Chilling in Chile Chapter 3; Puerto Montt & Castro

January 16 & 17

Getting There

Wow, has it been two days? The Odyssey had two sea days to travel from Valparaiso to Puerto Montt, and the seas were rolling. Nothing dangerous, but those prone to sea sickness needed to make sure that they were taking precautions.

My cabin being at the front of the boat was rocking and loud. The rocking I can usually sleep through, but the banging was enough to wake up even me.

Puerto Montt

That being said, it was a relief to pull into the calmer waters surrounding Puerto Montt and Castro.

Last year, I was in this area to visit Volcano Osorno and the Andino Crossing, but I stayed in Peurto Varas, a 20-minute car ride away. Since I didn’t need to go out of the area because I had already done everything, I decided to walk around town.

Osorno Volcano and Calbuco Volcano as we were leaving the port.

It is a tender place, meaning that the ship can’t dock at port, but out at sea, and smaller boats are used to shuttle passengers to shore. The tender ride there was short and smooth.

Paul, JR, and I set off down the boardwalk towards town. The sun is strong here, even though the temperature is lower.

The boardwalk into the city center takes about 20 minutes if one doesn’t stop, but it took us longer since we were stopping to snap pictures and chatting with others.

There were several statues, gardens, a play-ground, and a bus terminal along the way, but the best item was a giant couple statue, looking out over the water.

After visiting the couple statue we made our way to the tourist building and the Plaza de Armas. There wasn’t much for town here as most people come here to go out of town.

At the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square in Puerto Montt, there wasn’t much. Just a flat area with a few plaques, but directly behind was the city’s cathedral.

Plaza de Armas is the main plaza in town

From the cathedral, we decided to make our way to several miradors and look-out points. This meant hills. I have a love/hate relationship with hills. There seemed to be about 4 miradors on the route, but the first one was not very high, and we missed the dirt path that led to it.

The second and third lookouts were at the end of steep paths, although the third could have been all road, but Google directed me to a dirt trail leading up. At the top of the third Mirador, we could see where some homeless had created shelter for themselves and even rigged into the electrical up top to charge their phones.

In holes like these, we could see belongings and people staying.

From this one, it didn’t seem like the 4th would get us many different views, so we chose to walk across the top towards the municipal market.

There were fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meats and restaurants. The second floor had more restaurants and some small shops selling everyday needs.

From the market, we began to make our way back down to the city center, passing by neighborhoods and even the local cemetary. Instead of straight down towards the port area, we ended up back at the center.

Walking back to the port area, we stopped at an Artisenal market and tried a sausage sandwich and local cheeses.

One of two little artisanal streets selling goods.

Paul was so sad we were full from our sausages.

This cheese was divine, so creamy and mild. It melted in my mouth.

Another section, but everything was closed.

After walking around for 4 hours, I was glad to be done and couldn’t wait to return to the ship. That evening, we picked up anchor and headed to our next port of call on Chiloe Island.

Castro

Castro was another tender port that seemed quite small. I had heard from one of my Saudi friends that she would be coming here on Tuesday – so close and yet so far. This isn’t that crazy seeing how she teaches in Chile, but it still seems like an unlikely coincidence.

Instead of going with a group, I jumped on an earlier shuttle and headed across to check out the town. My hips were a little sore from the previous day so I didn’t want to climb much. Lol, this was like tempting fate, no?

The main section of town is up the hill. So up I went.

At the top are many everyday shops and the main plaza, Plaza de Armas. The town also has 4 churches and 4 signs boasting its name around the town.

Its main claim to fame though, are the homes and businesses on stilts.

It is low tide so I could really see the stilts

Back up in the center of town is Plaza de Armas which has a variety of food trucks and several strips of handicraft markets.

The main square – Plaza de Armas fountain

The best part was the wooden cathedral. I haven’t seen many older wooden churches, they tend to have burnt down over the years. The floor is super squeaky though.