Chilean Patagonia : Puerto Varas
A travelogue from Chilean Patagonia
Previously on LatAm Diaries: Argentinian Patagonia : Punta Tombo
Carretera Austral or Chile’s Route 7 is a 1240km road running south of Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins. The road skirts around thick forests, glaciers, fjords, rivers, canals, and steep mountains, through sparsely populated areas. It’s a drive along multiple parks and villages through unmaintained and sometimes inexistent roads where landslides and floods are common. But despite all the logistical difficulties, this is my favorite region in the whole wide world.
Carretera Austral isn’t a sight or an adventure that can be captured in a photo. It’s an experience that has to be lived. It’s not about what happens. The time stretches and expands, letting you take stock of the whistles of the wind, the birds and crickets chirping, the clouds embracing and releasing the mountain, and the wildflowers dotting the inclines that are ready to slide in the first rains. Stopping at a remote village invariably invites a curious question — de dónde vienes? It’s sparsely populated, yet the vegetation makes you feel welcome in the company. There’s always a river, lake, or waterfall in the vicinity.
Most importantly, this is not something that one can ‘plan’ to the last second. And losing that control starts to liberate you. When we visited Chile in 2019, we drove 3/4th of the Carretera Austral, skipping the northern stretch around Puerto Montt. We drove a maximum 2hrs a day, with plenty of time to stop, wait, and marvel. There were stretches on the roads that were closed for a few hours every day for maintenance. If we fell within that window, we patiently waited on the road.
So, when we bought the tickets to Puerto Montt, the plan was to cover the stretch between Puerto Montt and Puyuhuapi. This stretch involves multiple ferries and drive through gravel roads. However, as the dates got closer, we changed our minds and pivoted to another gorgeous town in the region — Puerto Varas. I had just recovered from a cold which I had passed on to Sabarish. So we were due for some downtime, and the next 5 days turned out to be exactly that — peaceful days amid lakes and mountains. We did a few hikes, and a few drives, but mostly just watched the sunsets and starry nights.
When we picked Puerto Varas as our next destination, we had the genius idea of going directly from Buenos Aires. There is no airport in Puerto Varas, we instead fly to Puerto Montt. Similar to the air routes in Argentina, getting to smaller cities in Chile is possible only via the capital city. This implies an international and a domestic connection, forcing us to self-transfer our baggage. So, we were bracing for a long day.
We got to Buenos Aires Airport a good four hours ahead of our flight time expecting the regular dance routine — check in the baggage, security check, and border control. But punctuality is a two-way street. There’s no use in arriving early if the airline counter isn’t open, which is the situation we found ourselves in. We waited at least 45 minutes before the counter opened. And when they did, the priority line, which by then had burgeoned, received the priority.
Finally, when we checked in our bags and headed to border control for the exit stamp, there were enough people waiting to cheer a soccer team. Buenos Aires EZE is a large international airport with connections across LATAM. So, there were separate lines for international and Argentinian citizens, both of which were extremely crowded. That was another hour of purgatory. In moments such as these, a book is one’s best friend. Mine was 2666. The apocalyptic murders of women in Santa Teresa were moving faster than our immigration lines.
By the time we got to the gate with two loudly grumbling stomachs, we were relieved to have a little short of an hour before take off. But halfway through the lunch, we noticed how empty the gate was. The attentiveness paid off when we realized how the gate had silently moved to the other end of the terminal.
2.5 hours later, we repeated all of these when we arrived in Santiago — collect baggage, border control, check-in baggage, security check, and board.
Something that’s constantly overlooked when traveling is eating right, not always for want of trying. Good vegetarian food is hard to find on the move, especially in airports. Flights don’t allow carrying raw vegetables and fruits. Even in the odd chance of finding a salad, they end up being so unappetizing that I cause more harm by garnishing it with Lays. But it all comes with the territory of travel.
The first thing we notice getting here from Argentina is the change in weather and terrain. Being in the rain-shadow region of the Andes, Argentinian Patagonia is dry, and the sun consistently shines in a bright blue sky. Chile on the other hand is lush green, and clouds hover over us with blue sky hiding behind.
Puerto Varas is a cute town on the banks of Lago Llanquihue, which on a clear day overlooks Volcano Osorno and Volcano Calbuco. We were fortunate to see that at least once during our stay since the clouds seem to love this region a lot.
We stayed in a town, Frutillar, even smaller than Puerto Varas. The Airbnb was perched on an incline overlooking Lago Llanquihue across which is the active volcano Osorno. Between the unit and the lake were large bunches of wild plants, some with flowers. During the 5 days of our stay, Osorno parted the clouds on hardly two.
One of those days, when the sky cleared a bit, we headed out to see a couple of waterfalls.
Los Cascadas falls is a 30-minute walk from the parking lot, along a river, crossing three wooden bridges, through a canopy of different kinds of trees, ferns, and mosses. 10 minutes into the trail, some kind of bees started haunting us. While more forgiving than mosquitoes, these guys were relentless, especially when we paused to take a picture. The trail has so many varieties of vegetation, Fuschia being one of those. It’s my favorite flower, which I’ve grown in yards or balconies for the last 6yrs. It is a native of this region and the trail has a wonderful assortment of red and purple ones. After fighting the bees for some time, we reach a clearing where through a crack in the rainforest, Los Cascadas gushes out.
Another was the Petrohue Falls in Vicente Perez Rosales National Park. The Petrohue River falls through volcanic rocks, with their pockmarks and craters, and transforms into rapids at the end of the falls. The river is a deep turquoise which is mysterious since it’s not a glacial river. The landmark view of this falls has Volcano Osorno dominating the background. But we weren’t so lucky.
The day before we left, we drove towards Hornopiren. The route we wanted to take, which was an offshoot of the park road, was a 4.5-hour drive from Frutillar of which at least a third was through gravel. As expected, there were a few landslides, and at least three road-maintenance blockades. But the destination was never our aim. We meander slowly along Lago Llanquihue, proceeding to Fjordi de Reloncavi, and taking a ferry back from Puelche to La Arena. Typical of this region, the route is gorgeous but not in the least photogenic. It’s as if the beauty and grandeur refuse to be enslaved to a frame.
This leg of our journey, Puerto Varas, was a good downtime but left us craving for more. It reminded us how much we love this region. And we’re certain to be back sometime again in life.
This is part of a series of travelogues. Coming next: Force of Life— Iguazu Falls
