Plantilla:Access Parque Ingles

Revisión del 06:00 26 abr 2017 de Tim Stolerman (Discusión | contribuciones) (By public transport and hitchhiking)

Revisión del 06:00 26 abr 2017 de Tim Stolerman (Discusión | contribuciones) (By public transport and hitchhiking)

Getting there

By car

Exit the Panamerican Highway (Ruta 5 Sur) to the East, via the town of Molina, then follow the K-175, followed by the unpaved K-275 until you reach the small village of Radal, which is situated 72 km to the southeast of Molina, and serves as the gateway to the national park. You then have to keep following the same road uphill for around another 10 km in order to get the CONAF park rangers' office in Parque Inglés

In order to get to the village of Radal and the national park from Talca, you have to leave the city to the East, passing through the settlements of Lo Beño and La Placeta on the way. The first 30 km of this route are paved. The remaining 40 km consist of travelling along a decent-quality gravel road. The road does get narrow in certain spots but it has passing places, which you might have to pull into, from time to time, in order to allow oncoming traffic to go past

By public transport and hitchhiking

From Santiago, the only bus company that goes directly to Molina is PULLMAN DEL SUR. These buses leave from the "Terminal Alameda"/"Terminal de Santiago" complex , which is located next to the "Universidad de Santiago" Metro station. It isn't possible to buy a return ticket from a Santiago but the price of a one-way ticket should cost CLP $4,000-$5,000

During the peak season -- largely defined, in this case, as from Christmas time to the end of February -- buses go all the way to Parque Inglés from Molina. These local buses leave from the bus terminal, which is located about half a block away from Molina's main square (Plaza de Armas). If you have any enquiries about the buses then e-mail "Buses Hernandez" buseshernandez@gmail.com. Address: Calle Maipú 1735, Molina. Bear in mind that, for about nine and a half months of the year, these buses only go up as far as the village of Radal, which lies right at the entrance to the protected area.

A second option is "Buses Radal Siete Tazas", whose buses GENERALLY only run during the months of January and February, and on long public holiday weekends in December.

Both companies have Facebook pages, in Spanish, where they publish their bus timetables

If you miss your bus to the national park and are short of time, you can hitchhike from Valdesina, which is a small settlement that is located on the road between Molina and Radal. You can take a minibus or ("micro") to Valdesina. They leave from Curicó bus terminal and make a stop at the Molina bus terminal on the way. It's just a case of riding the minibus as far as it will take you, and then getting off before it turns around and goes back the other way. If you can't find a minibus with a "Valdesina" destination sign on its front, then just hop on one that has a "Tres Esquinas" sign on the windscreen. Provided you ride it all the way to the end, a Tres Esquinas minibus will take you almost as far up the Molina-Radal road as the Valdesina ones do.

Bear in mind that if you are visiting the national park outside of the peak tourist season -- even in the BEST case scenario, you will have to hitchhike into it from Radal village, at the very least.