Pucon

I tried to book bus tickets for Chile from Argentina, but they wouldn´t accept credit cards so as soon as the plane landed we got a local bus to the bus station and bought tickets to Pucon for the same night. However we then had five hours to kill so hung about the bus station like tramps eating junkfood at carefully space intervals so we could keep a table in the food hall.

I talked Rachel into getting the cheapest bus available to save money (well over budget at the moment) although turned out to be one of the best and we arrived in Pucon the next day. Did the usual thing of going to the hostel being touted at the bus station and because it was xmas splurged out and got an amazing room with a huge double bed with a feather duvet! Easily the best bed we have had since the UK, and it even had a bath so we had our first since leaving the UK too. The place even had a couple of puppies which kept us amused.

Next day we went on a tour up the local active volcano. It was totaly covered in snow so we had all the gear on, crampons, ice axes the works. However about halfway up this huge boulder, and I mean it was shoulder height, suddenly came over a ridge and started to roll down hill. People were diving out of the way and nobody got hit, but if they had it would have been curtains! Our guides got a bit scared also so took us right of the sort of trail through the snow and we spent the next hour hacking out a trail (it was a 5 hour ascent). Also half way up one of the guides anounced she had no water left and could somebody give her some! Not exactly professional! By the time we got to the top we were knackered but got to witness volcanic lava first hand! To get down the mountain all we did was sit on our bums and slide down using the ice axes as brakes!

Next Day was xmas so we drank all day and made a roast dinner with other in the hostel. Xmas days where you can sunbathe are not proper and we really missed England that day. Boxing day was spent sunbathing again on one of the black sand beaches that surround the local lakes and tomorrow off to Barriloche for New Years eve