Stop 4 on the Carretera Austral:  Coyhaique
Population:  50,000

The 5 hour bus ride from Puyuhuapi to Coyhaique was an incredibly beautiful section of the Carretera for us. The sun was shining, there was blue sky and puffy white clouds, and colorful spring wildflowers filled lush, green rolling hills surrounded by crystal blue rivers. Not being able to stop was complete torture for snap happy travelers like us!

We only planned on staying one night, so we said farewell to our friend Konrad (who was staying for three nights) and made our way into town. It turned out Coyhaique is the most bustling city in the region, complete with shopping galore, large supermarket chains and a handful of dining options. We splurged slightly on our accommodations so we could use the fast Internet to plan out the next few weeks of travel and Skype with our families in anticipation of Thanksgiving. Also, we were both exhausted which we realized was a cold coming on, so we decided to stay a second night to relax in the sunny, warm and dry weather. We took advantage of what the city had to offer, each buying an extra long sleeve layer of clothing, and we even found a place to eat sushi for dinner (note they’ll charge you a buck to replace your disposable wood chop sticks if you drop them on the floor like Danny did).

After 2 days of being complete bums, we got ourselves back on a bus, and happened to run into Konrad who had also changed his plan from when we had said goodbye 2 days earlier. Together we headed a few hours south to the next settlement on the Carretera, Puerto Río Tranquilo.

We didn’t take too many photos in Coyhaique, just few of city streets with the mountains in the background.