To Cerro Castillo and Puerto Tranquillo

16.2. Shortly asked for internet at Casita de Té, refueled and headed south. Today we drive to Villa Cerro Castillo to hike there tomorrow. The drive takes us past glaciated peaks and dry valleys. It's amazing how quickly the vegetation changes depending on whether you are closer to the Pacific or on the other side. Paved sections alternate with gravel roads, but the road is in better condition than expected. The Carretera Austral is slowly losing its wild myth. Many construction sites promise even more asphalt in the future. In Coyhaique, we eat something small and refuel. We stay overnight at a campsite just outside Villa Cerro Castillo with a wonderful view of the mountain and the underlying plain. We cook for ourselves again and look forward to tomorrow's hike.

Anna and Michael are our American neighbors today.

17.2. We arrive at the parking lot of the National Park a little later than planned. It costs quite a bit of money to hike in Chile again. They want about 40.- from us, as the hike to the National Park passes through 4 private properties. The registration ceremony is once again bureaucratically and pointless. You can tell that the Chileans just think differently.

The hike gets more beautiful with every meter of elevation, and the panoramic view is great. After 2 hours, we reach the lagoon with the mighty Cerro Castillo behind it. For Patagonia travelers, it's really a worthwhile trip, even if about 300 people had the same idea as we did. That's the paradox of Patagonia. It has so much wilderness and beautiful spots, but the options for activities are extremely limited, and that's why there are so many people everywhere, because everyone has to do the same things.

After the descent, we drive to Puerto Tranquilo to do a kayak tour tomorrow.

The roughly 100km dirt road is quite tiring and so far the longest section that is not paved. When we arrive in the village, we notice that our tire has a little less air again and realize that it is probably just a little worn out. We haven't heard from our car rental company since crossing the border, even though we have pointed out various defects with the car. They want to rent out the car three days after we return it. But they don't seem to care. We suspect that they want to charge us for the defects...

We book the kayak tour with a small company that only accepts bank transfers or cash. Since the ATM in the village is empty, we have to rely on Amelia's postcard. Logically, the transfer will only arrive in a few days, which the present woman sees as problematic but not impossible. We eat at the most popular restaurant in town. We wait almost half an hour for a table. The wait was worth it, the food (lamb and salmon) is excellent! We find a campsite that we can pay for with a credit card. A Swiss woman from Geneva supports her husband's father here with office work. Neither she nor we can have a discussion in French, we are too much into Spanish. J Later we talk to a German biker who is particularly annoyed by the many fences in Chile. We can confirm this. Almost everything is private land and you can hardly camp anywhere beside the road.