Puerto Montt is a big port town (over 150.000) that is honored with the location of Chile's biggest fish market. It appears to be a struggling community mainly because there is not enough housing for the people who work there. We were told the government is trying to help by building more low income housing. The 1960 earthquake destroyed the port, so there is a more modern port now. The weather was fairly drab when we arrived, so that didn't help our impression of this town.
Our tour bus stopped here to visit the handicraft fair and have lunch. The daily fair is essentially like an 'art in the park' type event you'd see in the states except these tents lined up along the street. Most of them had the same type of crafts and souvenirs such as knit socks, hats, sweaters, gloves and some carved trinkets. I'm not sure they make much money, but they rely on tourists that travel through Puerto Montt on their way to Patagonia.
Our lunch was prearranged by our guide Roderigo. It was difficult to find a vegetarian meal, but he was kind to notify the restaurant anyway. We all sat at a long bench and table and got to know more about our travel companions. Some of the girls tried this seafood soup. It contained a variety of seafood including mussels and some things that were unidentifiable as they reported it tasted like sand. We enjoyed the company though and It was a lovely meal.
Michael walking toward the fish market in Puerto Montt
After lunch, we headed to Puerto Varas. This is a smaller and far more charming city originated by German settlers. There wasn't too much to do here, but it was far more pleasant. We got settled in our small and run-down hostel. The bathroom toilet was broken upstairs, so that left only one for everyone downstairs. The windows didn't completely close or seal. We were happy to get out and explore.
We walked around town and the coast. We found a lovely park at the top of a hill and hiked around there a bit. Maeve took a ton of photos here (make sure you check them out on her blog spot).
Behind those clouds are two huge volcanos. The clouds never cleared for a picture:(
Sign in the bathroom. We've gotten used to not flushing toilet paper in Peru and some places in Chile. This was a cute reminder.
We found a decent place for dinner and met a lovely couple from Australia. We chatted with them and told our story. It was a nice ending to the evening.
I was anxious to move on the next day to our last stop on our Southern Chile tour.