Continued from Part I: Caleta Tortel—Cochrane.

 

 

Puerto Rio Tranquilo

PRT is the pit stop for making an aquatic excursion out to the Insta-worthy Capilla de Mármol, or marble caves. Capilla is the Spanish word for chapel, so Capilla de Mármol actually refers to one specific limestone formation that your guide will point out.

I lodged myself in a single private room at Bellavista guesthouse, which also offers glamping spots.

 

Day 45

24 March 2018

Cochrane → Puerto Rio Tranquilo → Capilla de Mármol → Puerto Rio Tranquilo

Hitchhiked: 130 km | Trip Total: 982 km

I can have more sophisticated conversations in Spanish and this pleases me.

Patricio told me that he loves the United States, he loves China, he loves Chinitas because they are so pretty while people from a country I will not name are far uglier, and that he was a little enamorado de mi, if I know what he means.

He told me his first priority in life was his work, non negotiable. His second was “mujeres.”

He grabbed my hand and told me I had a good energy emnamating from me.

I lied to him and said yes, I absolutely had a pololo back home.

I stumbling out of Patricio’s truck into the dusty, barren village of Puerto Rio Tranquilo. The weather was excellent and everyone stops here for one main attraction, so before I knew what else to think, I signed up for a Capilla de Mármol tour.

While the caves were beautiful, what struck me was the boat ride there and back. The biting wind and the brilliant blue  streaming by quickly threw me into a meditative state.

 

 

Parbs, one of my best friends, was chewing on high-speed on my laptop screen. Our video call was trying to catch up for the persistent lags.

I was now back at the common area of my guesthouse. After we’d hung up, the French dudes next to me named Francois and Julien revealed that they owned a camper van, had picked up another hitchhiker three days ago, and that I could totally join the three of them to get to Villa Cerro Castillo.

With that settled, there was one thing left on my mind: Doreen. My German friend I’d met my first morning in Buenos Aires at the beginning of this journey. We had hitchhiked around Ushuaia, Argentina together, but hadn’t been able to meet up since, despite always being in close proximity with each other.

I went to a house which should have been her hostel. The door was unlocked so I entered the dorm and woke up random dude in bed who didn’t know Doreen. Hmm.

He was the same guy singing his heart out on stage that night. Drunk and 350 luca, or $500, richer.

I can explain. I had reunited with Doreen (yes that was her hostel) that evening. She was hitchhiking with Jean-Christophe and a nice family with a camper van that was towing them to the upcoming Carretera destinations. We had no idea at the time, but JC was her future boyfriend. Doreen and I had met JC in Ushuaia, mid-hike.

The three of us had gone to the town’s small event held in the gym: the first annual singing contest of some sort. At the event were MY camper van drivers, Francois and Julien.

The five of us watched as Doreen’s roommate was suddenly the winner of this small contest and its grand prize. Francois later made a vlog of the situation featuring a mini-interview with the winner. I was told the next day this roommate/singer/winner was seen driving one of the marble cave tour boats.

Sounds about right.

 

 

Villa Cerro Castillo

A walk out to Cerro Castillo can be easily done as a day hike, or as a longer trek of up to five days, depending on your route. Be sure to check with a local about which trailheads lead to free paths, and which involve an entry fee.

There are dorms offered in town. Thanks to iOverlander, an application that was to become one of my good friends when I myself became a van camper months later, we found Juan’s cabin for 4,000 CLP ($7) per person, which was a third of the hostel prices because it was still under construction. It was located right by the free trailhead we would use in order to avoid the other $17 trail.

 

Day 46

25 March 2018

Puerto Rio Tranquilo → Villa Cerro Castillo

Hitchhiked: 127 km | Trip total: 1109 km

Patoche slowly crawled up the Carretera, which was currently a mere strip of gravel sandwiched among mountains. Patoche is also known as Patrick, or The Avocado Bus.

Purchased by Julien and Francois 10 months ago in Medellin, Colombia, Patoche was quite literally dragged to the northernmost point of South America before making his way towards Patagonia. He is on his fifth ownership of traversing the continent. He has a fold-out tent on his roof for sleeping in, and a double bed in the back that would be my seat for the next three days. I’m still having Patoche withdrawals.

The boys were in the front. I was with two other solo female backpackers: Javi, a Chilean who had never interacted with foreigners before this moment, and Salma, the first Moroccan I had ever met. We sat in the double bed, eating generic brand Frosted Flakes by the handful, and feeling buried in a mountain of sleeping bags and hiking packs.

We stocked up at one of the only shops in town. Salma didn’t have a sleeping bag, so she split from us and went to a hostel.

In Juan’s new cabin the remaining four of us made family dinner with some canned fish we found in the shelves. Our headlamps and phones were the only light sources we had, the wood-burning stove was slow and liked to take its time. Dining at its finest.

 

 

Day 47

26 March 2018

Villa Cerro Castillo → Coyhaique

Hitchhiked: 100 km | Trip Total: 1,209

Sixteen kilometers with a side of 100 kph winds. A gust would blow me onto my ass. I would look over and that same gust would hit Francois and he would be blown onto his ass. Fucking wind.

But in reality, our day hike was under perfect skies as we were able to escape the trail just as the real storm hit. While hiking, I bumped into yet another two individuals I had known from my trip.

As Patoche returned to the Carretera to continue north, we saw Salma again. She was with a new hitchhiking buddy, who I would meet again later on and learn that he was from Spain and named Joel. We only had space for one of them, so we took neither of them.

That night the four of us made it to Casa Color, a cheap lodging option with a laid back owner named Simon. The three Chilean boys who arrived later told me they knew Nico and Javi, my two hosts back in Cochrane. Nico and Javi had told them that I had good vibes(:

 

Continue reading Part III: Queulat—Chaitén.