February 4, 2016

It’s been a week without internet (not necessarily a bad thing), and I just found an open spot in Cochrane, Chile that is smoking fast and hopefully will continue to work long enough to get this loaded. I’ll load about five short posts with photos if all goes well. After today, it may be another week before I find good internet again in Punta Arenas.

I left Cris and the MotoCamp Chile crew and headed south on the Circuito Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes Loop) out of Villarrica. This is a nice road climbing and twisting past green countryside and beautiful lakes. Eventually I dropped onto the Pan American Highway (known here as Ruta 5) and headed south to Puerto Varas. Ruta 5 here looks a lot like Interstate 5 between Portland and Seattle.

 

 

Puerto Varas is another lakeside tourist attraction much like Villarrica and Pucon, and it was also full to the brim with vacationing Chileans. I checked into a hotel overlooking the lake and then rode another dozen miles south to Puerto Montt for a salmon dinner. Lots of salmon in this area, and the restaurants at the wharf (known as Angelmo) here came highly recommended.