Calling Dibs on the Window-side: Travelling in Chile

My travel in Chile was almost all comfort travel. There was no business of travelling in dilapidated buses juddering on bumpy roads or swerving tuktuks or the back of a truck or in goods trains or hiding in the bunker of an oil tanker (wut?). Public travel was extremely accessible, easy and available, with a fairly good frequency for a country that is so sparsely populated outside of the cities of Santiago and Valparaiso.

Window-side journeys

The intercity buses in Chile are a blessing. Supremely comfortable, right-on time and safe - the buses helped me savor the Chilean landscapes, as I sat by the large glass window-sides, beholding the marvel that the Chilean outback is. I would sometimes put on music, as massive mountains, huge swathes of barren deserts, grandiose volcanos, lakes with no horizons and rugged coasts would pass by.

It is these intercity buses, where I would experience some of my most overwhelming moments that time when I was woken up by the bright oblique sun throwing itself through the window, to discover we were driving through the middle of the Atacama desert - a geographical marvel I could never imagine the vastness of, outside of the low resolution pictures in my textbook.

Or the bus travel to Pucon, when I woke up to sight of the Volcán Villarrica, spewing smoke up in the sky, and I sat back, dumbfounded, getting to terms that it was real.

Or the journey between Santa Lucia and Coyhaique on the Carretera Austral, where the Patagonian landscapes kept bombarding me with a blitzkrieg of sights - large green expanses of green grasslands, with small brooks and the cutely-named Puentes (all the river bridges, even the puentitos, have names) over them, with the occasional wooden house and farm animals grazing around them, as vast clouds played games over massive snowy peaks in the background.

These were sights right out of calendars and screensavers, and they came aplenty in Patagonia, and as your mind struggles to believe and soak in one, Patagonia presents another.

Some more pictures taken from the window-sides

Ferrying through the Fjords

Ferrying was inevitable in the south, where the land routes dry up and we are at the mercy of water to let us travel. The first long ferry I took was was 3 hour ride from Hornopiren, a small town at the head of a fjord. My first vision of a fjord, I remember being stunned by how beautiful landscapes fjords present - valleys with snowy peaks and sea water together.

Hanging valleys, waterfalls from the peaks with river water meeting the ocean on one side and outlets on the other side - it was hard to believe I was right there, in the midst of these massive landscapes being carved since millions of years ago. 

The second ferry big I took was from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams, a long 32 hour journey beyond Southern Patagonia, around Tierra del Fuego. The greatest journey I have undertaken so far, the landscapes blew my mind (here, incase you are interested to read me rave more). I had thought with the landscapes on the Carretera Austral, Patagonia had peaked. Boy, was I wrong. The remotest of lands, with no settlements whatsover before our destination (and Ushuaia on the way), the most imposing of glaciers, the greenest national parks, the happy sea-diving sea lions and ducks, the wide-winged albatrosses above, the journey was no like no other. 

Cute airports

Well, I didn't want to. But I had to. And thanks to these unavoidable internal flights, I discovered the cute and uplifting small Chilean airports. From the Arica International Airport, which was covered by a tarpaulin shed, the Balmaceda airport which was a small patch in the middle of the vast steppe grasslands to Puerto Williams, all of which was a small room with a few seats, some photographs printed on paper for wall decoration and no need for boarding passes, flying in Chile was always a wholesome experience, as opposed to the stressful experience I am used to as an Indian.

Well, there's also a downside to being cute. The airports are at the mercy of mother nature and it's mood swings, especially in winters. Snowstorms and winds sweep Patagonia on whims and flights get cancelled and delayed every now and then.

Hacer dedos

Well, fellow tourists raved about how easy it was to get a lift through the Carretera Austral and how they themselves picked up hitchhikers on their way. Going in the zone with those expectations, I was a little disheartened. While I did end up getting a few free hikes, on most occasions, the day was saved by public buses after when I had spent quite some time on the road unsuccessfully trying the famous hacer dedo (lit. "thumb a lift. hitch-hike). I shall be more more patient and not take these rejections to my heart the next time!

Collectivos, taxis and micros

Well, transportation in Chilean cities is quite easy. Either the cities were too small that I could walk the distances or take collectivos or public buses and metro in bigger cities like Santiago and Valparaiso.