Inundated in Varas

We spent a fractious night trying to recover from no sleep the night before and a full 8 hour time zone shift which meant we would be waking up at 7.40 am which is NZ 11 pm just when we would be going to sleep. By the time the alarm went off we had somewhat recovered and raced off into the early morning rush hour having fixed and repacked the trolley so the heavy luggage wouldn't literally crush it into the road.


We now knew our way around having negotiated the streets the night before looking for a supermarket, so found our way quickly on to the overcrowded metro carrying the luggage piggy back up and down the flights of stairs, and managed to jump a bus just leaving for the airport at Pajaritos and checked into Sky airlines ten minutes early, only to find the plane delayed by an hour once we had got to the waiting lounge because, watching them slowly fuel up the plane and put on the luggage and then sit around waiting for a pilot because they had to bring an extra plane on because the previous incoming flight got delayed (pleasures of a small airline).


This was all made up for however, when we took off, because I had managed to check in online on the Forestal wireless internet and managed to score the last two seats on the left-hand side with another peerless view of the Andes reaching at the peak of the flight way beyond half way across Argentina.

We could see several of the volcano-clad lakes we hope to visit on the return leg of the loop we hope to begin tomorrow trying to catch a bus from Puerto Montt to Argentina on the fly in Varas.

Above and below: Panoramas of Varas in Moody Weather as we saw it (click to enlarge).
Middle: Volcan Orsorno emerging from the clouds.

By the time the flight got two thirds of the way down the clouds set in and we arrived to find ourselves in a torrential low with driving rain for which the area is renowned with visibility down to about zero. We managed to avoid being conned by the taxi drivers who said no bus would come, got a ticket and made a connection into the Montt terminal and out again to Puerto Varas in a rickety little local bus.

Margouya No. 2

We arrived at Hostel Margouya and got invited to stay at the No. 2 house, which is quieter and has more of the longer stay people. It's a great rambling two storied barn with creaky wooden stairs, warm wood stoves a delightful double rooms with shared bathroom and a suite of living rooms and kitchens where you can live the way you would at home. Right now everyone has gone out so its only Christine and me here, as if we own the place.

Traditional architecture with wooden tiled walls.

We have an early start again tomorrow because no one seems to know where the Andesmar bus to Argentina calls in so we have to leave some slack for uncertainties since there is more than one bus station here.

The weather is beginning to calm down so we might see the volcanoes over the lake and have a reasonable trip if we are lucky.