Puerto Varas, Backpacking Eight Months On the Road
Bus Through South America
By David Rice
Bus Through South America
By David Rice
Page Thirty Four
North
From El Chitan I headed north on a local bus and later I would hook
up with a series of buses that go over the Carreterra Austral
highway, a road in varying states of repair that runs right beside the
Andean peaks.
This route has beautiful scenery with high lakes surrounded by
mountains but the roads in places are barely passable after a
harsh winter. The towns along this route, most tiny villages, were
just coming out of their winter slumber and were in bloom with
springtime flowers and flowering fruit trees. Lupines crowded the
roadsides while cherry trees and apricot groves grow beside the
road.
Many rivers came streaming from the mountains, feeding these
lush valleys as the winter snows melted. Guanaco, llama, and
Emus grazed in the wild, far out in the fields and meadows below
the snow-capped mountains.
I kept working north through this idyllic scene on a network of dirt
roads, gravel tracks, and finally pavement as I headed for Puerto
Aisen where I would catch a Navimag cruise ship north through the
archipelago and back to my starting place at Puerto Montt.
In Puerto Aisen I boarded a Navimag passenger and cargo ship
combination for an uneventful passage through the maze of islands
that form the archipelago and I made landfall at Puerto Montt.
Before I could get too far from the dock, a lady approached with an
offer of a room in her home and I took it. I wanted to stay two nights
to rest and didn't have the energy to shop for a place.
Rested after a good nights sleep I toured the area by local bus
making a day trip out to Puerto Varas, a quaint town on Todos los
Santos Lake.
I took another bus through a beautiful valley to the foot of Calbucao
and Osornos Volcanoes at the village of Petrohue. From the village
I hiked along the river and then up to the Osornos Volcano for a
memorable view of the river valley between the two volcanoes.
I returned to Puerto Montt in late afternoon my memory full again of
images of this land of incredible natural beauty.
I rose early the next day to catch a bus to Santiago, a 28-hour trip.
From El Chitan I headed north on a local bus and later I would hook
up with a series of buses that go over the Carreterra Austral
highway, a road in varying states of repair that runs right beside the
Andean peaks.
This route has beautiful scenery with high lakes surrounded by
mountains but the roads in places are barely passable after a
harsh winter. The towns along this route, most tiny villages, were
just coming out of their winter slumber and were in bloom with
springtime flowers and flowering fruit trees. Lupines crowded the
roadsides while cherry trees and apricot groves grow beside the
road.
Many rivers came streaming from the mountains, feeding these
lush valleys as the winter snows melted. Guanaco, llama, and
Emus grazed in the wild, far out in the fields and meadows below
the snow-capped mountains.
I kept working north through this idyllic scene on a network of dirt
roads, gravel tracks, and finally pavement as I headed for Puerto
Aisen where I would catch a Navimag cruise ship north through the
archipelago and back to my starting place at Puerto Montt.
In Puerto Aisen I boarded a Navimag passenger and cargo ship
combination for an uneventful passage through the maze of islands
that form the archipelago and I made landfall at Puerto Montt.
Before I could get too far from the dock, a lady approached with an
offer of a room in her home and I took it. I wanted to stay two nights
to rest and didn't have the energy to shop for a place.
Rested after a good nights sleep I toured the area by local bus
making a day trip out to Puerto Varas, a quaint town on Todos los
Santos Lake.
I took another bus through a beautiful valley to the foot of Calbucao
and Osornos Volcanoes at the village of Petrohue. From the village
I hiked along the river and then up to the Osornos Volcano for a
memorable view of the river valley between the two volcanoes.
I returned to Puerto Montt in late afternoon my memory full again of
images of this land of incredible natural beauty.
I rose early the next day to catch a bus to Santiago, a 28-hour trip.
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