Arriving at Chaiten was quite sobering because it was buried in volcanic ash in2009. Poignantly the school reopened for the first time the day before we got there. The people have obviously fought hard to build up the town again and you can wander down the old streets which still have several feet of ash around the buildings and there are cars still buried up to their roof. We then crossed to the island of Chiloe and were unlucky as the weather changed and we had torrential rain for a couple of days. We crossed back to the mainland and have spent several days by a huge lake in a town called Puerto Varas. It is stunning with it's views of 3 volcanoes. Yesterday we drove 12 km up the Oserno volcano but the views from the top were obscured . We have visited lakes , waterfalls museums and churches. We are in a region called the Lake District and we are enjoying it immensely. The roads are paved and the people friendly and we will dawdle here for a few days before we cross the border back into Argentina to see their side of the region.