crossing was for about 20 miles and took just over an hour and half before we would arrive at Puella where we were due to stay the night. During the boat trip there were several announcements about our route and other information including the facts that Puella is a small town of two Hotels, one of which is closed and this happened to be the one we booked at, and about 150 people live around the area. We also learnt from one of the guides that Bariloche Airport is also still closed from the effects of Volcano dust and so with the news of no hote and no flight we thought that this is a great start.

Around the lake there are many expensive houses and quite isolated and so the boat we wer on collected the kids on a Monday morning and took them to Puerto Varas and then brought them back on a Friday night.

The Hotel we booked

It turned out that we had been rebooked at the other Hotel which actually was much better than the one we booked. Most of the people on the boat were on days trips or continuing their journey that afternoon through to Argentina but we stayed the night along with about 10 other couples in a Hotel with about 150 rooms.

We had a good lunch there as there is not much to do in this area unless you like horseback riding and/or a zip wire experience and then we rested a while and finally went for a long walk down to the quay where we took some photos and Jen some bird watching.

The hotel had wifi and so I asked for the code and man at the reception proudly gave me a piece of paper with the code on, great and about half an hour later I tried to connect but no luck I kept on trying and eventually went back to the reception and explained the problem and he said the wifi has been down for a couple of days. I thought that perhaps he might have told me that before he handed over the password etc…Oh well thanks Manuel.

We returned to the Hotel and decided on a early night and as we had eaten well at lunchtime, in fact too much, the quiche Lorraine looked like a car crash and was loaded with all types of vegetables,  A French Chef would have been shocked to see this.

For comfort we decided to put on our jammies and sit up in bed and watch TV and at about 9.30 pm the phone went and after a little confusion it turned out to be the restaurant saying where were we? as they have been waiting to serve us since 8 pm, oh well here we go again.

It is jolly quiet here in the middle of nowhere.

Saturday 4th February- Puerto Varas has some life

Writing this blog can sometimes be a challenge either because the lighting in the room is not so great, like tonight, or that too many glasses of wine have passed the lips, like tonight, or that we have done such a lot and seen such a lot that you cannot remember it all, like tonight.

An easy morning with a light breakfast before leaving the Hotel for the airport where they say domestic check is one hour before departure and so to the airport takes about thirty minutes. Looking out of our 18^th floor room at 9.30 am there was little, if any, traffic on the roads and so where is everybody ?, wait and you will see.

The driver called Ayrton Senna speeds us to the airport in twenty minutes and because we are foreign people he deposits us in the international departures section and we say we want Domestic and he says down there. So we arrive and there are thousands of people everywhere each, it seems with fifty bags each or thereabouts it seems. I ask a young LAN lady where to check in as there is chaos around us reminding me of my first check at at Mumbai (Bombay) Airport and she says use the automatic check in desk. So I go toe the machine which give me four airlines to choose from and so I choose LAN and then follow some graphics which initially I do not comprehend and some words in Spanish where I have even less chance. The graphics indicate that I should put my passport for scanning and that I will receive our boarding passes poste haste and so the machinery turns and after four minutes or so it delivers three lines with lots of Spanish words which means from my best knowledge of the language ‘clear off’ you have it wrong.

So now I approach a LAN passenger services desk and she says go to check in desks  62 and 63 which we do and each person checking in seems to have a problem and so the fact that we were early at the airport is now fast disappearing out the window.

Finally we are last but one in the queue and then one of the check in girls suddenly disappears under the check in desk after putting up a ‘desk closed’ sign. We cannot understand where she has gone and now both desks are closed!!! What to do as so many people are checking in at the physically disabled desk and they look bloody fit to me.

Suddenly the first lady appears again from below her desk and she has been eating her mid-morning snack and is now ready to work again, phew.

Finally we arrive at the check in and she enters stuff in to the computer and then issues boarding passes and then she look at the printed flight confirmations again and tears up the boarding passes and then after another few minutes of data entry issues us with new boarding passes.

We leave for the gate and sit there for about twenty minutes and then suddenly everybody gets up and leaves??? And a young lady asks us if we are going to Puerto Montt and we say yes, and she says gate has changed.

We finally board the plane at the very back and we think many people have not flown before as many are taking photos and then later in the flight when we start descending we hit a bit of cloud turbulence and the plane drops and a number of of people start screaming, wow this is great.

The taxi meets us and takes us to the Hotel in Puerto Varas and we are given a nice room overlooking the lake but are starving and the restaurant is happy to help us out with two salads and now we can concentrate on the rest of the day.

We walk in to town which appears to be very nice and then come across a special party day where there are hundreds of people who have contributed to a cake competition and there are beer drinking competitions taking place and then dancing competitions, people are having a great time.

We continue our walk around this interesting town and happen upon an ice cream shop where we indulge with a single scoop each and then continue our walking and look at the family’s on the beach with dogs, yes more dogs, sleeping the day away and then on heading home we come across a drum band which sounded a little monotonous after a while but we persevered

Back to the Hotel which is very nice except for the large lump of broken glass which Noel nearly put his knee on and missed it by two inches, that would have been a big ouch!! And even bigger insurance claim.

We had dinner in the Hotel and it was very good indeed and the shrimps and crab and skate and salmon were all excellent.

Then back to the room for blogging and finishing photos but the internet connection is intermittent and also slow.

Tomorrow is an early morning as we go across the Lakes and use buses to cross the magnificent Andes Mountains.

Friday 3rd February- Santiago- a really nice City and we shall be back

After a good night’s sleep and a late’ish breakfast in the club lounge we went to purchase our tickets for the red double decker bus ‘hop on and hop off’ bus which does a great job of leaving you at the most important places.

After due thought we decided to do the complete round trip of two hours to see really where it went and then we would go round again and get off where we thought best. After doing the round trip we panned our first stop would leave us outside the National fine arts museum and although Jen and I are not madly keen on museums and as the bus ticket allowed free entrance we went in. It was quite an excellent building built in the early 20^th century with lots of little rooms and the guy at the door looked at my camera and said no photos. Some of the display items where made out of different types of stone and then there were a couple of modern art exhibits which left me a little cold. Two bits of wood hanging in the air with the sound of a trumpet going off every minute or so!!!

Thirty minutes later and I had taken a few photos when the security guard was missing we left the building and headed towards the main part of town, we could have used the tourist bus but we wanted to look in the shops etc and also as it was close to 2pm we were getting a little peckish. We said we would look for a European styles restaurant and get a sandwich and then we did the complete opposite and then went in to a packed local Chilean style restaurant which had almost the largest choice of food imaginable. It took about fifteen minutes to digest the contents of the menu large book and then we ordered. Jennifer had the Peruvian chicken and Noel basically shrimps and rice, but they also served chips which seem to be normal here to serve chips with everything.

As mentioned this place was packed and not a large building but with an open kitchen there must have been about twenty staff. The food was very good and no other tourists in sight.

We continued walking and then came to the Plaza De Armas surrounded by some old buildings perhaps mostly government where there were lots of people just hanging around and kids playing in the fountains. Another local pointed at my camera and said watch for pick pockets. From there we continued our walking down to the Mercado Central which is a British design and built in the UK and shipped across and it was assembled during 1872 when President Errazuriz Zanarto decided it should be the new local market and not the art gallery that it was intended to be  and so now it is full mostly of fish suppliers and restaurants where the tourists were amassing. By this time it was around four pm and also very hot, we think around 31 centigrade and so we had enough and jumped back on the bus. A stop or two later two other couples joined the bus and sat behind us, apparently they did not know each other, but somehow they both realised they were both from the UK with one couple from Halifax and the other from Chester and they were both going on cruises leaving tomorrow on the same route and they talked so much about where they had been and where they were going and what sort of cabin they had that Jennifer and I could not hear the very interesting commentary being given about the Cityand no doubt they did not hear a thing, but they had been to Santiago and had lunch in the market!

We got back to the Hotel just before six pm and gave up on the idea for a swim as we both needed a shower and a little rest. We were not sure whether to snack it in the Club lounge or go out but when we saw the snacks were the same as last nights the thought of ‘Tony Roma’s ‘came rushing back and soon we were at a table testing some Merlot and watching the people walk by whist Jennifer demolished her New York steak and Noel the short ribs and both were excellent.

We left the restaurant and sat for about an hour people watching and then headed back to the Hotel where we needed to scan our passports and send to the tour agent that is arranging our trip from Puerto Varas in Chile to Bariloche Saint Carlos in Argentina and they needed these photocopies of our passport due to changing regulations. Perhaps they want to capture us to exchange for Prince William in the Falklands, anyway we shall see what happens now the relations between UK and Argentina are almost at an all-time low and so know I will start wearing my cap with the OZ Kangaroo badge on it and hope they don’t think that we are Brits…

Tomorrow we fly down to Puerto Montt and then by Taxi to Puerto Varas

  

Thursday 2nd February- It’s Santiago

Not a good night’s sleep for same reasons as yesterday but without the earthquake, Silence may be golden buts it’s difficult to sleep when you are used to air-con noise etc.

Vivien picked us up at 0800, god we hate these early mornings, and by car we drove to Santiago and en-route we were given info about the various places and where you can grow vineyards and where you cannot.

When Noel was last here on business, about seven years ago, they were planning a long tunnel under the river which runs through the centre of town, the alternative was a overpass which everybody objected to, and so they blocked up the river and diverted it, then dug up the base and constructed a tunnel and then finally covered it all over again and then allowed the river back on its original course. So now we drove in this tunnel for about three miles under the river and finally to surface near our Hotel.

We arrived at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, points from previous stays over the years have paid for this, and it’s a nice hotel if not a little old by modern day’s standards.

We have a club room on the 18^th floor overlooking downtown Santiago and with the foothills of the Andes in the foreground.

We understood there is a shopping mall nearby and so we headed down there to take a look, boy what a mall this is, its huge with hundreds of shops and restaurants and so we had lunch in a popular café of pita bread with a grilled chicken filling and watched the pretty office girls walk by and listen to a small group singing songs whilst sitting in the sun at about 29 degrees centigrade, it can’t get much better than this.

We returned to the hotel after finding out about the get on/off tour bus which does a two hour trip around the main sites and then settled by the super large pool for a couple of hours with the plan to go to Tony Roma’s ribs restaurant for dinner.

As we are in the Club rooms we are entitled to join the evening 5 till 8pm free snacks and drinks which we did and after a few Chardonnays and Jennifer some merlot and snacks of smoked salmon, sushi and Spanish ham we decided we would pig ourselves out here and forget the restaurant and have a night in the hotel room as this one is large, has a nice seating area and magnificent views.

So it was a book reading time for Jennifer whilst Noel worked on updating the Blog and photos.

Let’s hope we sleep well tonight.

  

Wednesday 1st February- More Valparaiso

We had hoped that the first night in a hotel with the bed not moving might encourage a good night’s sleep except that it did not work out that way.

After the very poor dinner the night before we were ready for bed and although we are not far from the main town this place is so quiet you can hear a pin drop or a dog bark. The lack of air conditioning was not so much a problem but the lack of noise was, and with the occasional dogs having a midnight chat all was deathly quiet to the point that we could not sleep as we are not used to such quiet times.

At about 0200 hrsin the morning. there was a minor earthquake which Jennifer slept through, it did not last long, I guess about 5/10 seconds but had it lasted longer then I would have woken Jen and then get out of the building but in the end this was not necessary. The building was shaking and making worrying noises  So not a great night’s sleep.

In the morning after a late breakfast Jennifer read her book on the balcony with the great view and Noel did photos, email and made taxi arrangements for later in the trip as there is nothing worse than arriving at an unknown airport and looking for a taxi.

In the early afternoon we headed down town, which was a little difficult as there are major, and I mean major, road works taking place all over the area where we are staying and the roads are either complete but mostly big holes and lots of earth with the occasional road partly finished with well laid stones waiting for the concrete.

To get down to town we took a funicular which had been built in Valparaiso in 1886, so a little old, and still going strong apart from the holes in the floor and a shaky ride all for 50 pence each way.

We had a lunch in a small café bar and then walked for several hours around the old town looking at the food shops and a market area selling meats and vegetables and then ended up late in the afternoon at a tea house where we had a nice cup of Whittards English breakfast LEAF tea, excellent.

As usual there are dogs lying all ovcer the place and mostly fast asleep, a little bit like the cows in India which hacve the run of the place

Walking back uphill again after another ride on the funicular was hard work on unfinished roads but we expect in another year the finished and to be excellent. Very few cars frequent this area as roads are too narrow and steep and so after a lot of panting and high heart beats we made it back to the Hotel and collapsed on the bed to recover.

For dinner we took the easy route and walked about 200 yards through upturned roads to a Pizza place which was very good and two pizzas with some nice Chilean Merlot went down a treat. We met a couple of Americans in the restaurant and chatted to them for a while, he had lived in Santiago for a time some years ago and does not like the place, oh well let’s see.

Tuesday 31st January- A tale of two Cities

We had to be out of the cabin by 0800 and so we had an early breakfast and then headed to the lounge to wait to be called for disembarkation.

For those of you who read our Blog about the disembarkation process of our NCL cruise to New York this was like chalk and cheese and so very well organised. We were due to disembark at 09.30 but already at 09.15 they called our baggage tag colour and so off we went and ten minutes later after customs and immigration we were ready to leave the Port about twenty minutes earlier than I had ordered the taxi to meet us.

The view from our Hotel

The taxi driver turned out to be a young French lad of around 30 who had lived in Valparaiso for several years and found a job running his own Tour company offering tours of all types. We arrived at the Hotel early and were lucky to get a room but it became clear that today the Hotel is very quiet. The Hotel is called

Boutique Hotel Acontraluz (www.hotelacontraluz.cl) which had been well recommended by Trip advisor. It certainly was different and quite lovely with an old world charm but amazing views over Valparaiso.

Almost British

We decided to ask Vivien, who hailed from Bordeaux, to give us a tour of Valparaiso and then to visit Vino Del Mar (the new part of town) and so he picked us up at about one pm  and off we went visiting lots of lovely places and some very old buildings some of which have a very strong British influence. The famous people in Chile are really not from here but two very important people who have statues and roads and squares named after them are a Mr O’Higgins and a certain Mr Pratt. After listening to the exploits of Mr Pratt we begin to think that’s where the expression came from’ a right Pratt’

After touring the town for about three hours he then took us to the new part of town called Vino del Mar and it is just like Benidorm or similar Spanish coastal towns where the tourist’s and holidaymakers in their masses visit and it’s got a McDonalds, a Starbucks and several other food chains and its where the Sheraton and several other international Hotels are, and there is a large Hyatt being built on the beach front. We did not like it all and after the drive through the town we did a drive back along the coastal road with is packed beaches and bars where you can rent tandems and horse drawn taxis, bloody awful place we thought although Vivian said that after the 1^st of March when the holiday period is over this whole area becomes quite deserted.

See what I mean-Benidorm

After a quick shower and change we went to dinner where Vivien had a friend who owned the place but quite frankly it was a bit of disaster. The restaurant had great views of the Valparaiso Container Yard, lots of Hapag Lloyds and Hamburg-Sud containers, and of course the port and also two funicular trams going up and down with paintings of the Madonna (without the boobs) on one and an religious painting on the other, as they are quite some years old perhaps the paintings add to the security?

The food was supposed to be seafood but the waitress did not have a clue how to serve and at the next table filled a wine glass for the guy to taste right to the brim of the glass, a bit like water. He looked quite dismayed but no doubt thought that as he had only ordered a single glass he did quite well.

Vivien apologised for the screw up and we were also disappointed but also after having such excellent food on board for the past two weeks we felt very let down. Watch out for a future Trip Advisor review.

The back to the Hotel and we hoped to sleep well with a bed that not moving and no air-conditioning noise.

Quite a day really, but most enjoyable apart from the restaurant visit.

Monday 30th January- Last full day at sea

The usual morning of relaxing and Jennifer deep in a good book from the Library which she needs to finish before were arrive in Valparaiso.

We went to down to the main restaurant where there was the only buffet main lunch on the trip and it was rather busy and we also felt that if we joined in that we would not be able to enjoy the final night’s dinner in the Colonnade which is Japanese style.

In the afternoon we joined a lecture on Valparaiso and Santiago given by an ex professor from the UK who must have been about 80 and with his photos of Valparaiso and Santiago of a similar age and showing Ford Cortina’s etc. He disparaged Valparaiso so much that I was having grave doubts about our stay there and perhaps we should change the location and Hotel but looking at the Hotel reviews and comments etc. I held firm.

The evening was great as the sun was shining and we were able to get a nice table outside where we enjoyed Tempura lobster and Teriyaki beef on rice supported by an excellent Italian wine in reasonable quantities. Earlier when Jen was reading her book Noel had packed his case and gone to the bar to wait for Jen but a little chasing was required and so Jennifer needed to pack her case after dinner and so Noel watched a Cohen brothers film.

It was a very nice evening after enjoying a really good cruise and the only downside was the weather for the last few days which did not give us the views of the Chilean fjords that we had hoped for, oh well just have to do it again.