Kuchner, Kascadas, y Kasinos (German Style)

The south of Chile looks nothing like any image that would come to mind if someone said to me,"What does South America look like?". Pulling into Puerto Varas put an instant smile on my face. This small little town was settled by Germans during the Second World War, leaving it looking much more like Germany than anything else. Adorable wooden buildings lined the streets, words with 'w' and 'k' showed up on signs, and there was a sense of clean structure to serve as clear marks of the German influence.

The first day it was rather rainy and cold, so when I found myself chatting with some Chileans on vacation over a cup of tea, I couldn't help but to be content to spend the afternoon in the hostel. Before nightfall I decided to head into town. Strolling the streets of Puerto Varas just felt great. I popped into a book store, spent some time at La Barista (the coffee shop/bar where I ended up at each day), and then headed to the grocery store to grab stuff for dinner. This hostel was probably the nicest I've ever been to in my travels.  First of all, it was warm. For the first time since arriving to Chile I didn't feel like a prisoner in my bed, hiding my face under the blanket and shifting my hot water bottle every ten minutes to maintain my mild status of warmth; and that alone I think made this trip down south worth it. On top of that there were some really quality people there. The hostel also had a language school for English language learners, and that meant that there was a group of some really cool language teachers there. I have had more amazing conversations in the past few days than I've had maybe ever. Of course in any setting, there are some you gravitate to more than others; for me there was a great French girl named Lily, who I connected with instantly. She and I had very similar plans for our days in the area, and decided to travel together a bit.


Early on the second day we headed out to Los Saltos de Petrohue. After grabbing breakfast at La Barista, we caught the bus out of town. This place was the reason I came south. While I could write about how good it was, I won't because the pictures can speak for themselves.

After exploring the area we decided it was best to walk the 6k to the next area, Los Santos de Petrohue. There we meet up with a guy who was also staying at the hostel, Morgan from Whales. We ate lunch, enjoyed the natural beauty that surrounded us, and then headed back. The bus ride back was twice as long as the ride there, but only because our bus driver was taking this time to chat it up with his buddy. Lily and I made the best of it: joking, her teaching me French, and sharing travel photos. For Lily and her amazing patience, I will include my new French phrase (with English spelling of course): "je sui dan le newage". It means, "my head is in the clouds" (in the day dreaming sense). While it may not be the best looking sentence written, nor the most useful phrase, I must say, it sounds pretty good when I say it ;).

My third day in Puerto Varas I was able to get in touch with my cousin Mary's friends. Unfortunately Pam, who I had been communicating with for about a month, was unable to be there. Instead, I spent the day with her mother, Maria, and daughter, Paloma. They were just so wonderful. We ate lunch at their house and headed to Frutillar for my first official Kuchner. Like I mentioned, this area was settled by Germans, and with every good German comes a good strudel. We enjoyed this yummy dessert with a group of Chilean business men (because there were no open tables) and talked about life and our amazing desserts.

Maria dropped me and Paloma off at my hostel, because she was coming out with me for the night to see a local play with a group of friends I had met at the hostel.

That night was full of all the reasons I love to travel. We sat through a rather abstract play that focused on the unspoken reactions to government control and colonialism, drank locally brewed beers over a nice conversation, had the worst mojito that was claimed to be the best by the bartender, took my first trip to a casino, where I threw some dice and was given some money, and then danced with Alex (the incredible dance ninja). The moments you share when traveling are wonderful ones. People connect in a way that would never happen in their real lives. Travelers are always open, ready to share of themselves, both their time and presence. Heading south was wonderful, and a reminder to live with the traveler mentality the best I can each day.