We'd had a lovely time on Chile's Isla de Chiloé, and after driving off the island ferry in our motorhome Vdos, we headed north toward central Chile on the Pan American Highway (the PanAm). On the way, we stopped in the wee town of Frutillar as we needed some supplies. Frutillar is located on the western bank of Lago (lake) Llanquihue, the largest of Chile's lakes.
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| Lago Llanquihue and Volcano Osorno from Frutillar, Chile |
Across the lago we could see the spectacular and conical shaped Volcano Osorno, at around 2,652-metres high. We'd visited the southern lakes district before going to Isla de Chiloé, so it was good to be near the lakes and scenic volcanos again.
Leaving Frutillar, we were back on the PanAm. Our aim was to reach Osorno city and the Municipal Campground there, before it got too late in the day.
On the PanAm, we drove through a toll booth, then spotted the camp on our right. But somehow, we missed the turnoff. After circling back and paying another highway toll, we finally got there……..only to find it closed!
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| Our COPEC - food, clean showers, and safely off the road |
With no other camps in the area and the day getting later, we drove back onto the PanAm. About 30 minutes out of Osorno, we found a COPEC fuel station/truck stop on the highway.
It seemed safe, so we parked there overnight. They had inexpensive but tasty food, and clean hot showers so we were happy and had a relatively quiet night (with the help of earplugs).
The next morning, we headed north-west to the city of Valdivia on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
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| The riverfront in Valdivia, central Chile |
Driving into the city, we thought it looked a bit grotty, but then we reached the city centre and riverfront and changed our minds, as it was lovely.
Valdivia dates back to 12,000 BC. Now-days it is a thriving port city with a population of around 150,000. It sits at the meeting point of the Calle Calle and Cruces rivers, where they flow into the Valdivia River, 18 km from the Pacific Ocean. We loved its vibrancy, river life, and proximity to the sea.
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| Los Molinos beach, central Chile |
After a good look around Valdivia, we drove to the coast along a pretty and winding road to reach a little fishing settlement called Los Molinos.
They had a few nice looking restaurants specializing in seafood, so we had a great lunch there, looking out over the water and the local fishing boats bobbing about.
Driving inland after lunch, we arrived at the village of Pucón. It's in Chile's central lakes district, and sits on the shores of Lago (Lake) Villarrica.
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| Lago Villarrica, Pucón, central Chile |
Pucón is tourist-centred and it seemed to be waiting for summer to arrive. It is a favourite of Chileans because of its location on the lake for swimming and boating, and proximity to Volcano Villarrica and its ski fields.
Leigh wanted to do the guided climb up the volcano to see into the crater.
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| Marg in Pucon village, central Chile |
However, it was 6 hours up and 4 back, and we decided we weren’t fit enough for that. Plus, the weather was wet and overcast and the volcano was obscured by mist, so we satisfied ourselves with staying at ground level.
We had a nice little break in Pucón, before driving around the lake to the town of Villarrica, also on the shores of Lago Villarrica.
Pucón and Villarrica are both pretty towns with smart shops, a great café culture, street art, tree-lined streets, nice recreational areas around the lake, and attractive wooden architecture.
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| The lovely waterfront of Villarrica on Lago Villarrica, central Chile |
We had a quick look around Villarrica, then drove on, heading north.
A long drive later, we found ourselves at another COPEC fuel station for the night, this time with a nice German couple, Barbara and Uwe and their campervan. They were lovely to chat to about travel and life on the road.
We used the clean COPEC facilities instead of our own bathroom (at only 500 pesos (NZ$1.15), and set off on the PanAm again in the morning.
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| The large, vibrant and colourful market in Chillán, central Chile |
Our next stop was Chillán, located in the geographical centre of Chile, where we came across the most wonderful fresh food market.
Founded by the Spanish in 1580, Chillán (despite several wars) went on to become an important meeting and market-place where the surrounding native tribes came together. It still has a large and vibrant market, so we stocked up on veggies - a fabulous find.
After a wander around Chillán, we were back on the PanAm, still driving north.
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| Volcano Tolhuaca and the Andes, central Chile |
The weather was beautiful and clear, and for hundreds of kilometres, we had spectacular views of the snow-topped Andes Mountains. We even spotted a few volcanos including the one in this photo, which we think, is Volcano Tolhuaca standing tall at 2,739 m.
After several hours, we came close to the wine area of San Fernando, which was to be our next destination. However, our GPS took us a strange way so we missed San Fernando, but found Santa Cruz and the Viu Manent Winery instead.
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| Viu Manent vines with Andes behind |
What a find! We ended up tasting their 5 best wines - the wine tasting man took a liking to us and bent the rules so that we had more than usual, and for free.
We topped this off with a fabulous dinner at their classy restaurant as it was Leigh's birthday. We had oysters with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, then pork ribs with their Cabernet Sauvignon. A brilliant combination and celebration!
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| Leigh in the Viu Manent vines on her birthday |
Much later, we staggered back to Vdos, as we were staying overnight beside the vines. It was so peaceful, and the night sky was so clear and star-filled.
The next morning after a leisurely start, we drove through the lovely town of Santa Cruz.
This area is full of vineyards, orchards and market towns. Everywhere you look you see fruit and vegetables growing, and lovely small villages. It is an incredibly beautiful area, so green and obviously very fertile.
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| Sights in and around Santa Cruz, central Chile |
There were lots of signs for Ruta del Vino (wine route), and we could have stopped so many times for wine tastings. However, we bravely resisted as we didn’t want to drink then drive.
We continued northward but later, veered west toward the coast. Then we found the pretty seaside town of Pichilemu. This smallish town has a population of around 14,000 and is known for its beautiful swimming and surfing beaches.
After a drive through the narrow streets in summer beach traffic, we found campsite Laguna del Perro.
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| Vdos in the hot shade at camping Laguna del Perro, Pichilemu, Chile |
Finding a great parking spot beside their lake in the shade, we enjoyed a couple of quiet nights watching people fishing, cows grazing, and butterflies flitting.
We were also close to one of the lovely Pichilemu beaches that we visited on several occasions.
A few days later when leaving Pichilemu, our GPS told us that a road to the left would take us to our next destination, so we followed her instructions.
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| Leisurely lakeside activity at Pichilemu camp |
Bad move, as we ended up on the worst road we have ever driven on, and we really didn't think we were going to be able to get out again without the help of a tractor or helicopter!
The road was narrow and became narrower; hilly and the hills became higher; and cracked and the cracks became wider….we had to straddle, then zig-zag across them. There was nowhere to turn around as it was only one car wide, with high banks on the side.
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| Ghastly wrong road leaving Pichilemu, Chile |
Eventually we found a place where we thought we could turn around. We parked and walked about one kilometre further on to check the road conditions, finding that they became far, far worse, ending on a deserted beach.
Walking back to Vdos, we had no choice but to turn and go back over the awful road again, so after a 25-point U-turn, that’s what we did. It was so nerve-wracking and is indelibly printed in our minds.
With both of us exhausted and very stressed, we headed back to our original road which took us further up the coast, bypassing Santiago, Chile’s capital, and Valparaiso, both of which we had visited last year.
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| Valparaiso area-vines as far as you can see |
As we drove, we passed through more wine areas – vines as far as the eye could see.
Hours later, we came to an area that was a port for huge oil and gas refineries. It was truly ugly and we started to wonder if we were on the right road because we were again trusting a GPS app (albeit a different one this time).
Eventually we arrived in Horcon, a small fishing village on the Pacific coast, proudly guarded by San Pedro, many seagulls, and some huge pelicans.
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| San Pedro guarding Horcon fishing port |
In Horcon, we found Camping Cau Cau. The camp's gate opened and we drove behind a house to find a wonderfully spacious camping area with everything we needed....and it was clean. Yaay.
Later, we explored the village, finding an interesting waterfront. After a yummy seafood lunch, we clambered down some very steep steps to Playa Cau Cau (Cau Cau Beach), which proved to be a delightful and safe beach between two headlands.
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| Player Cau Cau and fishing boats in Horcon, Chile |
After a relaxing few days in Horcon, we decided it was time to move on as we wanted to get to the Mendoza wine area across the border in Argentina. So we headed towards the Paso Los Libertadores border crossing which would take us across the Andes Mountains out of Chile.
This proved to be an amazing drive, as the road climbed up and up through 29 hairpin bends (or curvas in Spanish).
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| Tricky road crossing the Andes |
This wonderful feat of engineering had layer upon layer of road. As we climbed and looked back, we could see lots of trucks and other traffic crawling along the road as it crossed the Andes. The colours in the mountains were spectacular showing red, black, orange, yellow and green rock.
We finally reached the Chilean border and went through a slightly shambolic system to get out of Chile.
Then we drove through more stunning mountains to reach the Argentinian border. This was to be our last time in Chile with Vdos.
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| Coloured mountains-crossing the Andes |
We have enjoyed Chile and found the people very friendly, the rural areas colourful and interesting, and the towns and cities attractive.
One strange random thing we noticed is that there are an awful lot of red utes driven in Chile. Maybe the Chileans like red as it is a main colour in their flag. Certainly 4-wheel drives rule because of the road conditions, as we discovered in both Chile and Argentina. We won't miss those ripio (gravel/dirt) roads when we leave here, that's for sure!
Super to read. The GPS sounds like it needs recharging. Beautiful mountains, lakes, food... Safe travels.
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