Hola Amigos y Familia, We have spent the last few days in a small town called Pucon based in the Lake District of Chile. We crossed over the Andes by bus from Bariloche passing some beautiful scenery and chilly looking lakes. Crossing into Chile the landscape has been very similar to Argentina with the main difference being the constant rain that we have had here. It seriously has not stopped! Pucon is a pretty little town set on two lakes. It has an abundance of little craft shops, cafes, restaurants and touristy excursion places. The people here seem very friendly and there is an abundance of local dogs happy to assist you on a walk around the neighbourhood. We were really hoping to trek up a 3000m live volcano that has lava bubbling away in the crater (you can actually see this from the top of the mountain) and also hike in the national park here that has (apparently) some of the most beautiful lakes ....but unfortunately with the bad weather that has closed in we were unable to get out and about as much as we would have liked. Instead we have been chilling out at the quiet hostel we are staying at, reading books, getting up late, strolling around the town and of course as usual eating too much! We did take a night excursion to Los Pozones Termas (the local natural thermal pools heated by the volcano). There are 5 natural pools varying in heat and within walking distance of each other. Surrounding the pools were forest covered hills and a very loud and cold looking river rushing past. We got there at about 9pm, undressed in the cold and then chilled out in the pools with a few beers for a couple of hours under the cloudy skies (no star gazing this time). In our group we had a Chilean guy (Nelson) and an American chicky (Amanda) who we chatted with and traded travel stories. After spending two hours in the water we were as wrinkled as prunes and pretty sleepy! Today we head for Santiago on a 12 hour night bus. At this stage we thinik we will spend a few days in Santiago (we hear the weather is pretty grey here too) and then cross back into Argentina to Mendoza for some wine sampling. More soon from the bright lights of Santiago! Love Sarah and Shane x