Advertisement
Published: April 11th 2006
Edit Blog Post
(DEUTSCHE VERSION WEITER UNTEN - GERMAN VERSION FURTHER DOWN)
Funny thing was that I only went to Puerto Varas because I couldn´t get a direct bus to my final destination Petrohué. That day I was coming down from the refugio on the base of Volcán Puyehué (after 4 days of trekking in the park). Luckily the bus that goes past the turn off to the trailhead had exactly ONE seat left. Well, that answered my question of where to go next. I didn´t bother waiting for the other bus going back up to Argentina and instead quickly made up my mind and hopped on that very bus to Osorno. I even got one of the best seats with (almost) the best view. So, stinking like a pig as I was (even though my body had seen some water the day before at the "baños" (Hot Springs) my clothes probably radiated some kind of foul smell amongst all the super clean backpackers and maybe also clean locals), I made myself comfy (next to a not so happy looking english girl) and enjoyed the ride. Once I got to Puerto Varas I was stunned by its cleaniness and tidiness. Guess the German´s
Cochamó
View from the jetty who settled down here in the 19th century left their marks. It actually is a very pretty little town. Well, I guess I was meant to at least spent a few more hours here; the next bus I was going to get from here to Petrohué wasn´t going to leave until the next morning. Ah, well....I found a beautiful place to stay with an extremely comfy bed (always good after a few days trekking). The next days accomodation was not going to be nearly as clean and comfy as I found out soon.
PETROHUÉ
The next morning I set off to Petrohué at some ungodly hour. It was lovely outside, real quiet, no one around (appart from the dogs of course, which chased me in groups of up to ten all the way to the bus stop), the rising sun cast a spectacular light on all the colourful and well maintained wooden houses, the roses in the front yards and the lake, in which I could recognise the reflection of Volcán Osorno. The ride was equally beautiful (appart from the fact that similar to Asia the Chilenos manage to fit 20 more people in the bus than you
Fjord de Reloncavi
View on the way to Cochamó would in Australia or Germany. Luckily most got off after only a short while).
Petrohué turned out to be no more than a big hotel (which was closed for the season), the boat terminal for the catamaran to Peulla and a tiny grocery store measuring about 3 * 3 meters (called "supermercado" - not sure - is it my spanish, or IS this a stupid name for a place this small). I met this old Chileno who told me that the only place to stay is the campground: Lucky I had left my tent behind for once! ( I really wanted to travel a little lighter for only a few days). Well, he said, there was another place to stay, across the river. He´d give me a ride, for only 1000 Pesos! Sure, special price for me, right!? For that the trip only takes a minute and compared to the ususal price standard I did think it was rather dear. Anyway, no choice, so he got "my business". Over there I was stunned by the magnificent view of the volcano (which was the ONLY reason for coming here) and the extremely beautiful setting right by the river. The inside
Osorno close up
On the track to Paso Desolación was the other extrem! The smell reminded me of the odor you frequently encounter under bridges where homeless people or kids tend to get rid of their excrements. I was going to open a window - but - imagine that - NO WINDOW! At least non, that I could open (it was nailed shut - or something comparable). The lady gave me another room, which had a similar problem to a lesser extend. Well, I thought I´d survive it for a night. The thing was, that I really wanted to go for this hike up to Paso Desolación. Which I did, and was it worth it?? YOU BET IT WAS!!! (See pic´s!!)
COCHAMÓ
That day I decided to check out some other unspoiled places, where no tourists go to and where I would find some rather authentic looks of Chile. And so I set off to make my way down to a place called Cochamó (both Petrohué and Cochamó were recommended to me by Ingo. Thanks Ingo!!). It was obvious that this place hadn´t been built to cater to tourists or even the occasional visitor (thank god! I was dying to see the real thing!). Nevertheless I
View from Hospedaje "Kuschel"
Near Petrohué (View of Volán Osorno) was lucky enough to find a CLEAN Hospedaje, owned by Edicar, a very nice lady. Her niece was around as well and I got the chance to really practice my spanish: Believe it or not but we managed to have a conversation for hours *smileextremelyproudly* and I found out about life of the chilenean middleclass (I´m not going to go into that - get a book about it if you are interested).
Cochamó has got its own intimate charme and one of the main features is the wooden church (South of here, especially on the island of Chiloé, are hundreds of them). The setting is spectacular: The little town is situated right on one of the fjordlike inlets on Chiles rugged Coastline. It reminded me a lot of New Zealand, with its temperate rainforest and cloud-covered mountains in the backdrop. To make it short, it was a very welcome retreat with lots of wonderful scenery and a good place to observe the rural lifestyle in Chile.
GERMAN VERSION - DEUTSCHE VERSION
Das lustige war, dass ich eigendlich nur nach Puerto Varas fahren wollte, weil es keine direkte Verbindung gab nach Petrohué, mein Ziel. An jenem Tag
View from Paso Desolación
View of Lago de los santos with Monte Tronador in the background (the snowcovered one) kam ich vom Refugio Puyehué am Fuss des Vulkans Puyehué (nach 4 Tagen Trekking im Park). Gluecklicherweise hielt der Bus, der hier jeden Tag vorbeikommt (einmal am Tag!) und hatte genau EINEN Sitzplatz uebrig. Somit war meine Frage, wohin ich als naechstes sollte / wollte, schnell beantwortet, denn ich hatte keinen Nerv, das Risiko einzugehen, auf den Bus in die andere Richtung zurueck nach Argentinien zu warten. Ich hatte sogar das Glueck, einen der besten Plaetze zu bekommen mit (fast) der besten Aussicht. Da war ich also, stinkend wie ein Schwein (obwohl mein Koerper mit Wasser in Beruehrung gekommen war am vorherigen Tag in den "Baños" - heisse Quellen (siehe "Puyehué"), ging von meiner Kleidung wohl eher ein seltsamer Geruch aus). Ich machte es mir gemuetlich (neben einem nicht alzu gluecklich aussehenden Maedel aus England) und genoss die Fahrt. Einmal in Puerto Varas angekommen, war ich ueberrascht von der Sauberkeit des Ortes, alles war so ordentlich und nett gemacht. Schaetze, die deutschen Einwanderer haben ihre Spuren hinterlassen: Der kleine Ort Puerto Varas ist ein richtig nett und idyllisch. Hm..vielleicht sollte ich einfach ein paar mehr Stunden in diesem kleinen Idyll verbringen; es stellte sich heraus, dass erst am naechsten Tag
ein Bus nach Petrohué ging. Was solls, ich fand ein extrem suesses Hostel mit einem sehr bequemen Bett. Am naechsten Abend sollte ich noch merken, wieviel das Wert war.
LIEBE DEUTSCHEN LESER, ICH HABE GEMERKT, DASS ES DOCH GANZ SCHOEN VIEL ARBEIT IST, ALLES ZU UEBERSETZEN. DA ICH JA WEISS, DASS IHR ALLE ENGLISH KOENNT, VERSCHIEBE ICH HIEMIT DIE UEBERSETZUNG AUF SPAETER UND KONZENTRIERE MICH AUF DIE VERVOLLSTAENDIGUNG MEINER BERICHTE ZUNAECHST AUF ENGLISCH. Ich bitte um Euer Verstaendnis :-)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.056s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0346s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb