Puerto Montt and Chiloe, Chile

Pablo Neruda calls Chile the country of longitudinal essences. The country is a thin sliver of land with the starkest topographical contrasts imaginable. The lunar landscapes of the Atacama desert in the north challenge the lush exuberance of Patagonia in the south. The wild waves of the Pacific ocean on the west bow to the imposing Andean cordilleras in the east.

The coastline south of Puerto Montt disintegrates into a 1000km dramatic chaos of fjords, glaciers, lakes, and forests. To make our way north, our choice was to either take the four day ferry ride from Puerto Natales weaving through this chaos or to take the dubious unpaved road known as the Carreterra Austral. We chose to simply fly over the mess into Puerto Montt, the gateway to the Lake District.

There´s really not much to write about this grimy town. It was a disappointment after Patagonia. The only amusing anecdote that comes to mind is from a restaurant when Kavita enquired about the types of pizzas they served. In response, the waitress produced actual frozen pizza boxes for us to read the ingredients. We decided not to order pizza.



The next day we took a trip to the fabled island of Chiloe, known for its wooden churches, lush forests, legends, and proud Spanish history. This is where the Spanish conquistadores, the last supporters of the Spanish crown, took refuge from the Mapuche Indians and the rebellious Chileans in the mainland. The island surrendered in 1826 but still holds on firmly to its culture. They have resisted the building of any connecting bridges from Puerto Montt. So we crossed the distance on a ferry along waters teeming with dolphins.

On the morning of our trip the agent tried to coax us to take a different, more expensive tour for the same price. We discovered why later when he tried to squish a million people into a sad little matador van. To make things worse, the driver insisted on playing the most annoying folk music from Chiloe throughout the day. Packed like sardines we went from one wooden church to another, stopped at a feria artesanal (local craft markets), and various miradores (panoramic view points). The story behind the wooden churches is that the island was too isolated to receive other building materials. Some churches use no nails only wooden pegs in their construction.



Our last stop was the famous Palafitos or the houses on stillts (seen in the photo) built as such to protect the edifices from water. Characteristic thick rains washed out the rest of our drive back home. Before we end, we insist that you stop by some time to see the ¨handicraft item¨ we bought from this island. Let´s just say it rises to the ocassion.