Great Travel articles for Chile

The Telegraph in the UK has a series of excellent well written articles about traveling in Chile.

                                                                                                           photo borrowed from article linked below
Here are a few links for you ....

21 Reasons to visit Chile

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/south-america/chile/articles/reasons-you-should-visit-chile/

Doug Tompkins and more Patagonian Parks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/south-america/chile/articles/Patagonia-Chile-a-new-national-park-and-conservation-campaign/


                                                                                                             photo borrowed from article linked above
This is my dream trip to the Atacama

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/south-america/chile/articles/Atacama-Desert-Trip-of-a-Lifetime/



photo borrowed from article linked above

And my dream cruise to the Patagonian Fjords and Glaciers

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/south-america/chile/articles/Cruising-Chile-comes-in-from-the-cold/

And there are more articles about Chile at the bottom of each link. Enjoy your desk top traveling! It's the cheapest way to go!

Lago Todos Los Santos and Petrohue

One of the most beautiful lakes in Chile is located just east of Lago LLanquihue and is surrounded by 3 volcanoes- Osorno, Puntiagudo, and Tronador.

A view of Puntiagudo to the north

A view to the east of Isla de las cabras (Goat Island)

A view to the east and south

Here is the town of Petrohue if you can call it a town. It consists of the Lodge in the upper right corner, the boat/bus terminal with a small snackbar, a post office, a museum, and a few houses. Yeah, I guess that qualifies as a town here!
The beach has beautiful black sand and there is swimming in the cool waters. You can go on a boat ride in one of the boats pictured here for 2-3,000 pesos per person (about 3-4$) 

I was a bit disappointed in the boat ride. It was 1/2 hr long but didn't go anywhere near the island and you could never get a good view of Volcan Tronador on the southeastern end of the lake. But you did get to go out to this cute little floating cabin ....

With great views of Volcan osorno.

Nice panoramic view with 2 volcanoes - Osorno on the left and the tip of Puntiagudo on the right

And here is the Lodge. Quite beautiful and modern. We stopped in for tea and cookies one rainy afternoon and were treated to this spectacular view below.




And here is the link to their website http://www.petrohue.com/
I haven't stayed there but I've seen the rooms and cabins and I would recommend staying and Trip Advisor has some pretty good ratings for it. The Lodge also offer excursions like fishing, hiking, rafting, kayaking, horse back riding, climbing, zip lines, and canyoning (?). Check out the website!

There is also camping if you can't afford the expensive price tag of $200 per night for the Lodge.
The campground is at the entrance of the Sendero Desolacion for the intrepid hiker. See my other post on this. No, I did not go! but my boys did and they loved it!

This is the only ferry on the lake and it goes to the only other town on the lake, Peulla. For 27,000 pesos ($40)for the day you can go over to the other side and spend the day at the Lodge there. Check out this link to see what you can do for the day in Peulla.
http://www.turistour.cl/tour/es/excursiones/lagos-y-volcanes/peulla-dia-detail

And here is a view of the lake from up on the Paso Desolacion on the side of Volcan Osorno.
 Just spectacular!

Angelmo Fish Market in Puerto Montt

Angelmo is the fish market on the bay in Puerto Montt. It is a colorful fish and artisan market that attracts a lot of tourists for the local seafood and crafts.

              A mix of restaurants, craft stalls, and fish market

                                           The tour boats

                Each dormer on the building is a different restaurant

                           Dinner with a nice view over the bay

            The salmon plate was around 8,000 pesos or about $11 which includes bread but no drink

                 We ate on the second floor at the end at Sra. Vilma's

      I still don't know what these are but one sees them at every feria
       I think they are dried smoked shellfish like clams or mussels

                             Two different types close up.
 I'm willing to try almost anything but these little things don't look to appetizing!

                              Sea urchin, a favorite of the gulls

                                                Kelp used in seafood stews

      I have tried these tasty little critters! It is a picaroco or barnacle and they are as tasty as lobster!

 And here is the crafts section with lots of cheap wood souvenirs and also some nice knitted products with local wool like mantas, sweaters, socks, mittens, etc.

Volcan Casablanca

In the Parque Nacional Puyehue are hot springs, a ski resort, and great trails for hiking. You enter this area through the town of Entrelagos. A very nice little town that welcomes Argentinian visitors through the mountain pass.


Heading east on Hwy 215 there are great views of the lake and Volcan Puyehue which erupted about 6 years ago. Here also is Termas de Puyehue, a fancy overpriced resort. You can find them on Trip Advisor with mixed reviews. But behind them is Aguas Calientes. I've done a post on this more affordable option to enjoy the hot springs before. If you continue on the road into the park, you can drive the 18 km on a dirt road up to Antillanca, the ski resort. We were up there in the summer so I'll leave a post about the ski resort for another time. In the off season though, for only 10,000 pesos (about $15) you can drive to the top of Volcan Casablanca and it's crater.

Here is part of the ski lodge and at the right is a gate and a sign that says "Al Crater" 10,000 pesos
To the crater, 10,000 pesos per car

A panorama of the crater

The road looking back towards the ski lodge

Our Toyota Prada  does great off road

The boys being adventurous and energetic as they are hiked out to that point to the left of Andrew in the above photo. And the rest of these pictures were taken from that view point.

This is looking south towards Volcan Puntiagudo and Lago Rupanco

This is such an awesome place! You feel like you are at the top of the world. And the funny thing is no one is ever here! I have never seen it mentioned in any guide books as a tourist attraction. We just found it by chance and the first time we weren't even sure if we were allowed up there as the gate was open and we just drove in.

Sendero Desolacion

Desolation Path
Sounds pretty intimidating
24 km of rocky trail up to 5600 ft on the side of a volcano
and down to the lake along the beach
to add to the fun - inches of ash from the last eruption (Calbuco in April 2015)
horse flies from Jurassic Park (fortunately they only live for 3 weeks in January) and the blistering sun which is particularly intense here as the ozone layer is a bit thin.

The journey starts at the Refugio in La Picada which is on the north side of the Volcano Osorno in the Parque Vicentes Perez Rosales There is free parking here and sometimes a little cafe is open.


Here is the start of the trail - not for the faint of heart

The first 4 km is all uphill and very rocky - impassable by car though I think it once was. Jimmy told me they carried their bikes up to the top of the trail at 5600 ft. The sign says high difficulty and walking it would be 10 hours down to the lake and back.


Typical terrain on the way up

At the top!

Worth the work to get up here! A fabulous view of Lago Todos Los Santos and east to Argentina

  You can see Samuel & Andrew on their bikes on the bottom center right

On the right you can see the river heading out of the lake to the sea and there at the head of the river is the small town of Petrohue which is the end of the Sendero.

They made it to Petrohue in 3 hours sunburned and fly bitten but happy for the challenge they conquered. Not much in Pertrohue but a beautiful lodge, a museum, post office, and an office for the ferry and boat tours. More on that in another post!