The alarm went off way too early, the sun was only beginning to rise but it was a beautiful clear day and we were in two minds as to whether we could have taken the cruise/bus trip instead of just the bus. We were saving heaps of money not doing the cruise, but there was still the doubt that it might have been awesome.

Too late to change our minds though, our taxi arrived as promised at 6.45am to pick us up and take us to the bus station for the 7.30am Via Bariloche bus to Puerto Montt.

We arrived in good time at the bus station and as usual, in Argentina, we needed to tip the luggage guy as we put the bags on the bus. We should have got seats on the left side of the bus, but the guy at ticket office advised us right was better for views. There were still good views of the lakes, mountains and rivers even from the 'wrong' side of the bus. We went back on the road to Villa la Angostura first, but today it wasn't all snowy, there was a clear blue sky.

The exit stamp at Argentinian border was quick and easy, but the Chilean border, about 40km further along the road, again took a bit longer because of their biosecurity check. Their sniffer dog was incredibly cute though and watching it made the wait easier.

Once we were over the Andes the weather was a bit more overcast so we began to think that the expensive cruise/bus option might not have been so good after all. We had a quick stop in Osorno to drop off some passengers and then headed south to Puerto Montt. We were a bit late in arriving, but not too bad.

We hopped on to a small coaster, that was parked two bays up from the bus we got off, that would take us to Puerto Varas. After 30 minutes we were in Puerto Varas and were dropped off in the centre. The driver helped us with directions to our hostel and pointed us on the right way. We walked back up the hill to Casa Azul hostel, which was maybe only 10 minutes, and checked in quickly. We thought we were going to get a room with a shared bathroom, but ended up with a private one as we wanted.

After dropping the bags, we walked to the Cruz del Sur terminal to buy tickets to Castro in Chiloe for tomorrow. We then walked back down into town to the tourist information offices. The first one we came across, by the pier, was not much help at all, it was more like a tour office. We found another one on the main street and we were given a map instead of trying to be sold one. We also got the information on what was best to do in the area.

We went in by the supermarket to get some snacks and some breakfast for tomorrow. Instead of walking straight back to the hostel we took a walk along the lake shore to get the view of the volcanoes. There was a bar/restaurant we wanted to go to, but it didn't open till 7pm. We decided to take our shopping back to hostel, book accommodation in Castro (which was surprisingly busy and expensive) and have dinner later.

We went out at 8pm to find somewhere for dinner and came across a restaurant that looked quite busy. La Marca was a steak restaurant, prices looked good and they had one table left for us. After ordering, instead of the usual bread being served, they brought sopaipillas (delicious fried dough) and pebre. We ordered Bife de Chorizo steak with a side dish of devilled potatoes (sliced potatoes baked with cream and merken). Washed down with a bottle of Casillero de Diablo Carmenere, it has to be one of the best, if not the best, meals we have had on our trip. The steak was melt in your mouth, even the fat in the steak just melted away. The service was excellent too so we walked out after our meal very, very satisfied and happy.

Our hostel room was nice, but there is not much sound proofing at all so you can hear everything from other rooms and staircase up to the attic. Hopefully we will be able to sleep okay.