02/28/23

Oatmeal is back in stock!

After that, I pack my things. Marco gives me various travel tips and connects me with his buddy in Chiloé, my next destination. Jan and Marco accompany me to the 12 o'clock boat. Then follows a short hour-long ferry ride.

Squeezed between musty seats designed for people with a height of max. 1.75 m, the bus bumps along to Puerto Varas. The bus driver is the same as on the way there a month ago. With his rough driving style, he chauffeurs us over the dirt road.

Four hours and two close crashes later, I get off in Puerto Varas in drizzling rain. I buy a new prepaid SIM card to book a hostel for the night at the last minute. Afterwards, after a dry month, I treat myself to a Kunstmann Lager (a German marketed beer that goes back to German settlers) and eat rolls with a type of processed cheese (thought it was cream cheese) as well as natural yogurt from the supermarket.

It doesn't take long until I'm surrounded by stray cats, showing strong interest in the rustling packaging and using my backpack as a scratching post. I let them lick the yogurt cup.

Since I'm still hungry, I buy some Papahuevos (french fries with fried egg). Then I take an Uber to the hostel. There, a windowless cubicle awaits me. The experience is topped off by children's screams through the thin plaster walls.