After leaving our terrifying by night, but charming by day, mountain lodge, we continue our journey north along the Carretera Austral in Chile. The beautiful weather was still with us, so we set off early to see how close we could get that day. This trip had nothing much planned so everything was flexible and we could stop wherever we wanted. One of those stops was in Cochrane, a little to get to know the place and a little to buy supplies ❤️.
We had got off the four-night boat the day before and had no more provisions to continue the journey, so we needed to find a market. On our way in search of that, we followed the road which, although gravel, was in good condition and allowed us to go almost as fast as the tarmac roads. On the way, we could see a lot of beautiful landscapes and that's what I liked, that even the intermediate routes were worthwhile.
This stretch from the campsite to the largest civilisation we crossed took us about 60 km. This was Cochrane, another of the famous stops on the Route 7 ride. This town looked very quiet: there were almost no people on the streets and everything was very clean, neat and tidy. We took the opportunity to get off for a while to stretch our legs and look for a good place to do our shopping.
I couldn't stop being amazed at how cheap everything was in Chile. In Argentina we have very inflated prices and that bothered me a bit, although in that context, it suited me that everything was cheaper there. When we bought everything we needed, it was still early in the morning and although we were ready to leave, we decided to visit the place a bit more. We couldn't leave it without seeing nothing but the square and the market, we had to get other good postcards.
Navigating on the map, we find the famous and infallible Cerro de la Cruz. No town can miss having a hill with a cross, and Cochrane was no exception. But unlike the others I have visited before, this place can be reached by car and there is a beautiful viewpoint of the town. From this high point you can see that Cochrane has a privileged location between the mountains and a very beautiful aesthetic.
We stayed for a while at the viewpoint, had a bite to eat and rested before continuing on our way. We had planned to spend the night there so I took it upon myself to look for accommodation in the area, but it was still early in the morning and we could use the day to drive a bit more. As everything was so free in our itinerary we could decide what to do on the spot, and it was this improvisation that made the whole trip even more fun ❤️.
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 💕.
