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Published: February 3rd 2009
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Although this says Puerto Varas, its the closest place on here to where we actually were for this entry, which was Petrohue. The journey from Ancud to Petrohue took 3 buses and a ferry, taking me back to the days in Central America where you had to take multiple bus journeys to get places, I'd got quite into the habit here of jumping on a bus and ending up exactly where I wanted to be!
Anyway, we arrived at Petrohue, which is on Lago Todos los Santos, supposedly the most beautiful lake in the southern lake district. And on first impression, it really didn't disappoint, with crystal clear waters, the Andes lurking omniously in the background, and snow capped Volcano Osorno sealing the deal. To get to our campsite, we had to take a boat across the water, and our captain assured us that on the other side there was a market where we could buy food.
What he didn't tell us was that the food available consisted of eggs, bread and cake. Therefore, after setting up camp at lakeside, we tucked into our evening meal, which obviously was egg butties, followed by cake, and washed down with a
cheeky beer. The many chileans staying at the campsite seemed amazed to have been joined by gringos, and we were invited to spend the evening with them round the campfire, which was really nice, although I struggled immensely with the speed of their Spanish.
The next morning, being as we hadn't had a chance to buy food, we ate more egg butties before heading back over the water to visit the Saltas (waterfalls) of Petrohue. We were sold the falls by a view that showed the waterfalls with Volcan Osorno as the backdrop, but we found whilst there that you had to pay 15,000 chilenos for a 2 minute speedboat ride to see that. Rubbish. Nonetheless, the falls were quite nice, and we got a bit more practise at horsefly swatting.
After the waterfalls, we decided to chance our arm at another Sendero. This one, the Sendero Solitario was quite clearly signposted, and as such, we managed to follow the path and not end walking up a road instead.... that is until at the end of the trail we spotted a road going upto a mirador, and it seemed like a great idea to go up and see
it. Half an hour later walking up a steep hill in blazing sun, we resorted to hitchhiking, and after a few failures, a chap with his kids picked us up. Disaster struck soon afterwards though, when his car broke down. If a car can't handle the hill, what chance did we have?
This was our sign to head back, and as luck would have it, on our walk back, our friend picked us up again, car apparently working again. He took us to visit the Laguna Verde nearby, then dropped us off in Ensenada, leaving us with 20km to cover back to Petrohue. Our luck was in though, as we were then picked up by a construction worker, who was involved in paving the road between Puerto Varas and Petrohue, and so then by association, so were we. So if you happen to go down a lovely paved road (due for completion in December) just recognise some of the credit for it has to come this way.
On our return to Petrohue however our luck ran out... the shop was shut. This meant we were consigned to another night of egg butties... which were starting to get a
little bit repetitive by now. These consumed, another night around the fire with the chileans ensued, then the next morning we left the site, with the intention of getting to Villa la Angostura, Argentina... which is where this entry ends.
Stewart
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