To Chile and Back – A Journey to Indescribable Natural Beauty
To Chile and Back – A Journey to Indescribable Natural Beauty
TRAVELOGUES FROM THE TRIP:
Travelogue: From Bulgaria to Buenos Aires
Travelogue: Valparaíso
Travelogue: Atacama Part 1: San Pedro
Travelogue: Atacama Part 2: El Tatio Geysers and Moon Valley
Travelogue: The City of Iquique
Travelogue: Patagonia with a short stop in Santiago
Travelogue: Long Stop in Amsterdam
Travelogue: Last stop: Rome
CHILE ITINERARY with extended stops in Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, and Rome:
Day 1: Flight from Sofia to Rome with Ryanair; Flight from Rome to Amsterdam with KLM; Flight from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires with KLM;
Day 2: A long stop in Buenos Aires; Unforeseen overnight at the airport.
Day 3: Flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago with KLM; Transition Santiago - Valparaiso with Turbus, 120 km, overnight in Hostal Don Oso.
Day 4: Reverse transition to Santiago; Flight from Santiago to Calama with Sky Airlines; Transfer from Calama to San Pedro, 120 km. Overnight in Hostal Lalcketi.
Day 5: Morning: tour to the El Tatio geysers and the village of Machussa; Afternoon - tour to Moon Valley. Overnight at the same hotel
Day 6: Transition from San Pedro to Calama with Atacama 2000, 120 km, long journey from Calama to Iquique with Kenny Bus. Overnight - CouchSurfing.
Day 7: A walk through Iquique. Spending the night CouchSurfing.
Day 8: Return bus from Iquike to Kalama. Flight from Kalama to Santiago with Sky Airlines. Overnight at the airport.
Day 9: Flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas with Sky Airlines; Crossing from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales with Bus-sur, 250 km. Overnight in Hostal Yemel.
Day 10: Organized tour from Puerto Natales to the Perito Moreno Glacier and return to Puerto Natales; Overnight in the same place.
Day 11: Reverse hike from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas with Bus-sur, 250 km, overnight in Suarez Flia.
Day 12: Flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago with Sky Airlines; Overnight in La Chimba Hostal;Day 13: Flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires with KLM; Flight from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam with KLM;
Day 14: Long stop in Amsterdam (20 hours and 55 minutes); Overnight at the airport;
Day 15:Flight from Amsterdam to Rome with KLM; a walk through Rome; Overnight in Oscar Rooms.
Day 16: Flight from Rome to Sofia with Ryanair
We have a record!
12 flights, 5 countries, and over 37,000 kilometers traveled by air and land in 16 days! That was a lot of time spent hanging around airports.
EXPENSES
– Round-trip airline tickets from Rome to Amsterdam to Buenos Aires to Santiago and back with KLM – 320 euros per person, or 1,260 BGN total for both of us;
– Flights from Santiago to Calama and back with SKYAIRLINES – 99 USD or 167 BGN total for both of us;
– Flights from Santiago to Punta Arenas and back with SKYAIRLINES – 190 USD or 320 BGN total for both of us;
– Flights from Sofia to Rome and back with Ryan – 240 BGN total for both of us;
– Organized tour to the El Tatio geysers: 128 BGN (50,000 CLP) + an additional 50 BGN (20,000 CLP) for the entrance fee
– Organized tour to the Valley of the Moon: 85 BGN (24,000 CLP) + an additional 15 BGN (6,000 CLP) for the entrance fee
– Organized tour to the Perito Moreno Glacier: 350 BGN (130,000 CLP) plus an additional 100 BGN (2,000 ARG) for the entrance fee and boat ride;
– Costs for transfers and intercity buses – 400 USD
– Accommodation costs – 360 USD for 8 nights – an average of about 40 USD per night, plus or minus 2–3 dollars. (We had 2 additional nights during the long outbound and return flights, 2 more planned nights at the airports in Santiago and Amsterdam, and 1 unplanned night in Buenos Aires)
– Food expenses – $400 (3 meals at nice restaurants, 6 times in airport lounges, and the rest at fast-food places or the supermarket)
– Other: $50
Total: BGN 4,812 for two
If you also want to get back a portion of what you spent on hotels, flights, or products, register at this link HERE and every new user receives up to a $10 bonus in their account.
Buses in Chile
City buses and short-distance intercity buses are quite amortized and not so clean. However, the buses, which are for long journeys of more than 3-4 hours, are in excellent condition and are equipped with everything necessary - USB and a socket for charging a phone, radio for headphones, TV, very comfortable seats, stand for supporting the legs, clean toilets. Also with them you have the right to choose between first and second class as a coincidence we traveled in both classes and we believe that the difference is not very big and first class is not worth the more expensive price.
Nature and Cities in Chile
According to my personal observations, Chile is a country of extremely beautiful scenery, while the cities are nothing much, I would even say that most are crowded and unpleasant to visit. Therefore, my advice is to reduce your stay in the cities to the absolute minimum, and leave enough time to explore and enjoy the extremely beautiful and diverse nature of Chile. You can watch the countless stars above the Atacama Desert, visit the majestic Patagonia, climb a volcano, spend the night in a tent on a lake, visit a glacier, take a dip in the Pacific Ocean or do a trek in the mountains.
Local SIM Card
If you have a stay in Chile for 1 week or more, it is a good idea to get a local SIM card with which the Internet and calls to local Chilean numbers will cost you significantly cheaper than if you use roaming with a Bulgarian teleoperator. For this purpose, you can choose between the following mobile operators:
Virgin – www.virginmobile.cl
Entel – www.entel.cl
Movistar – www.movistar.cl
WOM – www.wom.cl
Claro – www.clarochile.cl
Chilean Peso to BGN (as of 2018) – 1,000 CLP = BGN 2.45 / 5,000 CLP = BGN 12.00 / CLP 20,000 = BGN 49.00 / CLP 50,000 = BGN 123.00.
Argentine Peso to BGN (as of 2018) 200 Ars = 9 BGN / 500 ARS = BGN 22.
