Puerto Montt & Chiloé

Nice does not equal memorable. If I were to summarize my overall impressions of the city of Puerto Montt and the island of Chiloé (pronounced Chee-low-way), it would be ‘nice’.

Puerto Montt is the commercial hub of southern Chile and considered the gateway to Patagonia. It’s also where the Carretera Austral begins. It is mostly a city of some 250,000 with the requisite malls, sub-divisions, big box stores and so on. It has a nice promenade along the shore of Reloncavi Sound, but most of that was inaccessible due to construction while we were there. Beyond that there is little to recommend it as a destination on it’s own. There was a street festival and parade one weekend, but there’s not much in the way of museums, galleries, theatres and such.

Puerto Montt and most of the towns in the surrounding Los Lagos area were founded in the mid 1800’s by German immigrants. Until the early 20th century the region was functionally bilingual German-Spanish, with several newspapers publilshed in German. The influence can still be seen in the monuments to German settlers, Kunstmann Beer (Chile’s oldest brewery), streets like Avenida Alemania (German Avenue), and even our hotel, which looks a bit like it could have been airlifted out of Bavaria.

However Puerto Montt’s primary attraction is not the city itself, but what lies around and beyond it – the beauty of Los Lagos (the lake district) ad the soaring mountains and wild coastline of Patagonia.

To be fair, our impression of the city may be tainted by the fact that Liz and I were recovering from Covid and various other ailments while we were there. I rebounded quicker and was at least able to go ride the Carretera Austral. (And if spending a few days in Puerto Montt was the price of admission, it was definitely worth it). Liz on the other hand, spent most of her 10 days there stuck inside our hotel room. I’m sure even Paris would seem dull under those circumstances, Proust notwithstanding. At least we had a nice view of the harbour from our room.

After leaving Puerto Montt, we opted to spend a couple of days exploring the large, nearby island of Chiloé. The name means “place of seagulls” in the local indigenous Huilliche language, whereas the country we know as Chile most likely got it’s name from the Inca word for the lands south of their realm. We had heard great things about Chiloé’s bucolic charm and the UNESCO World Heritage designation of it’s distinctive wooden churches.

Once again, it’s a very nice place, but it doesn’t quite live up to it’s billing. There is rugged coastline on the island’s western shore – like rugged coastline in many other places. There are green, rolling pastures dotted with sheep and cows, like many other places. There are quaint fishing villages… And as for the wooden churches, I admit I am not a student of architecture, but they left me distinctly underwhelmed. Perhaps as with fashion, modern art and such things, there is simply something I don’t get. To me they didn’t seem that different from the little country churches and abandoned one-room school houses one sees back home.

On the plus side, the seafood is wonderful. Paile marina, a stew of fish, clams, mussels, octopus and squid has become my new favorite dish in Chile. There seem to be hundreds of recipes and I suspect it mostly depends on what the sea has provided on any given day. And the roses, which though neglected, grow in profusion throughout southern Chile, are particularly lovely in Chiloé.

We don’t regret going to Chiloé, it’s just that we wouldn’t go out of our way to return.

There was a rainbow as we boarded the ferry that took us from Chiloé, to Chaiten, on the Carretera Austral. That’s a good omen. We’re healthy once again, we’re back on the road and new adventures await.

Here are links to photo galleries of Puerto Montt and Chiloé.