Carretera Austral – Heading north

Back in Cochrane the craving for internet beckoned. Surprisingly the connection was pretty good. We both received good news via email. Alex had been accepted to an job in Columbia and I had received an awesome invitation letter from April to aid my visa application (thx April). North was the goal, we would set off in the morning.

We woke up with good weather and not that cold bite in the air as when we went to Tortel. Great day for hitchhiking! We knew the bus was passing at 9am, so started hitching at 8:30. Being pretty confident that we would get a lift, we ignored the bus and waited. And waited. And waited. Damn! By 13:00 we were not happy with our decision. Many cars had passed, but all (apparently) local traffic. Fortunately a German couple, with their dog, gave us a lift in their campervan. Our aim was to get to Puerto Tranquilo by nightfall, but it didn’t look good at the moment. The couple were going to Puerto Guardal, where we have been, so we got off at the intersection with the road heading north. Walking the Austral…again. Nice! Its a different and great experience, knowing that you are in the middle of nowhere…alone. Alas this wouldn’t last (or should I jump for joy). We got a lift 30min after being dropped off, which was going all the way to Puerto Tranquilo! Great stroke of luck.

Puerto Tranquilo is just that…tranquilo (chilled out). Very small, right next to a lake. Great setting. The main attraction here are some caves that can only be reached by boat. This sucked because the boat is really expensive for two people. So we decided to skip it. Rather just enjoy the tranquillity of the place.
Next morning we headed for Coyhaique, the largest town in the Austral. You could call it the capital. There is more through traffic in Puerto Tranquilo and the busses passing through arrived at about 11am. This gave us much more time to get a lift. Once again not many cars. When the 1st bus stopped (there would be three) a French girl got off. She had been working in Patagonia and had a way about her. Friendly and gets what she wants. Reminds me of someone…. :) Since girls get lifts easier than guys, we put her to the task. In 5min a pickup arrived and she sweet talked all of us into a lift. Damn she was good!
The couple we got a lift with were going to Coyhaique and flying back to Santiago that afternoon. Cool, we were sorted. The French girl got off in Villa Cerro Castillo, along the way. At the next town the couple wanted to go have a look at some lakes, so we got out. 20min later we got a very fast lift to Coyhaique :) So fast in fact, that we could catch a bus to Puerto Cisnes (Coyhaique is not a nice place). So we made it further than hoped.

Puerto Cisnes is another fishing village, slightly off the main drag of the Austral. I did not care for the place much and would’ve like to sleep in Puyuhaupi, but such is life. Weather was crap the next day, so we took the bus to Puyuhaupi in the afternoon. Spent the morning catching up on some emails and some research for the upcoming part of the trip. To be honest, this is the first place along the Austral that I just wanted to get out of. I had a bad feeling about it, fortunately only a feeling. Nothing bad happened.

Puyuhaupi is a much nicer town with a homey feel. It was founded by Germans after WW2, which you can spot if you look really close. The roof design is unique to this part of the Austral with the type of roof called “Puyuhaupi style.” The houses also have nicer workmanship (but that's not difficult for the Austral). This is my favourite place along the Austral.
Close by is a national park with a couple of interesting things to see, but since the weather didn’t play along we missed out. The weather has really played havoc with parts of this trip. Eish.
Since Alex and I were both keen to get north, we hopped on the afternoon bus to take us a far north a possible. Villa Santa Lucia would be our destination. We were now so close to Chaiten, where the ferry departed to Chiloe, we could almost smell it. To our disappointment, the bus driver told us that the ferry to Chiloe ran that morning. Missed it by 1 day! The ferry was going to Puerto Montt the following day, with a bus driving through Villa Santa Lucia on the way to the ferry. What did we have to lose by trying to hitch? Nothing, even though it was already 18:30, and dusk.

Strangely enough there were more cars on the road than I expected, but going the wrong way :| An older looking gentleman stopped to pick us up, but he was only going halfway to Chaiten. A lift is a lift, so we took it. There was very little place in the car, but he was nice enough to make space. Alex and José, our lift, hit it off. By the time we arrived at his destination, he was nice enough to check for accommodation for all of us. There wasn’t any. So he drove all the way to Chaiten! Mmm…something different about this guy.
It turns out he is a salesman and visits this area about 4 times a year and rarely gives lifts. We ended up sharing a cabin and then cooking together. Well, Alex and I did all the cooking, but he bought a nice Chilean wine. Fair deal. It turns out this guy isn’t you average salesman. Well yes he sells household stuff, but he was really insightful with a great sense of humour. We all got along really well! I was a bit disappointed to have to say good bye, but it was a great end to our trip along the Austral. We had made to Chaiten. The town that had been burried under volcanic ash about 2 years ago.

Unfortunately Alex and my paths will split here, as he has to go to Temuco and will go to Chiloe before heading to Santiago. It has been a great trip, but all good things come to an end.

Waiting for a lift in Cochrane – Lunch on the road – Water is really blue here

Walking is tiring :) – Postcard pictre – And another

Church in Puerto Tranquilo – Yes it was cold in Puerto Tranquilo. REALLY cold!

Farmers russtling cattle, in the road (notice even the women get involved) – Puyuhaupi square (every town has one) – Nice house in Puyuhaupi (not “Puyuhaupi style” roof).

Some of Alex’s pics:

Getting desperate for a lift in Cochrane – Puyuhaupi – A long day (Villa Santa Lucia)

Our “end of trip” feast – Feast with José

Carretera Austral – Hillbilly South

The town of Caleta Tortel is nestled in a small bay on the southern part of the Austral. Alex was going through a map of the area and read that Tortel has no roads in the town, with only wooden walkways between the buildings. “Sounds good. Lets go”. (map)

The southern part of the Austral is the most beautiful, but there is also the least amount of traffic. Especially at this time of year. Hitchhiking would probably not be the best option, so we took a bus. 3hours to cover 130km...yes, the road is that bad.
Tortel is just what they said it would be…and a bit more. Everything is build out of wood. Walkways, houses and boats. Gives it a nice charm. A warm feel, even though the weather does its best to try keep that warm feeling from you. We didn’t see many people, they were probably hiding from the cold.

There are a couple of small bays along the town, which is build at the water’s edge. Its difficult to spot the “centre” of town. Shops are badly marked and I guess the only telltale sign that we were at the centre was the two official buildings (they look new compared to the others). Municipal building and the cops. But being out in the cold for long enough, we found a little old lady’s place that served tea. There we go an introduction to Tortel’s history.

The town was started in the 50’s to harvest Cypress wood that had been burned in the surrounding areas. 5 families settled here and made a living by collecting wood by boat, there were no roads here at this time. Every 3 months the navy would come past and collect the wood, taking it to Punta Arenas. Each person would receive credit for the wood they collected and exchanged for supplies.
During the dictatorship of Pinochet, much of the Austral was build including the road to Tortel. So the people here love him (probably the only people that do).
Sounds all hunky-dory…well, that is where the story gets weird :) Arriving at the hosteria I noticed the first sign, but didn’t think anything of it at the time. The lady who’s establishment it was, had really crooked teeth and a kind of child-like manner. The town didn’t have much “new blood” coming in on a regular basis. So I guess the town’s original 5 families mixed a bit…too much. As isolated as this place is, they people are not very conservative. Children move in together at about 13 and start having children. And there was one case of one brother killing another for their sister! (fine only the one case) Our host had a 10 year old grandchild by the time she was 42! See how thing got a little warped? At this point in time I just wanted to get out…but no bus until the next day. And being so isolated, the chances of a lift were bad.

We did lots in the town (at least that we could find to do). Walk through the town, chat to locals, take a short hike up the hill behind the town, sleep, eat….think that’s about it. No bars or any nightlife to talk about. We were stuck here for 2 days until the bus would be able to take us back. Eish. At least we got to see the “deep south.”

Sunrise the morning of departure – Bus driver stopped for a short view – Along the road

The Austral – Arriving in Tortel – The supermarket in Tortel

View along the walkway – The "main” harbour – Exploring the town

 
After Torres del Paine, we said no more hiking. Off we went – The aerodrome – My “hiking boots” after the hike

 
Random cool dog – On our way back to civilisation

Carretera Austral – The start

I’m going to do two new things with this area. I will spit this post up into sections as I will be on the Carretera Austral for some time and don’t think it will fit into one post (without being boring). Secondly, I’m going to try write this post as I travel. Having to write these posts can get quite time consuming. So here goes…

Lets start with where it is. Below is a map, if not with lots of detail, but you will get the idea. (Click on it for a larger view)

So starting from El Chalten, we (Alex and I) were told it is VERY difficult, if not impossible, to cross the “summer route” into Chile at Villa O’Higgins. This would involve a bus ride, ferry across Lagoa del Desierto (or hike around it), 6hour hike to the border, another 6 hour hike to Lago O’Higgins, a ferry ride to a port close to Villa O’Higgins and then a short bus ride. During winter the ferry on the lagoon is closed and the ferry on Lago O’Higgins is only used for cargo which runs sporadically. I guess they were right.
We opted for the route north to Perito Moreno (not the glacier, but the town) then we would cross into Chile at Chile Chico. That was the plan…

Team Fantastico was together for the trip to Perito Moreno (map here). A LONG bus ride along some of the worst road I have ever had the “pleasure” of riding on. The bus could only maintain an average speed of 30kph, with 40kph the maximum (which I don’t think we ever reached). Oh and did I mention the heat? You could cook a small squirrel on your lap…if that's your thing. After some friendly chatting I was able to get the AC on, which helped…until they turned the heat off totally. Then it was like the arctic. Do there people not understand the concept of temperature control? At least cold is better than hot, I had my sleeping bag with me…just in case this would happen :)

Right, back to the action. Alex and I are a bit stubborn about our plans. If we want to hitchhike, we want to hitchhike. Even if there is a bus waiting for our arrival at Perito Moreno to take us to Los Antiguos (the Argentinean border town). Waving the bus good-bye…we wait. Argentineans don’t seem the most willing to give lifts, at least not to the two of us. I hadn’t shaved…I would that night :)
Finally got a lift with a Chilean to Los Antiguos. Not much to the town, except lots of berry farms and the usual places. Settled in for the night, we were ready for Chile!

We had to walk about 1km to the Argentinean border and there were no great issues. Just a bit weird, after being stamped out (about 5min later) a guard came to check our bags for contraband (not very well). Guess he just wanted to chat, this border is really quite. We got a lift with a lady involved with construction on no-mans-land to cover the 8km to the Chilean border. She had hitched when she was longer and struggled to get lifts, so she had pity on us.
The Chilean border was a bit more organised. Papers filled & passports stamped, our bags were searched. Latex gloves and all, we weren’t searched :) I was complimented on how organised my backpack was. If he only knew.
A short lift to Chile Chico, which wasn’t as easy to get a we had hoped, probably because it was Sunday. The town was great! Colourful, well kept and it had a nice feel. There is also a small dock where the ferry to Puerto Ibanez runs from, very neat! We were a bit disappointed that we didn’t stay here. Such is life.

The Austral, which is a pretty bad dirt road left at the end of the main street. Easy to spot. Here we sat for some time. Having lunch, writing postcards and reading. Finally a newly wed couple who had moved here because they like the town, gave us a lift. But there were only going 50km. We were hoping to get to Puerto Guardal, about 100km. They assured us that there was a camping spot close to the entrance to their farm. At worst we could camp (Alex and I both have tents).
The ride was beautiful and we quickly realise why it is better to have your own wheel when travelling here. They were friendly and gave us some tips about the Austral…all in Spanish, so I only caught a word or two. Alex was sucking it all up like a sponge. They were nice enough to stop so we could take photos at a couple of places (Alex is into photography).
They finally dropped us off at the turn off to their place, no invitation :( Now we were really walking the Austral! But we weren’t alone. Two guys passed on horseback with their dogs. Nice to know there is life out here.

Not 20min had passed when a guys stopped for us. He was going to Cochrane, a bit further than we were hoping, but he stopped in Puerto Guardal. Just as well he was going on. The town is nice, but really nice enough to want to stay for a night. At least not without a way out. We had also read about Caleta Tortel (a town in the Fjords with wooden walkways and no roads) and Cochrane was the ideal stop.
He even recommended a place to stay, which served steak with chips! Ooooo, so nice…I like! We would plan our assault on the south from here.

Walking to the border – The port at Chile Chico – Clarity of the water

Start of the Austral – Views from the road

Farmers on horseback – a Unimog - “End of the World” in Puerto Guardal