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Kevin and Joannie on tour
We tidied up the cabana and left the key in the door as we saw no one around. The road out of the national park was much quieter than on the Sunday we had arrived. We were held up by some roadworkers who had been tarmacking sections of the road and painting white lines badly and somewhat unnecessarily as most of the road was just gravel.
We headed further south to Talca, where, as the guidebook says, the phrase "London, Paris and Talca" is painted mysteriously on the buses. At St Clemente we bought petrol, but when we tried to buy food the shops were only basic. We decided to head back to Talca to go to a bigger supermarket and promptly got lost in the one way system. Having found both a bank and a supermarket, Kevin guarded the truck which had our cases in the back whilst Joan shopped.
Then back into the hills of the Maule valley, we found Lago Colbun and the cabanas quite easily. However, though they seemed quiet, the guy who greeted us there said they we all full. Joan explained she had emailed a couple of months previous, and the chap responded the boss was away and had all the details. We both got the feeling that the cabanas were not full, but that the chap couldn't be bothered. He did say however there were other places to stay further along the lake.
Driving down a track we came across what looked like a private compound of houses. Kevin asked a chap if they were cabanas available and he ushered us to a set of villas with a pool by the lake. The lady there spoke excellent English and explained these were her family’s houses and they were celebrating Christmas Eve together but they had one villa free which we could hire. It was a four bedroomed villa with complete working kitchen, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The price was $75,000 (£60) per night no matter how many people stayed. She explained that she would be returning to her home in Rancagua the next day but the caretaker and his wife would look after us. Jose lived in a much smaller building at the back of the garden.
It was good to have all mod cons, but initially the oven didn’t work. However the Kevin Clarke method of push everything yielded results.
Whilst cooking dinner the electricity failed twice but was quickly fixed. When it failed a light plugged in to the mains came on in the main room so power failures were a regular occurrence.
The heat here is exhausting and we weren’t up long. The youngsters of the family however partied on till gone four!
We headed further south to Talca, where, as the guidebook says, the phrase "London, Paris and Talca" is painted mysteriously on the buses. At St Clemente we bought petrol, but when we tried to buy food the shops were only basic. We decided to head back to Talca to go to a bigger supermarket and promptly got lost in the one way system. Having found both a bank and a supermarket, Kevin guarded the truck which had our cases in the back whilst Joan shopped.
Then back into the hills of the Maule valley, we found Lago Colbun and the cabanas quite easily. However, though they seemed quiet, the guy who greeted us there said they we all full. Joan explained she had emailed a couple of months previous, and the chap responded the boss was away and had all the details. We both got the feeling that the cabanas were not full, but that the chap couldn't be bothered. He did say however there were other places to stay further along the lake.
Driving down a track we came across what looked like a private compound of houses. Kevin asked a chap if they were cabanas available and he ushered us to a set of villas with a pool by the lake. The lady there spoke excellent English and explained these were her family’s houses and they were celebrating Christmas Eve together but they had one villa free which we could hire. It was a four bedroomed villa with complete working kitchen, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The price was $75,000 (£60) per night no matter how many people stayed. She explained that she would be returning to her home in Rancagua the next day but the caretaker and his wife would look after us. Jose lived in a much smaller building at the back of the garden.
It was good to have all mod cons, but initially the oven didn’t work. However the Kevin Clarke method of push everything yielded results.
Whilst cooking dinner the electricity failed twice but was quickly fixed. When it failed a light plugged in to the mains came on in the main room so power failures were a regular occurrence.
The heat here is exhausting and we weren’t up long. The youngsters of the family however partied on till gone four!
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