Puerto Montt & Sweet Maggie

Puerto Montt, Chile, 17 - 18 November 2007

From Valdivia we caught a 3 hour bus south to Puerto Montt. This place proved to be a real crossroads for us. Would we take the 30 hour bus journey all the way south to Punta Arenas, would we take the Navimag ferry south to Peurta Natales, or would we drop down onto the island of Chiloe? We ultimitly decided on the last of these options.

While in Puerto Montt we enjoyed fresh fish at the docks. The local speciality is called "curanto" - a hearthy pile of fish, shellfish, chicken, pork, lamb, beef, and potato all cooked together! We did not take this option but instead I (Claire) had "concato" which is salmon with melted cheese, tomatoes & sausage on top (spot the German influence)- Dave had good auld fish "n" chips. They have rows of tiny restaurants, "cocinerias", each only large enough to cater for 10 to 15 people. They all serve exactly the same thing, i.e. fresh fish - so competition is rife. It felt like eating in someones kitchen, it was a pretty unique experience.

The next day we took a day trip to Puerto Varas (only 20km up the road). This touristy town lies on the shores of Lake Llanquihue and should have offered great views of Volcano Osorno. Unfortunately low clouds meant we could only see the base of the volcano. That said we had no rain and the day was bright & warm. We bumped into a nice couple from our hospedaje & visited Parque Philippi together.

The owner of our hospedaje "Maggie" was a tad creepy.... didn't really seem like she enjoyed having people stay at her place. She tolerated us. And, she was not at all pleased when we used her kitchen even though it clearly stated on the flyer that this was ok. She was the kind of person you might expect to pass on your way to the toilet at 2am. She would be standing there, on the corridor in the darkness, doing nothing - just standing. Spooky! Dave was so scared that he refused to deal with her re organising breakfast/paying our bill so he let me off - thanks Dave. We were glad to move on.