We started from El Chalten and took a 12 hour bus ride north on the Ruta 40. This is a famous dirty road in Argentina. It is pretty much all dirt and tumble weeds and desert for miles and miles. Unfortunatley they are starting to pave the road so that it can be used year round. Currently you can really only travel on it during the summer time. During winter they do not do any maintenance so it is pretty typical for it to be covered in many feet of snow. I thought it was ok, but not too interesting...
In the middle of the highway....
Our bus....
We then crossed over into Chile at a town called Chile Chico to drive the rest of the way on the Carretera Austral. This is Chile´s version of the same road, however they are night and day different. The CA is also a dirt road, but instead of passing through miles of desert it winds up mountains and through rain forests. This is my kind of scenery. In some ways it reminded me of the rainforests in Costa Rica, but colder. Because of all the lakes on this section of Chile you end up taking a bus-ferry-bus kind of route. It is incredibly slow and the transportation doesnt run often (1 or 2 times a week), but we enjoyed just slowing down and enjoying each town we stopped at.... We stumbled across a beautiful lake town called Puyuhapi with Thermal Hot Springs right on the lake side... 3 hours later we were relaxed and ready to continue on our adventure.}
Maybe hitch-hiking will be faster than a bus?
A local gym.
Scott relaxing at the hot springs...
Food trucks are soooo trendy down here...! Notice the woodburning stove INSIDE
We spent time in many of the national parks... enjoyed waterfalls and the natural scenery. Needless to say we got a little wet.
We were also able to hike near Chaiten Volcano which erupted 4 years ago... Notice the huge pile of ash about 4 feet tall on the side of the road - basically this town has shut down because of the volcano, crazy.
And then took a ferry to mainland Chile to Castro which is on Chilo island. Castro was the first real city we have been in in a long time! We were slightly overwhelmed with all the activities available to us but enjoyed the life in the city. We went to a beer festival the first night which was hilarious, but the beer was horrible. I am not a picky beer drinker and this stuff was nasty...
These are some local houses known as "Palafittes". Nothing to worry about with sea level rise!
The next day we went to a local festival in a neighboring town (again bus to ferry to bus ...). It was all locals and us! In some ways it is like any other festival you have been to ... people eat, drink, sell crafts, listen to music and dance. We tried all the local dishes including the lamb ( of course) and had a great time. It was a nice change of pace to see so many people in one spot having so much fun. ;)
We took a bus from Chiloe to Puerto Varas which is in Chiles lake district. It is absolutley stunning here. We have yet to figure out the next few days but the plan is to camp by the lakes and then head to Bariloche... well keep you updated!!!
Today we´re in Puerto Varas, Chile...beautiful mountain town overlooking the volcano!
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