Another bus ride come and gone, except to get to Puerto Montt from Bariloche we were once again to cross back into Chile, and thus with every border crossing we cringe, waiting for some mix up, adventure or otherwise hellish time getting through. Not so with this one.
We bought our ticket from one of the more dodgy looking offices. When we say dodgy we don´t mean like Peru dodgy, but we mean that there is an office and a computer and electronic tickets, it just isn´t as glossy as some of its competitors in Chile. We bought our ticket, still hoping for the best, and the best we did get... What service! They filled out all of our border crossing forms in advance and organised the line ups efficiently and quickly... it was a breeze and quite unexpectedly, we found ourselves in Puerto Montt amidst circling touts and gloomy skies.
They tell us the spring and summer here in the south of Chile and on the coast has been especially dreery and overcast, and we were not spared this when arriving in Puerto Montt. We got touted by a New Yorker who has a family house and a few rooms... upon a tip from her that it was cheap night at the movies we ended up seeing Todos Los Hombres Del Rey (All the Kings Men) in english, while smacking our lips for popcorn drizzled not in butter (we forgot that in Chile they pretty much only eat sugar coated corn and we were a little disapointed).
We shopped in the malls that have sprung up to cater to the tour boats and cruise ships that come through and we stocked ourselves up on gators and a tarp for what is sure to be some hikes in the rain to come. (The Patagonias are known for some wet, rainy and windy hiking... but we hear spectacular none the less).
The town runs along a main strip that pretty much transforms itself from run down market shops to trying to be nice malls and shopping stores. Produce abounds on the streets and even outside the big grocery stores. It is surprising that even though so many cruise ships and boats stop in Puerto Montt, it stills has quite the shaddy aura to it, and although it was a pleasant enough, we couldn´t help being reminded of some parts of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia... which is fine enough on its own for us... but for some people who say ¨This is Chile, it is suposed to be civilised¨(we are quoting here from someone who will remain anonymous) and also for those who would be coming off a cruise ship it had a little different flavour from what we had expected..
After shopping and sending another package in the mail we quickly jumped a bus that was due to leave two minutes prior for the island of Chiloe.
We bought our ticket from one of the more dodgy looking offices. When we say dodgy we don´t mean like Peru dodgy, but we mean that there is an office and a computer and electronic tickets, it just isn´t as glossy as some of its competitors in Chile. We bought our ticket, still hoping for the best, and the best we did get... What service! They filled out all of our border crossing forms in advance and organised the line ups efficiently and quickly... it was a breeze and quite unexpectedly, we found ourselves in Puerto Montt amidst circling touts and gloomy skies.
They tell us the spring and summer here in the south of Chile and on the coast has been especially dreery and overcast, and we were not spared this when arriving in Puerto Montt. We got touted by a New Yorker who has a family house and a few rooms... upon a tip from her that it was cheap night at the movies we ended up seeing Todos Los Hombres Del Rey (All the Kings Men) in english, while smacking our lips for popcorn drizzled not in butter (we forgot that in Chile they pretty much only eat sugar coated corn and we were a little disapointed).
We shopped in the malls that have sprung up to cater to the tour boats and cruise ships that come through and we stocked ourselves up on gators and a tarp for what is sure to be some hikes in the rain to come. (The Patagonias are known for some wet, rainy and windy hiking... but we hear spectacular none the less).
The town runs along a main strip that pretty much transforms itself from run down market shops to trying to be nice malls and shopping stores. Produce abounds on the streets and even outside the big grocery stores. It is surprising that even though so many cruise ships and boats stop in Puerto Montt, it stills has quite the shaddy aura to it, and although it was a pleasant enough, we couldn´t help being reminded of some parts of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia... which is fine enough on its own for us... but for some people who say ¨This is Chile, it is suposed to be civilised¨(we are quoting here from someone who will remain anonymous) and also for those who would be coming off a cruise ship it had a little different flavour from what we had expected..
After shopping and sending another package in the mail we quickly jumped a bus that was due to leave two minutes prior for the island of Chiloe.
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