The marvel of Chile's lakes district

"When God created the world he had a handful of everything left - mountains, glaciers, deserts, lakes - and he put it all in his pocket. But there was a hole in this pocket you see, and as God walked around in heaven it all trickled out, and the long trail made on earth was Chile". (Adapted from The Trail to Titicaca by Rupert Attlee)

We woke up after a 10 hour drive from Santiago as the sun started to rise. For a few seconds i thought we'd been transported back to England in my sleep, and were headed for Wales or somewhere up north in the lakes district. The sight that greeted us consisted of a cloudy sky, green rolling hills, beds of wild yellow flowers, white painted cottages in the distance, cows and sheep feeding in the pastures and a wet road leading to Puerto Varas in the southern end of the lakes district.

We didnt stay long in Puerto Varas, we headed for the most remote western side of Lago Llanquihue and we found ourselves in a small fishing village - Cochamo - by the estuary's edge. It could easily have been a remote Swiss village. We found the only hospedaje open by the lake front and occupied the main room overlooking the lake with the white-capped volcanoe in the background. In Cochamo, like in some of the villages we´ve passed, most of the businesses were still closed due to low season. So we found ourselves dining at the same restaurant 2 days in a row for lunch and dinner.

We spent the days horseriding and walking by the lake shore. It was a blissful and peaceful time, so it was a bit sad to wake up early on the third day to catch the 6.30am bus for Lagos Todos Los Santos - the crossing for Bariloche in Argentina. Advertised as the prettiest lake of the whole area, expectations were somewhat on the high end when we headed to Peulla. And yes it was beautiful. The lake is emerald blue and green forests cover the surrounding mountains, 2 of which are extinct volcanoes. In the middle is an island-cum-villa (Isla Margarita), privately-owned by "the pioneers of Andean lake crossings". When the captain announced this and sounded the horn twice in honour of the ferry owners, alarm bells went off in my head.

What, so this European immigrant had started an elaborate "bus" service across the lake 100 years ago, does that make him a pioneer? It turned out the Roth family has done very well out of these crossings and obtained a seeming monopoly to cross into Argentina by the lake. The company owns the ferry, the buses to Argentina, the hotels in Peulla if you wish to stay and the shops around it. The place is like Disneyworld! Middle-aged tourists are directed to clean-swept and fenced-off paths to the hotel which charges 150 USD a night. If you wish to go straight to Argentina you can buy a ticket at roughly 120 USD one way. Horse back riding costed 6 times more than the day before in Cochamo and all alcohol had to be purchased in the hotel, the only form of evening entertainment despite a local crew of several dozens of young men. Thus they all went to sleep at about 21h00 - in company-owned accomodation. The guides used to live apart but were now under closer supervision since last year thus stopping their nightly guitar-and-beer sessions. Frankly, the whole place felt like a situation screaming for the A-team to come and rescue the poor villagers from the dominant feudal landlord! But on the bright side: during our beautiful and exhausting walk the next morning we did manage to cross paths with a tarantula-like spider!

CHILOE
So we abandoned our plans for Bariloche and returned to Puerto-Montt to go to Chiloe. On the ferry out there, some sea lions were following the boat, and that was just the start! Driving through the island of Chiloe was like entering a magical world of fairytales where log cabins and churches were made out of multi-coloured wood. Houses with walls of fish scales appearance are set up on stilts by the water or on top of a hill with smoke coming out of their chimneys. This setting would then be surrounded by lush greenery and wild flowers again which are ever-present in Chile. There were gigantic rhubarb-like plants with leaves that could easily hide my entire body; they are edible, but I far prefer my mother-in-law's rhubarb jam. We explored a small part of the national park called Tepuan, named after the tepu trees which were covered in moss, with strong roots sprouting from different directions and small leaves. We heard a woodpecker laboriously doing what he does so naturally; we read a warning sign to watch out for small figures and elves.

In Chiloe, nature and old colourful wooden houses make one forget about time. It was like wishing for all the pretty wild things such as green forest, lakes, wild beaches, log cabins, isolated communities and freshly caught fish served on a plate. This was confirmed when we walked towards the beach to the loud Pacific Ocean. We first had to cross fields of green pastures with cows, then sand dunes before reaching a misty and wild ocean beach that stretched for miles. It was like being back in Aus - there was absolutely nothing or no one in sight, not even a seagull.

PUERTO MONTT
To catch our flight to the furthest south, we had to return to Puerto Montt. Our impression of this disorderly town improved on our second visit. It could be because this time we managed to make it to the pier of Angelmo where the day's catch was cooked and served. I enjoyed a delicious fish soup and Bruno tried the local speciality of curanto - a mixture of meat and shellfish. As dusk turned to evening, we could see the lights of the houses & buildings at the bottom of the hills with the snowpeaked Osorno volcano overlooking this old town. It's amazing how places look so different at night!!

Tomorrow, we enter the park of Torres del Paine.

---

---