After a reasonably comfortable night on the bus - no wine, Tia Maria or hellish snorers this time - we arrived in Pucón in the heart of Chile's Lake District. In actual fact we appeared to have arrived in an out of season Swiss ski resort. The main street and the newer parts of town in particular consist of wooden chalet-style buildings. A lake to one side and overlooked by a snowcapped volcano on the other, it is a very pretty town indeed.

There is in fact a small ski resort on the volcano, and a few others within reach and so an out of season ski resort is exactly what Pucón was. However it also has many summer activities - such as hiking, river rafting and the lake itself. A very hungover English girl called Sarah was manning the tour office attached to our hostel and we soon found ourselves signed up for Class IV rafting, climbing the volcano, and a relaxing nighttime visit to some hot springs.

So after a morning soaking up the very pleasant atmosphere of the town we joined the small rafting group. An Argentinian couple drew the short straw as the rest of the group consisted of us, an American girl and an Irish girl, so the guiding was solely in English. The countryside in the area, as ever, is beautiful. Forest covered mountains, lush pastures, lakes, rivers and chalet-style holiday homes. It does not look like the Latin America you expect.

The rafting was insane, so much fun. The Class IV rapids were another world compared to the Class III we did in Peru. The guide was determined to have us tip over but somehow we avoided it, even going over a 3m drop off. A little scary but hilarious. Photos on a CD, not iPad friendly and so yet to be uploaded.

We got back to the previously quiet hostel to find it overrun by a group of older Poles, with the odd Israeli thrown in for good measure. Socks and underwear drying on every available surface. Ugh. We'd planned on eating in the hostel that evening and so poor Fabrice had to share the kitchen with this mad crowd. The bottle of wine helped.

All in all a great day. The volcano climb meeting time was 6:30am and so an early night was in order.