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Puerto Montt, Chile |
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I love mountains and crossing the Andes was a rare treat for me. We are also crossing an International Border so there was a brief rest stop at the customs station. There was a young man from Germany who had been kayaking the lakes in this district. He spoke German and English and was having a hard time until someone in the crowd who spoke German and Spanish came to his aid. The customs officers made him unpack his entire kayak. I'd have taken photos but it is never a good idea to point a camera in the direction of any customs official.
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By 3pm we had reached Puerto Montt. I had barely got off the bus when I was approached by Maggie a young woman who ran a nearby bed and breakfast. Her place is at the top of the hill behind the bus station. From the top of the hill, the entire town, waterfront and Volcano Calbuco are visible. At $5.00 apiece we accepted the room. |
| We took a walking tour of the town along the waterfront and found where our lake crossing bus would meet us the next morning. After lunch in a Chinese restaurant we explored the town some more and bought some fruit at an outdoor market. |  |
Later in the afternoon we found a huge shopping mall. The streets in front of the mall was as crowded as the Mall itself. It was quite festive with street musicians, artists and clowns making balloons for the kids.
Earlier when I commented to Maggie on the beautiful view from the top of her hill, she told me that today was the first time they had seen the sun in two weeks. It had been cold and rainy until today. That night the winds kicked up and I was fearful that we would not see Osorno, the main purpose of our crossing into Chile and back. So we spent the night watching the winds blow the curtains into the room only to suck them out a moment or two later. Occasionally there would be a gust strong enough to open the door to the room and then slam it shut with a BANG! For five dollars and breakfast included, we weren't complaining.
Monday, March 10
Trusting soul that she is, Maggie left a breakfast of bread, marmalade, ham, and an apple pie of sorts on the table for us with instructions on how to light her gas stove to make tea or coffee. She also left us a note reminding us to leave our key behind when we departed.
After breakfast we walked down to the tour office where we began our trip back. This morning was overcast and it had rained the night before leaving the windswept streets slick. I was afraid we were socked-in and would not see the volcano. Our bus arrived on time and we were off. As we neared the first lake we stopped in Vicente Perez Rosario National Park to view the lava bed formed when Osorno erupted in 1850. We couldn’t see the volcano but could see its base beneath the clouds.
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We explored the paths around the river. Myke and I are fast walkers and easily covered the short tract within half an hour. I went back to check on the volcano and found the cloud cover lifting rapidly. Soon the entire volcano was in full view and we were right at its base. I started to wonder if I had brought enough film.
 Lava bed at Orsono's base |
 Osorno |
The clouds parted at an amazing pace revealing the volcano. We would get even closer to Osorno when we reached Lake Todos los Santos.to begin our lake crossing back to Argentina.
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