The Indian Gang in

Puerto Natales, Santiago, Pichilemu, Vina del Mar & Valparaiso

After a couple of days spent in Puerto Natales with a really nice view and Punta Arenas where I personally thought nothing special happened, we finally headed to Santiago to meet Vivian! Yaiii

At the airport we had the usual issue with "las tablas" and had to change a normal car to a van where we could actually fit our boards....at least this time it wasn't embarrassing to explain why we were travelling with surfboards as there actually is surf not too far from Santiago. 3 lazy days in Santiago with home meals and a fun, very international, Korean BBQ and we were off for the weekend with half of the Indian gang.

How incredible, 5 months later, we were travelling together again in Chile heading for a surf weekend in Pichilemu. We booked a really nice cabaña for 5 people with heating a kitchen and everything needed for some quality time with friends. We pretty much played all the boards game that MariVi & Sushi brought and cooked some really nice food & even had a BBQ on Sunday.

The weather was surprisingly warmer than I expected and despite the ocean water being probably the coldest we've been in with 3/2 wetsuit we didn't really freeze as the sun was shining almost all day. What a great weekend!!! I finally tried Silver Fern (my new surfboard) !!!

We stayed for another 4 nights in the cabaña once the gang left to enjoy some extra surf days and it proved to be the right decision: I could stand on my new board (yaaaai achievement) and I finally took some nice shots of Andy "big waves surfer".

Last but not least...uncountable sunrises and sunsets views from the cabaña with the best colours.

On our way back to Santiago, Vivi and Sushi making Indian food for dinner, my stomach was already rumbling in the elevator with the cooking smells aaaand..surprise: chef Vivian was cooking again! And once again we were o welcomed by the warmness of the Indian gang and had another amazing food & games night. By then, we were literally getting used to the, I wanna say Chilean but there was actually no Chilean people in the group, so let´s say the gang´s great hospitality.

Few more days in Santiago, with a weekend walk up to Cerro Cristobal and we were off again to Vina del Mar & Valparaiso for a surprise birthday party. While Vina del Mar was not as "wild" as I thought it would be, in fact quite the other way around, we had a lucky day in Valparaiso with almost no smell (whoever has been in that area will know what I´m talking about), and an awesome private guide,Laura, who made our visit quite unique.

Long story short, the whole time in Santiago, Pichilemu, Vina del Mar & Valparaiso we were spoiled by the best laughs, hospitality and times of South America so far. This time the real highlight for me were actually the people we´ve met, including some Chileans we´ve met here and there; and I will defnitely miss The Gang when we´re back in Europe. Somehow these guys can make you smile even when you´re having a NO day.

Today we are preparing for our trip to Salar de Uyuni which starts bright an early tomorrow at 6.30am…exciting times to come!

(click to enlarge)