Puerto Montt, Chile ..the gateway to Patagonia!

At last, I’ve reached one destination that was at the top of my list of places to visit since I first opened an atlas of the world in 4th grade geography, Patagonia. I’ve arrived in Puerto Montt, which is located at the northern edge of the Chilean side of that vast, rugged and scarcely populated region. It is also considered the gateway to Patagonia since there are ferries that can take you to different parts of the region, such as Northern and Southern Ice Fields, Puerto Natales (Torres del Paine National Park), and Puerto Chacabuco in the northern part of the Chilean fiord-land.

My new and 3rd couch surfing host, Jose met me at the bus station some time after I’ had arrived in P. Montt and was kind enough to take me around the city and surrounding area, then we went to his family’s house for dinner. I also needed to find out what options do I have of continuing south through Patagonia since the Chaiten volcano had erupted and the overland route was out of the question. I could even see the plume of ash over the horizon, even though, the volcano was almost 100 km (60 some miles) away. Without having to back track north and cross into Argentina south of Bariloche, my only other option was to take a ferry. In that case however, I had two options, either pay a significant amount of money and take a 4 day/3 night ferry directly to Puerto Natales, or take much shorter and cheaper ferry, only about 24 hours, to Puerto Chacabuco and continue overland to Chile Chico, where I’d have to cross into Argentina.

The day following my arrival, when I went to find out the exact prices and departure dates and times for the ferries, I was faced with a quick decision as it turned out that one ferry, the shorter and cheaper one was leaving that very day. It seemed be a tough decision, granted how little time I had until its departure. However, after being informed that the other ferry, direct to Puerto Natales, which was going to leave in two days, does not pass nearby the Ice Fields during low season, I’ve made my decision not waste time and get on that boat, after all, the winter was coming quickly and I still wanted to make it to quite a few places in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (the Land of Fire).

Packing my things went very quickly, I made goodbyes with my Jose and his family, and within 2 hours sailed south into the maze of Chilean fiords.

Valdivia, Chile - The Region of Rivers.

So, as it was recommended to me, I proceeded further south towards the town of Valdivia. As usual, I arrived there in the morning after yet another overnight bus trip. By now, I’ve gotten so used to those overnight buses, and even figured out a way to sleep on them, that it became a normal mode of travel for me. Not to forget, my newly discovered mode of accommodation in various places in form of couch surfing was adding a new sense of adventure.

Couch surfing experience #2, Valdivia. It turned out to be great! While in Santiago, I’ve contacted few people from Valdivia but only one answered, a young college student, Maylis. I ended up staying with her and her family, who went out of their ways to accommodate me and make me feel like at home. It is such a nice feeling to meet people that are so nice and helpful.

Not only they housed and fed me, they let me use one of their kayaks to paddle around a nearby river, took me bare back riding on their horse, and Maylis arranged with her friend to show me around Valdivia and the bay. I was taken to the ruins of old Spanish forts guarding the access to Valdivia. They are strategically located on either side of the strait and directly in front of it on one of the islands inside the bay. Small boats serving as water trams take people back and forth between the towns of Niebla and Corral, occasionally stopping at the island mentioned above. We almost got stuck on it since we didn’t let anybody know to pick us up from there after some time. After all, there is only a very small village and old Spanish ruins. Luckily, there was a guy with a CB radio, who called in for a transport for us and half an hour later a boat showed up and took us back to the mainland.

I have finished my stay in Valdivia with a big barbecue organized by my hosts at their home. Many of their friends were invited and I had another chance to meet more young people from the area. Of course, before I left I had also contacted another couch surfing host in Puerto Montt, which was my next destination and a gateway to Patagonia.

Back in Santiago ..to meet Michal and Ewa!

In Santiago, after hearing multiple positive things about it from numerous people, it was time for me to begin my own couch surfing experience. I’ve already had a contact and a place to sleep set up in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Santiago. My host’s name was Felipe Luer, but with the timing of my arrival, I ended up living in a house which he shared with four other friends of his; all my age, all engineers, and all a great deal of fun to hang around with.

When I arrived at their place, I’ve also realized that they as well were at the beginning of a moving-in process. As it turned out it was their second day at the house, which had electricity but no hot water. The room I was given was completely empty, but luckily for me, fully carpeted, so I could lay out my mat and a sleeping bag, and be happy to have a roof over my head and a great companionship in the rest of the house. Very soon, gas line was hooked up, which provided cooking ability to the house along with generally desired hot water. The internet was installed the day after, and I could look up more couch surfing hosts in other parts of Chile.

In their first few days in the house, the new owners organized two parties, one after another, at which I met quite a few very nice people and received advice of where to go next and what’s worth visiting in the southern part of the country. Valdivia was recommended as my next destination, which is located in the beautiful “region of the rivers,” then Puerto Montt in the “region of the lakes,” and then I was to decide how to go about exploring Patagonia and the southernmost parts of Chile.
My return to Santiago mainly coincided with meeting Michal, my good friend from Poznan (a town in Poland), and Ewa, his girlfriend, who were also traveling through South America but in an exactly reverse direction to mine. I was really glad and happy to see them, to exchange our experiences and some photos, and advices for future explorations. Michal told me that when they visited Torres del Paine National Park few weeks earlier, everything was practically closing down and they didn’t think I’ll have much luck with the weather or excursions to the park, but I’ve decided I’ll try my luck and see what I can do when I get there.