Valparaiso - Ode to wine

.......
.......
My darling, suddenly
the line of your hip
becomes the brimming curve
of the wine goblet,
your breast is the grape cluster,
your nipples are the grapes,
the gleam of spirits lights your hair,
and your navel is a chaste seal
stamped on the vessel of your belly,
your love an inexhaustible
cascade of wine,
light that illuminates my senses,
the earthly splendor of life.
......
......


                                                          Pablo Neruda - "Ode to wine"

Valparaiso. A wonderful and unique place. You fall in love with it almost immediately. You feel there is a magic glue in the air that keeps you walking around it for no reason, discover its beauties and its secrets.

One of the places that Nobel winning poet Pablo Neruda chose to built one of his houses in 1960 to escape from the madness of Santiago and concentrate on his poetry, which later in 1971 would bring him the Literature Nobel Prize. La Sebastiana he named it, in honor of his first owner Sebastian Collado who died before completing it.

“I feel the tiredness of Santiago, I want to find a house to live and write in peace at Valparaíso. Certain conditions must be given. It may not be too high or too low. It must be solitary, but not in excess. I wish neighbors were invisible. I wish I did not see or hear them. Original but not uncomfortable. Very light, but firm. Neither too big nor too small, far from everything. But close to the stores. As well, it has to be very inexpensive. Do you think I can find a house like that in Valparaíso?” 

(passage from the letter Neruda sent to one of his friends in Valparaiso, seeking for the perfect house)

After leaving Puerto Montt and Patagonia behind, I took the bus to Valpo, which was about 13h away. Just over 1100km but not really worried, I got used to it and also learned to enjoy it :) 

Valparaiso is one the World Heritage places, declared by UNESCO for its preserved architecture, representative of S. America's urban development during the 19th century.

Some pictures will hopefully get you into the mood of the city....

look at this beast :)) 

full of color...everywhere !

houses in the hills are hanging off 

the modern part of Valparaiso & Vina del Mar

about 20 elevators in the city take people to their houses....or you can walk up 

....some endless stairs :)

did I mention about color everywhere??? and they know how to use it

what a poser....hahaha !

this fiat 500 looks so much better than the new model 

Don Juan....he undertook the critical task to shave me. I know he looks like a butcher but after not having shaved for over a month, he proved an excellent choice....I can still hear the scratching sound of his old-time razor next to my ear...

Gabriela Mistral, another great Nobelist Chilean poet. The first South American to win the Literature Nobel Prize.

Valparaiso has been really great. I stayed for 4 days, but honestly I would like to have the time to spend a few more days. 

Moving on, I am taking another bus for a 8h ride over the Andes at 3.500m to Mendoza (piece of cake now!), Argentina. 

This is taking me out of Chile for good. Most probably I will spend the rest of my time in Argentina....but then again you never know....I have heard so many good words about San Pedro de Atacama close to the borders of Chile with Peru & Bolivia :)))

Ruta Canales Patagonicos & Capitan Leonidas

It took me quite sometime to get used to the fact that in this hemisphere, going north means that you are actually moving to warmer places rather than colder ones :)
Patagonian winter is just around the corner and I am making my way to the north...seeking for warmer places....I've had enough glaciers, snowstorms and winds...next destination is Valparaiso, but I have to go to Puerto Montt first.
There are many ways and routes to get there. I decided to take the most unusual, less advertised, most expensive and longer one....but promisingly the most exciting & "fun".
4 days on a cargo vessel through the Chilean fjords that is. I don't really remember who told me about this "excursion", I think a guy in Ushuaia, and when I arrived at Puerto Natales, I looked for it. Navimag is the company that runs those "ferries" for many years and their main purpose is to carry goods from the south to the north of Patagonia. Apparently though, they have converted some part of the ferries to carry some passengers, along with the truck drivers....

RUTA CANALES PATAGONICOS

Weather forecast was pretty ok for the season, although last week, the same ferry had to deal with waves as high as 7-8 meters, for 12 hours and arrived with 8h delay...
In most part of the trip, the fjords protect the ship from the harshness of the Pacific Ocean, but there is a point right after Puerto Eden where it cannot make its way through the little islands and has to get out to the ocean, before it goes back into the protection of the fjords.

horses, cows & sheep...ideal conpany :)

through the fjords....sea is great but is really cold....

the first of the two glaciers on our way

really magical scenery

see that dot in the middle of the picture?? that's COTOPAXI....
a very interesting story :)

It was around 5pm on the second day of the trip and I was at the bridge of the ship, talking to one of the officers trying to understand how they calculate the route from their radar....and from the map also. When I told him I come from Greece, he seemed quite excited and he showed me a single point on the radar that was named COTOPAXI. He told me to come back in about an hour and he would tell me a nice story about it....and so I did....and took the picture above.

COTOPAXI in all its glory :))

The story goes like this: Under that ship which is called COTOPAXI and sitting still in the middle of the sea since 1960, there is a reef which is 3 meters tall above sea level. Capitan Leonidas was in command of the ship back in those years, carrying sugar from the north to the south. Capitan Leonidas, a very experienced Greek seaman, he crashed the vessel on the reef, and there it stands until now. Story has it that he did it on purpose so that the company would get money from the insurance.
"There is no way a Greek capitan to make such a mistake. He surely did it on purpose" were the exact words of the officer I was talking to, while he had a devil's smile on his face. And of course the jury did not believe Capitan Leonidas either....and he was imprisoned. Poor guy...:))

Enjoy some more pics:

the second great glacier !!!

arriving at puerto Montt.....

....at 6am

It was definitely worth it. The scenery was amazing....and you don't really get the opportunity every day to travel with whales, dolphins and albatros along your way.....

Hasta luego amigos

Puerto Natales - Torres del Paine !!!

Just a few shots of the town.....

....

lots of stray dogs on the streets...but they get a lot of care from the locals

Kaweskar: Best hostel in Puerto Natales and the best I have stayed so far. 

Omar & Anije were amazing hosts...and breakfast was simply awesome !

TORRES DEL PAINE

That's still pretty south !

A complete map of the park

....RUTA CANALES PATAGONICOS

...but this is gonna be my next post :)

For now, enjoy some pics from Torres del Paine...no words needed !!!

Sorry for the quality of some images, but didn't have time any editing at all  :)

That's the Glaciar Grey...you cannot see where it ends !!

Really nice camping next to the Glaciar

Almost all part of this post was written while on a cargo vessel from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, of course with no internet or any kind of access to the est of the world for 4 days.

On the next post will write more about this unique experience !!!