David was at the wheel this morning and was being directed out of town towards the River District. Fortunately most of the traffic was heading in the opposite direction because we were having trouble finding the streets we wanted. After a bit of trial, error and guesswork we found our way out of town and onto correct road to Los Lagos.

There were nice views of the river as we followed its course through to Los Lagos and then on to Panguipulli. We parked up near the lake at Panguipulli and had a walk around lake front to the beach. Of course being the shoulder season the beach was pretty deserted, but there was nice views across to the volcano and hills shrouded in cloud on the far side.

We walked into the town centre to find a cafe although there wasn't much choice and the coffee wasn't anything to write home about. A quick walk further up the street took us to the town's church, which was built by Capuchin monkeys according to the misread brochure.

As we drove out of Panguipulli we had a beautiful view of Volcan Villarrica. It's such a stunning, perfectly shaped volcano and being covered in snow is like the icing on a cake so to speak. On the way to Choshuenco, we were in constant awe of the spectacular views of Lake Panguipulli, Volcan Choshuenco and the islands. We drove through Choshuenco village and passed the picturesque little beach, but only stopped for a photo.

The asphalt road finished at Choshuenco and we continued on the gravel road to Huilo Huilo reserve. We crossed over a river into the park and the water running through the chasm below was incredibly fast. All this water drops over a cliff at the Salto del Huilo Huilo waterfall. We took our sandwiches and walked down the track to the viewpoint. It was one of the most spectacular and powerful waterfalls we have seen. After eating our sandwiches we took the steps down the steep hillside to the bottom of the waterfall. Once we were down at the bottom we could truly appreciate the power of the falls, the pool looked like a furiously bubbling cauldron and clouds of spray were swirling around in air.

We continued on the gravel road and passed through Neltume, a strange little village that wasn't worth stopping in. A little further up the road we arrived at weird hotels of Huilo Huilo. One, made from wood, gets progressively wider every floor it goes up and looks a bit like a mushroom. Another looks like a mountain with water cascading down the outside.

We took a wander through the canopy walkways in the grounds of a deer park and were just in time to see them being fed. There must have been over a hundred deer and even though we were up on the walkway, they were all skittish apart from one very young one.

We tried to go to the Petermann brewery next to the deer park, but we didn't get any service. The girl behind the bar initially ran off to the kitchen and when she came back she just stared intensely at her phone and completely ignored us. So we left a brewery without sampling the beers for the second time in two days. Not a good record.

Continuing up the gravel road we arrived in Puerto Fuy and drove round the village a couple of times checking out the accommodation. We ended up in Hospedaje San Geovany, a place that Maria might have stayed in 7 years ago but she can't remember for sure. We got a cabin with 2 rooms, bathroom and kitchen for only CLP 25,000 (about $50). We were also offered dinner in their restaurant and as there weren't many other places in the village, we accepted.

Before dinner we had a walk around the village; it was all very picturesque - the river, horses, the beach on the lake, mountains, the colourful ferry to Argentina. As we were taking photos of the sunset on the volcano, the cat decided to 'own' David by spraying on him... it stunk!!

David quickly changed all his clothes and joined the others for dinner. We had deep fried salmon, mash, salad and bread... and bottle of wine for only CLP 2,500 (about 5 dollars). This was a really cheap place to stay, eat and drink.