Patagonia is getting ever nearer. We decided to take a hop-oh hop-off bus that took us through the Lake District (Coniston here we come not!). Pachamama by Bus
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| On the road again... |
Pomaire is a busy tourist village which is famous for its pottery. Every shop sold pottery. There were many shops.
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| Some of the pottery that was for sale. |
The next stop was the Rapel Dam.
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| The Rapel Dam is a hydroelectric plant located in the O'Higgins region. |
Bernardo O'Higgins was one of the main liberators of Chile from the Spanish.Follow the link to find out about Bernardo the Chilean Irishman Bernardo O'Higgins
From the dam we travelled to Pichilemu a seaside resort that bore a striking resemblance to Southend-by-Sea. We stayed in Pichilemu overnight so that we could watch the sunset at Punta Lobos (Sea Lion Point). You can also watch the sunset.
Going...
Going...
Nearly gone.
Whilst we were watching the sunset there were people surfing below the cliffs. Punta Lobos hosts the Campeonato Nacional de Surf (National Surfing Championship) every summer (according to Wikipedia).
Day two - Pichilemu - Santa Cruz - Villarrica Lake - Pucon
On the road again. As we travel south the scenery becomes more green. There are hedgerows and it feels like you are driving through England.
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| The road to Pucon. |
We stopped at a museum in Santa Cruz called El Museo de Colchagua. Unfortunately we couldn't take photos (this may have been because the museum was built in 1995 by one of the USA's most wanted arm dealers - Carlos Cardoen).
From Santa Cruz we drove for hours as we had to travel 707 km to Pucon. As we neared Pucon volcanoes could be seen.
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| If you look carefully you can see smoke. |
A good view of the volcano is seen from Villarrica.
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| Villarrica Volcano from Villarrica Lake. |
Day three - Villarrica Volcano Pucon
At last we reach Pucon (which means Entrance to the Mountain). We stayed in Pucon for 2 nights as there are many activities to do in Chile's southern tourist capital. Pucon is embedded in the Andean foothills, right besides the Villarrica Volcano so we decided to climb the volcano. Villarrica Volcano is 2847 m above sea level but we only had to climb from 1800 m as we used a chairlift at the start. We took nearly 4 hours to get to the top but only 2 hours to get down. Coming down we used plastic mats to sled down as the peak is covered by 37 square km of permanent glacier. Here are some pictures of the trek.
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| Look at the cloud trapped in the valley. |
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| Part way up - whiteout. |
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| View from the top. Is that another volcano! |
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| The crater is 200 m wide and holds a lake of lava below the crust at a temperature of 1250 degrees. |
Here's Siobhan modelling at the top of the volcano.
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| Siobhan at the top of Villarrica Volcano |
To recover after the trek we went to the Los Pozones Hot Springs.
Day four - Pucon - 7 Lakes Route - Valdivia
Back on the road again.
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| Starting to see more mountains and lakes... |
We also saw some pigs ready for the spit...
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| This device of torture is supposed to stop the pigs getting where they are not wanted - unfortunately the pigs still manage to get where they want. |
We stayed in Valdivia which is a city located between 3 rivers and has a good market.
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| Valdivia Market |
Day five - Valdivia - Puerto Montt - Puerto Varas
Puerto Montt is a harbour town so we left there and stayed in Puerto Varas which is much prettier.
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| View from the bus. |
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| Downtown Puerto Varas |
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| The view across the lake at Puerto Varas |
After one night in Puerto Varas it was time to take the plane to Punta Arenas. Next instalment Paralelo 53 South -the end of continental South America.
Those volcanoes look great. I'm about to climb Santa Maria and Tajumulco in Guatemala.
ReplyDeleteYep good luck, hope that you get to side down the snow on a plastic bin lid like we did; its easier than walking.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your pics from this climb.
Siempre buen suerte