The Somewhat Lamentable Trip to Chiloe Island

Tole and his pisco sour, Dalcahue.
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Island of Chiloe (Chile)

Eight hours on a bus transplanted us and our bikes to Ancud, on the island of Chiloe off the coast of Chile. Based on the sheer, unbridled enthusiasm of Lonely Planet´s review of Chiloe, we chose to go there rather than continue south from Bariloche to El Bolson and Esquel in Argentina.  A week later, we weren't feeling especially happy about that choice.

a certain sleepy appeal, but it just wasn't our bag

Fishing boats in Ancud.
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Chiloe is fine. But unless you have never seen the ocean before and this is your one and only chance to do so, or you are dying to spend some time in quiet fishing villages, I can´t really recommend going out of your way to see it. It´s not easy to get there, and it´s even harder to leave due to full ferries and buses. Chiloe does have lovely fishing villages and some brightly-painted palafitos (houses on stilts), but I´m not so sure these things warrant great efforts to visit them.  There are penguins near Ancud, but the tremendous wind prevented visits there during our stay. Besides, apparently the penguin colonies in Peninsula Valdez, Argentina, and Punta Arenas, Chile are much better.  Lonely Planet lured us to Chiloe with tales of its extremely interesting mythology and its distinctive culture and food. Try expectantly as we might, we did not see an iota of the distinctive mythology.  We did note wood-shingled buildings and wooden churches, some of which were in fact quite interesting and pretty. Curanto, the much-hyped local shellfish, lamb and chicken stew, is not really very good. At least, certainly not so earth-shattering that anyone should spend 6 days on Chiloe. For anyone considering bicycling there (which Lonely Planet suggested would be super-duper), be aware that Chiloe has loads of traffic, both on paved Ruta 5 and on minor, dirt roads. Still, we have talked to several travelers who say they really enjoyed it (and at least as many who echoed our sentiments here).  The towns and villages are rather picturesque and have a certain sleepy appeal, but it just wasn't our bag, especially on bikes.

Ancud street scene.
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That said, one delightful man in Quemchi can single-handedly make a visit to Chiloe worthwhile. "El Chejo", the owner of the restaurant of the same name, made us a delicious lamb dinner and invited us to his kitchen to talk and see how it´s all done. He´s a social and gastronomical tour-de-force, and no visit to Chiloe would be complete without paying him a visit.  His fish empanadas with cilantro are phenomenal.

We made it off of Chiloe only after learning the next available ferry was the following week, then finally catching a bus back up to Puerto Montt on the Chilean mainland. In Puerto Montt, we imediately boarded a 24-hour Navimag ferry down to Puerto Chacabuco.  Next up was the southern Carretera Austral, a rough, gravel road that winds through northern Patagonia, famous both for its scenery and its isolation.