-
Puerto Varas (Chile): a charming little town
Remember, in the previous episode, I asked the owner of my hotel in Puerto Montt which were the best cities to spend the New Year (apart from Valparaiso & Co.), the answer was clear: Puerto Varas. She told me about Valdivia, Pucon, among others… but Puerto Varas remains her favorite This lady was absolutely right, check it out !!!! Part 1: Travel Diaries Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diaries Day 1 : The photo above is simply (part of) the great view we have from the Llanquihue lake in Puerto Varas, on the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes. Am I in Japan, the Philippines or what? The view is…
-
Budget Round the World Tour (1/3): How to save money?
How much money is needed for a world tour? How do I set money aside for a trip? I tell you everything in this first part of a series of 3 articles Part 1: Before the round-the-world tour How to put the money aside? Already, we are lucky enough to have jobs with responsibility and the Parisian salaries that go with it. During our 10-year career, we put our money aside to buy an apartment in Paris. Finally, we preferred to give up this project to travel, but we will talk about the dream of an apartment a little later. One year before the round-the-world trip, we put even more…
-
Puerto Montt & Castro on the island of Chiloé (Chile): a Christmas like no other
From Bariloche, we take a 5-6h bus to Puerto Montt (500$AR/person), one of the most important transportation hubs in Chile. So important that there is a screen (like at the airport) with the bus departures and their location Day 1: Puerto Montt After 3 weeks of deserted streets in Patagonia, it is a bit of a shock to see so many people in the streets, hence a false impression of insecurity in Puerto Montt We could have taken a bus to go directly to Castro, but we really have a lot of time to waste so why not spend a night here, just to learn about the city and the…
-
Castro (Chile): earthquake, tsunami warning on Christmas Day
We are on December 24th, at the water’s edge, in a super picturesque stilts hut near Castro (Chiloé Island) In the middle of the evening, JB tells me that we hear waves, it’s completely abnormal. We have been here for 4 days and this is the first time we hear some. JB thinks of a big boat passing by, I think directly of a tsunami. A small check on Twitter tells us that a very small earthquake has just taken place 30 minutes ago super far from here and that no tsunami warning has been given. JB blames me for being paranoid since our two earthquakes in Burma & New…
-
Chile (South America): Second Impression – Puerto Montt
After fleeing Chile like thieves because their Spanish was too hard to understand, we are back after 3 weeks of youth hostels in Argentina where we spoke more English than Spanish.Too accustomed to the deserted streets of Patagonia, finding civilization in Puerto Montt seemed a little strange to us.Well, now it’s time to put our Spanish to the test in Chile and see the progress (or lack thereof).JB reserves a hospedaje (guest house). Who says “guest house” says “nobody speaks English here”.The owner is really nice but she doesn’t speak English at all. However, she seems to want to talk with us. Let’s go for it! I try to ask…
-
The inconveniences encountered during the trip
The trip is certainly fabulous, but there are, and this is normal, moments when you don’t see life in pink anymore, when you don’t enjoy your trip as much because of some inconveniences. It’s something rather guilt-ridden that travelers talk about very little, for fear of being judged. And when it happens to world travelers, the guilt is multiplied by 10 because we are privileged. “You travel the world for a year and you complain, unbelievable” I found it best to share this feeling with other travelers, because everyone has been there. And when you are warned that slack can occur, you will be better prepared and react more positively…
-
San Martin de los Andes: ruta de los siete lagos (3/3)
From Villa Traful, we arrive at the end of the afternoon in San Martin de los Andes, a nice little village. It is also the beginning or the end of the road of the 7 lakes (it depends in which direction we drive). If the village is very crowded in winter for its ski resorts, in summer, it is taken by storm for the road of the 7 lakes or the hikes. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Almost all the signs in the city are made of wood like this: We are staying at Cabañas Duplex del Chapelco (600AR/night, link Agoda). We are entitled…
-
Villa Traful (Argentina): ruta de los siete lagos (2/3)
We continue the 7 Lakes Road from Villa la Agostura to Villa Traful. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary The first part of the road to Villa Traful is paved, with many viewpoints (mirador) on the different lakes crossed. We visit them at the same time as the tourist buses, which enables us to locate the miradores and visit them just after their departure. A sign clearly indicates where we are and the distance to go before the next watchtower. A lot of people take pictures of these signs (including me) to better organize their pictures after… because… uh… how can I say… the 7…
-
Review of our first 6 months of World Tour
We left on June 6, 2016, direction South Africa. 6 months later, we arrived for the first time in South America Here is the balance sheet of the first 6 months The trip 15 countries visited Round the world tickets: South Africa – Qatar – India Dry flights: Nepal – Thailand – Burma – Vietnam – China (Hong Kong & Macau only) – Philippines – Indonesia Round-the-world tickets: Singapore – Malaysia – New Zealand – France (French Polynesia) – Chile (Easter Island + Santiago) Among these 15 countries/areas, only Vietnam is the one we have already visited Average time spent in each city: 2.5 days 2 countries that werenot initially…
-
Villa La Agostura (Argentina): ruta de los siete lagos (1/3)
From Bariloche, we take the small road along the lake (limited between 60 and 80km/h) to go to Villa la Agosturawhere we booked a night. Villa la Agostura is the starting point or the end point of the road of the 7 lakes (ruta de los siete lagos). Lonely Planet ranks it among the 20 things to see in Argentina. Argentines don’t really understand why it takes up to 3 days to drive along this 72km road. “It’s just a beautiful road,” they tell us. But when we tell them that we really want to stop at each of the lakes, spend a night in Villa la Agostura, another one…
