puerto Montt

Puerto montt and surrounding area feel a very long way from Santiago or Valparaiso. The climate and landscape is much more like scotland’s than the nice warm Mediterranean weather we had up north. It is about 12 degrees when I step out into the Puerto Montt morning, and it is raining slightly. The skies are grey and sad. The architecture only adds to the confusion. The region was settled in the 19th century by germans, who filled the place with their own churches, cafes and houses. Sitting in café haussman, looking at a Lutheran church and avoiding the rain, it is hard to convince myself that I am in fact in latin America. Many of the signs are in german and the supermarkets are filled with german produce. Weird.
Puerto montt is not a beautiful city, it is the commercial and administrative hub of chile’s south, but as a town it is more odd then attractive. Additionally, lots of the town was destroyed in an earthquake in 1960 so there is not as much of the old architecture as there apparently once was. But Puerto montt is the starting point of many adventures.
From there I headed to Puerto varas, a beautiful resort town on a lake not far away. It is small and the weather was bad in the morning, but sun came out in the afternoon and it was possible to walk on the beach (but not swim!). the mountains and volcanos around the lake made an amazing view. …the region is famous for its salmon, in fact the town seems to serve little else….not a vegetarians paradise!