“A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.”
Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
Why Chile? It wasn’t on my radar, then Gina told me about this trip. A trip that looked different from any trip I’ve taken in the past, with a focus on yoga and relaxation; I’ve never been to Chile, so why not. I met Gina in 2017 while I was on a fifteen day tour of Thailand. That’s one of the wonderful things about travel, it’s not just the places you see, it’s the people you meet, the new friends you make.
After a nine hour flight from Dallas, I arrived in Santiago.The airport is small, crowded, but there is a lot of construction happening with new terminals being built. Once the group had all arrived, we were ready to leave Santiago and head four hours south to Vilches. As we began our journey, I noticed the area near the city was much like Phoenix, stores, palm trees, a thick haze covered the sky, and it was much hotter than the forecasted temperatures in Vilches. That all quickly disappears, within 30 minutes, the stores thinned out, the palm trees disappeared, and were replaced by grape vineyards – a lot of them. The hills are green, a stark contrast to the rocky hills of Phoenix, and you can see the outline of the much larger mountains off in the distance.
We stopped at a small local restaurant, no English was spoken, thankfully we have a few people in our group that can speak Spanish. There was no air conditioning, just two large fans, covering the expansive room, so it was hot. During the meal I was thinking how grateful I was that I am used to the heat in Arizona, so the temperature didn’t bother me much. We were all grateful when the waitress brought us popsicles for an after meal treat. You can laugh, but it was the best tasting popsicle I’ve ever had. We know the red part was raspberry, but we are all at a loss for what the orange flavor is. We call it the mystery flavor, as it was the same flavor of a drink they brought us to begin our meal – whatever it is, its tasty. Lunch was beef and potatoes, with Chilean wine of course. Although this trip is supposed to focus on restorative activities, after meeting the crew I’m traveling with, I think it will be wine.
We asked our driver Jorge to stop at a store so we could pick up a few bottles of wine for our cabins. We bought 18 bottles, and we realized once we did the conversion to US$ it was only $93! I love a bargain : ) Little did we know, Natalie, the trip organizer, had a surprise for us in our cabins – she bought each of us 5 bottles of wine. So 50 bottles of wine were already waiting for us, plus the restaurant has a nice selection, and we have two vineyard tours planned later in the week. Clearly there is no shortage of wine to be had.
Once we arrived in Vilches, the van started to climb the mountain. I had finally woken up from my potato induced coma, and could see we were in a lush green area, the haze I noticed in the city was gone, and the road was dotted with rivers and campsites. Finally after over 24 hours of travel time, we arrived at Hosteria de Vilches! Quaint cabins, an 11 room hotel, a spa, few pools, and a rustic hot tub. The only internet you have is in the lounge area at check-in, and a weak signal in the restaurant. This is to help guests relax, be disconnected. For this group of USA travelers, we’ll see how we all survive. I’m trying not to connect to my ATT international service, and detox from the handheld devices and constant communication I’m tethered to 24/7 back home.
Claudio, the chef, prepared a welcome reception, and served us all Pesco Sours. Pesco is made from green grapes, 35% – 40% alcohol, and they add sour mix. It was good, but I decided to throw in a bit of the fresh strawberry juice, just to give it that sweet/sour combination.
We may be far from the city, but don’t let the simplicity of this place fool you. We will be in for great meals. I learned that Claudio was rated one of the top chefs in Chile for a risotto dish he prepares – this guy speaks my language!
Sounds like this this trip to Chile will be checking off all my boxes— travel, food, and an infinite supply of wine!
Ciao!
413 Girl Travels the World 
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