Puerto Varas, Chile
We finally got to meet the hostel owners at our Puerto Montt hostel this morning. Very nice young couple with a small son. Good breakfast and lots of good info on what to see around Puerto Varas. A downhill walk to the bus terminal (glad we didn't walk up it with full packs yesterday!) and found a mini bus heading to Puerto Varas. I'm not sure how the fares work, but yesterday I was told 900 CRP, today 1400 CRP, and when I walked away from that someone else directed me back on the bus and we paid 1000 CRP.
The bus made lots of stops within Puerto Montt and on the short (about 25 km) drive to Puerto Varas. Once we got to Puerto Varas we once again made frequent stops. Silly me - I thought we would actually end up at the bus terminal. Instead, we had a scenic tour of Puerto Varas. When the driver started to head up the hill to apparently begin the trip back to Puerto Montt I figured it was time to hop off. A little longer walk to the hostel than I was counting on, but not too bad.
Puerto Varas is a lovely town of about 50,000. It is set on the shore of Lake Llanquihue, which is the second largest lake in Chile. The conical Osorno Volcano and the snowcapped peaks of Mt. Calbuco and Mt. Tronador are clearly visible from the lakefront. The volcano is especially stunning, and we hope to visit there before we leave.
Nice hostel. Lots of security - different keys to the gate, the building, and the room. After a quick lunch of leftovers it was off to the grocery store to get provisions for the next few days and then get out for some sightseeing. Puerto Varas appears to be a very touristy town. Lots of restaurants and outdoors shops. Some nice looking beaches and various watercraft (canoes, kayaks, SUPs, small sailboats, etc.) not too far off shore. We made our way to a recommended ice cream shop, then sat in the square and watched a couple of belly dancers for a while. After a stop at a coffee shop it was a short walk up the hill in Phillippi Park. On the way up we went by the Tompkins Conservation building. This is an organization founded by Doug Tompkins (founder of The North Face) who assembled, preserved, and gifted a huge amount of land to the governments of Chile and Argentina for the purpose of park creation and conservation. Nice views from the top of the hill. In addition to walking trails there are some pretty interesting-looking mountain bike trails as well. Back down, and a short walk along the seawall. We looked in a couple of restaurants but decided to eat in tonight.
The weather today was much cooler and cloudier than yesterday. By afternoon the top part of the volcano was in clouds, but apparently there were still good views above the clouds (says Sebastian). By the time we got back to the hostel it was starting to spit a bit..
And who should we find at the hostel but Joan. Haven't seen her since February 4th, so it was good to catch up on travels and make plans for the next few days. We are thinking we'll rent a car for the next 2 days in order to give ourselves some sightseeing options. We'll see..............
And who should we find at the hostel but Joan. Haven't seen her since February 4th, so it was good to catch up on travels and make plans for the next few days. We are thinking we'll rent a car for the next 2 days in order to give ourselves some sightseeing options. We'll see..............
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