The Pachamama Bus Tour began and with our driver Sergio, five of us headed away from Santiago, south, towards our first stop Pichilemu. I was sad to leave the comfort of Casa Newen as now, for the next seven nights, I will be staying in hostels and their dorms.

After a four hour drive, and the Andes travelling alongside us, we had arrived. Pichilemu is a coastal town and is famous for it´s huge waves and so, in summer, attracts many surfers. Unexpectedly, the activity on offer to us was surfing - although the sun was shining, it was cold and windy - I chickened out but the rest of the group were eager and so whilst they tried to ride the waves, I played photographer on the black sandy beach wrapped up warm in my ski coat and gloves soaking up the weak rays of the sun. Later, we went up the road to Punto de Lobos and viewed a spectacular sunset - my first in South America.

The next day was a 12 hour bus journey ending in Pucon. En route we called in at Santa Cruz home to Museo de Colchagua; the country´s biggest private museum built by an obscure millionaire Carlos Cardoen. Carlos made his fortune dealing with weapons and now, after an amnesty, is unable to leave Chile. The museum was really good and housed such a range of exhibits varying from dinosaur fossils to formula 1 cars. Late evening we arrived in Pucon and went out to eat in an Italian restaurant of all places! The town is small but has been built with a German influence and so was much like a European ski town. Unlike those though, Pucon hosts the Villarrica volcano which is active and, in good weather, can be climbed and skied on. We were told that the weather forecast for the following day was not good so unfortunately, we were not able to head to the summit which would have been an absolute highlight of the trip. However, the cloud lifted slightly for a few hours the next day and from a distance, we were able to view the volcano and it´s steaming crator - fantastic! As the volcano climb was still a no-go we decided to head to Huerquehue National Park for a leisurely stroll. At least, that is what we thought it would be. After 4 hours of hard, uphill walking and climbing in thigh-deep snow, often losing our footing, we thought that it would be best to begin the 2 hour descent. We timed this just as the heavens decided they would open. Luckily, they held off until we were safely back in the warm, cosy hostel (the best hostel ever I might add - the bed was like my own). An hour later, the roads were flooded and impossible to cross so clearly, we had made the right decision - we were safe. At 05.30 however, we were awoken by a wartime air-raid siren - knowing that the volcano was near and having seen the evacuation signs earlier that day, we thought that the deafening noise could mean only one thing one thing - the lava was on it´s way. We jumped out of bed, pulled up the curtains and peered out of the window to the streets - they were full of cars and people; oh no, it really was happening - sixteen years of no action had finally surpassed and today was the day...

Fortunately, or unfortuanely, we witnessed no such thing and infact the siren had only sounded once or twice which was a call for the local doctor; three times meant evacuate. What a drama!

The next stop after Pucon was Valdivia. The bus took us through the Seven Lake District. Apparantly Valdivia is one of the most beautiful cities in Chile. I didn´t see the attraction myself; huge sealions and a fish market don´t really sell it to me I´m afraid. The next day, we left and joined the Panamericana Highway heading towards Puerto Varas calling in at Puerto Montt on the way. There wasn´t too much in Puerto Montt except the country´s largest fish market - again, not a huge selling point for me. Puerto Varas had a little more on offer. I walked around the town, down to the lake and up a hill and took in it´s very German features including a church. This evening the group were to be broken up as all, except myself and the driver, luckily, were off to Argentina in the morning. We celebrated with a meal cooked by Sergio himself.

On my own now for the next two days, I made my way back up north towards Santiago. Day six´s night stop was in Saltos del Laja. It is supposedly Chile´s largest waterfall - it was the biggest I have ever seen but I am still holding out for Igauzu Falls!

Unfortunately, Puerto Varas was the furthest south the tour bus took us, I would have loved to have seen Patagonia (the sourthenmost portion of South America) - maybe in Argentina? I am now back in Santiago at the lovely Casa Newen for four days until starting my intensive, one week, spanish course in preparation for the rest of my trip around the continent. Watch this space, and who knows, maybe one of my future blog entries will be a spanish one - ¿Si?