Puerto Varas: Stupid Australians

After a couple of lazy days down at Chiloe we made our way north to Puerto Varas, which to date would be our favourite town – not place, it’s going to take something special to top Torres del Paine.

The town lies on the shores of Llanquihue Lake and on a good day has perfect views of Osorno Volcano, Mt. Calbuco and Mt. Tronador, and has a heavy German influence – so much so that we were able to sample some pretty fine pork knuckle – albeit without a stein of Oktoberfest's finest, but plenty of stray dogs wanting in on the action.

Llanquihue Lake with (l-r) Osorno Volcano, Mt. Tronador, and Mt. Calbuco in the background

Some of the friends we had done the Patagonia hike with recommended a hostel and a few day hikes to do – I think we may have got our wires crossed on the volcano hike.

Puerto Varas Church

The tourist info centre was advertising a day trip that included the waterfall and the volcano for about $70 AUD, but we had been told you could get out to both of these places on the local mini buses for about $4 AUD and hike the volcano for free. So being our ‘frisky’ selves, we thought we would give it a crack on our own.

It may have helped that Sabra and Jason spoke Spanish, as we managed to go straight past our stop (not that we really knew which stop to get off) and get to the end of the line. Luckily these mini buses just head back the same way they have come from so we stayed on until our required stop.

Then things got interesting.

The only path up to the volcano was the main road, and the way up looked like it would take a fair few days to conquer. None the less, we started trudging upwards and onwards, not really knowing what we were getting ourselves in for, or what was actually at the end of the road. After about an hour in of hiking a middle-aged Brazilian couple stopped and asked if we wanted to hitch a ride – shit yeah we did.

I can only imagine what they were thinking when they saw us on the side of the road – my guess is, ‘stupid Australians’. Yeah I actually reckon they could have guessed we were Australians as it is only Aussies who seem to fly by the seat of their pants so much when travelling. Or maybe it’s just us? 

When we reached the end of the road Nic and I were both in agreement that there was no way in hell we would have made it to the top – I don’t think anyone in their right mind tries to hike up from the main road.

We left our new friends and had a look around. You are not exactly at the top of the volcano, more so where the ski runs start. You do however get an amazing view of Llanquihue Lake and the surrounding mountains. From here you could catch a chair lift up and hike around on the snow a bit, but you couldn’t hike to the top so we thought we would start making our way down and hope some other friendly, more prepared (seems to be a running theme with us) sightseers would take pity on us and offer a lift down.

Osorno Volcano 

We were saved yet again by Brazilians, this time a young couple who spoke near fluent English. We even managed to score a lift all the way back to town, organise a night out on the town in Curitiba and get some tips on surviving Brazil!

All this without a map or a clue! You would think after years of travelling, Nic and I would make less of these ‘rookie’ mistakes, but where is the fun in that?

Our next trip was a little easier, as due to us catching the bus to the end of the line the day before, this time we knew exactly where to get off – Saltos del Río Petrohué. The Petrohué Waterfalls are beautiful – not the drop or volume of water of the more famous waterfalls around the world, but with Osorno Volcano in the background, and the number of falls all in the one spot does make for some pretty scenery.

Nic crossing the Petrohué Waterfalls

We meandered through the numerous paths for a couple of hours taking in the sights and sounds – along with some unpleasant smells. Our friends had said that the couple of weeks before they had been lucky enough to see the salmon run. What we got were the unfortunate salmon, and a fair few of them who didn’t quite make it. Whether it was due to lower water levels, or some other reason, most of the lower streams were littered with salmon carcasses, all in various stages of decay, creating somewhat of a salmon graveyard.

When the salmon run goes wrong?

So yeah Puerto Varas should definitely be on your hit list if you’re thinking of checking out Chile. It’s small enough not to need a map, and friendly enough to jump in a car with strangers. And it has pork knuckle!