Chillan doesn't have much to offer backpackers, it's just an ugly city. We booked 2 nights here to give us a full day to gather information of how to get to Valle de Termas and get a trekking map. You can trek through an area of geysers, mud pools, hot pools and camp wild. Not many people go there so it's quiet walking and camping. After booking our accommodation and bus tickets I found out just by chance that Volcan Chillan 80 kms east of Chillan is very livel...

Back in El Calafate our room was like a sauna in the afternoon, here in Pucon our room is like a fridge all day and all night. There are radiators but the heating is turned off. There is a log burning stove in the lounge / dining / kitchen area but only seems to be lit for a few hours in the evening. We complained about the temperature in our room and they gave us an electric heater. The weather improved but this was difficult to discern from inside the hostel ...

Villarrica volcano - I was on my own for summiting this one, well not quite on my own just without Donna. I was up at 5.30am and at the trekking agency at 6.15am to get kitted out. You can hike up this volcano independently but you need a car to drive the dirt road to reach the base. I had booked a place with a trekking agency for Friday as the forecast was excellent. We all crammed into a minibus with rucksacks on our laps - there was no floor space remaining....

An uneventful bus journey to Pucon, except 'Back to the Future' in Spanish was interesting - shame we didn't see the end (as usual). Arrived in Pucon in good weather with views of Villarrica volcano. Our accommodation Hostel La Nuez seemed dark and deserted! We hit the town in search of a haircut for both of us. A successful mission, Donna reckoned an aged 'Donny Osmond' cut our hair but I couldn't see the resemblance (£13 for 2 cuts). The forecast for the nex...

We braved the roads, that is to say we hired a car!! We arrived to collect the car at 9.00am but immediately after the office opened it closed whilst the hire guy went home after showing us a large hole in the backside of his trousers (which presumably had just happened). We were evicted from the office and left at the roadside until his son arrived to sort out our reasonably priced car for the day. The plan was to drive to Frutillar, then back to Puerto Varas ...