An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Ugh, woke up around 6:30. Packed and breakfasted, then had Maurice fight the traffic to get us to the airport for the 9:00 flight to Puerto Montt. After some difficulties in figuring out how and where exactly to pay the $8 departure tax/person/flight, we boarded the crowded plane.
Uneventful flight, but beautiful scenery: the undulating Andes off into the distance, looking like a rumpled sheet, with towering, snow-capped volcanoes and blue lakes all around, abutted by a sweeping carpet of rich farmland. We landed and were met by Berne (named for her grandfather, Bernard) our guide for the next week.
We drove to this fully-booked hotel, where we were given the maid’s room. We then changed into biking gear and drove to Fruitillar for lunch, which was a traditional Chilean vegetable/beef soup, an unknown fried fish, and a sugary raspberry dessert; we were also introduced to Ahi, a sort of Chilean salsa which was tasty and quite piquant. The food was nothing special, but the view right on the lake with the 8,500 ft. Osorno volcano on the distant shore was memorable. We got our bikes and selves assembled while some local juvenille reprobates mingled among us and tried to take our bikes out for a spin, then we pedalled off around the lake.
Wow, that was some of the rockiest, bumpiest, hilliest most challengeing mountain biking we’d ever done! The scenery was lush farmland with the lake alongside and the volcanic peaks off in the distance. After a while, Felice boarded the van, then after doing a great job under trying circumstances (and with the wrong, quite uncomfortable seat) Wendy finally joined her. Milton and Berne rode on, finally arriving at the home of Berne’s friend, Inez, for some rest and water refilling. Her house was on the lakeshore and quite pretty, especially the beautiful gardens, which had recently been featured on a local calendar. We then rode a few km more and joined the van in Llanquihe for the quick drive back to Puerto Varas.
Rather than go right up to the room, the two of us walked the small town, stopping in their supermarket (which was the rival of anything back home) and some local shops. We then showered and met Felice and Berne in the hotel bar/lounge to go to dinner and celebrate Felice’s birthday. We first shared some of the (cheap) champagne which Felice had received as a present from the flight attendants on her flight down, then walked to the restaurant Berne had suggested. Turned out to be quite the hot spot with glowing reviews from all sorts of international publications posted in the entryway. So hot, in fact, that we were told that we couldn’t get a table, but our guide magically procured us one.
And fortunately so, as it was quite memorable: started with pisco sours (the national drink of Chile), then appetizers were a stupendous King Crab pizza, salad with raspberry vinegarette with pieces of octopus, and the ubiqutous and delicious Chilean razor clams. Entrees were salmon with dill sauce and a thin potato crust, crepes with shrimp and beef tenderloin (the winner), grouper, and abalone with curry and rice. All accompanied by a big and milky Chilean chardonnay. We also enjoyed conversation with Berne, who is one of the more interesting people we’ve come across. She’s from Connecticut, went to Williams College, took a year off while there and spent it travelling around Central America, biked across the U.S., was in a West African dance troupe (which opened for Phish at their famous Plattesburg concert) and so on. We also chatted with Richard, the German owner/chef for a while, then strolled home around 11:30 (standard Chilean dining time) to collapse.