Chanquín

We reached the sand dunes viewpoint bit didn't see any sand dunes. Whatever dunes that must have been there were gone now. It was a normal view of the Pacific Ocean and the beach. We quickly walked back to the entrance and drove off towards Chacao.
We managed to get on to the 6 pm ferry but realized that we would be a few minutes late to return the car. We called them up but were told that they close at 7 pm and we could instead return the car at the airport office where they are open late. We reached Puerto Montt at 7:15 pm so we had to drop the car at the airport.
We dropped off the girls at our hostel and drove to the airport. There we didn't have any problem with the return. The guys at West rental were very friendly and helpful.
Since the buses further south are very infrequent and we were at the airport, we decided to check out the car rental options for the next few days. We wanted to rent the vehicle here and drop it off at Coyhaique from where I could catch a flight back to Santiago to fetch my new passport. We checked all the car rentals at the airport but the good ones were all fully booked. Some of the local ones had vehicles available but the cost of returning the car at Coyhaique was more than double the cost of the rental. The rental for pickup amd drop at Puerto Montt was quite reasonable but we would then have to drive 700 kms back which didn't make sense. By the time we were done checking with the last of the car rentals, the collective buses to the town had all left. We went around the airport to find an alternative but found only the private transfer van available. The cost of the collective van was 2500 CLP per person and the private one was quoted at 5000 CLP per person. We didn't believe that there were no collectives anymore so we went to the information desk and asked. There we were told that there would be another collective at 11 pm. It was already 10:30 pm so we decided to wait. Weirdly, the ticket booking for the collective was inside the flight exit area. We weren't allowed inside and were told to wait till the next flight when they would open the gates. By this time, the news of 2 foreigners looking for a ride back had been radioed all over so the main manager of the collective company (Turistour) came over again to sell us a private transfer. He told us that the next collective bus is at 1 am. When we asked about how the people arriving at 11 pm would reach the town, he said that there were no flights at 11 pm. We figured the guy was trying to fool us and told him we'll wait till 1 am. Eventually, another guy came wjo seemed to be a friend of theirs. He had a car which he was taking back to town and wanted to make some quick money. He agreed to drop us at a total cost of 5000 CLP. We agreed and got a ride in a nice Mercedes at the cost of a collective transfer. Interestingly, when we paid, he gave us a receipt of the amount and with Turistour as the agency. We didn't get what was going on but we had made it back safely at no extra cost.
By this time, all the restaurants in the town were closed. Even the place where the girls were eating had closed and were not serving anymore. We found a bar opposite that was still open and ready to take one last order. We ate there and reached back the hostel at around 2 am.
The owner was still up and complained that we had just wanted to go to return the car and had not shown up till 2 am. On top of that, the price he was quoting was different than the one we had got at booking.com. The same issue again. The price we had got was in USD and their machine didn't allow transfer in USD and the conversion rate he was using was way higher than the market rate. On top of that, he wanted to charge us 19% VAT which we knew was for locals and foreigners staying more than 59 days in the country. We told him we'll pay him in the morning and that I would contact booking.com to resolve this issue. We were told that the checkout time was 10 am and that a late checkout would be charged as an extra day. I wrote to booking.com about the issue and asked their opinion on what to do. After that we slept.Read more