Day 7

Travel day. Left Pucon at 8 am and arrived in Puerto Varras around 2. Suzy had been here before so she took us straight to the best hostel in town. We ran for an hour along the lakefront, did some exploring of the town, grocery shopping, etc and had dinner in a nice Italian restaurant. More importantly we talked to some people knowledgeable of travel further south. Pucon and Puerto Varras are pleasant towns with lots to do, and are beautiful but they are not quite our style. Mountain towns are mountain towns around the world and the very things that attract people to them tend to be destroyed in the process. Things like serenity and quality of life. So far we have been enjoying ourselves but I think deep down that both of us are seeking a more authentic experience. Yesterday I said "let's just stop planning after Ushuaia and hitchhike the carreterra austral on our way north". Suzy readily agreed. It is hard to find compatible traveling partners. We are fortunate!!!! Today we talked to some folks who had actually done that route and got some good advice, including trekking routes over the mountains between places we wanted to visit but had no connecting loads. We are both already thinking of what we can ship home and lightening the load a bit! I am getting excited for some REAL adventure!