Andrea goes exploring again!

Last Thursday I made my way from Chiloé to Puerto Montt where I had my stopover on my journey to Bariloche. I'd treated myself to a night in a Hotel Ibis and it was bliss! It was also incredibly handy for the bus station, which was literally right under the hotel, and with an 8.30am bus I was somewhat thankful for! My journey to Bariloche, which is back in Argentina was long, but fairly uneventful with routine border crossings. I was looking forward to a simple bus system again as Bariloche uses the same Sube cards that I had in Buenos Aires! Or so I thought. My card needed recharging, but when I arrived at the bus station the queue for the Sube desk was a good 30m long and moving at a snail's pace. Fortunately I had a whole pile of Argentinian pesos with me and this enabled me to sack the bus and get a cab instead! I think I'd still be queuing now if not! In Bariloche I'd taken a risk by booking a new hostel with limited ratings, Berkana, which was just on the edge of ...

Chiloé. According to my guidebook it's the continent's second largest island (not sure what the largest is, if you know, please advise!) and the place I made my home from Sunday until today (Thursday). It is a fairly large place, about 120km north to south and 40-50km east to west. Mostly buses go south through Chile via Puerto Montt to the island which would have meant a quick local bus from Puerto Varas but I was lucky enough to get a seat on one going through Puerto Varas too with Cruz del Sur. Being an island, you won't be surprised to hear that we had to get a ferry across to it and when I realised we'd have the opportunity to get off the bus I jumped at it!  Chiloé is on the left and the mainland on the right. Anytime I get the chance to look at large expanses of water I'm there! It wasn't a long trip on the ferry, maybe 20 minutes or so, but we were lucky enough to see sea lions frolicking in the water! They are so sleek and elegant in that environment co...