Blogs from Puerto Montt, Los Lagos, Chile, South America
Adventures in Geneva, sorry Puerto Varas.
Published: March 12th 2012South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
March 12th 2012
I am writing this entry sat under a cloudless sky. The sun is high in the sky and for the first time in two weeks I am warm. The dormant volcano dominates the skyline and my two companeros, Karina and Andy are walking the shore line of the lake we have found. So,I arrived at the unholy hour of 8am off the boat to the querkiest guest house so far. La Roca. A small house in a Alpine summerhouse style with wooden effect finish. It's is painted a runny shite brown with lime green windows. If it was a bigger house it would look like something out of the horror film, Amityville. It is tiny though, and reckon there could be much banging of head on door frames. Owner though is a great fellow, Leon. His ... read more
January 10th 2012
Porto Montt: Today we called at the lake district of Chile. The third largest lake in South America is located here, Lago Llanquihui. On it’s banks is located the city of Puerto Varas also known as The City of Roses. Today’s adventure will be something different. The sky was blue when we entered the harbor at Porto Montt and the air smelled fresh with a hint of herb or spice. By the time we tendered into town the sky had turned a molten grey and the breeze was fresh. We met our guide Theresa and our local chef Ricardo. We made the short drive to the local market to pick up ingredients for lunch. The market was in an old wooden building but was immaculately clean and fresh smelling. All the produce looked wonderful and the ... read more
Valparaiso and Puerto Montt
Published: December 20th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto MonttDecember 20th 2011
Hello from our first port! We have arrived in Puerto Montt after our first two nights on the cruise. Was hoping to white water raft or get into some chilean horse riding but fairly solid weather is putting on hold for now. We had a good night out in Santiago before leaving for Valpo on the Saturday. It was about 6000 pesos for our 20 min taxi to the bus station and somehow then 3000 pesos each for our two hour coach ride to Valpo. Its a cool place with markets everywhere and lots of cafes and main squares with good culture. We left Valpo on Sunday after checking into our hostel that could not be reached by road, only several stairs. We had a good night in with the other hostel people, getting into a ... read more
(Attempted) Volcano Summit and Lake District
Published: November 1st 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
November 1st 2011
It took me only about driving up 5 one-ways and Charle going “Chicka jy moet aan die ander kant ry!” to learn that, here, they drive on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel is also on the wrong side of the car! We pretty much reversed all the way to Pucon, but we made it there and we both immediately liked the place, but we didn’t go there for the scenery, no, we had a goal! And that was to summit volcano Villaricca! Being as lazy as I am, I figured, nah, rock spider shoes, water and a waterproof jacket, we’ll be sweet! Hah! That’ll teach me to do better research. The summit is only 2,847m, the temperature on that volcano is between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius and no, water is ... read more
October 31st 2011
The In-betweener! It has been days since I’ve gotten round to (attempt to) write something! So small bites First: I met up with Charle in Buenos Aires (meaning- Good Air), what a city! But since you’ll probably go there one day and you’ve read all about it, I’ll only say two things; 1. Do not call it “The Paris of South America”. Why do people do that? You offend the locals and you take away the uniqueness of something very unique. 2. The next time you go to BA, make sure you are there on a Monday night! And whatever you do, DO NOT miss “La Bamba El Tempo”. There is no way I can describe the insanity to you, but you have been warned! Don’t miss it! Change your flight if you have to. After ... read more
June 5th 2011
In Pt. Mont especially the Angelmo Market is nice. I also went to Pt. Varas and the amazing waterfall and Vulcano Osorno.... read more
Puerto Montt – the all embracing truth - la verdad que todo lo abarca
Published: April 18th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
April 18th 2011
The Chilean government was at one time worried about the lack of public displays of affection and the falling birth rate. Puerto Montt was chosen as somewhere to pilot a government initiative and a large statue of a couple embracing was erected (see first photograph). I was fortunate enough to be in Puerto Montt on Public Embracing Day when the 'couple most likely to stay together' posed at the foot of the statue, and the female half of last year's couple posed on the statue's seat displaying the resultant baby. The spirit of this initiative has now spread throughout South America and it is no longer unusual to see couples holding hands in the street, and even kissing! Puerto Montt is a delightful town in a bay almost surrounded by mountains where even the young are ... read more
February 23rd 2011
These 4 days were pretty dull, but we figure that sometimes it is good to be bored, otherwise you can get sensory overload... if you can’t be bothered to read on, have a look at the pics instead... (and just for fun the Smiths/Morrissey fans amongst you will spot the references). Day 28 Saturday morning and we are off to catch the bus to Puerto Montt back on the mainland where will be catching a flight further south on Monday. Arrive in Puerto Montt, a very busy port, where it is raining so we “waterproof up” head to toe, and head to a sushi restaurant that has a good review in the guide. We are not disappointed and the fact that they are playing the Smiths and Morrissey makes Emily’s day. The food is fantastic (prepared ... read more
Dalsi prechod do Chile/ Another cross to Chile
Published: February 19th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
February 14th 2011
Rano sme si vyzdvihli nase velke batohy z hostela kde sme ich nechali pred nasim vyletom do narodneho parky a mali este cas na prijemny piknik v blizkom parku. Na stanici sme zistili ze autobus ktory mal odchadzat o tretej pride najskor o stvrtej. Na chilskej strane hranice nas ako obycajne cakala podrobna prehliadka kvoli zakazu dovozu cerstveho jedla do Chile. Vsetky veci museli ist cez rontgen a nejakym nestastnikom objavili obrovske zasoby jedla - klobasky, chleba, susene ovocie, zelenina. Samozrejme ze vsetko museli ist von, Stanik nemohol zniest pohlad na klobasky putujuce do kosa a tak sa hned opytal ci je to mozne zjest tam. Colnici suhlasili a tak si par ludi urobilo hostinu. Dotycny clovek bol samozrejme nahnevany a tak si zanadaval - po cesky a tak sme sa hned aj dali do reci, ... read more
July 30th 2010
After spending almost four days in Pucon, we finally started our way south towards Coyhaique. We made our way to Osorno where we would catch our bus to Coyhaique only to find out that our bus, the only bus to Coyhaique, was sold out. We started panicking. We are supposed to start classes on Monday and everyone was telling us that our next chance was until not next Wednesday! After a long hour at an Internet cafe figuring things out we decided to catch another bus to Puerto Montt and try our chances there. After another hectic half hour, we finally settled on going to Chiloe Island where we could catch a ferry to Puerto Chacabuco, an hour away from Coyhaique and then a final bus home. Stay tuned for a confirmation for this plan.... read more
