PUERTO MONTT

Thursday, January 7, 2010

As I wake up at 7:00 am, the sun is already high up in the sky, shining brightly through our window. But it does not last long, soon the clouds start rolling in again, making the air a lot cooler.

It’s less than one hour drive to Puerto Montt, where Ramiro has many memories.
This was the place he would visit on weekends while working in the south when he was young. The family of Ramiro’s first wife Blanca lived here.
They lived in Contao, their son Marco was born in the hospital of Puerto Montt.

Puerto Montt is at the bottom of the centre of Chile. The island of Chiloe is south west and on the south east are the fjords. On the east there are little bits of road here and there, connected by ferry. Any other roads farther south east can only be reached via Argentina.
Puerto Montt is a major fishing area, the waters providing the fish are Seno de Relongavi, Golf of Ancud and the Golf of Cocorvado, which leads into the Pacific Ocean.

Although there is a fair amount of tourism here, the city has managed to maintain it’s true culture.
We have the whole afternoon and evening to explore, and the first thing we do - once we find a place for the night - is drive to Angelmo.
It’s a famous area, right at the water at the end of the Costanera (the road along the coast).
An old wooden two story complex, that looks like barracks is the major attraction. On one side of the buildings are all the outdoor,  fish stores. The closest I can compare this to is Pike Street Market in Seattle.
The crab, muscles, salmon and other fish are the biggest I have every seen.
At every single stand, we are approached and offered some fish to buy.

As we work our way through the rest of the complex, we hardly make two steps or someone approaches us, suggesting we enter their eating establishment. We’re not quite ready yet, we want to browse around a bit. I’m interested in seeing what’s on the second floor of this narrow building.

There is a walkway with dozens of little “Comedores’. As you look inside the window, you see two or three women in a tiny kitchen preparing meals. Inside is a eating room that seats 16-20 people. All seated at one long table as one family. Outside each fo the Comedores is a person offering complete meals. “The best in town”, or “the best price in town”. Every one of them offers seafood and Pisco Sour. Made with Aguardiente (high alcohol drink) with lemon and sugar.
We walk back and forth several times, trying to decided which of the many places we will try. At one of the windows I see a plate of delicious looking assorted meats and shellfish. “It’s Curanto”, I am told. This dish is normally cooked under hot rocks.  I am also in the mood for crab.
We find a place where we can have a private seat instead of joining others at a long table and order both, the crab and the Curanto. We eat way too much and have to walk the rest of the afternoon.

The street back to the centre is lined with artisan stores. These do not carry “Made in China” souvenirs, but handmade crafts from the area. Especially Alpaca wool, knitted and woven items. sock, toques, scarfs, sweaters and ponchos.
I see a nice woven Alpaca poncho/wrap and think it may come in handy as we continue further south.

The promenade runs for several kilometers and there is lots of activity, for both adults and kids. It is also “lovers lane”; No shame here. A giant cruise ship has just come in and the tiny boats are taking passengers to the main land.
We spend most of the afternoon and evening walking and listening to the band playing in the gazebo. We also visit the wooden Cathedral, the Jesuit Church, built in 1872, of which the dome has been replaced with copper. It’s a most unusual church.