We had 2 nights in Puertas Varas, and it was freezing. The trouble is that we were staying in a hostel (Ellenhaus) that didnt have any heating. Well they had some heating, but it took the form of a couple of kerosene heaters, and there wasnt one in our room. We opened the front door to be greeted by the smell of kerosene. And on top of that there wasnt any hot water in the shared shower. We went down to reception to tell them and they sent a wee man up (Manuel?) with a new gas canister to sort out the shower. The hostel was a bit of a maze (like different houses have been bought and stuck together) and we were up on the third floor (in the roof). Did I mention they dont seem to put any insolation in the roof in Chile?
On the upside there was free Wifi downstairs and free breakfasts with toast and scrambled egg (a welcome break from cheese and ham). In the morning Steve spoke to the Gap tour leader and we managed to get an upgrade to another room with an electric heater (what bliss) and a shower that had hot water - yay.
We went on a short walk / hike to see a Waterfall, a black glacier and a volcano (about 3 hours) and it was snowing when we went to see the waterfall and glacier. Unfortunately that caused a bit of a white out. So we didnt actually get to see the glacier (strike 2 for us after New Zealand) but we took photos in its general direction. The waterfall was beautiful and we got some beautiful pics walking in the snow. It wasnt that cold once we got going.
We took a ski lift up to get a better view on the volcano, but it was absolutely freezing on the way up (uncovered), and we were in thermals and cargo pants rather than ski gear, so we took a couple of quick snaps and then came straight back down again to the safety of the restaurant. Funny to think we were walking around on a volcano. Just looks like a snowy mountain. The locals were all there in their ski gear (no fools there).
We went for lunch and had a choccognac (hot choc with cognac in it) which was pretty good, and a couple of hotdogs. They have something called a hotdog complete here, which is a hotdog with avocado, mayo, cheese and like thin potato chips on top. Then we all bundled into the mini bus and made to start back down the volcano. By this point it was about 3pm and none of us had really paid much attention to the weather outisde(it was okay when we came up, just a bit windy).
However when we started down the road it was very icy, and we saw the car in front of us spin out 360 degrees. We reversed back up to the restaurant and the guide went in to ask for some help. They said the guy with the snow plough was just finishing something up (probably his lunch) and would then come down, so we headed back down the road to tell the other car. They were keen to wait for the snow plough, so we sat in the bus behind them for about an hour waiting for him to arrive (he was also on south american time- the locals rush for no man).
We noticed another car up in front in the same dilemma, and in the meantime the weather really started to turn nasty. The wind had seriously picked up and was whipping the snow all over the place (ala arctic tundra). The guys in the snow plough eventually arrived and ploughed some snow off the road. Then they got our their car and let down the tyres on the cars in front of us. Also rather worrying they took the two kids out of the car and put them in the snow plough! (women and children out first?!) Then they took over driving the two cars in front and took them down down about 100 metres, to where the snowline pretty much starts. Our guide managed to drive all the way down himself (using a strange method of continuously cutting out the engine). It was amazing to see how fast the weather cleared up once you got off the top of the volcano. Just ten minutes later we were down below the snow line and all was green and calm again (you couldnt believe wed just been caught in a snowstorm).
Puertas Varas itself is a pretty little town and we walked along the lake front and took pics of the volcano in the distance. Very glad of the electic heater that night.
We didnt have very long in Puerta Varas before we got a daytime bus on to Pucon.
Pucon is a really beautiful little town, a bit like Queenstown in New Zealand and is surrounded by lakes, snow capped mountains, and rivers. The only catch is that it was raining when we arrived (a five min walk from the bus station to the hostel) and the weather forecast said rain for the next 4 days. The main street of Pucon is pretty much full of volcano hiking, rafting, canopy zip lining and horse bike riding places, and then has a couple of shops and restaurants.
On the first day the group went zip lining through the canopy (trees) which we'd never done before and it was great fun. I wasnt as scared as I thought I probably would be, as you havent got a whole lot of time to think about how high up you are. It also helps if you dont look down. The guides were a good laugh and spun us around a bit when pushing us off, and showed us a couple of upside down tricks when they went across the line (higher grade stuff, we werent trying that ourselves). The weather also came good that day, which was a Godsend, as I just dont think it would have been the same if it was chucking it down with rain. Its also worth saying that we got an upgrade with the hostel in Pucon (Willys), which had 2 fireplaces in reception (wood burning) and gas fires in the rooms (yay warmth, although again a bit toxic, a central heating salesman could make a fortune down here).
Day two in Pucon we decided to take it easy and stayed in the warm, while the others rented bicycles and went for a cycle around the lakes. We did take a walk down to the lake and saw the sun setting which was beautiful. The beach was all black volcanic sand. The volcano in Pucon is active (although hasnt erupted in some years), and when the clouds clear you can see a little bit of steam puffing out the top! They have a geen, yellow and red volcano indicator lights in town (green the whole time we were here). Unfortunately we didnt get to walk up the volcano as the weather wasnt good enough, but we made good use of our time in Pucon all the same.
As our Gap tour ends in Santiago, weve started thinking about the onward trip, and booked some more time in a hostel in Santiago and then a flight up to Atacama to see the dessert. Then we've got a couple more days in Santiago afterwards before we fly up to Venezuela (yet to decide what we're doing there). We also booked our flights and some accomodation in Cuba, so that we can pick up our Tourist Cards in Santiago airport when we are there.
But anyway back to Pucon, after a day inside we decided to brave the weather (it tipped it down at night) and booked to go horse back riding the next morning. Luckily the weather cleared in the morning and we got some blue skies. We were told that the horse riding pick up time would be at 9am (you can see this coming cant you?).
So this morning we were up and ready to go (quick brekky from the supermarcado of yoghurts, muffins and OJ) by 9am. At 9h30 we knocked on the Gap guides door and asked him to call and find out where they were as they hadnt arrived yet. They said on the way. Now I should mention that its not the first time this has happened on a tour in South America. Hence me mentioning South American time above. We actually waited 2 hours for the tango trip in Brazil...Anyway the pickup eventually arrived just after 10am and at least she was apologetic. Apparently there was a mix up with the confirmation...
So we got in the 4 x 4 and drove about 30 mins out of town to get to their farm, where the horses were saddled up and waiting and the guy that came out to meet us was apologetic about the delay as well, so all was forgiven. They matched us up with horses based on our experience and gave us a short intro in to controlling your horse, then gave us some chaps to protect our legs/jeans. Note that I make no mention of helmets here as they arent legally required in Chile. They did offer to give us some, but we decided to brave it and kept our caps on instead (living on the edge).
Off we went on our trusty steeds along the base of the mountains and we also did a small river crossing (we took some convincing for my horse). On the way out I had to keep kicking Inca to make her keep going. We stopped under the mountains and the leader gave us a cuppa tea and small sarnie, and it was a great relief to get off the horse for a couple of minutes (knees aching, not to mention other body parts). Just time to take some pics and then back over the little river and along the big river back to the farm. We were out there a pretty long time and we managed to do a fair bit of galloping along the way which was good fun, although pretty hard on the back (Im a bit tender now).
At the moment we are waiting for a nightbus to take us to Santiago and then we've got one day left on the tour tomorrow before we say our goodbyes to the tour group, which will be a shame. However a couple of us are going the same way, so you never know who we might bump in to again.
Love to all at home.
Kirst x
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