It’s been a hot second since I’ve posted a Monday Memory. So many things going on. However, as this is one of my fondest memories, it’s time. It was such a large phlog that I’ve decided to break it up into two posts, so check back next Monday for the rest!

“All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.”

-Pink Floyd

Eleven Days in the Lakes District

Thursday, October 15, 2009

A journey I will surely never forget. It was about living for the moment and experiencing all that moment had to offer.

Chile has yet to cease to amaze me, and once again I was surrounded by unexplainable beauty. In the words of my travel companion Hannah, it was “BRILLIANT!”

Day 1:
It started with a flight to Puerto Montt, and I must say I love LAN airlines. It’s so nice to be treated well on a flight. I know the US air industry is having a rough time, but they should take note. First off there were ample employees at the check-in counter, making things go as smooth as butter. Furthermore, get this, they were friendly! They smiled; and unlike when I was in Pittsburgh checking in for my flight to Santiago, I was not told that they were “underpaid, understaffed and underfed.” In addition, we got a beverage of our choice and a snack box with three delicious cookies accompanied by coffee or tea. Basically, it was like what it should be after paying for the flight, which was actually quite cheap. Yes, LAN’s got it; quite an enjoyable flight.

From Puerto Montt, a town that one should only come to in order to go somewhere else, we headed to  Puerto Varas, a beautiful little touristy town on Lake Llanquihue. The entire trip was within Chile’s Los Lagos Region, the Lakes District, which houses ten marvelous bodies of water with an abundance of beauty surrounding them.

Day 2:
Rain, sun, rain, sun…welcome to southern Chile. We headed to Frutillar, a town highly influenced by Germans and quite pretty, though not overly interesting. As we walked around, I kept saying to Hannah, this is the kind of weather in which rainbows are made–any time we were inside I fretted about missing one. After a disappointing cazuela, we headed back to our hostel in Puerto Varas conveniently located by Vicki Johnson’s, a gourmet chocolate shop. We pried ourselves into the kitchen and were able to talk our way into a taste test of a most delicious chocolate-topped toffee he was making in the photo below.

Day 3:
Not a cloud in the sky and a warming sun, a perfect day for the Saltos del Petrohué. Hannah and I decided the guidebook deals people a good bit of injustice in saying that if one is near they should check them out. This is a place in which one should go out of their way to be near. The water was emerald green and crystal clear. I’ve never seen prettier water.

 

After a six kilometer hike toward Lago Todos los Santos, All Saints Lake, we were dumbfounded at what lay in front of us. BRILLIANT!

Day 4:
Let the seafood eating begin. Crossing the Pacific on a ferry, we arrived late on Day 3 to Castro on the island of Chiloé. After wandering around Castro for a bit, we took a bus to Dalcahue and crossed a ferry to the smaller island of Ancho. Both quaint little fishing villages.

 

Day 5:
True tranquility. Running to catch the 9 a.m. bus from Castro to Cucao, we arrived in a no cell phone service, no noise kind of town. I saw the roaring Pacific despite being nearly blown away, and beat Hannah twice while playing dominoes by a warm fire.

And then there was Skip, who followed us long enough to receive that name. A beautiful, loving dog who took to Hannah and I, and became our friend.                                                  

Days 6-11 next Monday!