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South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
January 3rd 2008
Published: January 4th 2008
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Volcan VillaricaVolcan VillaricaVolcan Villarica

A clear day in Pucon!!!!
Today we head to Puerto Montt. That will be new territory for both of us. Pucon has been fine but we both have this feeling that it is like the "Jackson Hole" of Chile. There are plenty of fine places close at hand but the town itself is a little too touristy for us. So as it turns out our tickets are for 15:45 pm, so that means we will have to hang out a little longer here. So we got sweet cherries and humitas (I think humitas must be sort of the Chilean equivalent of lutefisk!!!! they are like a large tamale but bland and without a filling I like them but Kathy had one bite 😊-- she is a little pickier than me). We also went and had our laundry done. Now that's exciting!

So we ride the bus in the evening to Puerto Montt, it was perhaps the poorest so far, everything on it was broken, and the WC smelled so bad that we were overpowered several rows up (Scott makes mental note--- ALWAYS GET SEATS NEAR THE FRONT OF THE BUS). So we get to Puerto Montt and we are stormed by people who offer us
Humitas and Cherries on the beachHumitas and Cherries on the beachHumitas and Cherries on the beach

Humitas and sweet cherries on the shore of Lago Viilarica
lodging. We choose the nice women who says her husband speaks English. She takes us to her home/hosteleria and for $6,000 pesos each (about $12 US), we get a nice night sleep and prepare for the next day and our crossing to the Island of Chiloe.

The bus terminal in Puerto Montt has about 15 different lines so it is difficult to figure out which one you need to book to get to a certain place. We are told the Tour del Sur is the one to get us to Castro, the town on Chiloe were we are planning to stay. The next problem is figuring out which is the bus you are suppose to be getting on!!!! They come in all colors, and come and go all the time so it takes some thinking ahead. I buy our return trip tickets to Chillan for Sunday close to Concepcion where we hope to meet up with the EPES group.

We get to Castro about 2:00 pm and again we are met by nice women who speak about as many words in English as we speak in Spanish, but one of them is "lodging" and she proceeds to show
Waiting for the BusWaiting for the BusWaiting for the Bus

There are about 15 different bus lines in the terminal at Puerto Montt. That makes it pretty hard to be sure you are waiting for the right one--- but if you gesture enough, and hold your ticket out someone will eventually look at it and help-- Chileans are VERY helpful.
us nice hosteleria about a block from the bus terminal with a nice view of the ocean!!! for about the same amount as last night. So we spend a nice afternoon in Castro, visit the Mercado, eat some of the shell fish that the island is famous for, and after I go to several different ATM machines I finally find one that likes gringo cards well enough to give me some pesos.


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Ferry to ChiloeFerry to Chiloe
Ferry to Chiloe

The ferry that took us, bus and all to the island of Chiloe.
CastroCastro
Castro

The street in front of our hosteleria in Castro


5th January 2008

Montana
What an adventure - I'm sure you will have lots of stories. Enjoy the warmth. Love your blogs and the phone call. mom
6th January 2008

Great travel log!
Am enjoying your reports tremendously! -KB

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