Skinny Cheese

After leaving Coyahique quite late we arrived in the town of Puerto Ibanez and after rejecting a recommendation form our driver checked into a cheaper hospedaje for the night. It was soon aparent whythis was cheaper, dodgy looking blankets, rickety windows and slightly inhospitable hosts. After a quick wander through the barely there town and catching the sunset casting flecks of pink across the lake we realised taht we wouldn't be missing much if we hopped straight on the ferry the following morning. We booked our tickets and spent the last hours of the evening in the hostel.

It was a this point that we first met a character that I'm afrai may come to feature all too often in our blogs, who knows at this stage?! In the room next to us, though with the door wide open so he could strike up conversation with people as they walked past, was a very skinny, very intense guy. After Blakey said hello in the polite way that he always does, he was drawn into a very long and miserable conversation about how awful Chile is, how there's nothing to do here, how this guy had hurt his foor and wouldn't be able to trek and how there was nothing to do in this town. Blake tried to cheer him up by describing the beautiful sunset we had just seen and eventually managed to wrap things up by saying how we were catching the boat in the morning and would need to get some sleep now. This guy was getting the boat too and offered to walk with us. Oh joy!

The next morning as we heaved our bags on we could hear him hanging outside of our room, waiting. Looks like we didn't have a choice then. He regailed us with stories of the expense of travelling and the disappointments he'd faced, stopping every now and again to allow Blakey to offer an opinion. For some reason, perhaps because I can't stand up and go to the toilet, every time I spok he would speak over me quite loudly and deliberately. I was really warming to this chap, as you can imagine.

We boarded the boat and though he sat next to us we were spared more doom and gloom by something quite wonderful. Firstly a tiny boy, no more than 7 years at the oldest, entered the passenger area in a very smart sailor suit with tailored jacket. The little guy addressed the crowd in an astonishingly polite and mature fashion giving us all a choice. We didn't decipher what that choice was but just watching him talk to the other Spanish speakers was entertainment enough. He left briefly and returned to put the large screens on with a copy of Back to the Future. This became extremely exciting when the film was projected in it's original form with Spanish subtitles for the other passengers. Our time on board flew by as we enjoyed remembering just how perfect the adventures of Marty and Doc Brown really are. Fantastic!

Upon enetering port I was growing excited at the prospect of saying goodbye to our new found friend. We disembarked and I pointed out the onward transport that he had intended upon taking. Blakey and I were going to stay here for the night and eplore the little town of Chile Chico. he was being indecisive and just kept following us until we came to a guesthouse where we said goodbye and rang the doorbell. He waited with us. I asked the owner for a room for two and he followed. there were two rooms, one with four beds and the other with three. The owner kindly offered us one and him the other, but he deided to put his bags in the one we were offered. he still hadn't made up his mind but it looked like he was planning to stay the night here now. By this point I was getting a little uncomfortable by this rude guy that was determined to remain in our company and dominate conversations so outwardly asked him if he was going to take the other room. His reply was that if more people come she would let them in so he was going to sleep in here with us! I didn't know what to do, I was looking forward to a shower and was really not prepared to get undressed with him around so I decided I would take the other room and muttered something about a boys and girls dorm.

The next thing we had planned was a walk around town, but the guy waited and waited to come with us. Thinking on our feet we headed to an internet cafe and were prepared to stay there as long as it would take for him to get bored and leave. Eventually it worked and we spent the next half hour talking in disbelief about this stranger that was forcing himself upon us. We christened him skinny cheese as Blakey had misheard his name and thought it was Edam!

Finally free we took a stroll around. Due to its position next to the lake Chile Chico has a micro climate earning the moniker Ciudad del Sol. the bright and clear blue sky paid testament to this and the strong winds were a permanent reminder that we were in Patagonia now. As we wandered we saw great pictures of the nearby Jainemeine National Park, a valley nestled amongst the mountains with lagoons of flamingoes and strange stone formations formed by the harsh erosion of the PAtagonian winds Getting to the park required a guide and a four wheel drive which was expensive, but we'd come this far across the world and were almost guaranteed good weather so we organised ourselves a trip for the next day. As this involved a 5am departure we headed back for the afternoon and Blakey moved his bags in with mine whilst I explained to the owners that we didn't really know the other guy and weren't actually with him. When skinny cheese returned he informed Blakey that they should go shopping now so we could cook our evening meal, an offer that Blakey rejected explaining taht we'd already organised ourselves. We felt quite guilty as we tucked in to our pasta at the kitchen table, alongside homemade cakes that the owner had provided to accompany our tea when he came to cook his own food. If he hadn't tried to force himself upon us earlier eatin gtogether would not have been so bad, but we were scared of giving the wrong message now when we knew his plans for the next few motnhs were so similar to ours. We excused ourselves and tried to fall asleep in the bright light of the long evenings that stretch out at this time of year here.

When the alarm went off at 4.15am we begrudgingly hit snooze and then dressed quickly at 4.30. Wrapping ourselves in layers we pulled our coats around our ears as we walked through the dark windy streets, deserted other than for the packs of stray dogs. We soon reached the jeep and our guide and waited for a few minutes for the other couple that would accompany us on the trip.

As we drove across the gravel tracks and through deep rivers to the park the sun started to rise, illuminating the spectacular scenery all around. We soon reached a beautiful turquoise lake and made a quick though strenuos ascent up a nearby hill for a view across to the mountains that framed it so beautfully. By the time we reached the top it was just gone 7am and our lungs had expanded from the activity and detectable freshness of the air leading to a smug feeling of wholesomeness. We descended again with a short detour trackign a woodpecker we could hear through the trees in a most stealthy manner, though she eluded us with no sighting.

Hopping back in the jeep we took a short drive to a new spot from where we would start a 4 and a half hour hike to cueva del manos with its aboriginal cave art and valles del luna, the valley of the moon. Again we wree rewarded with fabulous scenery as rocks projected out of the slopes in dramatic formations, like the 12 Apostles but on dry land. Not only that, but our guide set a pretty speedy pace expecting everyone to keep up with the fastest (him) rather than wait for the slowest (thankfully not us) This attitude gave us quite a work out, it felt really good to push ourselves that bit harder after the indulgence of Christmas and the relative sedentry of January so far.

Upon completing the hike we had a new set of beautiful pictures, some of which looked like a painting from the imagination of a little girl- a flamingo filled lagoon nestled amongst snow capped mountains, horses and donkeys grazing at its shores and a beautiful rainbow arching across the whole thing. I wasn't aware that anything so picture perfect existed in life until then! We also had shots of the strange and phallic rock formaions and across sweeping valleys. We really will have the jammiest photo album in the world when we get back!

When we returned to the jeep we could have kept going, but though it was only just gone lunchtime we realised we'd been out 7 hours when we considered the early morning departure. The return trip saw both of our eyes close, opening blearily when we arrived after what felt like just a couple of minutes. It had been a beautiful morning.

Returning to our hostel we idled away the afternoon taking luxurious hot showers and drinking warm mugs of coffee. We were now alone and so totally relaxed, the most activity coming when the streets outside suddenly filled with cars honking and people waving flags. The Chilean election had taken place today and Pinera named victorious. It was amazing to see how passionate and involved everyone has been in the process. Politics here are taken very seriously by everyone and seem far more important to the average person than party slogans and agendas back home, it's quite inspirational.

As you can imagine, a 4am start led to a suitable early night, and just as well. the next day we were planning to cross into Argentina and faced a pretty long journey to get there.