Yes you can pack all that into two days and still manage a lie-in! I was incredibly tired when I arrived in Puerto Montt on Sunday evening, so it was a struggle to get out of bed the next day. Therefore I only managed an afternoon trip over to Chiloé island, and visited the first town, Ancud. The landscape around this area is very reminiscent of Sweden. Although I don't think there is anything special or unique to visit on the island, it has plenty of natural beauty to make for a very scenic trip.
Puerto Montt is just a city. The biggest city I've been to since Buenos Aires. The hotel I booked was within walking distance from the bus station, which was my main priority. It was cheap and cheerful, and the wi-fi worked fine. On first arrival, the area seemed a bit dodgy, as you might expect around a bus station. But I went for a walk through the city centre the next day and it was just a normal downtown. Of course much busier during the day than at night, and with several budget restaurants to choose from. Apart from finding a llama lying down on the pavement on a pedestrian street (not just a random llama, I'm sure it belonged to someone although it wasn't clear who and why it was lying there), nothing much to report.
On day two, I had a late evening flight to Santiago, so a full day at my disposal. After checking out and leaving my luggage at the hotel, I caught a minibus to nearby Puerto Varas, 20 minutes to the north and on the shores of the massive Lake Llanquihue. Puerto Varas was much nicer than Puerto Montt. A bit like Varas was the smart sibling that went to college and got a nice career, while Montt was the stupid girl who got pregnant at 15 and had to drop out of school. It's clear where the money is in the area.
I caught another minibus toward Petrohué. It followed the lake shore and we had a great view of the Osorno volcano with its snow-capped top on one side, and Calbuco volcano on the other. The trip to Ensenada along the lake was gorgeous, and there were plenty of campings, B&B's and hostals along the way. Also a number of picturesque little churches. Clearly a very popular tourist destination. The buses run every 30 minutes and although there are fixed stops, they seemed to stop where ever necessary.
Petrohué is not a town or even a village, it's just the end of the road, and a place to change from bus to boat if you are travelling to Bariloche over the lakes. I initially wanted to cross over to Bariloche in Argentina for the views, but decided against it. The bus-boat-bus-boat-relay costs US$280, so that was out of the question, and the direct bus-only journey was about 7 hours each way, meaning I'd have to spend one night in Puerto Montt and one in Bariloche. Too much hassle. I still have a cold. The view over Lake Todos los Santos from the shore in Petrohué was gorgeous, however, as was the view of the Osorno volcano.
On the way I also stopped off at the waterfalls Saltos de Petrohué. Can't help but feel they have been rather hyped up on Tripadvisor. They were not that impressive. But admission was free, so why not.
I'm quite happy with the stopover in Puerto Montt, I got to to see some very nice scenery and also taste the local specialty, salmon. Pto Montt is the salmon capital of Chile, apparently.
Sky Airline also impressed with spanking new Airbus 320 and very spacious overhead bins. It's a low-cost airline so all refreshments on board came at a price. Legroom was also very generous, especially when I got an exit row seat from Pto Montt to Santiago.
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