Back to the real world!

After the surreal dream world Isla Mocha, we are now going back to the 'real world'. The beautiful thing about traveling, however, is that you are not sad to leave a place. Because you are not flying home, but simply to the next adventure. That's why we could only appreciate this unique time on Isla Mocha, without any sadness that it is now over.

From Tirua, we now went to Pichilemu, the most famous surf spot in Chile. After some time, we also found a sleeping place, a nice little cottage that we rented for two nights. Real luxury after two weeks of camping! The people there were as always extremely helpful and nice, e.g. our neighbor just washed our laundry for us. The next day, we already started our first attempts at surfing. Conclusion: We definitely need a lot, lot more practice, but it's definitely fun and we can imagine surfing as a cool hobby during our world trip!

It is also good physical training, it is much more exhausting than I thought and it exercises the whole body. Before we continued, there was also some partying on the weekend, Pichi is certainly not the best party place but we definitely had fun.

Now the 'traveling' really started. Unexpectedly, we went back to Santiago because Nina (the girl we met in our first days in Santiago and gave us a city tour) convinced us to spend Halloween in Santiago. Definitely the right decision! Firstly, because Santiago is certainly a perfect city for parties, and secondly because we could experience the genius of hostel life here. You meet so many people of the same age, with a similar mindset, and from all over the world, that's what traveling is all about! The return to Santiago also showed us how small the world actually is, as we also met an Innsbruck guy in the hostel: Gabor! Gabor has been hitchhiking around the world for over 4 years (including a sailing boat across the Atlantic), a pretty awesome and impressive story he has to tell. In any case, we celebrated together that three Tyroleans meet somewhere at the other end of the world.

But then we continued to Reñaca. Reñaca is a small town near Viña del Mar. This time we didn't go to a hostel, but to Rous, our couchsurfing host. We tried couchsurfing for the first time here and were immediately impressed with the idea and surprised how well it works. Couchsurfing is not just about getting a free place to stay as a traveler, it's much more about meeting people from all countries, exchanging ideas, and helping each other. Win-win situation for both sides. As a traveler, you get to know a 'local' who can show you the city, and you have a free place to sleep. As a host, you get a bit of the 'travel spirit' at home and one good thing for both sides is: you often have very interesting, funny, but also profound conversations about life. Conclusion: We have gained another friendship in Chile.

Next stop: Valparaiso. Valparaiso, what a brilliant, beautiful city. The city is built on several hills and there are graffiti and murals everywhere in the city. The city and its residents have a unique spirit that can be easily absorbed. Nina and her friend Sophie accompanied us to Valparaiso, they showed us the nightlife of Valpo and the beautiful places of the city. We enjoyed the days here and only regretted afterwards that we didn't stay more days here, but we had to move towards Bolivia.

Before that, however, we went back to Santiago for the third time, as the bus connections to San Pedro de Atacama are better from there. Our lucky charm (the birdshit) struck again there. We were able to stay two more nights at Sophie's parents' house. An Australian family living in South America for 11 years. We got to experience South American and Australian hospitality here. They cooked us steak, we had good conversations, and they tried to help us wherever they could. For example, when we cooked Wiener Schnitzel as a little 'thank you' the next day and also stocked up on some groceries for the next few days, they simply paid for the entire shopping without hesitation. In the end, we got money for living in their house for two days and eating their food. We hope to see them again someday, not because they paid for our food, but because it was just fun to spend time with them.

After a short visit with Gabor, who was thrilled to see us again, we are now taking a 24-hour bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama. The desert is waiting for us!