Carretera Austral (Part B - The bless of Pacha Mama)

Carretera Austral (the Southern Road) is the name given to Chile's Route 7. Even though it runs about 1,240 kilometers, it provides access to only about 100,000 people. It was constructed under the presidency of Pinochet and opened to traffic for the first time in 1988 (there was no access to these areas before that). There aren't any hostels in most of the towns, there are only Hospedahas, extra rooms in the back of private houses. So if you want to cook yourself a dinner (which is necessary, since there are practically no restaurant there), you do it in someones private kitchen. We spent all our mornings and evenings in those kitchens preparing various meals and lots of pancakes, under the examining eyes of the owners, who wondered how can a meal be prepared by 5 people (3 of them are not even women!).

Carretera Austral is very popular especially among the Israeli travelers. There are three ways to cross it. The most convenient option is by renting a car in one of the large cities in the area. It is recommended to take a 4X4 truck or at least a high pickup (or something like Renault Kangoo) since the road can be sometimes rough. Since the road is mostly not paved, there are lots of warnings (for the tourists) about driving it. After driving few hundreds of kilometers in Northern Italy we can say that comparing to there this road is relatively safe. Nothing bad will happen to you (in a proper car) if you insist on driving carefully enough.

The other option, not recommended during the low season, is by hitchhiking. The people in the area are very nice, but there aren't too many vehicles going through this road, and it isn't fun to wait for the when it is raining.

There is also another way, ''Tiyul Shnati'' as we call it, an organized group of about 18 Israelis in a van that takes them to all the main attractions. One of the problems with this way of traveling is that the people in the van are not really sure if they are going north or south.

In the previous post we arrived to Perito Moreno at night. On the next day we crossed the border to Chile to a town called Chile Chico. The border crossing took a long time since we were almost alone. The inspectors of the agriculture ministry were so bored, that they did a thorough check in all of our bags to see that we didn't smuggle any meat, cheese or honey that can affect the delicate ecology of Chile. Since we couldn't bring any of these things into Chile, we had to buy new supplies before driving on. One important thing to know about Chile and Argentina is that they have three sacred things in their life: Religion, Football and the daily Siesta. If you choose to be hungry between 13:30 and 16:30, well, that´s your problem. We searched all over the town for some fresh bread but all the bakeries (Panadarias) were closed. We entered the only place that was open in the town, took some empanadas and ate them with delight. The drive continued through the Silver and Gold mines on the shores of lago (lake) General Carrera near Chile Chico. On the way we passed several Israeli hitchhikers that did the great mistake of hitchhiking in large groups. The fact that we were completely full didn't spared us the angry looks on their faces when we didn't stop to pick them up. We did stop the car later, but only to take some more pictures. The mines are surrounded by beautiful Lagunas, that make great photographs. Once you pass the lagunas, you start driving on a curved road right next to the shores of the lake. This road is amazingly beautiful, and the lake showed its different angles with every curve that we passed. We slept in Rio Tanquillio on the west shore of the lake.

On the next day we took a tour on a small motor boat to the marble caves. In the lake there are some large islands made of marble. The water has created grottoes inside the marble and the results are beautiful colorful caves. The deep green-blue color of the water completed the picture.

After the boat we drove through a narrow road starting from the north side of Rio Tranquillo. The road, which was one of the most beautiful in the Carretera Austral, passed by a lake and a glorious waterfall. The road ended with a 15 minute climb through a magical forest to a lookout over a small glacier which is part of the enormous Northern Ice Cap. We got to Villa Cerro Castillo late at night and immediately went to find Manuel (which was not so easy at dark), the horse owner and ordered the horse trek, and the Assado for the next day.
The horse trek in Villa Cerro Castillo takes you up to the laguna beneath the rugged peak of the Cerro Castillo mountain. The mountain got its name from the peak that look like a castle with lots of towers. The day started with the rather pathetic attempt to control the horses, that clearly knew better than us what needs to be done. Amapola, Oren's horse, was wild and stubborn and any attempt to try and dictate a slow paste was futile. Wild horses need to take the lead and as soon as Amapola found herself at the front of the line, she calmed down. Lilya had a much more constrictive approach. She just decided to let Almendra, her horse, do whatever she feels like (in Lilya's words: ''Not only am I sitting on her back, I will also give her orders??'') . Fortunately enough (for Lilya), Almendra was very well-mannered and knew exactly what she's doing. Except one time when Almendra, who didn't want to get dirty, decided to jump over one of the mud puddles, almost leaving Lilya behind.
The horses took us only half way up. The rest was a steep climb that was indeed worth the effort. We got to a laguna surrounded by tall cliffs from 3 sides. The deep turquoise color of the water was exceptional and definitely not a color that you would expect from a lake. We got back to the horses and then to the village where we were anxious to eat the "wonderful Assado" that was promissed to us by Manuel (and the Israeli recommendations on the wall). Well, the Assado turned out to be an extra well done steakes that were fried in deep oil. We think that we got the leftovers of the Israelis from the van that were there before us. We have met them again several times in the following days. It was probably the worst meat we ate until now, but we enjoyed the horse ride so much that not even this meal nor the pain in the back from the horses didn't effect the good mood we had.
We spent the night in a beautiful cabin for 5 people with a kitchen in Coyhaique. It was the end of Pessah, so Gabi made us Muphletas and we ate until we felt as if it was Hanuka (judging by the amount of oil).
The next day the rain came. It rained for 15 minutues and we got wonderful pictures of rainbows and sun-rays through the clouds. We had the time so we took an hour detour and got to a port town named Puerto Chacabuku, only to take a picture of us with its' silly name. The town itself, by the way, is not chukubuku at all as the name suggests but a nice town built around a port. We drove north towards Puyuhapi, and didn't miss the sunset over (or behind) the hanging glacier 25 km south of Puyuhapi where we met the Israeli van again. Since Puyuhapi is known in its fish dishes, we went to a fish restaurant. Again, the van guys were ahead of us in the restaurant, but the Salmon was great, altough took its time to show up in our plates.

Just before we got to Chaiten we passed through a pool of hot springs 5 km from El Amarillo. The van people were just leaving when we got there, so we had the pool all for ourselves. NO LOVEMAKING screamed the large sign near the pool along with 8 more rule written in Spanish that included no alcohol near the pool, so we gave up on the wine (and the lovemaking). The water was truly warm and had only a mild scent of Sulfur so we stayed there until it was evening and too cold outside the pool, and then drove to Chaiten.

Two years ago (in 2008) the volcano near Chaiten, that wasn't even listed with Chile's 140 great volcanoes had erupted. The eruption covered the area in volcanic ash, causing the river to block and flood the town. Until today the houses near the river are almost completely covered. Because of the fast evacuation, no one was hurt, but the town was almost abandoned for a while. Today there are only few families that live in Chaiten and try to recover the town.

We slept there at a house that once belonged to a family that probably left Chaiten after the eruption, and is now rented for the few visitors that come once in a while. Because of the creepy picture of a family in black and white that was hanging in the leaving room we gave the house the nickname "The Addams family residential". The dinner was weird since the little girl from the picture (Wednesday Addams?) kept staring at us the whole time. There is almost no electricity in the town, the little power there is comes from private generators, so the owner asked us not to light more than two light bulbs at the same time, and take quick showers (at least they were hot, unlike in other places we stayed in).

The next morning, packed with a lot of enthusiasm we headed to Pumalin national park to see the huge Alerce trees. Apparently, this is the largest private park in the world, and its owner is the co-founder of The North Face. We found out only when we got there that the park is closed because of the eruption. All we could see is the ruins of the road that enters the park and the strange rust color in the water that surrounded the dead trees near the parking place. We drove back to Chaiten and visited the town itself, now in daylight. The devastation can be seen anywhere in the town but especially near the river. We took some photos of the buried houses and then drove to Futaleufu where we slept.

The next day we drove straight to Bariloche. Needles to say that we ate again at Don Alberto's steak restaurant at that evening. After 9 days of the road, it was a nice finish to our trip.

Tip 1: You can give up on the Assado a Manuels and eat in Coyhaique. It is not expansive but we really didn't like it.
Tip 2: The hot springs near El Amarillo cost much less than the fancy ones near Puyuhapi.

Tip 3: The salmon in La Real restaurant (Puyuhapi) worth every penny, don't miss it.

Tip 4: Pick well your companions for the trip, after all you are going to spend more than a week in a car with them. Ours were so great that we didn't split even when we arrived to Bariloche.