Puerto Varas & Pucon, Chile

These two lovely towns are in the Los Lagos (The Lakes) Region of Chile.

After almost a month in southern Patagonia, we decided it was time to head north. Finally we were able to go out in shorts! A five hour flight made this feel like a big move for us. When we got off the plane, we were greeted with a "welcome to Patagonia!" The immensity of this place will forever amaze me. The airport is in Puerto Montt, with Puerto Varas only about twenty minutes north. Puerto Varas is a small town founded by German settlers, so the architecture is more Euerope an than South American. As the"gateway from Patagonia," it is a very crowded town in the summer months, jam packed with tourists, but fewer stray dogs. Puerto Varas is on a lake, with commanding views of the volcano Orsono. The volcano resembles Mt Fuji with gentle slopes and snowy peak year-round. Our hostel was really nice, with a great kitchen. The only downside was there were three toilets for about thirty people.

"Our butts hurt so bad we could hardly walk..."

Our first day and a half in Puerto Varas were spent just exploring the city. We mostly ate in, but did get some burgers at a place called Patagonia Burger (6/10 rating). The following day we thought it would be fun to get some exercise, and since Peter's ankle was still healing the best option was to rent bikes. We were told of a fun trail that took you along the lake to another town. Turns out the "trail" was all rocks along side of some train tracks. And it was fifty miles round-trip. We didn't make it, and our asses hurt for the next few days.

The following day we found a regional park right next to the city, and decided to explore. There were massive pine trees and great views of the lake from the hilltop, but the volcano was covered in clouds. There were bike trails too, real ones, not just train tracks! Guess we should have gone here with our bikes. After we explored we stopped by a brewery over the water for some drinks. Hannah claims that the best pisco sours in Chile can be found here, and at only 1900 Chilean pesos they were the cheapest too.

Following Puerto Varas, we took a bus to Pucon, just a couple hours north. As the "adventure capital of Chile," Pucon was also extremely busy. We hit a traffic jam, or as Chileans say, "un taco," just outside of town and didn't arrive until after 4. We stayed at an Airbnb here, with a great view of another volcano, this one highly active and named Villarrica. On clear days you can see smoke coming from the top. Our host and her boyfriend were super nice and welcoming, and they had a pot plant growing on their balcony. In Pucon, we explored the town, took a free walking tour, and went to the beach on the lake. We primarily stopped here to climb the volcano. That's the topic for another blog post. We cooked most of our meals at home to save money, but did splurge on one pasta dinner and some completos, which are hotdogs from street vendors covered in cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, onions, mustard and mayo, and anything else you want. They're amazing and really cheap. If you're from Ames, think Superdog but a fraction of the price.

These two towns were great for a short visit, and the climate was great in both places. Just like summers in the Midwest! In both places, we definitely hit "high season" and were surrounded by other tourists the entire time, but it felt a lot more developed than southern Patagonia. Many of the visitors are actually Chileans on vacation! There's a lot to see and do in this part of Chile, but all of it is pretty expensive, and we didn't find ourselves splurging much here. We loved our time in"the lakes region," but found that it really can't compete with Minnesota it got us excited for summers on the lake!