We arrived in Coyhaique at around 7pm feeling a little lethargic after travelling through the night from El Chalten taking 3 buses and a ferry to reach our destination.
The bus dropped us off in the town centre where there was free Wi-Fi so we could contact our friend Alejandrina who we met with her father, Carlos and her brother Antonino when they were doing an English course in Oxford.
We contacted them and waited 20 minutes to be picked up to go to their house. While we waited we noticed the amount of smiles and people saying "hola" when they passed by. Maybe they could tell me where tourists with our backpacks and tent!
When Carlos and Alejandrina picked us up we were really happy to see each other again after 2 years apart! We had so much to talk about and of course I ended up being the translator between Carlos and Oli.
On the way to their house we stopped at a beautiful viewpoint. Coyhaique is surrounded by snowy mountains as are most towns in Patagonia.
We drove down a long winding road past a couple of campsites, a native indian made of rock, a brewery and a small football stadium.
We reached the house which is a big wooden cabin on the side of a hill, surrounded by mountains and farms with animals. It has a clear river and the most important mountain is cerro huemules and its good for trekking.
The house is still under construction, done entirely by Carlos so we set up our tent in his living room and slept for the night.
The next morning we went to the city at around 10 am and bought our bus tickets to Tranquilo. We had a walk around a market, looking for an andian coat Oli wanted or a hat. We later met up with Eunice who decided to join us to go to Tranquilo, and came to the bus station to get the tickets. On our way there we met Andrea and Camilo, a couple from Santiago we'd previously met in Chile Chico looking for accommodation. They had come to Coyhaique a day earlier and we spent the day together, went to the Indian stone and the brewery. We later went to Unimarc to buy food for our camping in Tranquilo and parted to meet Alejandrina, Carlos and Antonino for dinner at the fire station. We had the local salmon and it was the biggest piece of salmon we had ever seen!
The bus dropped us off in the town centre where there was free Wi-Fi so we could contact our friend Alejandrina who we met with her father, Carlos and her brother Antonino when they were doing an English course in Oxford.
We contacted them and waited 20 minutes to be picked up to go to their house. While we waited we noticed the amount of smiles and people saying "hola" when they passed by. Maybe they could tell me where tourists with our backpacks and tent!
When Carlos and Alejandrina picked us up we were really happy to see each other again after 2 years apart! We had so much to talk about and of course I ended up being the translator between Carlos and Oli.
On the way to their house we stopped at a beautiful viewpoint. Coyhaique is surrounded by snowy mountains as are most towns in Patagonia.
We drove down a long winding road past a couple of campsites, a native indian made of rock, a brewery and a small football stadium.
We reached the house which is a big wooden cabin on the side of a hill, surrounded by mountains and farms with animals. It has a clear river and the most important mountain is cerro huemules and its good for trekking.
The house is still under construction, done entirely by Carlos so we set up our tent in his living room and slept for the night.
The next morning we went to the city at around 10 am and bought our bus tickets to Tranquilo. We had a walk around a market, looking for an andian coat Oli wanted or a hat. We later met up with Eunice who decided to join us to go to Tranquilo, and came to the bus station to get the tickets. On our way there we met Andrea and Camilo, a couple from Santiago we'd previously met in Chile Chico looking for accommodation. They had come to Coyhaique a day earlier and we spent the day together, went to the Indian stone and the brewery. We later went to Unimarc to buy food for our camping in Tranquilo and parted to meet Alejandrina, Carlos and Antonino for dinner at the fire station. We had the local salmon and it was the biggest piece of salmon we had ever seen!
Coyhaique is not only beautiful, it has a special place in our hearts for the people we have in that city. We will surely be back for a longer period of time.
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