Hola amigos, I am writing from Pucon in Chile, a beautiful town at the base of the active volcano Villarrica. We arrived here yesterday from Bariloche on an extremely bloody uncomfortable 12 hr no frills bus ride. It probably didn´t help matters that I was nursing a hangover after having gotten in at 3 for a 6:45am wake up. The ´best of the 80´s film clips´ DVD on repeat didn´t help matters either. 15 seconds of every 80´s film clip ever made all meshed togher gets old in a hurry. If you think I sound somewhat negative now you should have seen me then, lol. Cranky pants were on.
Bariloche was fantastic. We met a few great people who we did a 30km bike ride with around the lakes district; absolutley beautiful but some bloody big hills! Bum still sore, but a cracking day and great company. We naturally decided to kick on at a non touristy local Argentinean pub where the drinks are cheap cheap cheap and potent to say the least. 2 spirits in highball glasses half full with spirits, 1/4 full of ice and 1/4 mixer for about $3. Needless to say the evening progressed to be quite a doozie. Ruckus was probably the most fitting description.
The following day was relatively unproductive but a lazy day occasionally is nice. At times I feel like I´m moving (via bus) from one tourist mecca to the next. While I am seeing some incredible things, at times you want to just ´be´in a city or town for a day or two without plans to get a feel for it and its people.Unfortunatley lots to see so it´s infrequent that we get this opportunity.
We did a trip out to the local national park to see a black glacier and mountains and was potentially top 5 on the ´we were fleeced scale´ (or ´pantsed´ as Brendan likes to call it) which means being ripped off. It seems sometimes relatively reputable people give you a bum steer and tell you (for example) it´s prohibited to take a car into the national park and you need a guide to do a particular trek and you arrive on a tour to find bloody cars everywhere and people climbing solo in thongs. Anyway, whilst can be frustrating it´s to be expected I suppose. We have definately become a little wiser to the fleece and have started trying to do most things independently where ever possible; partly to save $$ and partly to not feel quite so much like obnoxious tourists.
We went out and had another great steak in Bariloche; the boys are going to sorely miss Argentinean steaks. Enormous, tender cuts of meat which are so tasty absolutley no sauce required (and in fact they don´t exist on menus). On the way home I suggested we pop into the bar for a night cap and one turned into many when we hooked up with some friends from El Chalten. This unfortunatley was the evening proceding the early bus ride.
We arrived in Chile not having been organised enough in our mad dash to the bus to change any money. We had a 2 hr lay over at a bus terminal in Orsorno Chile and I hopped off very much looking forward to finding a loo. The buses have toilets but no toilet paper and are filthy and to say the size of a midgets closet would be generous. I have had moments on long hauls where in desperation I have ventured to the loo to suddenly find myself trying to negotiate a sharp turn with pants around ankles and being conscious of the poorly capped sistern full of foulness below you. On one particular late night occasion in my comatose state I had forgotten to lock the loo door and a sharp turn sent me crashing into the door and subsequently stumbling out into the bus in a state of undress. Luckily people were asleep (I think) so no real harm done. Anyway to cut a long and not particularly pleasant story short I soon discovered you needed to pay to use the toilet in Chile and I did not have a red chilean peso. ATM won´t work; money changers not open; not happy Jan. I resisted the urge to sucker punch Brendan who when at the border I had suggested we change some money poo´ed the idea due to rates and advised the ATM the bus station would suffice. He escaped unharmed as he valiently went in search of banks and came up with the goods.
We hadn´t managed to book a hostel so we arrived at 9pm and then had to go searching for accommodation in the cold, masses of gear in tow. Cranky pants had progressd to a whole bloody outfit by this stage but luckily Dave seems to have a sixth scent for direction and finding random places and found us a fantastic hostel. The hostel is more like a private log cabin; no bunk beds, free towels, linen withut holes in it and actual doonas! Heaven!
Yesterday we headed to the hot springs at Los Pozones which were lovely. The landscape here is beautiful and at times reminds me of home. Rolling hills, lush grasses with fat angus cattle grazing. They also have a breed of cattle which are similar to herefords but with much more white on their hides; almost like a brown jersey in colouring but a stockier build than a jersey. Some of you more educated folk may be able to fill me in here. They have massive infestations of blackberries lining the roads and also rose hip which grows wild but aside from that the properties are relatively well kept. We had 4 hours of wallowing in 38 natural hot springs which was a tough day at the office. We were booked in to clib the Villarrica Volcano this morning but unfortunately the wind is roaring and it´s too dangerous. You need crampons and ice picks on a good day so I imagine its fairly slippery, icy and precarious. The winds here can be ferrocious and have nearly been blown over on several occasions hiking so was happy to miss it today! Since the earth quake in Chile the volcan has been more active and we have been watching the red glow coming from the top of the volcano at night and it looks incredible. Fingers crossed the weather is kind to us and we can do the hike tomorrow.
Well I better get off and do something constructive. Realistically this will probably mean make myself a coffee, and get into my new book - the girl who played with fire (Steig Larsson). I´m really enjoying having time to read again, I´ve missed it! It´s still blowing a gale and is freezing out today so might be a day for some loafing. Might go for a run soon to keep up the good fight against the love handles. All this hiking and biking definitely helping! Who knows, might not be able to see me sidewards when I come home??? (Although I dare say I will be HIGHLY visible lol).
I hope you´re all well and happy; will post some pictures when I get a computer that hasn´t had its USB ports removed xxx
