Castro 1

I got my breakfast and hot water this morning and then headed to the bus station with my enormous backpack-I have no idea why it's so big or heavy. There's really not that much stuff in it. The bus took a couple of hours even though it was only 84 km or something. I arrived in Castro to a cloudy and unpromising sky and had a bad feeling. I dropped my bag off in my hostel called El Molo which does not mean mole incidentally-it's not in my little dictionary but molar means to be great so molo must be the first person singular of the verb. There were some flies batting about my room which I wasn't too chuffed about.
I organised my activities for the next couple of days and then spent ages trying to figure out how to get off the island. Apparently there are no ferries (that aren't fully booked) until Wednesday! I was thinking of going a different way but whatever happens I won't be able to get to Chaiten except by boat unless I go through Argentina so it looks as though I'm going to enjoy a lot more of Chiloé than I thought. Still, it turns out that Castro isn't all that bad. It's quite bohemian and has a really good artesania market where you can buy lots of woollen things. I think I might end up being kitted out like one of the hippies here by the time I go.
I had dinner in a restaurant on the harbour. I think the owners thought I was a food critic because I was on my own and didn't look like a hippie so didn't really fit in which is a bonus because they were very attentive. I got a front row seat in watching a big screen TV which was showing the Viña del Mar (beach town near Santiago) festival which was entertaining. On my walk back up the hill to the main square I got stopped by two Chilenos asking me where there was a hostel and I was quite pleased with myself as I gave them quite competent directions if not a little inacurate but I had to drink a whole half bottle of wine to myself so I wasn't feeling very sharp. I expect when I get back to my hostel, the three bed room I currently have to myself will have been filled with those two people.
Tomorrow I go to the Parque Nacional on an organised tour (a bit of a cop-out but I will be hearing castellano and hence practising) and we get to try curanto which is a big pot of seafood to put it in the simplest of terms. I'll be sure to miss out the prawns though-don't worry!