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Although the plan (and the ticket) was to take the bus to Puerto Montt, the bus driver stopped 20 min before puerto Montt at a little town called Puerto Varas, so we decided to get off there and find a hostel. The decision was made as we came over the hill towards lake Llanquihue and saw mt Osorno in the distance looming on the far horizon. This volcano is the worlds second most perfectly circular mountain (the first being Fiji in Japan - I think...).
This was our first impression of Chile and it only got better. The people of Chile are extremely friendly and hospitable. We took a little bus around the lake and started hiking up the mountain (18km). We got halfway up before we were offered a lift with a family who were kind enough to stop at all the viewpoints for us tourists to jump out and take photos. At the top just below the snow line we watched the steam evaporate off the black sand...was kind of like watching paint dry, so we headed down the mountain through the bush (coz it was a short cut to the windy road) and came out half way down when another lovely family with 4 kids (two 10 yr old boys and two 13 yr old girls) stopped and the father insisted we continue with them on their family holiday around the whole lake... We couldn't believe when he took us to all the local spots where we saw more lakes, boat cruise, waterfalls, lamas, local food and a German tea which was more like a feast! If that want enough he asked what our plans were the next day, when we explained that we wanted to see a neighboring town, he insisted he drive us there that evening (sun sets at 9:30ish) which was just as well as you cannot bicycle round the edge of the lake as we had planned as there is a military something in between the 2 towns. This town, Frutillar, is a tiny German town, perfectly neat and square and we watched the sun setting on mt Osorno with our personal local tour guide pointing out the other 2 smaller volcanos on either side.
The following day we decided to take a bus to Puerto Montt (after all that's where we were headed initially) check out the harbor AND the fish market. On arrival we were guided and ushered into a seat while they rattle off every type of fish and seafood you can imagine in Spanish, as Puerto Montt is the worlds second largest Salmon exporter (after Norway of course) we ate salmon fillets the size of a T-bone steak! Delicious!
Enough with the cold(ish) weather we're heading up to Santiago by overnight bus (12hr trek!)
- comments
Kit Guys this is just too amazing!! I'm so excited for you and all you get to do!! :)
A&C Cool "in all ways" Nice to know there are lots of friendly people around - Did they speak English or did they think you were paying guests Yum yum Salmon - Wish I was there
Christine Hey you two :) Loving the blog! Looks like an amazing getaway and it hasn't even been a month!! Can't wait to see what's next. Oh Darryl says hi :)
Dad Thanks for the update-sounds really great.Have been looking up these places on the internet which look wonderful.
Warren Hello Kites, thanks for the updates. It's great to hear your travels are going well and you're having a great time. Durban is same old, same old....so no new news here. I got a belated reply from our friends Chantel and Gavin (the NY couple) who did the same trip you're currently undertaking. See her reply below: "Just clearing out emails, and saw I didn't reply to this - sorry! I'm sure it's too late now, seeing as your friend left in Jan, but in case...some reco's below...We backpacked through Peru only and cannot recommend Peru enough. We had the time of our lives. Here are our highlights (and lowlights)... Highlights: The Inca Trail and Machu Pichu. Machu Pichu is the most stunning thing I've ever seen, only the Grand Canyon comes close. There are various ways to get there but we think that doing the iconic Inca Trail is the only way to do it. You pass the most incredible Inca ruins along the way and it's all breathtaking. The companies you book through also manage to do the most incredible catering. The trail is not for sissies though - it's seriously tough. Cusco - authentic Peruvian city/town - we acclimatized there for 2 days before doing the Inca Trail. There are lovely churches, Inca sites close to the town etc. Amazon - Gav and I are a little divided on this one. He loved the experience, but I got hectic flu and was man down while dealing with pretty deplorable conditions. It is quite otherworldly though. I would recommend that your friend do something authentic in terms of tour operators etc. but to not completely slum it like we did. Nasca Lines - wonderful especially if you're a conspiracy theorist. There are all these massive shapes of animals in the desert, only viewable by small plane. They've been there for thousands of years. Again, sorry for the tardy reply." So there you have it. I hope this helps in some way. Anyway, please continue to shower with details of your amazing trip whilst we continue with our menial jobs:) Someone has to prop up the economy:) All the best and look forward to the newt update. Kind regards from Warren, Leah, Chelsea and Maiya.