On a recommendation from a friend, Maggie and I stopped in Pucón, a cute tourist town on the edge of Lake Villarrica. We had originally hoped to climb Villarrica volcano, but with grand goals to continue south, we didn’t make time for the hike. Instead, we explored the lake and the town, and made plans for the road ahead.
12 January 2023
Maggie and I woke up, unsure of what to do with ourselves in yet another city. At least there was complimentary breakfast at the hostel. We gathered some things for the day and set off for the beach on Lago Villarrica. Naturally, the two of us wanted to do something somewhat active. The local trails were far from town, so we decided to rent a kayak for a quick paddle on the lake. The bright yellow kayaks were easy to find on the beach, and we talked with the vendor about prices. At $10 per person per hour, it was a little more expensive than we expected, but we went for it having committed to the idea already.
We pushed off into a stiff head wind. Small white caps were rolling in off the lake. With the cool breeze, the lake water actually felt warm to our skin. We paddled out, following the shoreline next to a peninsula of private land which held a golf course and some swanky condos. The sun was shining bright, and thankfully we wore our sun hoodies out on the water. Our upper body strength was nowhere near to that of our trusty legs, so paddling into the wind and the waves quickly felt tiring… I think it had hardly been 10 or 15 minutes when we took a break by some rocks.
The scenery was beautiful, however, and it reminded us of Hawaii – steep, furrowed volcanic hills carpeted in a dense green fuzz. We paddled on until people on the beach were distant specks a mile and a half behind. We sought a spot to make landfall for a snack break, but the rocky shore was not inviting. We decided to boogey back, now with the wind and the waves helping us move more efficiently. Having done some sea kayaking before, I must say, it is quite satisfying to feel a modest wave propel you forward. Back at the beach, we returned the kayak and walked a short distance to the swim and sun tan area.
It wasn’t particularly hot, but we felt compelled to jump in the water of Lago Villarrica. With the western shore beyond our view and the waves blowing in, it honestly felt like the ocean, except for the lack of salt. Rather than sea gulls, small hawks called cara caras soared and scavenged the beach. It was super cool to see so many raptors casually hanging around humans.
After getting our fill of solar radiation, hunger drove us back into town for lunch. We sat outside at a trendy, newer restaurant. An English speaking couple sat at the table next to us and we got to talking. They were from the U.K., and they had been in South America for 5 months. They were somewhat stranded in Pucón since their backpacks had been stolen along with their passports. Their fiasco made the problems we had encountered thus far feel insignificant. After our meal and some good conversation, we wished them good luck and said good bye. Maggie and I returned to the hostel and started firming up our plans for the next stretch of the trip. We decided to reserve a rental car to take the reigns on our transportation, rather than rely on buses. We also desperately needed to do laundry, since we hadn’t seen a proper washing machine since we left the States two week prior. Most towns in Chile don’t have DIY laundromats, but laundry service, which can take 24-48 hours to get your clothes back. Thankfully, Maggie found a do-it-yourself laundromat in Villarrica, the next town over. We decided we would go there next day, but it would make for a long travel day to Puerto Montt. We went grocery shopping, picking up some gin and tonic makings too.
We relaxed with a cold drink back at the hostel, and contemplated dinner. The choice became obvious that we should return to the Thai restaurant from the night before, since it had been some of the freshest, most flavorful food we had gotten in Chile.
Volcán Villarrica was visible on the horizon, spewing small puffs of smoke as we walked through Pucón before dinner. Seeing all the volcanic activity, Maggie and I didn’t feel so bad about skipping the hike up there. We took our food to go and returned to the beach to watch the late summer sunset. G&Ts in hand, we ate as the sun dipped behind the horizon.
13 January 2023
Maggie and I took advantage of the free hostel breakfast again before packing up and walking over to the bus terminal. It was a short ride to the town of Villarrica, which felt similar to Pucón, but not quite as touristy. We made a beeline straight for the laundromat, where we found the owner folding clothes inside. She spoke English quite well, and she helped us get the washers going. Maggie and I sat outside in our rain gear, just like the PCT days, and ate some lunch while we waited.
Our clothes didn’t take long, however, the next bus to Puerto Montt departed at 6:30 pm. Laden with all of our stuff and not wanting to spend more money, we found a shady spot by the lake to sit and kill some time. Four hours of lounging…
Eventually the time came to go back to the bus terminal. We arrived early and found a bench while we waited. Six thirty came and went, but we didn’t see our bus. We stood around anxiously wondering if we somehow missed it. An attendant let us know the bus to Puerto Montt was late, unfortunate news since it would be a 4 hour ride. We were in for a late night. Looking around the crowd, we started noticing more folks who looked more like ourselves – white 20-30 year olds with backpacks, ready for adventure, a sign that Patagonia was getting closer. Bus after bus pulled in, all bound for towns other than our destination.
Finally, around 7:30 pm the Puerto Montt bus showed up. We handed over our bags and settled in on the upper level of this double decker bus. More rural Chile passed by as we read our books and the sun waned to the west. For a moment, this lifestyle suddenly felt completely normal. The foreign country didn’t feel so foreign anymore. At least until we got to the Puerto Montt bus terminal at 11 pm. We had been warned Puerto Montt was a bit of a sketchy port town. This was confirmed quickly when a man approached us and asked for money. I told him “I can’t help you”, and he stood staring at us for the next minute while we got our belongings together. We swiftly walked away, into the night. It was a short walk to the next hostel, and thankfully we didn’t have any other encounters. The hostess at the hostel graciously stayed up late to greet us. We brushed our teeth and quickly got into separate twin beds for a quick night of sleep.
14 January 2023
Maggie and I were up at 7 am so we would have time to make breakfast and get to the car rental company at the Puerto Montt Airport. We each scarfed down a mug full of oatmeal, got our things together, and requested an Uber.
In the gray daylight, we could see that we weren’t missing much in Puerto Montt as we rode to the airport, seeing that the city was a little more worn down than most places we had visited so far. At the airport, we got in line for our rental car, and there were two English speaking gals ahead of us wearing large backpacks. We got to talking, they were from Idaho and planned to go rafting on the Rio Futaleufú. The chit chat helped make the long line go by quickly. We said good bye to our Idahoan friends and approached the counter. There was a sign indicating that travel into Argentina required 7 days advance notice. This was a bit troublesome, since we were planning to drive into Argentina later that day. We spoke with the rental representative, mostly through our translator apps. The online reservation for the car was all set, but the Argentina thing was not. I asked him if it was possible to get a car and the documents for Argentina today. The agent paused for a moment, then gave a confident nod. It would take some extra time, so he told us to get a coffee and take a seat so he could help the growing line of customers behind us. We got comfortable on a small airport bench.
A good hour later, our friend from the counter found us, and after a little more paperwork and an extra deposit, we finally went to get our car – a white Chery Tiggo 7, a Chinese automaker we don’t see in the U.S. It was a bit strange driving a car again, especially in a foreign country where road signs and etiquette are a bit different. Nevertheless, we were stoked to be moving, free from bus schedules and fixed destinations.
Our route was taking us back north a little bit in order to avoid several ferry crossings on Chile’s Route 7, so we went to Puerto Varas for lunch. Puerto Varas felt much nicer and more touristy than Puerto Montt. A hint of German architecture gave it a ski town vibe. We got some awesome ramen for lunch, did some road trip grocery shopping, then continued north towards Entre Lagos.
The border crossing was at the top of a mountain pass, and it closed at 7 pm, so we decided to stop short of Argentina rather than risk cutting it close at the border. We found a small “campground”, which was more like a guy’s property with a few small picnic shelters in his back yard. At $7 a person with lake front views, we couldn’t complain.
We pitched our tent then mixed up some gin and tonics to celebrate our new found freedom. The owner of the campground had a medium sized herding dog who took quite a liking to us, and we took a liking to him. The dog seemed to enjoy our pets and the occasional carrot we gave him. Our backpacker stove dinner of quinoa, chick peas, and veggies turned out pretty good. We stepped down to Lago Puyehue to take in the view before sunset.
Distance Over Time 