2nd stop - Chile

Chile - Lake District - Tuesday 11th April - Monday 17th April

The next stop on our tour was to the lake district region of Chile. We flew from the capital Santiago down to Temuco & hired a car to drive to Villarrica which was one of the most scariest experiences on this trip. When we arrived at Temuco airport we were greeted by torential rain & twilight. This made the challenge of driving a right hand car all the more challenging especially when you throw in people walking on the side of the road, an odd man on a bike & a horse & cart on a major highway. We were relieved to arrive safely at Villarrica.



On a first day the lake district, we went exploring & from the recommendations of the owners of the B&B we went "off road" & into the hills for 17 km. It was a rough and bumpy ride in our small hire car but we eventually arrived at this awesome hot spring termus in the middle of nowhere that emerged in the mist & rain. It was freezing as we ran between the different hot pools but wonderfully warm once in the water. It was well worth the drive as it was not very touristy and they had succeeded in blending the hot springs with nature . On our last day in the region we visited another hot springs which was far less impressive.















Day 2 in Chile involved us taking a day trip down to Valdivia. The Lonely Planet describes this town as Chile's most attractive city. It was a shame that a number of the old historic buildings collapsed back in the 1960's due to an earthquake. While here we visited a fort that was built by the Spanish in order to keep the Dutch out. It was the largest fortification in South America.
Here is a picture of me attempting to look glam while freezing my butt off. The weather was pretty cool down in the South of Chile in the month of April. While attempting to leave Valdivia we came across a clown busking at the traffic lights. It was at this point our nightmare of leaving this town started. In a nutshell we took multiple wrong turns & could not find our way across the river. After 40 minutes of driving we did found our way out & that did involve going back past the clown 3 times & each time he wanted money ... forget that !!!















On Day 3 we went exploring the local area around the B&B & had a small walk to a waterfall. It was on Day 3 that we were able to view the volcano. Until this point it had been covered in mist every day.














It was with sadness that we left the kind couple that ran Hosteria de la Colina. These wonderful expat teachers from the U.S had moved to Vallarrica 20 years ago after they had visited the region on their vacation & decided that they wanted to stay longer. They bought a house and before they realised 20 years had passed. They were lovely people & very hospitable. I loved the superb home cooked meals in the evening & after a day of wandering around it lovely to return to home styled meals with a bottle of wine. I would certainly recommend people staying there as the owners of the B&B are experts of the region & often have suggestions that you would not find in the Lonely Planet.

After leaving the Lake District region of Chile we head back to Santiago, the capital of Chile & as you fly in you have amazing views of the Andes. We were not a huge fan of Santiago, we found the city lacked a soul ... however, I do have to say it does have a wonderful clean & efficient subway to navigate your way around the city & overall it is a very clean city. It was while in Santiago that we celebrated Easter Sunday by heading to the main church in town. It was certainly interesting to be attending church in Spanish & when you come to the words of 'peace be with you' having them repeated back in Spanish.