Category: Puerto Varas

21Feb14

Fact: Pablo Fierro is a local artist in Puerto Varas. That’s him on the right talking to some visitors from Santiago. Another fact: Peach-colored tights make people look half-naked at first glance. (Right? I did a double-take.)

OK, back on track. Here’s his museum in Puerto Varas, right on the edge of Lago Llanquihue. He doesn’t charge admission and just asks for donations.

The museum started in Puerto Montt, about 20 km away, until he bought an old house in Puerto Varas that he began to restore. Pablo paints local architecture and collects artifacts from the time of his forefathers, protecting the memory of a simpler life.

He’s a friendly guy, and he took a moment to chat with us and tell us about the museum. In three more years, he says all of his renovations and additions to the house will be complete.

He’s kept all sorts of random antiques that highlight the region’s past. One of the things I wish I thought to get a photo of were the hundreds of index cards with notes from visitors thanking him for preserving Puerto Varas’s history. He’s pasted them all over the museum, and upstairs there is a basket overflowing with even more.

Tomorrow we say good-bye to Puerto Varas and head to Isla Lemuy, a tiny island off the large island of Chiloé. See you there!

February 21, 2014
19Feb14

Holly loves road trips! Here she is in front of Lago Llanquihue and Volcán Osorno. For the Californians reading this, Lago Llanquihue is about twice the size of Lake Tahoe. It’s situated in northern Patagonia in the Lakes Region. If you look at a map, you’ll see there are a number of other very large lakes nearby. We’re staying in Puerto Varas, on the south end of the lake, which is near where our friend Eduardo from Viña del Mar was born.

There is a very scenic drive all the way around Lago Llanquihue, so we decided to make a day of it. It’s very easy to navigate because there are green signs that keep you moving in the right direction at all times. And, if all else fails, drive towards the lake! Factoring in little detours and a stop to eat, it takes about five or six hours. But, we didn’t take the turn off to the national park since we’re saving that for another day, which would add a couple more hours.

In some areas, the lake looks a lot like the ocean. We came across a number of spots where people were sunbathing and taking a dip in the waves. Here’s a more secluded spot we found near Las Cascadas.

We stopped at a little house along the way that serves onces alemán, which translates to German “elevenses,” or high tea. We thought we were going to get a coffee and a small pastry. But noooo…

We ended up with coffees, rolls, salame and cheese, jams, salmon, eggs, chicken, and a slice of kuchen AND cake for each person. Needless to say, we couldn’t eat it all. But don’t worry — the cakes are in the fridge for later.

During our drive, we also made the decision not to go further south after our next stop in Chiloé. It was a tough decision, but this month of hopping all throughout Chile hasn’t been cheap and is, quite frankly, exhausting. Flights to Punta Arenas are expensive (and not very dog-friendly), and bus trips are long and difficult — 22 hours weaving through the mountains. We’re ready to find another place to stop for a good month or so, so we’re working on figuring that out. We’re thinking it might be time to cross over to Argentina.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy the views here in Puerto Varas. Here are a few more from the drive, including a shot of our favorite backseat driver.

February 19, 2014
18Feb14
On this Travel Tip Tuesday, we said good-bye to Valdivia and are now in Puerto Varas, a lakeside town that feels like Lake Tahoe’s half-Chilean, half-German cousin. But we’ll introduce you to Puerto Varas another day.

Today, our travel tip is essentially unpaid advertising for Airbnb. (Click here and we can both get a $25 credit!) It has been supremely helpful for our long-term travel needs for several reasons:
- You get to meet local people
- You feel like you’re “at home” instead of in a sterile hotel that could be anywhere
- People are often more accommodating with Holly than hotels are
- It’s often cheaper than a hotel but more comfy than a hostel
- Airbnb handles the money and has protections for both guests and hosts
We’ve had a variety of experiences, from very independent ones where we stayed in an apartment by ourselves to being treated like friends of the family. The family we stayed with in Valdivia invited us to have beers with their friends and colleagues, sat on the patio with us while we chatted with their kids, and took us for a beautiful drive where we saw sights in Valdivia we’d never have found ourselves. (Photo up top.) Here we are with our Chilean family-for-a-week.

Last night, they took us to their favorite late night spot where we shared a pichanga. It’s like nachos, but with fries instead of chips.

They were also the ones who helped us finally make our way to Niebla, which literally means “fog” in English, after we got off on the wrong bus stop the day before.

We’ve had so many memorable experiences on this trip, but Valdivia was one of our favorite places because of the natural beauty and the people we stayed with. So, if you’re going on a short trip OR doing full-time travel like us, we highly recommend checking out Airbnb. To close us out, here are some things we’ve found helpful when using it.
- Fill out your profile completely. This is especially important when you’re new to the site and don’t have reviews. People are letting you into their homes and want to know who you are.
- Read reviews carefully. Someone might say they have laundry, internet, or some other amenity, but maybe it didn’t work or wasn’t available. Other reviewers will mention this.
- Don’t be discouraged if it says “no pets” or similar things. I’ve written hosts notes explaining that we’re traveling with our dog and what they can expect from her, and no one has turned us down. In our stay outside Los Ángeles, the guesthouse owners watched Holly during the day while we went hiking, letting her play on the patio and tag along while they hung laundry out on the clothesline. It was so kind of them!
- Send inquiries in the host’s native language. Even if you have to use Google Translate to help, people appreciate when you make an effort and don’t just assume everyone in the world speaks English.
- Act like a house guest. In big chain hotels, you might just leave a towel on the floor in the bathroom, but you don’t do that when you’re a house guest. Act like you’re a house guest at your parents’ friend’s house and you’ll always get positive reviews.
That’s all we’ve got for tonight. Hasta pronto.
February 18, 2014