Uñt’ayata: 13.01.2024
From Coyhaique we took the bus for 4 hours to Rio Tranquilo, the second largest lake in South America.
After we arrived here, we immediately wanted to go to the Marble Caves. These are on the lake. However, the lake was closed to boats in the afternoon due to strong winds. A pity. We booked a trip to a glacier for day 49 and walked around town and the local hiking trails. Very relaxed day with easy stages.
It started at 7 a.m. Off to the Marble Caves. Life jackets on and off to the speedboat. The sight was really great. But I would never have taken the trip from Coyhaique for such an outrageous price. We are happy that we booked the excursion on our own right on site at the Marble Caves.
After a good 3 hours we were through with the excursion. Cold and wet, we drank a cocoa and waited for Maria to pick us up to the glaciers. We had an easy hike of 5 kilometers straight ahead of us - that's how the trip was sold to us.
We drove for an hour over hill and dale and got from the waterfall to the raging river to the entrance to the national park and hiking trail. This is where the adventure started. The only way was to go to the toilet. Then we went through narrow hiking trails, steep climbs and even steeper descents to the glacier. The guide set a pace that was out of this world - at least not from lowland Tyrol Schleswig Holstein. Really crude. But in the end we did it. We all crash into bed.
We received news that our bus will not be running. Such a crap. We had already booked a hotel in Chile Chico. Damn. We found out that a local bus was supposed to leave at 1 p.m. We sat on the street, enjoyed the sun and burned - we were ablaze 😱 at 2 p.m. there was still no bus. What a pitty. And we wait and wait and wait. Suddenly our actual bus arrived. Wonder. Almost 4 hours late but it started. With 4 people on the bus we drove 5 hours to Chile Chico for 4.5 euros.
Shortly after 11 p.m. we finally got to the hotel and wanted to get on the ferry at 8 a.m. in the morning. Since I liked the place immediately, we extended the stay that same night and skipped the ferry.
Funnily enough, inflation is now 10% higher than at the turn of the year. We now have the exchange rate 1000 pesos to €1. Which of course plays into our hands. But on Chilean sites we can no longer pay with credit card. Maybe that's why. No idea.
Ciao freddy