El SurReal - Puerto Varas

I write this on my last night in Puerto Varas, a small town that reminds me of a western, though I've never really been to the west of the US other than San Fransisco.  There are lots of wooden houses, and the architecture shows heavy German influence.  I like the town because every few shops has something different to offer: coffee shops, chocolates, handmade crafts, restaurants, hostals, outdoor gear, even yarn shops.

Some sort of  carpety moss that looks like little sheep!

Rachael, Chad, and I headed over on a bus to Volcan Osorno.  It was a $4, one-and-a-half to two-hour bus ride, and we were ready to trek, despite the misty weather.  We packed a lunch of salami, cucumber, tomato -- and forgot the bread.  Instead, we made mini stacks and chowed down.  We hiked around through beds of solidified lava at the base of the volcano.  It was a beautiful sight, but the cloudiness of the day blocked the view of the top of the volcano. 

Later that night, we had a 'celebratory' dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant called "Donde el Gordito."  But it wasn't just some random restaurant, and I wasn't dining with just any old people.  This restaurant had been aired on Anthony Bourdain's show, "No Reservations," and I was chowing with two of his biggest fans.  I ordered a bowl of crab chowder (chupa de jaiba), and it was phenomenal.  Chad and Rachael shared congrio with jaiba sauce and white wine.  They were in Travel Channel heaven, I'd say, and it was wonderful to experience with them.

The next morning, Chad left to go back to his job in Bariloche, Argentina.  So it was just Rachael and I for the day, and we started off with a hearty breakfast at a cafe where we got a discount through our hostal.  Score for frugal travelers.  The best part was the fresh-squeezed orange juice.  I have really been missing real juice, and the fresh-squeezed pulpiness of this glass of jugo really hit the spot.

After breakfast, we bought a few gifts for friends and family at the big artisanal fair in town.  We celebrated this victory because we finally found llama sweaters (an obvious Chilean goal) and bought them for fairly cheap!  Next, we took a bus to two towns that a guide book had suggested:  Llanquihue and Frutillar.  The only mildly interesting thing in Llanquihue was a small park with a pathway that showed tall wooden sculptures that had been carved over the years from native wood (Parque de las esculturas).  Some of them were quite impressive, but it took us about twenty minutes to stroll through, and it wasn't really worth the trip.  We took a bus right on to Frutillar, which was a very eerie town.  It was almost deserted, and it had the feel of a nuketown - strangely perfect at first glace, but eerily vacant.  We sat on the beach and listened to the chickens squawking until we couldn't take it anymore, strolled past the two storefronts in town, and shared a piece of pie.  Then we got the heck out of there and headed back to the hostal.

Frutillar

We cooked raviolis for dinner and played cards for a while, and walked around the town for a bit.   Later, the men from hostal 13 Lunas in Ancud came to stay at our hostal, and we spent the evening with them, drinking piscolas, streaming the presidential election, and playing Jenga til the wee hours of the morning.

Today, Rachael and I headed to a town called Petrohue, to the Parque Nacional famous for its waterfalls (saltos).  Only upon entering the park did I realize that I had forgotten my camera at the hostal!  I don't think I could have picked a worse day to leave my camera behind, because this place was breathtaking.  After viewing a few of the waterfalls, Rachael's camera died.  Bad luck for us, but we certainly got to enjoy the views first-hand.

The waterfalls were beyond impressive.  The deep waters were a profound jade color, and the thinner rushing currents were a beautiful turquoise.  The splashes from the falls between the volcanic rocks showed a contrast of white water on charcoal-black stone.  I have never seen prettier blues in nature than I did in those waters today.  Afterward, we walked through the dense woods where we encountered lush greenery and calm lakes.  We ate our lunch on a giant rock that sat in a lake, surrounded by trees and pure nature.  We saw bamboo and different types of ferns... Everything was so green and smelled so fresh and alive.  It was a beautiful place and I'm so glad we went.

In the evening, after falling asleep on the bus ride home, we cooked up some vegetarian tacos - black beans, tomato and avocado.  We walked through town for the last time and stopped at the same cafe that we had had breakfast at yesterday.  We had coupons for $1.000 pesos off of a beer or a glass of wine, so she ordered a local brew and I had a glass of white wine.  We planned out our final project for one of our classes and also shared a classy blueberry muffin.

Tomorrow, it's good-bye to Puerto Varas and hello to a five-hour bus ride to Villarica, where we will spend our last night before meeting up with our program in Pucon for the weekend.