Pachamama By Bus - Part 1

While I was in Santiago I looked up a company I’d read about called Pachamama By Bus, a long distance hop on-hop off service specifically tailored to independent travellers. The company has a Northern route and a Southern route and I planned to do both starting with the South, which is detailed in this post.

The company is based at the Princesa Insolenta hostel, which is where I was staying in Santiago so it was easy for me to get more info and pay for my five day ticket, which cost 110,000 pesos.  

On the first day of the tour there were eight of us travelling from Santiago and after picking up two couples and a guy, who were all in their sixties, I was hoping that the final two passengers might be a bit younger.

I got a shock when who should get on the bus but Emily, a girl I’d shared a dorm with when I first arrived in Buenos Aires and hadn’t seen since Puerto Iguazu. The final passenger was Lindsey another solo female traveller from Canada. Our guide for the trip was Francisco. 

On the first day we headed to the coastal town of Pichilemu, which is known for being a great place to surf. When we arrived there was an option to have a surfing lesson for 10,000 pesos. Having lived on the coast of England for the majority of my life I have never surfed, but something about trying it in Chile appealed – mainly that the sea would be warmer. What I hadn’t considered was that the lesson would be in Spanish.

Wetsuit on I waited for my instructor and part of me hoped for a handsome, muscular Chilean, however when he showed up he was more salty sea dog than the Adonis I’d been hoping for.

After introducing ourselves we headed to the beach where he told me we had to warm up by going for a run. I’m sure we must have looked fairly ridiculous running along a sandy beach on a hot day in full wetsuits.

After the run it was time to practice on the beach what I’d have to do in the water. It was surprisingly easy to pick up what he was asking me to do in Spanish and I think I lost count of the amount of times I said ‘Si’ to show I’d understood. He would occasionally bark ‘flat foot’ at me as I had a tendency to arch my front facing foot.

Once he was satisfied I’d got the action down we headed for the water, perhaps a bit sooner than I’d anticipated. In the water the first wave I caught I managed to just about stand up before toppling over, however after a few more tries I actually managed to stay stood up and gained a thumbs up from my teacher. Towards the end of the lesson we tried some bigger waves and I managed to stand up again for the last wave of the session.

That night we had a BBQ, which was a good way to get to know the other people in the group and everyone was very friendly. During the BBQ Emily and I attempted to cook oven chips in a pan on the grill – it wasn’t a total disaster but if we’d had oil we may have been more successful.

The next day was a long driving day and after an early start we travelled the 466 miles to Pucon, which is where the Villarrica volcano is. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, so active in fact that just two weeks beforehand it had erupted causing the town to be evacuated. Thankfully it was only a small eruption so the town was open again when we arrived.

Villarrica volcano

Unfortunately it meant that I didn’t get the chance to walk up it, but I was told it would be possible to hike up Quetrupillan volcano instead, which is also higher than Villarrica. It took me a while to decide whether to do the hike because it involved having to leave at 6.30am. I was also told it was much more physically demanding than Villarrica, but as one of my main reasons for wanting to go to Pucon was to walk up a volcano I decided to do it. I booked the hike through Aguaventura for 40,000 pesos this included transport to the trail, a guide and equipment.

The next morning I headed to the agency where we had a quick briefing and were told the conditions looked good for the day. I also met the three other people doing the hike – they were all French – and our guide, who from the side looked like Peter Andre.

The start of the trail was about 40 minutes out of Pucon. The first part was through forest and I found the going slightly more difficult as I ended up behind the oldest member of our group 67-year-old Serge, who was walking with two ski poles and every time he walked through a narrow gap with dense foliage it would catch on the poles and flick back at me. When we stopped for a break I took the opportunity to make sure I wasn’t behind him again.

After about two hours we reached the end of the forest and the start of the main ascent. The terrain was probably some of the hardest I’ve encountered as it was all loose dirt and sand. As we climbed further up the views were amazing and we also had great view towards Villarrica volcano too. By this point the sun was out and it was hot.

The final 30 minutes to the summit were excruciating, my calf muscles were so tight from all the uphill walking every step was painful. I was also pretty hungry but I found this helped me to keep going as I knew I’d be able to eat once I got to the top. As we reached the summit there were five condors circling above us – an awesome sight.

Once at the top we had a well-earned rest on the edge of the crater, which is now a glacier. I can now also say I’ve had a nap on a volcano as in the sunshine I just couldn’t help but close my eyes and drift off for a few minutes. We stayed at the summit for about two hours before making our descent.

What had taken us the best part of two hours to climb earlier took a mere 40 minutes to descend before reaching the halfway point. Another hour and we were back to the start where we celebrated with a well-deserved beer. I didn’t dare take my boots of as I knew I’d never get them back on again.

Back at the Aguaventura office I had a quick turnaround before being picked up by Francisco and the other passengers to go to Los Pozones hot springs, which was exactly what I needed after a day of hiking and my feet certainly appreciated it. The springs were in open air natural rock pools and as it was a clear night we could see loads of stars too. It’s also the first time I’ve properly noticed that the moon is the wrong way round here.

Next day we drove through the lake district to Valdivia, the countryside in this part of Chile really reminded me of England -very weird. We stopped at a market in Conaripe for lunch where I tried a humita, which is mashed maize steamed in the leaves of the corn, it was really nice and filling.

Valdivia is located between the rivers Calle Calle, Cruces and Valdivia. It is also home to several sea lions, which we saw on pontoons really close to the path. Our accommodation didn’t have a kitchen so Emily and I headed out to eat. I’m not sure if it was because it was Sunday but there only seemed to be one restaurant open, but it was nice enough and we shared some grilled congrio - conger eel.

From Valdivia we headed to Puerto Varas, which is where I’d be hopping off the bus and going on to the island of Chiloe. We stopped in Puerto Montt on the way, which is the main departure point for people heading to the far south of Chile.

We had a great lunch in a small restaurant near the fish market. The restaurant was decked out with two long tables and I don’t think more than 15 people would have squeezed in there. I had a dish called curanto, which consisted of two pieces of salmon covered in melted cheese and topped with a sausage. Sounds rather strange but it was really nice.

In Puerto Montt three people hopped off and as two had previously hopped off in Pucon it just left myself, Emily and Lindsey going on to Puerto Varas.

Puerto Varas is a picturesque small town on the shores of Lake Llanquihue and it was where I bid my farewell to Pachamama By Bus. Francisco had been a great guide and was really knowledgeable about each place.

I would recommend using the company if you are short on time and the option to hop off means you can spend longer in some places if you wish. For me it was a welcome break to have someone else do all the organising.