| Puerto Varas to San Martin de los Andes |
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| San Martin de los Andes, 08 April 2005 Ola, The days go by so quickly here that it is sometimes hard to tell which day it is but finally we managed to post our next report. In Chiloe we found a really nice hostel and stayed there for a few days. It was a wooden house with lots of rooms and it was very spacious. In some way it reminded me of the big spooky houses you find in horror-movies but we slept very well! During breakfast we had a splendid view of the bay (although the sun wasn't very cooperative). We visited the remains of an old fortress (during the wars of independence this was Spain´s last Chilean outpost), a museum and of course one of the famous churches of La Isla Grande de Chiloe, ´Iglesia San Francisco de Castro´. It was built in 1906 and made from ´alerce wood´ that can be found all over in this region of Chile. The ´palafitos´ (see picture) is also something typical! All around Castro (one of the villages on Chiloe) houses on stilts stretch out into estuaries and lagoons; this truly singular architecture is now protected as a national historic monument. In Puerto Varas we rented a car for two days to go around on our own and discover the lake district with its volcanoes. Beautiful! In the evening we found a nice spot to cook dinner and camp; on the shore of ´Lago todos los Santos´ accompanied by full moon! There were only a few other people around; two Swiss girls with their tent and a Dutch couple with their minivan. They brought it over from Germany (they used to live there) and are traveling around in South-America with their two dogs for over a year. It looked great (the van was fully equipped) and Joris started dreaming... During our car trip around the Lago Llanquihue we also saw some well-maintained German colonial architecture; most of them were beautiful private houses from the early twentieth century, on huge parcels of land with stalls. Very impressive! We took a picture of the house we bought and invite all of you this summer for a big barbecue-party in the garden ;-) In National Park Puyehue we did some more wonderful trekkings. It was really one of the highlights of our journey. This National Park has it all. Steep climbs, flat walks, a volcano, lava-rivers, desert- alike landscape, fumaroles, hot springs (baños) and geysers! Just amazing to see that all in four days! We started our trek by camping in between cows and horses and had to spent an afternoon and night in a refugio due to heavy rainfall (refugio = wooden barrack with 8x2 bunks, a small stove, a roof and freezing temperature at night). The next day we were rewarded for our patience and had a perfect blue sunny sky with excellent views from the top of the volcano. Just amazing to be on the crater and see volcanos and peaks from other national parks in the distance. We were very very lucky that day! To end this perfect day we walked for about 4 more hours (17 km) to jump into a natural hot pool (baño) of about 39ºc! The next morning our tent was frozen but nevertheless it was going to be a wonderful day. We slept well and started our walk to the geysers; a miniature Yellowstone National Park (for those of you who were not there yet, there are a lot of geysers and hot springs over there in all different seizes and forms). Smelly but worth the climb. That same day we walked back to the refugio. Joris really pushed it to the edge but we survived! That day we walked 30 kilometers up and down, up and down... I made it although my legs were really soar! I think Joris sometimes has the idea he is traveling with superwoman! Well, he might be right of course... From National Park Puyehue we started hitch-hiking but eventually had to catch the bus along the road to get in Bariloche (Argentina). We booked a double room for a couple of days and enjoyed the luxury of a nice hot shower, clean towels and good food! We rented a car to do ´la ruta de los siete lagos´, a wonderful trip where we could enjoy some more lakes and mountains with and without snow. Really nice but as it rained for 4 days we could not camp and decided to move on a little bit faster up north. We bought a bus ticket to San Martin de los Andes (Argentina) where we have to switch to another bus to go to Pucon (Chile) to meet the sun! Yesterday was a very special day because we almost let a dream come through! In Bariloche (Argentina) we went looking to some minivans that were for sale but none of them matched our wallet! Yesterday we arrived in San Martin de los Andes and saw an old Lada Niva 4x4 (yes Marc, a cream colored Lada Niva from 1992) for sale! We started dreaming and when we asked for the price, the dream did not come to an end (as in most other cases) but the pictures started moving. Could this be real? Would it be possible to travel through Argentina and Chile with our own spectacular 4-wheel drive? Joris started planning the trip; was it better to drive through Argentina or Chile? What about the insurance? That was the point were it went wrong, well, where the story started to turn out differently. As we passed by an insurance agency we hopped in to ask the price for a 3-months insurance. It was surprisingly cheap (like 40 Arg pesos = 11 euro a month, Sammy you should move!) but also the price of the car was probably a bit too cheap! Would it be possible that Domi's ears let her down one more time and that she understood ´dos´ (two) there were it was meant to be ´doce´ (twelve)? It is only one letter more but it makes a hell of a difference between making a dream come through or not!!!!! Well, we had a pleasant afternoon, fantasizing about our car and spending the spare time we have in San Martin. We were stuck here for two nights because the bus company didn't give us correct information. Buses do not leave every day as they told us in Bariloche so we just have to wait another day to go on.... Written by Dominique Edited and approved by Joris |