The bus south from Santiago was comfortable, and I was able to sleep a good part of the way. I’d expected to get off at Temuco and then have to get a local bus to my destination of Villarica in the northern part of the Lake District. Having alighted at Temuco I then realised that the bus I’d just got off was actually going all the way to Villarica anyway. So I jumped back on, nobody said anything, and I travelled the last 80 km for free, through green and increasingly hilly countryside.

I checked in to the pleasant Hotel Fuente, and after some breakfast wandered round the town of Villarica. The town was attractive and surrounding scenery was very green and pleasant. Villarica is on the edge of the lake (Lago Villarica) and the location and atmosphere somehow reminded me of the town of Keswick in the English Lake District.

One thing I found that wasn’t remotely similar to Keswick was a policeman in a khaki bullet proof vest watering the grass – hose pipe in one hand and submachine gun in the other…

I asked at the tourist info about the volcano I could see to the east – Volcán Villarica. They said it was possible to climb it, but that I’d need to go to the town of Pucón, at the other end of the lake, and do it with a guided tour.

After a siesta and an early dinner of “Barros Luco” (Chilean steak sandwich) followed by ice cream, I relaxed at the hotel and caught up on postcard and diary writing. The hotel people mentioned a nearby peña (bar with folk music in Bolivia) which sounded promising, but was actually just a bar – no music.

I’m still trying to decide on a sensible route round what remains of the South American continent (looking at a big map there suddenly doesn’t seem very much of it left!). In the morning (4th February) I went to the local travel agent and asked about a 3 day boat trip that I’d read about that goes down the Chilean coast from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. This section of Chile has no road – there are too many mountains, fjords and glaciers! The company Navimag runs a vehicle ferry called Evangelistas which has limited passenger capacity. However there is unfortunately no space left for the next couple of weeks, so that means I will have to fly or go south via Argentina. Since I would rather not backtrack, I’ve reluctantly decided to take the air again, so bought a ticket to fly from Puerto Montt to the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas, in 10 days time.

I checked out of the hotel, and straight away got a bus to Pucón, which it was immediately clear, is a much flashier town than sleepy Villarica. Clearly this is a trendy place to come for the well-to-do, and younger crowd. I checked into “Louisa House” and got some rather overpriced pizza for lunch, before wandering around the centre of the town.

I rented a bike for an hour and went to explore the few km round Pucón. It looked very rustic – some logs were being pulled by cows and further on, near a small farm, I was amused by the sight of a hen chasing a grasshopper…

4884 hr RTW 3-5 Feb 1991 Villarica Pucón Chile

4885 hr RTW 3-5 Feb 1991 Villarica Pucón Chile

Back in Pucón I reluctantly went in search of an agency to climb the volcano – I didn’t like the idea of having to go with a guided group, but those are the rules of the National Park. As I approaching one agency called “Turismo Sol y Nieve” there was a guide standing outside trying to drum up some business for the next day’s hike up the volcano. “Climb the volcano with us!” he was yelling in English, “…beautiful Argentine Girls! Tomorrow we have many beautiful Argentine girls in our group!”. I duly signed up and was handed a sheet of paper with instructions for the following day’s ascent:

I got chatting to a young Canadian who is working here as a mountain guide. She said she has worked as a trekking guide on the Everest base camp trek in Nepal, and enthusiastically told me all about the trek, how many days it took and the names and altitudes of all the places you stay at. I hope that this information will be useful one day.

I headed back to “Louisa House” for a self catered dinner cooked in the kitchen there, while chatting to my room mate, Tim. Then an early night since the volcano ascent starts at the crack of dawn…