23rd – 25th January

Following recommendations from Tommi at the Larisstera apartments in Santiago we changed our plan and found ourselves 12 coach hours later (this time travelling full ‘cama’ meaning we had a bed rather than a seat) in Puerto Varas. The town is situated in the Los Lagos Region of Chile on the shore of the Llanquihue Lake, one of the largest natural lakes in South America with Osorno Volcano and the snowcapped peaks of Mt. Calbuco and Mt. Tronador visible from the lakefront. Found by German speaking farmers it has a German architectural feel to it and with 5 hours before we could check-in to our accommodation at Puerto Chico at the far end of the town we had plenty of time to see the town – in fact, probably 4 hours too many…

Taking in the lakefront we walked the 3 kilometres into town, declining the offer of the hotel bicycles (no brakes). Being on the waterfront there was a breeze which allowed us to keep keep cool as we sat and took in the views. Still only 10am we decided to have coffee and found ourselves in a tea shop with all its Xmas decorations still up and playing 80s radio. Drinking cappacino with a cream topping(?) with Christmas bells sparking listening to The Smiths ‘This Charming Man’ on a sunny day was a bit surreal but we went with it.

We then continued our walk out the other side of town and, finding ourselves in a small outdoor gym, decided to test out the machines despite probably looking a bit odd still in our travelling garb. After another stop to admire the view we were slowly entering into the pace of life in this little town and, realising that we didn’t need to be anywhere fast, settled in the sun and read our books for a while thinking about lunch – a favourite topic of ours.

Lunch at Caffe El Barista consisted of massive portions of Hamburgers and pastrami plus beers. And, after realising it was raining at the end of our meal, more beer and a glass a wine. We strolled happily back to our hotel for a siesta, some planning (and a bit of a kurfuffle over room keys after some strangers walked in our room) before braving another torrential downpour to get pizzas at the nearest restaurant, Da Allesandros. All in all a very chilled but surprisingly exhausting day!

So much so that we woke and went out quite late for us the next day. Having both decided against piling ourselves on another bus trip to the volcanoes we embarked on another seaside stroll into town with just our kindles for company. First stop, naturally, sandwiches and beers, then a loop around town and a walk through forest to the top of Cerro Phillipe where we had a brief snooze in the sunshine. Treating ourselves to ice creams for the long walk back we watched holidaymakers brave the cold breeze to lap up the sea and the sunshine the length of the pebbly beach.

Next Stop: Argentina.