La Ruta al Fin del Mundo

Palafitos (houses on stilts) in Chiloe. We stayed in the yellow, red and brown one.

Inside Palafito Hostel - one of our favorite hostels so far

Like any travel diary, there are times when you get a bit behind. This is one of those times, though not entirely due to our tardiness, but a few weeks of long distances, little internet and great adventures. This post will resort to a few points and photos to fill in the gaps.

From Pucon we headed to Chiloe, a large island which remained relatively isolated from mainland Chile until the mid 19th century. The people here retain much of their own pre-Spanish culture, with their own beliefs and myths. Such as Trauco, a deformed ugly dwarf who lures virgins into the woods - explaining away unwanted pregnancies and venereal diseases.

Palafito hostel was a winner, sitting out over the river with views of the town and islands beyond.  An amazing cosy spot with homemade grainy bread for breakfast! (I've (N) had my lifetime quota of white bread in the last 6 weeks).

Enjoying Sopaipillas in Castro

We hired a car for the day and explored parts of the island. While it rained on and off, we saw lots of the countryside, the rugged coast, the wool markets and the wooden churches that Chiloe is famous for. And of course ate delicious seafood (Well I did at least, George stuck with his lomo a lo pobre - a layer cake of steak, chips, fried onion and 2 fried eggs).

Feria Artesanal in Castro - muchos lanos!

San Francisco Iglesia, Castro - built in 1906 entirely of native timber

Next stop was Puerto Varas - highly recommended to us by a couple we met in Chiloe, we thought we'd spend a night here before catching the ferry. With only one full day we decided to make the most of the sun shining (it had been a while) and get out and about. 

Mt Osorno from Puerto Varas

The Ash from Volcan Puyehue in the distance

We headed off to the national park nearby to walk around part of Mt Osorno.  With a tight schedule to catch the bus back to Puerto Varas and a connecting bus to Puerto Montt, we managed to fit in a 5hr walk through scoria, river beds, bush, gevuinas (Chilean hazelnuts which George's parents grow in Akaroa) and up to the snow line. What we thought to be low cloud turned out to be a fine white ash which shrouded the area for the day, coming from the nearby Volcan Puyehue.

Walking around Mt Osorno - note the ashy haze

From here we began the first leg of our trip to the far south, boarding the Navimag ferry headed for Puerto Chacabuco. Happily we had been upgraded from a CCC berth to AAA, sparing us the 22 bed dorm and providing us our own 4-man cabin with bathroom and porthole. On board we had a group of about 30 American uni students, nearly all female. Not really what we were expecting to find on this little travelled route, and certainly a contrast to the rest of the passengers - a surly bunch of weathered fisherman returning to work. The shrieks of 'Oh my God' and 'like' were equalled only by the amount of leering from the men on board.

Navimag ferry to Puerto Chacabuco

Heading into the fiords surrounding Puerto Chacabuco as night falls

Part 1 of 3 in the catch up series complete. Next stop, El Fin del Mundo.