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| Volcan Osorno is the emoji of volcanoes |
Back on mainland Chile on NYE we continued to Puerto Varas to find someplace to have dinner by Lago Llanquihue to gaze out towards the most quintessential looking volcano, Osorno. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy evening and most restaurants actually close for NYE, with the remaining ones clearly booking up well in advance. In the end, we found that we could "sneak" into a nice place by going early, eating quickly before someone else's reservation and leaving to find some NYE dessert elsewhere! And though we didn't stay awake until midnight, a decent fireworks display woke us up, which was a pleasant surprise.
From Puerto Varas we drove around the lake and up to Volcano Osorno - the best views were while driving around the lake as clouds covered the peak by the time we made it onto the volcano. Many Chileans have second homes here and while driving we saw some beautiful homes...well sort of because they are all behind giant fence and gates. We continued around the lake, stopping for short walks and to see a waterfall (Salto Las Cascadas). We camped for the night along Lago Puyehue before crossing into Argentina towards Bariloche. This border pass, Paso Cardenal Antonio Samoré, entailed driving up and over gorgeous mountains through a national park.
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| Laguna Verde, just off of Lago Llanquihue |
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| The most beautiful outdoor shower on the way to Salto Las Cascadas |
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| Salto Las Cascadas |
There were other waterfalls to see, mainly Saltos de Petrohué, but they wanted to charge us for every little thing (parking, entrance, special trail, breathable air, etc.). I kindly asked the parking attendant, "isn't this a national park...and do you work for the national park?" They tried to explain that it is in fact a national park but that they are a local company in charge. Now we are all for supporting nature and organizations that protect nature, but we have been traveling for awhile now and we just know, a feeling you could say, when we are getting taken advantage of. This was one of those times. We also dislike when being in nature that feels like an amusement park, which this definitely did (more on this later).
This region of Patagonia (in both Chile & Argentina) is known as the lakes region with a famous ruta de los siete lagos (7 lakes route) in Argentina, but there is also one in Chile! So be prepared for LOTS of images of gorgeous lakes.
After crossing into Argentina we stopped at Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes in Villa la Angostura to do a short walk to various lookouts and picnic. Unfortunately here, as with many similar places around the world, summer brings flies and they were out in force on our hike. Every time we tried to stop for either a picture or bite of lunch we were swarmed. (On the plus side, we have discovered A has a great ability to swat flies).
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| Mirador Bahía Mansa |
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| Bahia San Patricio |
And, then we made it to Bariloche! We heard from many people about how beautiful it is (which it is) and how reminiscent it is of Swiss and German towns. The history behind this is that a large German migration occurred in the 1800s and then again after WWII when many Nazis sought refuge here. Knowing this, it was hard to
fully enjoy the "Alpine-escape" feeling, but we still enjoyed the nature, lakes, and chocolates. Our main day around Bariloche consisted of a short hike to the Cascada de Los Duendes, miradors overlooking various lakes and mountains, pretending to be guests at the famous Llao Llao Hotel, and finding some of the best ice cream at Helados Jaujá.
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| We arrived nice and early to Cascada de Los Duendes |
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| Lago Gutiérrez |
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| Llao Llao Hotel, President Eisenhower stayed here on a trip while in office |
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| The picture does not do justice to the luxury |
From Bariloche, we drove along the siete lagos, stopping to camp, dip our toes in the freezing water of some lakes or just sit and have a coffee by others. We camped in a free campsite by a stream somewhere near lake five or six. It was pretty calm when we arrived in mid-afternoon, but by early evening the site filled up and many of the groups ended up being pretty rowdy. We are not used to camping with a full speaker system (and DJ), we guess there is a first for everything. The route ended in San Martin de los Andes, a much smaller, super quaint town that feels touristy but a little less so than Bariloche. Because it was high season there was little lodging availability and we decided just to pass through and instead camp near the border at Lago Nonthue where it was warm enough for a quick dip, and the next morning before returning to Chile we hiked up to Cascada Chachin - Hua Hum.
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| Starting out on the ruta de los siete lagos |
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| Cleaning off the cutlery post breakfast |
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| Not sure if this was Lago Espejo (mirror)... |
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| ...or maybe it was this one |
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| Cascada Chachin - Hua Hum |
Returning to Chile involved another stunning crossing, that included a ferry along the fjord like Lago Pirihueico. Prior to crossing we prepared/cooked the remaining fruits and vegetables we had because other times they let us through with things like tomato/cheese sandwiches. Little did we know we were in for the full body cavity searches of border crossings... At the border, the agents (who weren't the most friendly) inspected EVERY inch of the car, making us take out all our stuff, place it through the scanner, check in every little crevice of the car (including our spare tire) and proceeded to take away LOTS of things. With each item they said we couldn't bring across, we repeatedly asked if we could just eat it off to the side, which they swiftly refused stating that they legally couldn't allow it. It was an extremely unpleasant experience and pretty infuriating given the complete inconsistency with previous customs checks!
In an almost comical scene they were about to throw out our unopened container of almonds, until they realized they were from the Chilean supermarket (Unimarc) and so we were allowed to bring those in. In retrospect the worst part wasn't losing all the delicious food, it was the way we were treated (at one point they almost manhandled the knitting sweater and A nearly freaked out!). With this behind us and aboard the ferry we purchased a coffee and slice of pie and could only laugh at the ridiculousness.
Back on the Chilean side, we drove their siete lagos route but first stopped at Huilo Huilo Park. We heard about this park from a Chilean friend we met while hiking in
TdP. The pictures online looked amazing, both of the nature and fantastical facilities, but this proved somewhat misleading. Yes, the entire area around is super gorgeous, but for this park, it feels less like a nature reserve and more like an amusement park. Each hike has its own fee and the interesting architecture and structures that are around are completely inaccessible unless you are staying in them. Upon questioning further, we found out it was a private park, owned by a family in Santiago with the land previously used for logging (hence all the wooden hobbit style structures). Chile's park system is definitely ready to be studied for an urban planner's master thesis on the value of private money for the public benefit in nature.
All that said we did still visit the main attraction, salto huilo huilo, which is a beautiful waterfall. Don't worry we milked our entry for all it is worth.
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| Salto Huilo Huilo |
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| Silly architecture |
Leaving Huilo Huilo, we drove the Chilean siete lago, stopping at more freezing lakes to do the same thing as we did on the Argentine side: drink coffee, sit read and stare into the distance. Unfortunately, the weather was not as cooperative this time around, which meant we drove mostly through rain and fog.
We ended up in Pucon, a the hippier, but no less bougie, version of Bariloche. When we arrived, their was a lot of fog and rain and so we went to some thermals nearby to sit and relax and waited for the sun to come out. Termas Los Pozones was a little outside of Pucon and featured a string of pools along a beautiful rushing river. Luckily, the nicest pool was also the hottest and camped out there the entire time.
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| (Image from Thermal Patagonia) |
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| (Image from Thermal Patagonia) |
By our second day in Pucon, when the clouds finally cleared we were surprised by the incredible views of the volcano - it also looks just like a volcano emoji, smoke and all! We also were in town right before the Iron Man of Pucon, and so we caught the children Iron Man (Iron Child?) which was fun and impressive to see all these youngsters running through the town. Here, we stocked up on good coffee (!!) where we found out that sadly all the good beans from South America are shipped out (mostly to the US) and then this roaster (who is from Minnesota) purchases his beans back from the US. Seems silly and unfortunate, we noticed here, and throughout South America, that most drink instant, or not great, coffee (que pena!).
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| A smoking volcano so close to the town made us a little uneasy |
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| The beach in downtown Pucon |
After leaving Pucon, we headed out of the Lake Region of Patagonia towards Concepcion, Chile to meet our friend Jenny who last minute planned to join us! On our way, we stopped at these wonderful waterfalls in Salto del Laja.
This leg of the trip was 13 days, 1200 km (~700 mi) and here is the map:
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