Blogs from Puerto Varas, Los Lagos, Chile, South America - page 7

You now find us in Puerto Varas - our last stay in the continent before heading home tomorrow night. We did the 2 day Andean crossing from Barilche tp Puerto Varas, stopping at the hamlet of Puella in between. The crossing on the Argentinian side is spectacular as you hop from bus to boat to bus to boat to bus, passing though two lakes, one huge and one smaller but originating in a glacier and therefor a bright turquise colour. Some spectcular scenery - followed up by more land based on the Chilean side. Puella is the original one horse town(we couldnt even find one!) But it has 2 hotels seemingly just for crossing traffic. We stay in the newer and better of the two. It was great - but there wer only16 people staying there. ... read more

After a very long overnight sleepless bus journey from Santiago, I arrived in Puerto Varas. At least the journey was very comfortable. I am amazed with the cama seats and the amount of space available. I may not have slept well but I was comfortable and did not feel cramped - a contrast to being on a plane! It was a bit of a walk to the guest house from the terminus but worth it for the welcome I received. Mauricio and co gave me a warm welcome and nothing seemed to be a problem. My room was not ready but I had breakfast and freshened up whilst my room was being made. Soon as I got myself organised, I had a wander. I wandered along the Lago Llanquihue's shoreline. This is where I saw my ... read more

Ross: From Bariloche we caught an 8 hour bus over the border to Puerto Varas in Chile. Rumours had been flying around about poor road conditions over the Andes but after a 30 minute wait on the Argentine side of the border the authorities allowed us through. Heavy snowfall meant that the roads were fairly covered but we eventually arrived at the Chilean checkpoint of Villa La Angostura and headed on to Hostel Ellenhaus in Puerto Varas for a two-night stay. Puerto Varas was originally a German settlement and this is echoed in the architecture and German-named drinking establishments. However, our fellow German traveller, Walter, was somewhat dismayed at the lack of German speakers. Puerto Varas is located on the edge of Lake Llanquihue in the Chilean Lake District, north of Puerto Montt and south of ... read more

We left Pucon early for a five hour bus journey to Puerto Varas. Managed to sleep quite a bit on the bus which was good as I was pretty tired. Puerto Varas was another small-ish town with views of two volcanoes from the lake. I preferred Pucon though - it just had a nicer feel about it. Luna and I walked around part of the lake in one direction and managed to pick up some friends along the way. This particular friend had incredibly short legs and looked a bit like a cross between an Alsatian and a sausage dog. He decided to accompany us as far as we could go round the lake and back again into the town. I think he was also using us slightly though - another dog tried to scare him ... read more

Hola Amigos Hope everyone is well and enjoying the good weather back home. We made it to Chile after a bit of a monster flight from Auz and have been dossing around the Lake District for the past couple of weeks. First impressions of Chile? Well, it is a lot colder than any of the other countries we have visited, wearing a pair of socks and long trousers again took a bit of getting used to but is definately the norm nowadays! It is good though and the people have been pretty friendly, especially the nice lady in Temuco who took in the two stray, bumbling kiddies from the UK after their near-death (Helen told me to write this!) experience on the plane from Santaigo to Puerto Montt. It was pretty scary as it was really ... read more