Fun fun fun in the Chilean Lakes

Day 53 - 27th January
We arrived in the town of Pucon in the Chilean Lakes District in the mid-morning and headed to Hostal el Refugio, our home for the next few days.  The hostel was lovely, with very friendly staff and we had a late breakfast and several of the free cups of tea on offer whilst waiting for our room to be readied.  The hostel offers all manner of outdoor activities, from rafting and canyoning to hiking the nearby volcano, as well as tips for several self-guided walks and cycle trails.  We got chatting to a Swiss girl and a German girl and all decided to go mountain biking for the afternoon.  We picked up a map from the hostel, hired some bikes and set off into the sunshine.  The Lakes District is incredibly picturesque, sort of a cross between the Scottish highlands and the Alps.  We followed the road out of town and then turned onto a gravel road, that twisted and turned up and down through the countryside.  The road took us over and alongside a beautiful river and eventually up to some waterfalls, called Ojos de Caburga.  The falls were really pretty, plunging into an azure lake, and we stopped here for lunch. 

With our bikes

Ojos de Caburga

Although the scenery was beautiful and the ride was fun, unfortunately my elbow wasn't as fixed as I'd initially thought and I spent most of the ride in pain.  The map said it was 10km to the falls, but it turned out to be more like 20, but we decided to push on for the last 5km to Lago Caburga.  After 5km of uphill riding we arrived at the lake, a bit like a sunny Windemere but with a large black sand beach, filled with sunbathing Chileans.  

Lago Caburga

Sadly, as the ride was much further and had taken much longer than we had initially planned, we didn't have much time to enjoy the lake before setting off on the 25km ride back to the hostel.  Tired, and with a sore arm, but very happy after a lovely ride we picked up some beer and food and had a great evening in at the hostel, chatting with the other residents until late.




Day 54 - 28th January
Today the weather turned and would stay wet and cloudy for another few days so we decided it would be a good day to head to the nearby Parque Nacional de Huerquehue for a walk in the woods.  We caught the bus and set off on the 'Los Lagos' trail, supposedly a 7km trail through the woods to some lakes and back to the park entrance.  We should have learnt from yesterday's biking adventure that Chilean distances bear no resemblance to reality - the trail was much steeper and longer than publicised - more like 8km to the start of the lakes, then another few km round and then 8km back to the lodge!  Needless to say we didn't make the whole loop in the 5.5 hours we had allowed but we did manage most of it.  It started gently along the shore of Lago Tinquilco, before heading up into the forest.  Cue an hour and a half of steep walking through the trees to a mirador with a great view of the lake, and then onwards to a collection of lakes in the middle of the park.  Once again it felt like being in the highlands, although the lakes were fringed with Monkey Puzzle trees instead of pines.  We made it to the nearest shore of three lakes before deciding to turn back to avoid missing the last bus back to Pucon.  Despite the rain it was another great day in a beautiful area.  Once again it was dinner and wine until late in the hostel, chatting and drinking with other people from all around the world.

Lago Tinquilco

Lago Chico

Lago Verde

Huerquehue

Day 55 - 29th January
After two active days, and with more showers forecast we spent a relaxing morning hanging around the hostel deciding what to do that wouldn't involve climbing anything.  Eventually we settled on the hot springs, along with a Dutch girl and an Austrian guy.  The hostel runs a tour in the evening but for half the price we took a bus to the springs ourselves.  It was a nice, tranquil way to spend a rainy afternoon luxuriating in hot water, and made a nice change from the activity of the previous days.


Day 56 - 30th January

We had booked a canyoning trip for today, along with a Dutch couple we met at the hostel so we were up early only to discover that it had been cancelled due to the bad weather.  So we went back to bed with tea and biscuits, and later arranged to stay in Pucon an extra day so we could do the canyoning tomorrow.  Then at 1:30 we were told the trip was back on and starting at 2:00.  It's apparently usually very popular, with groups of up to 20, but we were the only 4 people foolish enough to go out in the rain with the river so swollen.  Even our guide, Nicholas said he had never been in such high water!  We spent a fabulous three hours hiking through dense forest, through and across rivers with incredibly strong currents and abseiled down three waterfalls.  The most beautiful part was walking through a deep, narrow canyon, carved by lava floes from the volcano. At points the water was so deep and strong we had to straddle the walls to make progress, and once I lost my footing and was completely submerged in the river.  We were incredibly lucky to have the canyon to ourselves and, having never done it before, I am now a complete canyoning convert!

Me abseiling down the 2nd waterfall

Jon after the first waterfall

 

Walking through the canyon

We survived!

Day 57 - 31st January
We moved back into the friendly comfort of Hostal el Refugio this morning to discover that Franz, a German there, was waiting to cook us breakfast.  He provided fried eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms and we provided the bread and tea.  With everyone else climbing the volcano today (having booked it days in advance in anticipation of the end of the rain), and having failed to do any admin since arriving on account of the incredibly sociable hostel, we spent the day blogging, planning and drinking tea.  We even finally made it out into Pucon for a wander around the town and down to the lake.  With the sun finally out again it was a lovely stroll and the volcano was visible again towering above the town.

Pucon with Lago Vilarrica and Volcan Vilarrica

Day 58 - 1st February
Today we sadly bade farewell to what felt like our home, with lots of hugs for the staff and other guests on El Refugio in Pucon.  We got on a 6 hour bus to the town of Puerto Varas, a German settlement on the shore of yet another spectacular lake, this one under the snowy gaze of Volcan Osorno.  We had originally planned to stay here for 3 nights to take advantage of the lake and nearby national parks but, having been delayed in Pucon, we'll have to explore its sights tomorrow.  Another day, another hostel - this one (Casa Azul) is German-run and the cleanest, most organised hostel we've stayed in so far, with notes  detailing the house rules pinned all over the place.  Puerto Varas itself is a lovely town, bigger than Pucon and set up with more hotels and shops, rather than the refugios, campsites and cabanas we had just come from. 

Lago Llanquihue at Puerto Varas

Day 59 - 2nd February
We enjoyed a great breakfast at Casa Azul and then got on a local bus to take us the hour or so to Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales, Chile's first national park and supposedly one of the most spectacular in the Lakes District.  On the bus we bumped into one of the girls we went biking in with Pucon and discovered that she is booked on the same ferry as us for the next part of our trip!  We decided to spend the day together wandering in the park.  First stop was the spectacular Saltos de Petrohue, a huge series of thundering waterfalls, carved in the lava floes from Volcan Osorno.  Having seen a fair few waterfalls now I would still say this set are my favourite.  The sheer scale and force of them is breathtaking, especially as they sit below the beautiful snow-capped volcano.  We then reached the tiny port of Petrohue, on the shore of Lago Todo los Santos, in the national park - the most beautiful lake I've seen here.  It's waters are stunningly blue and it is ringed all around with sheer, tree-covered mountains, with the jagged, rocky or ice-covered peaks of three volcanoes behind them.  From here it is possible to get a ferry across the lake and cross over the mountains into Argentina.  After struggling to find the hiking trail we wanted (the Chileans don't seem big on signs or maps) we found a track in the woods and followed it, along dried up lava rivers, under the watchful gaze of the volcano.  After an hour or so it started to climb steeply and we managed to work out that we had found the trail that takes you up the side of the volcano, not the easy lakeside stroll we had signed up for!  So, being wimps, we turned back and spent a lovely hour or so relaxing at the lake side.  The lake was so inviting that Jon and I went swimming in our underwear, having forgotten to pack swimming costumes.  The water was cool and refreshing and the scenery so incredible that we were reluctant to get out.  

Saltos de Petruohue and Volcan Osorno

Another great lunch spot

Laguna Todo Los Santos

Having a swim

This was another fantastic day in a truly beautiful region of the country, but tomorrow we must bid a sad farewell to the Lakes District.  Don't worry though, the next chapter will be even more amazing... Tomorrow we head to Puerto Montt to board the 4-day Navimag Ferry to Puerto Natales in Southern Patagonia.  The ferry will take us through the Pataonian Fjords, past glaciers and deposit us close to the Torres del Paine, what a journey!