Back in Chile

After a 13 hour bus ride, I arrived in Puerto Varas quite by accident and found the day to be a great day. When I woke up from a long night on an overnight bus, I assumed we were at Puerto Montt where I realized I would have to get back on a bus for another 20 minutes to Puerto Varas. I sheepishly asked the lady at the turbus window when the next bus to Puerto Varas left. She looked at me, trying to decide if she understood this foreigner asking when the next bus to the city he just arrived to left, and said, "you´re in Puerto Varas." So, that worked out well, and could have been a lot worse.

I got to the hostel and explained why I arrived early, and the hostel owner told me I should take advantage of the nice weather and check out some sights. So instead of showering and napping, I took off on an afternoon adventure.

The clouds cleared that had been plaguing my during my time in Santiago, and they finally burned off down here. There had been rain for the last week or so and there was evidence of this on the road to Lago Todos los Santos. There were huge washout spots on the road. But luckily enough for me, the sun shone on Puerto Varas today and I had a nice afternoon hiking around. I arrived at Lago Todos los Santos in the city of Pertohué, and walked up a ways to get a good view of both the volcano and the lake. Then I walked down, caught a bus to "Saltos de Petrohue" where there were some incredible waterfalls to be seen. Then I got home, tired and hungry, and made a reservation to get to the top of Volcan Osorno tomorrow.



The all saints lake (Lago Todos los Santos)


Volcan Osorno, from a distance. That´s what I´m hoping to get to the top of tomorrow. I think I get to use a chairlift though.


Saltos de Petrohue. I already have the "I guess I´ll take a self-pic, this is weird smile down, after only one day traveling solo.


I was thinking going down river left, then eddying out river right.

My time in Santiago was incredible, but now it´s time for another adventure, with ealier nights, less asados(bbqs), chicha(local fermented drink during their Independence Day), smog, and more mountains and lakes. The weather has been very September-y for Chile, with cool/cold days with a lot of misty rain. But I got two nice days so far in the five days I´ve been here. I met a girl from Ireland here and we´re going to get a ride up to the top of the Volcano tomorrow. It should be fun, hopefully it won´t rain/snow.