Chile Guide
The Carretera Austral
Villa O'Higgins
Tiny VILLA O'HIGGINS is reached via the very final – and particularly spectacular – 100-kilometre stretch of the Carretera beyond Puerto Yungay: the road seems to fly over the crags. The village sits at the head of a narrow arm of Lago O'Higgins, a beautiful Andean lake squeezed by mountainous peninsulas into something that on the map looks like an electrocuted spider. Half of the lake's spindly waterways lie in Argentine territory where it's called Lago San Martín, after Argentina's independence hero.
While growing rapidly, the town is still rather nondescript, visited if at all just to say you've completed the length of the Carretera journey. Immediately north is the entrance to the Reserva Natural Shoën (open during daylight hours for most of the year; free), which has a number of miradores, viewpoints affording magnificent views across the village and its surroundings, including the peaks of the Campo de Hielo.
Given its remote location and harsh conditions, Villa O'Higgins is not a place to turn up on spec; call the Municipalidad on 
67/211849 or check out these informative websites: 
www.ohiggins.cl and www.villaohiggins.com . For trekking, mountain bike and horseback excursions, visit Villa O'Higgins Expediciones at Hernán Merino 367 ( 
info@villaohiggins.com). The Comité Turistico Villa O'Higgins at Río Pascua 191, on the plaza, can also organize fishing guides and horses as well as set up trekking and other outdoor activities. You'll find an information kiosk on the plaza during the summer; they can provide trekking guides.
The reliable, oddly named Hospedaje Apocalipsis 1:3, Pasaje Lago El Salto 345 ( 67/234813; Price: CH$15000-25000), has pleasant rooms, as does the more impersonal Hospedaje Patagonia at Calle Río Pascua 1956 ( 67/234813; Price: CH$15000-25000). There are also a handful of residencials on Pasaje Lago El Salto that sometimes take in guests. Two restaurants prepare uninspired but inexpensive local fare: Campo de Hielo Sur and the Patagonia, both on Calle Lago Christie. Bus services run once or twice a week between Cochrane and Villa O'Higgins (at least 6 hours, CH$8000), whilst Aéreos Don Carlos operates a twice weekly flight between Cochrane and Villa O'Higgins on Mondays and Thursdays (CH$120,000 return).