Day 6. As we are waking up and getting ready for the day the ship cruises slowly towards our first port of call: Puerto Montt, Chile. Puerto Montt is located at the extreme north shore of the Reloncavi Sound that opens up to the Gulf of Ancud and out to the Pacific Ocean. 
It is the end of the road and rail for anyone travelling south in Chile. To go any further south from here requires either sea or air travel. It is referred to as the “heart of Chile’s Lakes District.” According to one source, “It is the combination of the land, the gulf, the mountains, rivers, lakes and forests that make this region not only one of the most beautiful areas in Chile but one of the most spectacularly breathtaking places on earth.” In 1853 the Chilean government invited German immigrants from Bavaria to come settle the area. The architecture definitely reflects this influence.
Between the sea life, the areas mineral rich mines, and tourism, this area is a major economic hub for the country. 
We have a leisurely breakfast because our tender ticket is for group number 12, which means we are at least an hour away from getting to disembark after dropping anchor at 9:00am.
Once on the tender (shuttle boat), our Canadian widow friends sit next to us. Of course Denise is the one who remembers the names, Gail and Doreen. We tell them of our plans to take a public bus to the city of Puerto Varas, about 20 miles north of the city and on the south shore of Lake Llanquihue. This lake is the 3rd largest lake in South America. On the east shore of the lake is the Volcano Orsono. They think that sounds like fun and decide to come along with us. On the walk from the port to the bus station we spot our first llama of many.
(Spanish lesson alert!! In the Mexican Spanish that we Americans are used to the double L makes a “YA” sound. So the word llama would sound like YAMA. In both Chilean and Argentine Spanish however, the double L makes a “ZS” sound exactly as in the name Zsa Zsa Gabor. It sounds much like a cross between a soft Z and a soft J. So the word llama sounds like “ZSAMA”. Lesson over)Well, at the bus station we may as well have been kindergarteners at the SATs. We were looking everywhere for the bus to go to Puerto Varas. A man stopped us and asked us in English if we needed help. COOL! Todd told him we were looking for the bus to Puerto Varas and he said in half English and half Spanish… something or other, and pointed to one end of the station. We went to that end and continued our confused search. Just when it really starts to look like we will just end up spending the day walking the local city, Doreen comes from out of nowhere and says, “it’s over here. Come on.” We are able to figure out the fare and we are on our way - through the very poor part of town, then through the hills and suddenly we are there. Doreen communicates with the driver to find out where to meet the bus back. It’s a beautiful little city.
We find a little open air market right next to the casino and go in. The prices on everything (except leather) are incredible: Alpaca, wood and stone carvings, and Lapis Lazuli (a deep blue stone found only in Chile and Afghanistan). We grabbed lots of Christmas presents at this market but held back because we still had many more days and many more cities to go. We still didn’t know what other bargains were in store for us. (Hindsight: This thinking was wrong. We would not find anywhere else the bargains that we were able to negotiate at this little marketplace.) So, with our shopping done we set out to explore the city further. Here’s the walk down to the lake:
Here’s Todd with Doreen (left) and Gail at the lake with Osorno in the background:
We decided to go have lunch at the only restaurant we saw that was actually on the lake. Literally. It was a wooden restaurant with glass walls on stilts sitting out on the lake. We walked around the lake and when we got there, the place was absolutely empty. We were the only customers. Was this luck or a sign? (Well, we were soon joined by others. The thing about every single city we were visiting on this trip is that they have exceptionally late meal times. So empty at 1:00pm isn’t anything other than the fact that we were just very early for lunch.)
This lakes region of Chile is the most important area for Salmon production in the country. Those who ordered the salmon here were not to be disappointed. But first we had to drink up the pisco sours while waiting for the lunch to cook. We very much enjoyed our meals and our new friends.On the way back Todd took this picture of someone’s rose garden:
And at the same house he saw this drain system and found it fascinating. He couldn’t resist taking this picture to share. 
It’s a series of tapered square funnels leading from the gutter to the ground.Continuing through the city, Gail and Doreen both bought pan flute CDs from a guy playing in the square. We hope there was actually good quality music on them. Denise found some Lapis Lazuli earrings for herself and Todd found some for Ali's birthday at the same little store. Then we started going into stores further away from the lake; stores with actual English on the signs outside. The more English you see printed on the signs, the more you pay for the merchandise inside. We were done now. We caught the bus back uneventfully, and struck up a conversation with a fun couple from Scotland. Well, she was from Scotland and he was from Australia but they lived in Scotland. We would find ourselves running into them briefly in the future, each time leaving with a smile and a laugh.
We caught the tender back to the ship in time to relax a bit before dinner. That night in the dining room, there was still no signs of Carlos or Aura. We are starting to think maybe we really did scare them off. After diner we get back to our room for our evenings towel pet:
It’s either a sea turtle or a syphilitic vagina monster. Either way it’s just cute as a button and we loved it. We head out to catch sight of the beginning of the trek down the fjords and get the first of some amazing fjord photos. 
Gail and Doreen told us earlier about last night’s show and how great it was, so we decide to go back and catch tonight’s show. It’s called “Fallon Magic – mastering the mystery”. It was terrible from a seasoned magic lover’s point of view. We have another cigar evening on our deck and relax until bedtime. What a great day.
