Puerto Varas is 1,014 km from Santiago (630 miles), which is between 10 and 12 hours by bus. I was lucky that the bus had very comfortable seats.
Santiago (my home base) is 1,400 km from Buenos Aires, which was my first destination in South America. Buenos Aires is 8,650 km from my home in the United States, so I have traveled over 11,064 (8,650 + 1,400 + 1014) km or 6,875 miles since I left home.
Walking around Puerto Varas is easy because the town is pretty small. To get to the surrounding cities, you need to take a public bus, like the one I took to the National Park at Petrohué and Lago Todos Los Santos ("All Saints Lake," in English).
Petrohué is the port at the mouth of Lago Todos los Santos where the Petrohué River starts. It is also the base for many hiking trails around the volcano and has a history museum and a shop where local Chilean artisans sell their crafts.
