Can't say I liked getting up 5.15am for the 6am bus to Pucón but luckily I slept a lot of the way. With it being the Easter weekend the border seemed busy but we arrived in Pucón by 11.30, only a little after the ETA. I hadn't booked a hostel and Pucón is a small town so I wandered a bit and passed a hostel where the owner was standing outside and asked if I wanted to see a room. It cost 7,000 pesos and it was own room again- I could get used to this! The owners were very friendly and it was nice chatting with them and a good chance to speak some Spanish as the opportunities seem to have been fewer recently.

There should have been a view of the volcano from the hostel terrace but sadly it couldn't be seen; it was covered with thick cloud while I was in town- I guess my good luck with the weather couldn't last forever! Friday was a rainy, wet day as was Saturday til the afternoon when it did clear up and there was some blue sky and sunshine, just not over the volcano! Pucón is a big tourist destination for outdoor adventure sports which, as most of you know, are not my thing! The volcano climb is the biggest attraction and many travellers come to do just that, and if it's bad weather they wait around in the hope of good weather, as lots must have been doing this weekend. I have met quite a lot of travellers who have done the climb who have really enjoyed it, especially the slide back down on the snow! Volcano Villarrica is an active volcano and the town has a traffic light alert system in case of eruptions. Apparently it spews lava, ash and smoke on a daily basis but of course I didn't get to see any of that!

Since adrenaline activities not being on my 'to do' list I decided to spend the afternoon at one of Pucón's many hot springs. I decided on one which would be quiet and peaceful, remembering my last trip to the baths in Banos (Ecaudor) which was nice but not really what I could call relaxing! It was relaxing with only a few other people there but only had 2 pools- a thermal water swimming pool and then a kind of water hole which had a lovely location down by the river but I did worry slightly about the walk down the slope and steps to get there as last time I went down steps in wet weather in flip flops in Minca, Colombia I fell and hurt my leg. Luckily no such bad luck this time and I left the place feeling relaxed but slightly annoyed that there was no water for a shower. On the bus to and from the place I saw Tom, an Australian, who was on the Navimag so we had a nice catch up. It turned out the most popular hot springs (Los Pozones) was not as busy as I'd feared so I could have gone there instead but never mind.

Sunday I had plans to go walking in the National Park but it was cloudy and raining so I decided not to go. Instead I took the opportunity to sort out some of my photos and then went for a late lunch. I had a wander around the town as the weather had cleared up and sat on the beach by the lake for a bit. In the square they were renting out kid's bikes and electric cars- the owner of this little enterprise must have been happy about the improved weather! It made a change from seeing the random big toy horse for photos (which I have seen in many squares in South American towns!) although maybe that was somewhere and I just didn't spot it!

At 7.50 it was time for my night bus up to Valparaiso in 'Middle Chile'- only 90 minutes from Santiago, on the coast and I'd heard good things about it so I was looking forward to visiting there. The 12 hour night bus was ok, I paid extra for 'cama' which are the bigger seats that recline a bit further, slept quite well and quite a lot, though it's never the same as sleeping in a bed!