We arrived in Puerto Montt excited about our reserved 4-day journey aboard the Navimag ferry south through the fjords of Chilean Patagonia. Essentially the boat is a cargo ship that also has room for a few passengers. Unfortunately, less than 24 hours before our scheduled departure, we were informed that there would be a severe delay due to bad weather and rough seas. The journey was also expected to take longer than 4 days. Not willing to stick around in Puerto Montt, a city whose most redeeming quality is that of its plethora of exit points, or get stranded in rough Patagonian seas, we decided to cut our losses and booked on to the 32 hour (yes, thirty-two!) bus south to Punta Arenas. This journey (around 2,500km) was actually more comfortable than it sounds and broken up by border crossings in-and-out of Argentina, an evening stop for dinner, snacks and drinks on-board and some good films.

In all honesty, the highlight of Puerto Montt was the panoramic sea view from its sleek bus terminal . However, we did get out to picturesque Puerto Varas for an afternoon, a town that sits on Lake Llanquihue over which two snow-capped volcanoes tower. We wandered around the town noticing the 19th-century German architecture and had a great seafood dinner, accompanied by a dry Riesling, in Donde El Gordito in the Mercado Municipal.

Onward day/night/day bus to Punta Arenas, THIRTY TWO HOURS!