We woke up around 10am, Denisa went to buy something for breakfast and we ate in the hostel. Then we packed all things and left to the tourist information centre, where young English speaking girl gave us a business card of local car hire place we headed to straight after.
The car hire place we used in Castro Chiloe is called Hostal Cordillera. They asked us what type of car we want (no English speaking) and what the prices are. We chose the smallest car Kia Morning (3 cylinders) and the lady told us we need to wait until 12 as someone will return the car to use for us. So we walked to see the main church (UNESCO) on the main square and we bought some really tasty potato bread, or something, filled with minced meat. And also kuchen with special local berries called makui (they grow only on Chiloe). Each was only 1000 pesos and it was amazingly good (we ate the kuchen later on the road).
At 12, we were back in the car hire place. Jorge spoke very clearly Spanish and slowly and describing us everything using simple words we could mostly understand. We filled the car hire contract, I had to have my driving licence and passport to show. Then we paid 30000 clp per 24 hours and rented for two days. Paid using Visa Credit card.
The car is tiny, so our rucksacks are on the back seats. There is 140000 km on the odometer and car was not cleaned for very long. Some orange light came up after the engine started and Jorge ensured me that it is normal. We drove quickly away from Castro and went to see churches in Quemchi, Aucar, Quicavi, Tenaun, Dalcahue. Quemchi is a small town with fishing boats, maybe 4 restaurants and a museum. In the main bay, there is visible a fish farm grid. We had empanadas filled with seafood, 2000 clp each, in restaurant El Chejo. We didn’t like it. It was different pastry that usually. Aucar has a church on a tiny island connected via long wooden footbridge. There were tabanas (annoying massive biting flies) almost everywhere. Tenaun has lovely setting in a short valley ending in the sea and picturesque blue church. I think the most pretty we saw on Chiloe. So far we drove on paved roads. It was around 6pm, so the sun was making the beautiful landscapes very likeable. Before 7pm we got to Dalcahue and we should have stayed there. Really calm, historic centre by the sea in a stunning setting of hills, island, see, sun and boats.
Around 7:30pm we started driving to Cucao - west coast of Chiloe with 21km long white sand beach. The road to the beginning of Cucao was paved, but with many massive potholes. Driving was difficult, as the sun was setting low, making imposible to spot the potholes. Not frequented road at all and big part of it is by big lake. Beautiful drive. Many campsites along the road and the lake. We reached Cucao a bit late. There the road were partially paved and unpaved. Quite a few campsites and some hostels. We only caught the sunset far from the ocean at the beginning of the beach and decided to not camp. It was cold and windy and getting dark. So we drove a bit back to area with more houses and asked for a price in some hostal (expensive) and ended up in Hospedaje Las Luminarias. Paid 20000 for clean room with double bed and shared bathroom. We drunk a bottle of red wine Gato and watched ARQ I had downloaded for a while.
Around 0:30am we are hearing siren, the big one for towns and villages. It’s not a test. First thing we had in our minds was that this is a tsunami warning. We jumped off the bed and took some of our stuff and went outside. People were gathering in front of the hospedaje. The siren stopped and we could see a burning house on the other side of the small river and firefighters quickly driving to the burning house. In about 30 minutes was quiet again and we went sleep.
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