Hi everyone, Belated best wishes from the Chilean Lake District - albeit three weeks after we first set foot in it .... oops! :-) Our first stop was the "adventure capital" Pucon and within minutes of arriving we had signed up for back-to-back activities for the duration of our stay. The first of these was a nocturnal trip to the thermal baths at Los Pozones. Safety conscious as we are, we bought wine in a cartoon rather than a glass bottle and located two plastic cups. On arrival we were disappointed to find that the two main rules of the complex were no alcohol and no sex. Seeing most people breaking one of these we decided to join in .... and enjoyed our wine whilst gazing at the stars. The following morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and were delighted that we were able to get back into our summer clothes once again. After a much needed lie-in, we picked up our mountain bikes and map and headed off for Lake Caburgua 25km away. The ride there took us along a dirt track through undulating terrain with pretty panoramic views over the surrounding lakes, rivers, mountains and volcanoes. On the way we took a detour to visit the "Ojos de Caburgua", a circular formation of waterfalls and a haven of tranquility .... plus it was a good place to get off the bikes and stretch our legs! The last section before the lake was an arduous 5km climb along the main road. To add insult to injury at the brow of the hill was a sign telling us to slow down .... not sure that would have been possible without going backwards! We eventually reached the lake at 3.30pm and were more than ready for our lunch. Fortunately there was one restaurant in the town still open and it served delicious pizza. The route back to Pucon followed the tarmac main road and our uphill struggle on the way there was rewarded with plenty of free-wheeling on the way back. We cruised into Pucon accompanied by beautiful red skies as the sun disappeared behind the mountains - a great end to a great day. An early start was on the cards the next day as we joined a group from our hostel to face the challenge of climbing 2,800m Volcano Villarica. A minibus and chairlift took us to 1,800m - from then on it was just us vs the volcano! The first two hours involved a steep climb up volcanic rock taking us to snow level .... and then the fun really began! Aided by ice-picks and our trusty guide, we spent the next two hours zigzagging up the ice to reach the summit. Here, a hole of bubbling molten lava greeted us and we perched on the edge of the crater (at a safe distance!) to watch the volcano intermittently spew hot lava into the air .... wow! Our method of descent was rather more novel and entertaining. Several bobsleigh-like trenches had been carved into the ice, one after the other down the slope of the volcano. Using our ice-picks and feet as brakes, we sat at the top of each one and let gravity do the rest! Where the trenches were narrow, child-bearing hips also acted as a natural brake; where the trenches widened, however, we built up some serious speed and pile-ups and off-piste-ing were not uncommon! Bruised, battered and soaked right through, we arrived back on stoney ground, removed our not-so-waterproof protective clothing, and emptied huge quantities of ice from down our trousers! The final leg was a relatively easy (compared to the rest of it) descent on soft, shaley slopes down to the bottom of the chairlifts where the minibus (and portaloos!) awaited. We arrived back at the hostel absolutely shattered, perhaps a 50km bike ride the day before such a mammoth expedition was not so wise, but nevertheless, we had a brilliant time in Pucon and were very proud of our achievements. Two of the friends we made in Pucon, Jamie and Leanne, joined us at our next destination, Valdivia. Heralded the most beautiful city in Chile, we had high expectations .... they were not met. After a stroll around the town and university campus, and a visit to a couple of 18th century Spanish forts (where the information provided merely informed us they had no information!), we moved on to the island of Chiloe. Chiloe was also supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in Chile .... again we were not convinced! We visited all the folklore museums and traditional wooden churches in the towns and villages of Ancud, Castro, Chonchi, Dalcahue and Achao. Maybe it was the three days of continuous rain, maybe it was the lack of public transport to the national parks, or maybe we had just become blase travellers; whatever it was, we decided to make use of our flexible tickets and booked an earlier flight out of the Lake District for warm and sunny Santiago. Details of what we got up to there will follow in the next postcard. Until then, take care, Love Kirstie & Zena