Gravel like crazy

Spending a whole day on the ferry is fun and relaxing when the weather is good. With lots of views, water, exhaust fumes, and a little sunburn, you leisurely travel through the fjords. However, it's nice when you finally arrive.

The landscape offers an incredible variety. The Sendero de Alerces is home to up to 3000-year-old Patagonian cypresses, which reach huge dimensions. In addition, hiking in these dense primeval forests is a real experience. Over and over again, you come across lakes and rivers with bright turquoise colors. The theory says that these colors come from meteoric minerals, but we believe that someone is constantly pouring paint buckets into the river. Everything else is fake news.

There is also the ice blue of various glaciers. The Ventisquero Colgante, a hanging glacier, is particularly spectacular to see, but the sight must be earned by climbing meters. No challenge for us. Through enchanted Fangorn Forest (unfortunately, there were no Ents here) with moss-covered branches and muddy paths. Just like in a fairy tale.

There is not much to see in Chaitén. This may be because the town was mostly destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption 10 years ago. In the open-air museum, you can see the buildings that were submerged in ash. And there are cheeky kittens here who literally throw themselves at you.

Puyuhuapi is much more attractive. Even if the weather was bad, the town by the lake has a pretty wooden church and even something like a center and delicious food.

Coyhaique is pentagonal, strange, and a little ugly. Doesn't matter because we only slept there or stuffed ourselves with fries and meat at 10 in the evening after a long drive.

You have to love driving here anyway because there can be a distance of 200km between villages. Gravel road. That means 4 hours. If you come across asphalt, it is so full of huge potholes that you long for the gravel road again. However, the landscape is uniquely beautiful. It's incredibly fun to drive by lakes, over rivers, through forests, and along snow-covered mountain peaks and fields of flowers. Cars also drive very well here.