What a culture shock!

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Hey everyone.

Just to start, this is probably the first of four blogs as im playing catch up so make sure you look at the others!

We are now safely nestled into the heart of the Chilean Lake District, Pucon to be exact. After an uneventful flight out of La Paz we landed in Santiago, the capital of Chile. And what a difference! We spent the last month staring at locals with three teeth, fluorescent clothes and recycled tyres for shoes and now, we encounter fashionable kids with funky ´Vidal Sassoon´type haircuts, skater punks, brand new european cars and big 3 lane highways. Its amazing the difference a border crossing can make!

So after a brief night in Santiago, we hopped on a bus early next morning for a ten hour trip to Pucon, in the Chilean Lake District. We we were warned that it could be a bit touristy, but to our delight it was really quiet due to the fact that its winter here. It was so quiet in fact that we were the only people staying in our hostel, speaking of which was beautiful as it was a log cabin situated right on the lake, and it had a massive great big log fire to keep us warm in the evening.

So the main reason people come to Pucon, is to climb Volcan Villarica. Its an active volcano (which last erupted in 1984!) and you can climb it using crampons and ice picks etc. So the two numptys here booked a tour to climb up the volcano the following morning with our trusty guide, Gustavo. *

* Can I just point out that at home, we wouldnt get off our arses to walk 100m to the corner shop and would choose to drive, but work on the assumption that we can summon great reserves of strength and stamina to climb a volcano!?

So up at 6 to get an early start with the ascent. And boy did we need it. Usually walkers catch a chair lift up a third of the way and start walking from there. But due to large amounts of recent snowfall, the lift was closed, so we had to start from the very bottom! To say it was hard going was an understatement. Wading in knee deep snow, it took us three hours just to get to the point where you normally start from. It was then that Gustavo decided that we couldnt go any further as we were taking so long that we wouldnt get up to the top and back down before nightfall. Nadine was really struggling as well. If she was a dog, Gustavo would have had her put-down to end her suffering! So the decision was made to go back down. The one benefit of this is that you get to slide down on your arse (it was the first time I´d seen Nadine smile all day!) so only takes about an hour. But all´s well that ends well. We didnt get to the top which was disappointing, buts its pointless doing something if you are not enjoying it and destroying yourself in the process. I guess not walking to the corner shop came back to haunt us!

So after having a taste of the snow, we have gone for some more and headed across the border to Bariloche in Argentina.

Laters.

Stu and Nadine

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Photos

Another Damn Sunset!
Dont you just get sick of these?

Volcan Villarica
Volcan Villarica

Volcan Villarica
Edmund Hillary (more like Edmund Blackadder!) and Sherpa Tensing prepare for ascent

Volcan Villarica
What goes up must come down!

Pucon High Street
Cute Alpine town

Comments

[Weeny]

hey u guys how r u? been speaking to ur mum por q my texts dont think r getting through. anyway gald ur having a great time guys. lots of hugs and kisses mua mua mua!!!!!

[Lulu Gon]

ice picks!!!!!!!
aaah!!! flash back of ice picks making BIG holes!! glad you didn't put your leg through a hole this time nadine! ;o) I take it the destroyer trio didn't make it there from Franz Josef yet!! - the slide down sounds excellent fun - we tried that this weekend in the dunes at tarifa - no luck - the lilo's wouldn't slide - oh well!! big hug xxx

[Becca]

COME BACK!!!!!
Right then...............u've seen enough snow, sunsets and ice thingies and you've definately eaten way 2 many stakes, chips and chocolate by the sound of things!!! So basically come back to the real world where chocolate is a treat, they dont sell whole cows on a plate and when you order a portion of chips, you get enough for 1 not 1 restaurant!!! LOL Glad all seems to be going well and u've got me so hooked on your blogs that I'm saving up 2 go travelin myself! Damn shops keep stealing my savings tho lol xxxx