Volcana Bound

We leave the hostel at 9 in the morning and take the 5 minute walk to the station, the station at Valdivia is having a makeover, but even as it stands s one of the most modern we have encountered snce being in South America , While we wait there is a massage chair in the foyer and i idulge myself with having a go. It is well worth the 500 chilean pesos(50p) and im tempted to have another go , but opt for a cigarette before i board the bus. We make our way out of the city promtly and yet again really could have done another few days here,. The traffic is quite bad, but we soon find out this is due to roadworks and are on our way soon enough. We arrive at a small place called Vallarica where a guy from Dovecote in Liverpool gets on and we chat with him and his girlfriend about where they have been and any recomendations they can give us. Its strange to not talk about home with him, but when your travelling your home is where you lay your rucksack (doesnt quite have the same ring as hat) and it is all about the next places yo are heading. Within half an hour we arrive to the town of Pucon and as we get off the bus the view of volcano Villarica imonopolises the landscape. The volcano last erupted in December 2014 and is one of the most active in South America, and dotted around the town are evacuation points and signs for emergency exits. We arrive at the hostel and the room is ready. We are sharing a room with 2 guys from Korea and ask them which is the best places for tours etc, then have a walk into town accustomed ourselves with the huge amount of tourism companies and to decide what we will do in our few days here. We are absolutely spoilt for choice, and after walking the whole of o'higgins were still undecided. A lot of what you can do is governed by the weather and it is too late to do anything now so after a walk down the plaza and to the edge of the lake we grab a quick empanada (similar to a pasty) and do a shop as tonight were cooking curry. Hostel french andes is really well equipped and the set up here is one of the best we have come across with a full organisation for recycling etc, which has become so much more important for me since we have been travelling.
Mark starts the preparation for the food and I look online for our options of the next part of our trip, and find a flight from Santiago to calama for 18 quid which will take 2hrs (on the bus 23hrs and 40 quid) and I'm jumping round for joy. This soon stops when after 20 times of getting to the payment page I am constantly kicked out. Mark by now has cooked the curry and we invite a girl from Holland and a girl from Nantwich (England ) to join us as they have been helping me try to book these amazing tickets. After much frustration I am beaten and decide to try again early tomorrow.Read more