Second Leg: Puerto Varas/Lago Llanquihue

Alright, back in Chile! And I didn't get kicked off the bus this time. Success. We took a bus to Puerto Varas, which is in Chile's Lakes Region. Lots of lakes, people. Also volcanoes and mountains. Very very gorgeous. On the bus ride we caught a  glimpse of a volcano that might be my favorite I've ever seen (not that I've seen so many in my lifetime, yet). It's called Puntiagudo ("sharp-pointed"), and it has a jagged peak that looks like some evil villain's hideaway out of a fantasy/sci-fi movie. My pictures were taken from a distance (and from a moving bus), so instead this is coming to you via Google images:

from someone named Patricia Santini on panoramio.com

But I digress. Puerto Varas is a city on Lago Llanquihue ("yan-KEY-way"). People falsely assume from the name ("puerto" = "port") that it's on the ocean, but it's just a big lake. There are lots of little towns along the shore, and across the lake are two very prominent volcanoes, Volcán Osorno and Volcán Calbuco. They're actually pretty damn close, and they loom large on the horizon looking out from the hill where our hostel was located in Puerto Varas. 

that's Osorno on the left and Calbuco on the right

Puerto Varas was a really pleasant little city, with a cool mix of people. It's kind of a hub for adventure tourism trips and outdoor expeditions, thanks to its location between so many lakes, rivers, mountains, and volcanoes, so there were lots of rugged outdoorsy folks. And locals and other, less intense travellers, of course. Most of the sites to see are not in Puerto Varas itself, but the surrounding area. So we got right down to it! As soon as we dropped everything off in our adorable hostel, we took a bus to a nearby town that is famous for its German heritage, called Frutillar. Another pocket of European immigrant culture, just like Bariloche.  Frutillar has a cute little beach and a stretch of artisan shops and cafes for tea and kuchen (the German tart-cakes that are still very common in Southern Chile). Steph and I got some kuchen and just strolled around to enjoy the quiet little place.

that's Volcán Osorno visible across the lake

kuchen and tea (Steph's photo)

so symmetrical : ) 

there were actually a good number of people swimming!

the Club Alemán, or German club

really obnoxiously German

a pretty little church with the most gorgeous ceiling

can you see the little gold stars on the sky blue ceiling?

The next day, we took the morning to shop around some stores in Puerto Varas itself and made a big lunch to prepare ourselves for the kayaking trip we had booked that afternoon! Our hostel offered various outings, and the kayaking sounded too good to pass up. It was just us, a young married couple from Pennsylvania who had been working at an English immersion school in Santiago, and our hilarious German hostel guide. We went into a little laguna that had a lovely view of Volcán Calbuco, and then out into the open waters of the big lake. We stopped for a beach picnic halfway and finished up just as the sun was starting to go down. We had an absolute blast, and it was an amazing way to spend an afternoon. Our hostel guide took lots of pictures so that we wouldn't have to worry about bringing our own cameras, and we are still waiting for them to pass those photos along to us, so unfortunately we have not seen them yet. Just trust me that they are damn good photos, and whenever I finally get ahold of them they will be on here too.

That night we made dinner with our new kayaking friends and swapped teaching-in-Chile stories over our yummy meal. By the time I had finished my curry-and-rice-bowl (thank you Steph!), my arms were killing me. I had some serious muscle issues that night, thanks to my hours of kayaking. Youch. It was turning into a much more physically demanding vacation than we had planned, but the situation called for it! And we were having so much fun in the process that we didn't mind the cramps every other day. 

The following day we took another bus out to a national park at the base of Volcán Osorno, called Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales but referred to mainly as Petrohue. We hiked around for a while on what turned out to be black volcanic sand the entire way (hello, yet another workout), and made our way to the shore of the breathtaking Lago Todos los Santos (All Saints' Lake). We plopped down there for a while, to eat and relax (me with my feet in the water). We probably spent a good 40 minutes there and didn't see a single other person, save for 5 kayaks far out on the lake. I could not get over the fact that there were not droves of people out there to take in the beautiful day in this spectacular spot. We felt very lucky.

the lake from a distance, from our volcano path

We walked barefoot along the beach to get back to the park entrance, and while the tops of my feet did get pretty sunburned (as did my shoulders and face), the bottoms of my feet got nice and smooth from essentially walking on a giant pile of pumice stones. From there we made it back to another spot in the park, where there are river rapids in between the giant volcanic rocks (Los Saltos de Petrohue). Yet again I was struck by the unreal colors of the water. How does that happen?! 

The next day was our last morning in Puerto Varas, so while Steph was taking care of some things online I ventured out to wander around the city. We had a map from our hostel of the historic homes in the area, so I followed that route more or less. A lot of the buildings in Puerto Varas, and in the other little towns around the lake, have these very unique wooden shingles in different shapes and patterns. Lots of very pretty homes! I also walked for a while along the lakeshore (taking another beach break to sit with my feet in for a while), and came back past the very recognizable German church in Puerto Varas. It is an exact copy of a standing church in Germany, and is almost 100 years old. Here were some of my favorite sightings from the walk:

only in Chile would there be graffiti of tea pots

classy, and also very Chilean

possibly my favorite building that I saw

unexplained weird horse structure at the far end of the lake walk, but it frames the volcanoes nicely... 

I did not see anyone actually catch anything...

Before it was time to head to the bus station, we took photos of the hostel and said our goodbyes to some of the friends we had made there. Steph and I both agreed at the end of the trip that this portion had been our favorite. Our hostel, called the Margouya 2, was one of my favorite places I've ever stayed, and we made lots of friends there, both with other travellers and the employees and owner. And Puerto Varas itself had such a remarkable feeling to it, between the unbeatable setting and the unique mix of people. I really loved it. Here you can get an idea of how great our little hostel was--a big old dark wooden house, with lots of windows, a big kitchen and family dining table, and awesome people. Can't beat that.

these are the wood-burning stoves that are in every house in Southern Chile

how cute is that? 

Yeah, we had a freaking blast in Puerto Varas. Next, it was off to an archipelago, which meant crossing over a channel with our bus on a ferry. I'd never been on a ferry. Bring it on, fresh sea breezes! 

photo credit to Steph!

First Leg: Bariloche (Argentina)

After our initial difficulties, we were very relieved to finally be in Bariloche ("barry-LOW-chey"). I had heard from multiple friends that this spot was one of the most beautiful places they had ever experienced, so I guess my expectations were pretty high. If you know me well you know that I'm a big fan of keeping expectations low (all the better for a pleasant surprise, right?), but I couldn't help but be excited! Luckily, as it turns out, the thing about places like Bariloche is that no amount of verbal praise or photography attempts will ever do it justice anyway, so even with high expectations it will blow your mind. And that was exactly what happened to me.

Bariloche (officially "San Carlos de Bariloche") is nestled in the midst of lakes and peaks in the Andes. The city itself is spread along a beautiful lakeshore, and it is a litte pocket of European Alpine culture. Southern Argentina (and Chile, as we will see later) has many litte pockets like this, from immigrants who came over to escape either the threat or the consequences of WWII. One of the many immigrant contributions to the local culture was chocolate-making, and now there are chocolate shops, big and small, on every corner in Bariloche. It's obviously very popular with the tourists (such as myself). Actually much of Bariloche was geared towards tourists, with lots of expensive hotels, restaurants, and spas. That aspect of it was not as appealing to me, but the natural landscapes easily made up for it. On the first day, we explored the city, got ourselves organized, and gathered our energy for outdoorsy activities the following day.

my first daytime view of things, from the big window in my hostel bedroom

a father-son graffiti mural team! they were very adorable and very
accommodating of me wanting to take their picture

we came across of troupe of yarn-bombers in action! nice old ladies haha

my favorite graffiti mural from this trip

some event in the plaza, there were political groups but also folklore bands?

The next day we had a lot in store. We hopped on a local bus to head west. Once outside of the city we were on a very scenic path along the lake, lined with adorable (and probably expensive) bed & breakfasts. This was the area with all the hiking trails, scenic lookout points, and various adventure tourism locales (for biking, kayaking, boating, etc.) We got off first to climb up to the top of a very tall hill called Cerro Campanario, from the top of which you could get a breathtaking 360 view of the surrounding lakes and peaks. I just want to point out that there was a lift available to take us to the top of the hill (a ski lift, essentially), but we did not take it! Steph and I wanted to save our money and dignity, so we set out (up) on foot. It proved to be much more steep than we were anticipating, but we made it up without any falls! Boy was it worth it. 

the lift that we did not--I repeat, did NOT--take

1049 meters = 3440 feet

scroll all the way over here please

photo skills capturing photo skills

me and Steph, proud climbers!

It was one of those situations where I kept turning around, awestruck, trying to take a photo that would do it justice, but of course I couldn't. I think I took the same photo 10 or 12 times (I have spared you the majority of them). Obviously, it was a spectacular view. I don't even really know what else to say about it, because even in the moment we were just bumbling around unable to say anything other than "Oh my god. Oh my god it's so beautiful." You get the idea. 

We relaxed up there a bit, taking in the sun and eating some sandwiches we had packed. Then it was adventure #2! We made our way back down and walked a short way further down the road, to a bike rental shop. The road makes a 27k loop through the hills and valleys between the lakes, lagunas, creeks, and bays, and biking is the perfect way to see everything! There were several rental companies, but we found a good one and set off, a little nervous due to the various warnings about how sore our muscles would be, but excited for the beautiful day and the beautiful views. In retrospect, trying to bike this hilly loop in the heat of the day, after already climing that hill earlier, was not a wise move on our part. But, we appreciated the setting enough to make it through. It was just too gorgeous! 

every once and a while we glimpsed the snowcaps peeking through the trees

look at those colors

the Hotel Llao Llao, a famous (and expensive) Argentinian hotel known for
its amazing Sound-of-Music-esque location (and for its name, pronounced "yow yow")

an enclosed laguna with surprisingly warm water

sweet helmet

these yellow blooms lined the entire loop!

a bay with unreal deep turquoise water, where we rested a bit

same bay, from ground level

see? we were here for a while

On our way back, we took an alternate route in order to pass through a little tiny town on their artisan market day. It is actually called The Swiss Colony (in Spanish, obviously), but we got a very hippie comune feel from the place. Still not sure if it was a good, happy crunchy thing, or a bad, creepy cult thing. But it was interesting. Only 120 people live there! We got some food at the market but didn't have time for much else, because we had to get the bikes back by a certain time and we had been slowing down significantly (realllly feelin' the pain towards the end there). 

We managed to get the bikes back, and caught the bus back into town to treat ourselves to some gourmet chocolate. Damn tasty, let me tell you. We were having trouble getting around on foot after not too long, so we called it a night and prepared ourselves for our early bus ride the next morning. Due to my screw up with the bus on the way into Argentina a few days before, we'd not had as much time there as we hoped. Steph and I agreed that we felt there was more we wanted to see around Bariloche; we had felt very rushed to get in as much as possible in our limited time there. I think I agree with my earlier friends that it was one of the most beautiful spots I'd ever found myself in, but we were not so keen on the city itself. It was very commercialized, specifically catered to wealthy foreigners. Still, I was obviously extremely glad to have experienced it, and would love to go back someday and see even more of the surrounding area. Until then I will leave you with the first picture of the city that I had taken, when we arrived the first night to find their plaza decorated with a pretty metal Christmas tree. Happy belated holidays!