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Published: February 5th 2007
Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st January, 2007
Southampton Dave and I had agreed to accompany each other across the border to Santo Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina before our heading our seperate ways, he to the south me to Buenos Aires and due to all buses being full we realised we'd have to spend a couple of days in Puerto Varas. Could be worse places we both thought.
After a full day which I spent recovering from the farewell party we caught a public bus to Petrohue, a small village an hours drive away at a literal dead end on the shore of Lake Tobos Los Santos in the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park. There was very little there other than great views and a few boats so we took a short trip on the lake then set off for the 6km walk back to stop at the Petrohue Falls in the shadows of Mount Osorno, yet another huge volcano. When we'd paid for the boat I'd noticed a humourous little leaflet with a cartoon drawing of a horse fly warning of their presence and their attraction to all things black. The road back to the falls was effectively
Chile; Puerto Varas - Time For A Rest.
And again. Chile has exceeded all my expectations in the beauty stakes.a dust track causing us to close our eyes and splutter upon the passing of each vehicle and it was most unfortunate that both Dave's head and his shorts and my bag were jet black. Why couldn't the damned things be attracted by pink with purple polka dots?
The horse flies, some the size of large grapes followed us like a pack of Papparazzi after that elusive snap. I said to Dave that it was okay if you put them out of your mind and pretended they weren't there but he was having none of it, his jet black hair attracted them to his skull like a magnet. I think I knew I was kidding myself too.
Fortunately they don't really bite, they just give you a little sting if left to settle for a couple of seconds. If pound for pound they'd bitten like the sand flies of New Zealand then there would have been no flesh on either of us within minutes and after an hour on the road from hell we finally reached the sanctuary of the falls.
On our return to Varas I'd decided I had to get back on the road and
Chile; Puerto Varas - Time For A Rest.
Top right corner. A makeshift set of goals in the middle of a car park at the lake. run and Dave said he'd like to accompany me. Apart from two outings in Santiago my excercise had started to become badly neglected and I'd not been out since meeting up with Marg, the health situation not helped by the hectic schedule of the trip south. His only suitable footwear was a pair of sandles and I questioned his decision to join me. Consequently, after twenty minutes he moved as though he was suffering from a mixture of bunyons, corns and piles.
We had a quiet final night in Chile, just a stroll down to the Plaza to observe one of the series of free concerts the town was putting on for locals and Chilean tourists alike and got ready for our morning trek east to Argentina.
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non-member comment
Nice views....'flies followed us like paparazzi'.Nice line.Keep going .