Puyuhuapi

Puyuhuapi was founded in 1935 by four young men from the Sudetenland who came out to settle at the head of a fjord in what was then essentially unreached country. One of them, Walter Hopperdietzel, later set up a carpet workshop making hand-knotted rugs, which ran for decades and still operates on a small scale - an improbable industry in a village of a few hundred at the end of a Patagonian fjord, and the thing the place is known for. Across the water is the Puyuhuapi lodge and its thermal springs, reached only by boat, and Queulat national park is a short distance south.

Background

The village stands where the Rio Pascal flows into the head of the Puyuhuapi fjord, on the Carretera Austral, also called Route 7. That fjord is a small arm of the Ventisquero Sound, and the harbour goes by the name Puerto Puyuhuapi. It belongs to the commune of Cisnes in the Aysén Region. The founding settlers came from Hranice, known in German as Rossbach, in today's Czech Republic, and Mapuche families from the Chiloé Archipelago, first hired for temporary work, settled here too. The population grew from 535 in the 2002 census to 826 by 2007. Hand-made jerseys are among the local crafts, and the village appeared in the 2014 Patagonia Special of Top Gear.

Source: Wikipedia, "Puyuhuapi"

Highlights

• Founded in 1935 - by four settlers from the Sudetenland.
• A hand-knotted carpet workshop - still working on a small scale.
• A fjord head village - a few hundred people on the Carretera.
• Thermal springs across the water - reached only by boat.

When to go

December to March. A full day.

Good to know

It rains here most days of the year. The village is very small with limited services. The lodge and its springs are expensive and boat-access only. The Carretera here is gravel in stretches.

Nearby

Queulat national park is south; La Junta is north up the Carretera.

Key facts