Up far too early, and off we go to turn in the rental car and board the aerotaxi to Chaiten. We arrive in Puerto Montt to find the Budget rental office closed, so off we go to the airport with no
real idea what to do with the car if that office is closed as well. Luckily, there was a very helpful guy behind the counter there that took care of everything for us, and after waiting an extra hour
for our plane, we boarded a 7 passenger Cessna for our flight across the big bay south of Puerto Montt. The flight was mostly smooth, but as we got closer to Chaiten it began to pitch wildly, and Dave hit his head on the ceiling a couple of times after particularly nasty batches of turbulence. Very exciting, but it is doubtful we'll ever go in for our small plane pilots license.
Regardless, we made it in to Chaiten, which should be featured next to the entry for "sleepy" in the Chilean edition of Websters. We were met at the airport by an ex-Vermont hippy named Nicholas that Carrie had emailed earlier. Lonely Planet describes him as the guy to go-to in Chaiten, a fact likely influenced by the fact there is no one else in the running. We told him that we were bound for Futa, and he told us that he thought he could get us out of Chaten the following day, but if not, we'd be stuck there until the buses were back on schedule on the 2nd.
Nicholas did take care of us, though, by finding a very interesting place to stay for the night and taking us (and a few other strays) out to the nearby hot springs that afternoon. He did, however, stop the car at several points to sing us a song that he had made up on the spot, or to serenade us with his 12 string chilean mandolin-thingy. All in all one of the most interesting characters we've ever met, but very knowledgeable about the area (but one of the last people I'd want to be sitting next to on a 12 hour plane flight).
for our plane, we boarded a 7 passenger Cessna for our flight across the big bay south of Puerto Montt. The flight was mostly smooth, but as we got closer to Chaiten it began to pitch wildly, and Dave hit his head on the ceiling a couple of times after particularly nasty batches of turbulence. Very exciting, but it is doubtful we'll ever go in for our small plane pilots license.Regardless, we made it in to Chaiten, which should be featured next to the entry for "sleepy" in the Chilean edition of Websters. We were met at the airport by an ex-Vermont hippy named Nicholas that Carrie had emailed earlier. Lonely Planet describes him as the guy to go-to in Chaiten, a fact likely influenced by the fact there is no one else in the running. We told him that we were bound for Futa, and he told us that he thought he could get us out of Chaten the following day, but if not, we'd be stuck there until the buses were back on schedule on the 2nd.
Nicholas did take care of us, though, by finding a very interesting place to stay for the night and taking us (and a few other strays) out to the nearby hot springs that afternoon. He did, however, stop the car at several points to sing us a song that he had made up on the spot, or to serenade us with his 12 string chilean mandolin-thingy. All in all one of the most interesting characters we've ever met, but very knowledgeable about the area (but one of the last people I'd want to be sitting next to on a 12 hour plane flight).
The hostal itself was very charming. It was eight-sided, and perhaps not very surprisingly was named "Hostal de Octagon." It featured a tree growing in the middle of the with a wrap-around staircase surrounded by river rocks and then hard wood floors.
We met a nice couple from Portland, Maine, and ended up making mac and cheese and playing hearts with them after discovering that the few restaurants and bars in town were all closed. We did make it to midnight at least, and enjoyed a few glasses of champagne with the fellow guests at the hostal. Pleasant to be sure, but nothing to write home about unless you are trying to mantain a travel blog. Off to bed with thoughts of the Futa running through our heads...2007 is going to be a great year!
1 comment:
you guys went back in time.
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