Terraverde, Hotel Temuco

... stay I lived with Bartolommeo (Tolo) and Josephina, their three children Claudia, Maria, and Jose, and their darling 5 year old granddaughter, Reinata. They live on a small farm about half an hour from Temuco Where they raise chickens, sheep, honey bees, and pigs, and grow potatoes, a wheat-like grain, cherries, apples, and some purple flower cash crop that I don't remember the name of. They are mainly subsistence farmers, as ...

... the cheapest and most stunning way to cross a border! While on the ferry we met with a couple of other people doing a cycling tour of patagonia - having covered over 3000km in 3 months. Really amazing stories, and ended up envying them for the experiences though knowing full well neither of us are quite insane enough to attempt it for ourselves. When we arrived in Puerto Pirihueco we couldn't believe how lucky we were not to have to stay here - any signs of hotels or ...

... wie ich bin hab ich mir die Route auf der Karte angeschaut und dachte mir das das Zentrum in walkingdistance ist....naja entweder war die Karte nicht so gut oder ich hab einfach eine falsche Abbbiegung genommen....naja ende der Geschichte ich hab mich erstma dick verlaufen.... hab also nach ca 30 min einen Bus genommen der ca. 30 Cent bis zum Zentrum gekostet hat....warum den nicht gleich so? nagut im Zentrum angekommen ...

... which made me wonder about how fast that lava could flow before it cooled and what it would be like to live there in it`s shadow. The boy said that he had been a bit nervous at first but he was fine now. It had errupted a few years earlier and his father had given me some pictures of the actual erruption. The waterfall at the end of the ride was lovely. I had just wanted somewhere to sit and think and think but I didn`t really feel I could in the kid`s company ...

... we collected our bags and went for a meal. Half an hour in we met a nice Chilean couple and their kid (lets call them B1, B2 and kid). Chilean people are much more friendly than the Arges. We sat together trying to traslate with our really bad spanish and B1´s bad English.... It was a laugh! Needless to say it all turned very messy and B1 paid for it all in the end! Bargain!!! Late, we grabbed a taxi (poor guy) and got to the bus station... Pronto!!!

... was thinner and it did take extra effort. Our group was split into 2: Oscar took Ben and Kat (who did have some mountaineering experience) and also Alicia and Matt. Our (slower) group consisted of myself, Sam, Pieter and Marije. We climbed for about 45 minutes till we first encountered snow. The mountaineering boots had extremely rigid soles which gripped well on the snow. German set a good, steady climbing pace. As we progressed, the ...

... is made more enjoyable as we attach 'bum flaps' to our overtrousers to sledge down avenues in the snow, like human bobsleighs. I cone a cropper along one slide, taking a spin and losing my ice pick (thankfully retrieved by the group leader, Claudio). Trudging down up to our knees in snow and sliding past the lower reaches over scree is almost as exhausting as the climb. It's been a long, occasionally tough and very satisfying day. I'm staying at La Tetara ('The ...

... a ne présageait rien de bon. Le bébé a d'ailleurs généré une solide discussion entre les gardiens et le guide, à l'entrée du parc national: les enfants en-dessous de 12 ans ne sont pas permis. Et ils ont bien raison! Pourtant, bébé Paula a pu entrer... Arrivés à 9h au bas du volcan, nous y voyons un attroupement de gens, tous équipés comme nous, chaque groupe ayant un "uniforme" d'une autre couleur. J'ai jeté un regard plein d'envie sur un groupe qui portait un ...

... which the Spanish maintained their control. The Fuerte de Niebla was really nice and had a very interesting museum. But sadly the Fuerte de Corral had been neglected. Walls had fallen and no one had bothered to clear them or restore them. Where once there was a church now lay a vacant block of concrete. And the young people at the gates who were selling the entry tickets couldn´t give much more information. It was an interesting insight into government expenditure on their national culture.

... it the looming snow capped Volcan Villarrica. We got to our beautiful luxurious cabañas (cabins) and I took a shower to refresh! Our cabin was huge and it had three rooms (and there were four of us) We drew cards for who got the master suite and I won. I haven't slept in a queen size bed in a while, and there was a whirlpool tub and everything. Very neat. The setting reminded me very much of Michigan, what with the lake, the trees and the type of ...