The night after finishing the volcano our clever guide thought it would be good after all our exercise to have a soak in the hot springs. She was right. She was wrong about being able to sneak in some alcohol - after settling at the pool furthest away from the office, an old lady came along, looked in our bags, then walked away with them all!

Sunday was the day we realised that there was a downside to travelling with Pachamama By Bus. Pucon is one of the adventure capitals of Chile, meaning there were plenty of things that we would happily have been left behind for and caught the next bus rolling through town. What particularly caught our attention was hydroplaning. Imagine a large float, the kind that you would use when learning to swim, that is big enough to fit your forearms into. With this and a wetsuit you go down rapids - no raft necessary. Unfortunately, the next bus wasn't for another week and our timetable didn't allow for that kind of dilly-dallying.

But leaving Pucon on Sunday, there was a slight delay. It turned out that the German guy on our bus had walked into the patio door during the night. Sounds like a good drunk story? He was sober. And Chileans don't do house insurance, so he had to pay for a whole new window.

Moving south towards Valdivia we travelled through the Seven Lakes Region, a picturesque area of land that is now a reservation for the Mapuche tribe. Its also known as Chile's Lake District, even though one of the lakes is in Argentina. There are numerous places to get great views of the landscape as well as a few statues dedicated to the Mapuche. Our guide didn't mention if these ones are as controversial as the one in Santiago's Plaza de Armas.

In Valdivia we toured around a Spanish fort. It's right on the coast, on a cliff top. One of those places where you can lean into the wind and it will hold you up.

Nearby we experienced some authentic Chilean food, music and dance at a local Sunday festival. Chilean food is not unusual, featuring lots of roasted and barbecued meats, empanadas and, in the Patagonian region, chocolate, German beer and lamb. Sean and I decided to try some cordero (roast lamb) but were massively let down by the more-fat-than-meat joint. So we got another meat kebab instead.

In our hostel in Valdivia I ended up in a five person cabin, which naturally became party central for the group that night. I managed to consume the slightly unusual combination of beer, red wine, rum and cigars.