Stop 3 on the Carretera Austral:  Puyuhuapi
Population:  300-500

Unfortunately the cloudy, misty weather we had in Chaitén followed us throughout the 5 hour bus ride south on the Carretera to Puyuhuapi. It was difficult to see out the bus window at times, but most of the scenery seemed to be lush green foliage mixed with an occasional snow-capped peak in the distance. Then we turned a corner and saw the shore of a fjord and the cute seaside village of Puyuhuapi appeared. The cloudiness persisted, and the rain came in regular light spurts during our time there, but Mother Nature was kind enough to provide some nice dry windows for pictures and our hike the next day. The town was small and quiet, and very easy to walk around to observe the every day happenings. We became regular visitors to the one food market in town during our 2 day visit. On one walk, I saw a dozen or so young girls, probably ages 6-12 practicing their runway walks for some sort of pageant, and a gymnasium full of young boys playing soccer.

Highlights…

• We had a private room but with a bunk bed (I had top bunk) in a cute, all wood cabin that we shared with a handful of new traveling friends, including Konrad, who we continued to travel with. But we were sad to say goodbye to Ian, as he chose to continue south past Puyuhuapi due to time constraints.
• There was a shared kitchen in the cabin so took advantage and made some great veggie-filled meals.
• Hiked in nearby Parque Nacional Queulat with all our cabin mates, to the hanging glacier that flowed into a waterfall.
• Made an afternoon visit to hot springs right on the edge of the fjord

Below is a small selection of photos from Puyuhuapi. For our whole Puyuhuapi album on Flickr, click here.