Southern Exposure

Saturday, March 16

Today was one of the best and diverse days of the trip as we were venturing into the famous Chilean Lake District that stretches 340 km from Temuco to Puerto Montt. Our 2-day boredom run on the Panamerica was ending and being replaced with stunning scenery of dense forest, lush farmland, snow capped volcanoes and deep clear lakes.

After another stale bread & jam breakfast at the hotel we were determined and managed to be on the road by 9 am. Going out of town we finally saw the tents of the “Moscow On Ice” circus we’d seen advertised all over town. I waved hello to my fellow Russians. 🙂

After a short 60 km on R 5 we turned east into the lake district towards Lago Villarica, the biggest lake in the region. We decided not to go into Pucon, the region’s most visited town, because we had a long itinerary and did not want to lose time back tracking.

We stopped outside of the town of Villarica to take pictures of the lake backdropped by the symmetrical cone of Volcan Villarica, and continued going south around the east side of Lake Calafquen to Coñatipe. The road was nicely paved and the surroundings reminded us of home in the Pacific Northwest. We felt like we were riding on the Olympic Peninsula or in the Cascades – everything around was lush and green, the skies were clear blue, the sparkling water was reflecting the ridges of the mountains, and the neat village homes had well manicured loans with abundant fruit trees and flower gardens.

As I was riding I imagined how nice it would be to have a picnic on one of the lakes, particularly I had a clear picture of a lunch spread consisting of a loaf of bread, cheese, smoked salmon, and a ripe tomato. We stopped in Coñatipe to see if we can make my dream come true. We saw a little kitten by the road and thought it was a good sign for us to pull up to a bakery. They had a loaf of bread, a piece of cheese and a few pastries for dessert. As we walked outside, I saw a grocery store across the street that advertised smoked salmon and had baskets of fresh veggies outside. I was ecstatic. We’d gotten everything I wanted for our picnic, and now just needed to find a good place to have it.

The dirt road started immediately outside of town hugging the south eastern part of the lake. It wasn’t a bad road, but took a little getting used to after so many days of perfect pavement. It rewarded us with good views of the volcano and we were cruising along. Matt’s bike was not idling well, it was burning poorly at little or no throttle, which was troublesome, particularly since we just spent a lot of money fixing both bikes. After about 30 km on the dirt we were happily back on pavement and stopped for our picnic lunch at Panguipilli lake. Our spot had good views of the lake and its shores as well as the volcano and the surrounding mountain ridges. A herd of cows was feeding in the distance but other than that we were absolutely alone on the lake. We lingered, enjoying the perfection of the moment – the food and the scenery were exactly what I had in mind for our lake picnic.

After lunch and back on the road, we were not able to take the eastern route we were planning to do because the road was closed due to work with explosives. We continued to the town of Panguipilli which had a neat church on the main plaza and many colorful rose bushes lining the streets. Somehow along the way Matt’s bike fixed itself and was riding normal again. Nice! [There are some advantages to a carburetor after all! -Matt]

We found a half paved half dirt road that led out of Panguipilli to a town of Futorno on Lago Ranco (the second largest lake in the region) without getting on R 5. We filled up on gas there around 5 pm and continued on a dirt road along the south eastern shore of the lake enjoying the distant high and rugged mountains and passing a few sleepy villages.

From the scruffy town of Lago Ranco the road turned to pavement and we finished our route by riding to Osorno on R 5 and then turning east towards Entre Lagos, our destination for the night. There were a lot of stands on the side of the road selling fresh fruit, honey, chicha manzana (apple cider), and jams. This area is known for their sweet fruit, so we stopped to get some for the road. At the first stand the “uncapitalist” girl refused to sell me half the berry carton, so we stopped by another one, and the nicest lady was more than happy to sell me half the carton each of raspberry, strawberry and blueberry, plus an assortment of home baked cookies. She also poured me a glass of chicha for free. The lady was so friendly and warm that I felt extremely joyous after our encounter and in a great mood the rest of the evening.

At Entre Lagos we easily found a nice and affordable hostel and walked to the peer after sun set for a picture perfect lake view. We had access to the kitchen at the hostel, so I cooked us a quick dinner of fresh salad and pasta, which we savored with big smiles on our faces. This could not have been a more perfect day!

It was late by the time we were done with dinner so we retired to sleep anticipating another great day of riding in the Lake District.