Travelling in Argentina, Chile & Uruguay

Riding the ferry that links Chile's mainland with the Great Island of Chiloe

is just an amazing experience. However, if it's raining when you do so, the journey becomes a religious experience. Raindrops altering the crystalline peacefulness of the Pacific Ocean emerald waters, prepare the scenario for a

brilliant spectacle of sea wolves swimming by the edge of the ship, along them, an underwater forest of yellowish seaweeds that simulate an endless mermaid hair, provide the finishing touches of a mind blowing picturesque experience.

Ancud bay is our port of arrival. The landscape there resembles to nothing I've ever seen in South America , and I have travelled a lot.

It's just a "bit like England" within the "New World". Yes, one thing in
common to Chiloe, is English weather of Chiloe. Its much like being at home,
I lived in the UK and getting there made me feel a bit home sick ...... So I
feeling very much at home for the whole time I was staying on the Island,
full of fields and cows grazing, land worked for the hay, small pkots with
very green hedges......

So one can say that Chiloe is famous, however, for a few more things that
you don't have in England, the food, the people, the wooden churches, small
villages plenty pf villages across the island.

Ancud is a gorgeous bay where the social spot par excellence is the Port,
the place where local people work, gather for a drink or to chat and enjoy a
wonderful view, and specially the best place to eat some
of the local treats. As the evening began to cape the blue-gray sky the
rainy day had left us with, we sat at a table -that would soon become our
regular table- to enjoy a treat of local fish and a wonderful Chilean White
wine.

As the evening went on, the sky mutated into a deep bluish black lightened
by millions of bright stars and a full moon casting its light over the port
area turned those deep waters silver. We headed back to our hotel, the day
was exhausting and we wanted to enjoy the early morning light for our day
tour.

The next morning, under a fine rain we woke up and got ready to go and visit

the Island's lighthouse. Christened Faro Corona -Crown Lighthouse-, this
construction is some 2 hours car drive from the center of the city. The ride

is just as amazing as the lighthouse itself. It's amazing how gorgeous the
scenario is in this island. I just can't seem to get over its surprising
beauty.

After a couple of days of total relaxation and nature bonding in Ancud, we
leave this heavenly town for another gorgeous location: Castro.

Castro is not only a small very interesting city but also the Island's
capital. Along the Bay front there are famous local constructions are made
atop "palafitos" (pillars), which is a very interesting way to live and work
together with the constant tide movement, which if not addressed properly
would make life very complicated with constant floods.

Walking throughout Castro makes me recall upon my days -back in the 60s- in
Guyana where I used to live at the time it has a Welsh feel to it, may be
because of the intense green hills and constant rain which might make them
share a similar magic.

Without a doubt I find Castro to be a wonderful lost in time spot. I'm
enjoying already its treats.

There's an amazing way in which Castro has managed to blend the old and the
new, its traditions and spectacular insular architecture with the edgy
proposal of the Museum of Modern Art located in Castro's municipal park add
an extra flavor to this gorgeous town of multicolor houses atop wooden
pillars, wonderful Jesuit churches and spectacular cuisine.

Talking of which, our night out in town was a total success: we enjoyed a
superbly well prepared Pisco Sour, the national drink of Chile, with our
treats of Seafood: Abalones with Mayonnaise (Locos con Mayo) which is one of

Chile's national dishes, and it's done with exceptional quality and
expertise and fried Congrio- Conger Eel fish, also a local delicatessen.

During our stay in Castro we enjoyed daily great treats of the Chilean and
Insular cuisine, specially their traditional seafood dishes which we adored.

The days to follow will find us in Gorgeous Chonchi. Like all our previous
stops, this location has that fisherman-peasant insular feel to the town,
atop with an extra flair added because of the intense mapuche culture
influence.

Our visit to the national Park of and the Pacific coast was very special,
the icing of the cake was the outstanding sunset we got to enjoy at the
peer: The ocean was gorgeously decorated with many Salmon Fishing boats of
the local fishermen as the sun hid we chose to enjoy a portside dinner in
our favorite table, with our favorite drink: Pisco sour and try one of the
local specialties: sea soup, which is a rich fish and seafood dish.

Following the southern stretch of the Pan American route #5 Chonchi is a
truly must. Nice and quiet, Chonchi is the main gate to the great lake area
which we happily explored and discovered to be outstanding.

Queilen was our briefest stop, we only spent a day of
Sightseeing the beaches and bay and peacefulness walking along its beaches
for hours and hours,
visiting it's cute and small and rather not interesting lighthouse but
enjoying some time alone with the silence of Nature's beauties.

Quellon, via Chonchi, was our last stop before returning to Chilean
mainland. an immense Salmon fishing port though a tiny town, very
picturesque and nice. An important port that also servers as an entrance or
exit to the Island and a door to the extreme south Patagonia of
Chile......... I will as time permits carry on giving suggestions and ideas
to some of the places I visited or have heard about as time permits me. As
my conclusion for this Big Island of Chiloe, is a place to get back to and
enjoy before the said progress of prosperity arrives...... Cheers to you all
and I hope I have been of some help, Bob Frassinetti. Buenos Aires,
Argentina.

Chile.

Santiago de Chile is the capital city of the narrow and elongated southern country limiting with Argentina to the East, crossing the imponent Andes Mountains, and Peru and Bolivia to the North… to the West, the everlasting emerald colored Pacific Ocean.

This capital, very much alike Buenos Aires and Montevideo, is a cosmopolitan metropolis of crossed influences featuring a strong modern style at the time it blends the influence of millenary indigenous cultures. Under that first impression European feel, Santiago is very much part of Latin America in its culture, social standards and way of life.

The busy area of the Plaza de Armas, downtown Santiago featuring yuppies, working men and women in expensive designers’ suits, cellular talking people rushing from one place to the other, contrasts with Santiago’s most important marketplace: Bio Bio.

While first impressions are very important, we feel that in order to truly grasp the feel of Santiango one needs to go under the skin of those first impressions to find the substance of the being Chilean.

Following the route of marchants, dealers and collectors we tend to enter a world of amusing cultural contradictions where the old becomes antique, and a dirty warehouse becomes the place you’ve been dreaming on in your way up to Chile. Bio Bio is known as the Persian market of Santiago, for it shares the main concept of those Middle Eastern markets where you can buy and sell almost everything, where bargaining the prices is a must in order to establish a good negotiation and end up with the item you want, and also, where the local culture is more vivid and lively. At the Bio Bio market traditional local food and drinks blend together with original 18th century antique furniture, collectible china memorabilia of all kinds and brilliant antique toys. The sounds of modern Chile merge together with traditional string quartets at the time a passerby salesman offers you to follow him to the best stand of the fair.

Bio Bio is not tidy, it’s not neat, it’s not gringo suited tailored to portray a strange conception of the “authentic Chilean”. Bio Bio is authentically Chilean, messy, noisy, filled with new and interesting smells, chaotic and absolutely brilliant. It’s a place where locals and visitors who want more truly get in touch with the Chilean culture, and of course it is by far the best place to hunt down one of a kind collectibles and rare antiques.

The Persian, as locals refer to it, is located in the outskirts of Santiago, in what used to be the Slaughterhouse area, out of use for over three decades. Easily accessed by using the extraordinary Metro –subway- system, this market opens Saturdays at 10 AM.

Originally set back in the early 30s when the world was undergoing a terrible economical crisis, the Market was a way thru which most locals could find some extra cash by selling some of the family’s relics… back then the Franklin neighborhood where the Persian stands today was undergoing an era of splendorous work and profits, thanks to the input of Chilean leathers and meats to the World’s Market. But tables changed only three decades later when that particular industry dropped dramatically and went practically out of use. By 1979 the former Slaughterhouse neighborhood was abandoned, and the area began to change into a Persian neighborhood where not only the Market is the place perfectly suited to find extraordinary bargains, but also the surrounding houses, shops and warehouses.

The terrible economic crisis of 1982 was the final addition in this neighborhood’s transformation.

Today the market is constantly expanding around the area and the related shops from food and beverages to music and cultural shows make of this a must do activity when trying to discover the beauties and treasures of Santiago.

Bob Frassinetti, Buenos Aires, Argentina