Sunday, February 3 – transit from Bariloche to Puerto Varas, Chile
I’m writing this as I watch the Super Bowl at my B&B in Puerto Varas. The NFL is everywhere!
Today was my bus trip over the Andes into Chile. Before I get into the details, a bitch session! When checking on the trip, I spoke to both the reception staff at my Bariloche hotel and a representative at the city’s tourist office. I told them I wanted to take the bus to Puerto Varas. Their response was that I needed to take the bus to Puerto Montt and then transfer to a local bus for the 15 mile trip to Puerto Varas. Ok, thanks for the info. Ticket to Puerto Montt bought. Fast forward to this morning. I’m waiting to board and happen to notice the electronic sign on the front of the bus scrolling through the stops along the route. As expected, the last stop is Puerto Montt. But, the second to last stop is…Puerto Varas! So, I talk to the bus driver and he confirms that I will be able to exit at Puerto Varas, even though my ticket is to Puerto Montt. Unnecessary extra effort averted! (no thanks to my friends in Bariloche!)
Now, on to the trip! I was actually looking forward to a day of kind of doing nothing. Just relaxing, enjoying the scenery, and maybe doing a little reading. That’s basically the way it turned out, except it was all scenery watching and no reading!
We departed Bariloche at 10:15 and arrived in Puerto Varas at 5:45. Seven and a half hours. However, we spent one hour at Argentina border control and another hour and Chile border control. So, a little over 5 hours on the road. Not that bad really.
Interesting arrival in Puerto Varas. There is no bus station, just a bus stop (this is a pretty small town!). After being dropped off, I’m standing on the corner using Google Maps to try and figure out the location of my B&B. While I’m doing this a women drives up and starts talking to me (in spanish, of course!). I really have no clue what she’s talking about. Ultimately though I realize she’s offering me a ride! Very nice. Gracias! For a price. Oh. How much? Four dollars. Sold!
Here are a couple pictures of the B&B…
I can’t believe you hitch hiked! Haha!
Was kind if weird, right? Thanks for all your comments Holly!
Interesting day! Glad it all worked out. Wish the game could have been as interesting..
Hi Kari! Yes, definitely a boring game. (I stayed up till midnight for that?) Thanks for all your comments. It is nice to hear from you while I’m going solo!