The port towns near the Carretera are good stepping off points for better things and the scenery still continued to enthrall. The large town of Coyhaique marked our half way point. 

Puerto Cisnes is the end of the road, at least for cars – there are ferry boats further afield. Tours can be found for dolphin spotting trips or sightseeing on Isla Magdalena, which also has some thermal pools. 

The little town is a huddle of wooden buildings along a wide esplanade which has obviously been tidied up recently. There is a smattering of supermarkets, hostels, basic cafes and a Copec gas station and at 10 o’ clock in the morning a bored man in a kiosk on the waterfront selling hamburgers and chips. 

We had seen the place in a generous half hour and headed back to the Carretera – it was a nice drive through the valley.

Back on Ruta 7, the following section to the X-500 turn off for Puerto Aysén was quite spectacular. High, sheer sided rocky mountains with a distinct snowline and thickly forested faces graced both sides of the valley.

Along the roadside there were messy clearings, the ramshackle cattle farms sitting amidst scattered tree stumps. An old bridge beautifully framed a high triangular peak at the X-558 turn off, the water running crystal clear beneath it.

We stopped at the little hamlet of Villa Mañiguales to stock up on pastries for afternoon tea. The cheerful cashier gave us our change in chocolates. 

Bearing off towards Puerto Aysén, rich purple lupins lined the road, and, where the X-500 joined Ruta 240, we dropped down to the river at a wide section to see the Rio Simpson joining the Rio Mañiguales – the two rivers briefly run side by side before their waters mingle. It was a beautiful spot although sadly there was a lot of trash around. 

Just before Puerto Aysén, we turned off on a good gravel road which led back into steep hills and another idyllic rough camp for the night where Rio Riesco ran into Lago Riesco. There was a wide view over the lake to distant hills with not a building in sight other than a ruined cattle yard.

Typically some locals then turned up and played music although luckily not much beyond our bedtime. It was so windy anyway that that combined with the sound of the waves largely drowned the sound and we ended up having a good night’s sleep. 

Puerto Aysén 

This was another town which did not detain us for very long. It was once the main port before it silted up and business moved to Puerto Chacabuco. It has a huge bright orange bridge which was finished in 1966, a sculpture of a maté teapot and gourd and a rather bad life size statue of a gaucho with a dog.

The centre square was gearing up for Christmas. It has a couple of handy banks and the jolly Fenn Cafe. 

In nearby Puerto Chacabuco ferries leave for Chiloé and the upmarket Hotel Loberias del Sur can arrange long and expensive tours out to San Rafael Lagoon with glacier spotting included.

The road to Coyhaique led through the Reserva Nacional Río Simpson, a scenic drive along a narrow valley with a rushing river popular with fly fishermen.

There are two waterfalls: the beautiful Cascada de la Virgen, with a rather over embellished shrine to said Virgin (blue plastic flowers anyone?) and the more discreet Velo la Novia (bridal veil) a little further on; both are close to the road.

In between we wandered the Sendero el Pescador, a pleasant 2 km stroll through the forest with various lookouts over the river. 

Coyhaique 

A large mirador announced our arrival above Coyhaique. The town was neatly clustered below us, surrounded by mountains: it really is in quite a spectacular location. It is overlooked to the north east by the Cerro Cinchao (1,361 m) which is within the Reserva Nacional Coyhaique and reached by the 6.7 km walk called Las Piedras. There are also some easily accessible lakes in the park.

To the southern end of town there is the distinctively striated Cerro Mackay. 

We checked into El Camping (CLP 9000 per person), which is justifiably the preferred stop for overlanders. It is located right at the bottom of a deep valley under a rocky outcrop known as the Piedras del Indio. A green oasis with grass and fruit trees, it was a lovely place to relax, with hot showers and good WiFi.

We explored the town which has a rather bizarre central square with ten roads leading off it – supposedly modelled on a policeman’s badge! There was a minor craft market with neat little knitted magnets, wooly hats and the like, and various food stalls.

We checked out the gaucho clothing at La Rural, the BBQ asado equipment and sauces at La Casa Del Mate and did our food shopping at Unimarc supermarket – the prices in Chile are not cheap but at least a bottle of wine is only CLP 2000!

Our return to brief civilisation was celebrated with coffee and cake at Casa Mayo, a jolly cafe near the square with the traveller’s requisites: real coffee and fast, free wifi!