Puerto Varas, Chile – the last stop in Patagonia

What started as a roughly 2wk trip to Patagonia beginning in Punta Arenas, Chile with no real concrete plans beyond Torres del Paine, has turned into a month-long jaunt from Southern to Northern Patagonia back & forth across the Andes border between Chile & Argentina, & finally ending in the small Chilean town of Puerto Varas in its Lake District. To be frank, had the weather in the South not forced me out, I probably would still be traveling down there. Or quite possibly camped out at El Chalten. But alas, it’s time to move on to other things.
But first… Puerto Varas. It’s a small little town, more of an up & comer in the Chilean Lake District that supposedly takes a distant 2nd place to the star Pucon (which I skipped). I opted to spend too much money traveling for 12hrs from Bariloche to Puerto Varas by alternating between 7 buses, 3 boats & 1 hike to cross several lakes in between as well as the border. I could’ve taken a significantly cheaper 6hr bus but this way gets me on the water (a lot) as well as provides a front row seat to some massive Andes volcanoes. The more mountains & water, the better. Unfortunately the stunning views of 2 massive volcanoes on the other side of the lake from the town of Puerto Varas never materialized while I was there due to constant clouds & rain. Ahh well… I had the views from the boat.

But the clouds were not kind to me… best view all day atop Volcan Osorno – a great ski resort in July & August

Trust me, there’s 2 massive volcanoes on the other side

Sailing Palawan

Because it was the ultimate highlight of my trip, I thought I’d write a brief & delayed blog post on my sailing excursion with Tao Expeditions that took me from El Nido, Palawan, Philippines north to Coron. I spent several days hanging in El Nido prior to the voyage & enjoyed the tiny secluded town, snorkeled & kayaked the incredible surrounding islands & hit up Nacpan Beach, justifiably rated one of the top beaches in the world as it has no accommodations & requires a lengthy difficult trek to enjoy. I did my last diving of the trip in Coron including some incredible WWII wreck dives. But the real highlight here was the week long sailing trip. It began in El Nido, difficult to reach & minimally visited & then we really went off the grid, not seeing another boat the entire trip. We’d sail all day with stops for delicious meals (graciously cooked by the amazing crew), incredible snorkeling & gorgeous beaches, finally stopping each day around 4-5pm on an empty remote island where we’d “glam camp” in huts on the beach with mattress pads & mosquito nets & enjoy some drinks with a meal of freshly caught fish (or maybe a slaughtered pig). Overall just an incredible experience as the scenery was unmatched but so was the entertaining crew of 11 & the friendly 20 passengers. It’s something I intend to do again. In a heartbeat.

The boat is new in the last 2 years but modeled after old Filipino boats. It felt like a pirate ship in a good way.

The crew of 11 included a bunch of fun young guys who were wild – nicknamed the lost boys bc they were essentially raised by the company as they were hyper active kids that proved to be too difficult for their parents. They were such incredibly hard workers & very helpful, but boy did they know how to have fun & let loose. Their infectious laughter & constant shenanigans made it impossible to not have a blast.

We stayed on this beach night one. We’d jump off the boat & snorkel in through phenomenal coral (saw turles, rays, etc.) while the crew would bring our dry bags, food, bedding, etc. to shore on kayaks. Full service.

There really was a rainbow after an hour long storm.

This was one of my fave spots. Tiny island with a stunning beach that just disappears into the water. Prettiest place I’ve ever seen. And we had it all to ourselves.

Stern of the boat held the kitchen. It was real fun to sit back & watch the chef cook these ridiculous dishes with the bare basics. They also had fishing poles to cast off the back. Passengers never caught a thing. The crew just had that good luck.

A lunch spread. They fed us real well. Every meal included white rice, or “Filipino Power” as the lost boys termed it.

This cute little guy surprised me in the shower the night before. I may have grown up in Iowa but this was the first time I showered with a pig. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the passengers, this guy’s days were numbered as he surprisingly joined us on the boat after his nap, met his fate & was the guest of honor at the night’s BBQ. It was a little intense but a key part of Filipino culture & the chef & chef’s assistant took great care with him.

Here’s a video under way:

https://youtu.be/ykDhFlmG6_M

Boating, Cambodia style

In an attempt to mix up modes of travel, we decided to take a boat from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. The boat left at 7:30 and the operator sent a jumbo tuk tuk driver to pick us up at 6:30. After a variety of mishaps including his inability to find other guests (never did) and culminating in a flat tire, we found ourselves stuck at the side of a SR road at 7:30. Another tuk tuk driver swooped in to take us the rest of the journey to the boat, all the while, Amy and I were wondering why a “large boat w 3 levels including a sunbathing open air level on top” would bother to wait for us. We didn’t arrive at the pier until 8am, fully expecting to have missed the boat & already mentally planning to head to the airport (airports in SE Asia, as an aside, have been far more efficient that US airports). We were met by the boat captain who told us to “hurry up” (as if any of the last 1.5 hours was our fault), and quickly ushered us onto definitely-not-a-large boat as our backpacks were taken & thrown on top. It was a small wooden boat with only one level. Maybe sat 30 people in real uncomfortable wooden seats. I then recalled we were told that bc it was dry season, a small boat would first be taking us to our large boat as the large boat can’t make it to the pier given water levels. So that put us at ease, figuring we’d only have 30 minutes on this uncomfortable beast until we met, what now in my mind was a luxurious liner, in Tonle Sap Lake. 4 hours and several engine outages later, we had made it entirely through the largest part of the massive lake only to meet our “large boat” in a relatively narrow portion of the lake. Obviously the photos of the lovely large boat presented in their marketing materials in no way reflects the actual large boat that we were now boarding. There was a bit more room but it wasn’t as advertised. All we could do was laugh. Especially when we had to spend another 4 hours on the large boat before finally reaching Phnom Penh (the trip was a bit longer than initially communicated). In hindsight, we agreed we’d do it again bc the glimpse into local Cambodian life of those that live on the water was very special. The only thing we’d do differently was perhaps bring food & more water. But then again, the bathroom situation on both boats was less than ideal so maybe it was for the best.

As we had seen more than enough of the river, we spent the evening walking around the city center and taking in the royal palace, the continued Cambodian obsession w bright neon lights as decoration, street food stalls, a few cocktails and a lazy night. We did find something interesting on a menu in one of the restos…