Pucon is a lovely alpine-like town in the middle of Chile, a place for outdoor enthusiasts.  It was a town with a beach, set on a lake in the shadow of a snow covered volcano.  Because Santiago was so charmless, Pucon was all the more charming.  Picture postcard pretty, people from Chile go there on their holidays.  There was a volcano to climb, white water rafting, horse riding, pretty much anything conceivable.  So after tea and a few beers it was off to bed, tomorrow we would climb the Villarrica Volcano.         

Seven o'clock and we were gearing up for the walk, the volcano in the background a constant reminder of what we would have to combat.  So seven days after the end of the inca trail Lisa was once again set for a trip up a mountain.  It was a glorious day, sunny, warm and still.  The snow was soft as we started the climb upwards.  We had our ice picks to help steady us as we climbed 1400 metres up the volcano, finishing just over 2800 meters.  The views on the way up were stunning, we could see for miles, the whole of the lake, the next valley, the next lake, it was a perfect summers day.  As we neared the top the smell from the volcano became more acute, the sulphur burning our throat and eyes.  The slight discomfort though was worth it as we got to the top and took in the views.       

After the obligatory photos it was time to head back down.  What had taken about fours hours to climb,  would take an hour to get down.  There was only one thing for it, we would descend on our arses.  The mountain guides had created these toboggan runs in the snow, and on our tiny plastic seats, which barely covered a cheek, we slid down.  It was great fun, we got some good speed up, and before we knew it we were at the bottom.  Lisa was exhausted and after a well earned beer she had a little nap.

In the evening I cooked for most of the group, spag bol.
Things when cooking for strangers:
Try not to kill anyone
If at all possible make it edible
Make sure everyone is drinking so that its edibleness isn't a massive issue.
So on a two ring cooker in a kitchen smaller than a toilet cubical I attempted not to kill anyone. 

The next day we took it easy, went to the beach had a beer and chilled it was another amazingly sunny and hot day in South America and what better way to spend it than watching the world go by.  In the evening we went to some hot springs, lovely and warm we relaxed ahead of another travel day aboard Peggy.

Bizarrely, as we were 800km from la casa roja, who would we see but Ryan and Lisa, luckily there were no earthquakes to drink here.

The next day we would be in Argentina.