Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas isn't far from Pucón, maybe 5 hours. In a way they are quite similar, on the banks of a lake (Lago Llanquihue) with a big volcano nearby. Actually there are 2 volcanos near Puerto Varas. Osorno is another perfectly formed specimen, and Calbuco which is less so. Puerto Varas didn't seem to have as lively an atmosphere as Pucón, and the beach certainly wasn't pretty though it was still busy.

On the afternoon we arrived we did the Patrimonial Heritage Trail, a walk through town which takes you past houses and buildings on the Patrimonial Heritage List. Most of the places were built around the late 1800's or early 1900's and are predominantly shingled or corrugated iron.

The architecture in these parts of Chile was largely the result of German settlement and it was definitely quite different to anything else we have seen. It's just a shame, as always, that thick tangles of power lines obscure any photo opportunities!

The walk covered quite a distance and took us a few solid hours, though we did take a detour up a hill to a place called Parque Philippi. We thought it might have a nice view but there wasn't really any decent unrestricted view over the lake and volcanos. There were plenty of mountain bike trails weaving their way down the hill, if only we had bikes!

Back at water level there was a decent photo spot, then the rest of the walk followed the shoreline so the view was quite nice. We found a little coffee cart which was a nice little recharge for the rest of the walk also. Good coffee is so hard to find in Chile!

The next day we planned to take a bus to Petrohue, an hour or two away, where there were some walking trails near the foot of Volcan Osorno and along the shores of Lago Todos Los Santos. Unfortunately when we woke up it was absolutely pouring with rain and visibility of the volcano was zero. We rolled over and went back to sleep a while, and when we woke up the weather was still pretty average.

It did clear up that afternoon but by that stage it was too late to make our way to Petrohue and complete the circuit. Instead we had a lazy day, wandering the town and the shops, organising some bus tickets, drinking coffee and catching up on internet. Unfortunately we didn't get another opportunity to do the hike, as we had to leave the next morning for the Island of Chiloé.

LAPFWT