I'd like to travel down the coast of Chile from Puerto Montt
as far as possible. I realise that the road peters out
eventually and you have to cross over into Argentina. My
time may be limited. How long would it take to journey down
that way from P.Montt? Which is the most reliable border
crossing i.e. that doesn't require days waiting for ferries
etc. Any must sees/stays recommendations along the road. I'm
in SE Asia at the moment and can't get any info from guide
books. Thanks for your help.
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Outside of December-February, transport is very erratic.
There will probably be no/very little traffic overland from
puerto Montt to Chaiten & buses may be erratic from here
down.
In summer, there are tour agencies that can arrange tours
from Puerto Montt to Chaiten, from where you can make your
own way down. Check this out thoroughly in Puerto Montt
(ask at the bus station to start with). Alternatively,
travel over Chiloe to Quellon & get the ferry (a few a
week) to Chaiten & travel on by bus to Coyhaique. This will
take a couple of days from Chaiten. There is hiking around
Puerto Cisnes, but you'll need to be v. well prepared &
have very good waterproofs. This is an amazingly wet area.
Coyhaique is the main transport hub for the area & is the
best base in the region from where hiking can be arranged
to the Reserva Nacional Rio Simpson etc. The bus journey to
the coast at Puerto Aisen/Puerto Chacabuco is spectacular &
tours to Laguna San Rafael can be picked up from here.
From Coyhaique there are a couple of buses a day to
Argentina, or you can continue south to Chile Chico & over
the border to Los Antiguos in Argentina & on to the main
coast route.
Alternatively, continue south to Cochrane & the reserva
nacional Cerro Castillo before heading back up to Chile
Chico etc.
You'll need a couple of weeks just for the travelling &
seeing some of the sites local to the towns. There are not
a lot of backpackers in this area so some Spanish will be
needed. If you're planning on hiking etc then you'll need
to come well prepared, Coyhaique is a large(ish) town with
all the usual supermarkets & some outdoor-oriented shops,
but outside of this there's not a lot. The weather gets
drier the further inland you go, but snow is possible at
any time of the year (I got caught in a blizzard in mid-
January).
try www.australis.com for info concerning boat trips in
Patagonia's fjords
:)
Tomßs