Our journey to the final new continent of the trip was longwinded to say the least. After bidding a fond farewell to LA and all its comforts we boarded the first of 3 flights that would take us to Santiago de Chile via Costa Rica and Peru. It was a long and tiring journey but eventually we did arrive into Chile's capital city at 3am, two days after we set off, and just had to wait until the buses started up at 7am to get to our hostel and a much needed bed. Unfortunately what we didn't know was that the hostel had recently moved but had not updated its address, and so we arrived at the wrong place with no idea of where to go to the new hostel. Fortunately, with the help of phone, internet and a very understanding lady at another hostel we managed to find our place and Alan managed to avoid being on the wrong end of a full scale hissy fit. We just hoped that this wasn't an omen for the weeks to come.

As much as we tried to attack the new continent and new country with gusto, we were seriously suffering the effects of jetlag and 3 overnight flights in 4 days and decided to take things slowly for the first week. And so a few days of light exploration of Santiago were coupled with a lot of relaxing at the hostel. We'd been warned a couple of times that Santiago wasn't the most thrilling of places to visit and that Chilean food leaves rather a lot to be desired, yet we were still left feeling disappointed at our first encounter with Latin America. We took a daytrip to the rather eclectic town of Valparaiso on the coast; part navy port, part university town and part artist colony and had a lovely time wandering up and down staircases and alleyways, looking at the monuments, views of the Pacific and the colourful houses built up on hillsides. We even took a ride on one of the town's many funiculars that have been trundling up and down the hills since 1883. The driver, though a rather grumpy looking chap did let out a little chuckle as Alan had to crouch to get into the carriage without banging his head - being tall is funny in South America too! Back in Santiago we had just enough time to meet up with one of Alan's friend's uncles to enjoy a proper Chilean treat - Burnley V West Ham in the FA cup. Eventually we felt back to normal enough to get on with our trip and explore some of Chile's more exciting offerings.

We boarded our first overnight bus (on which we were very pleased to find pillows, blankets and a small but nevertheless welcome breakfast - a real step up from the "foot coffin" bus in Asia) to Pucón a small town in the lake district famed for its proximity to Villarica Volcano and for having a pretty ski resort feel, though we had no real idea of what we were letting ourselves in for activity-wise as the clouds were so low that for the first part of the day we couldn't even see the mountains, let alone the Volcano we were planning to climb. A lovely day was spent wandering around the town, with its swiss chalet like architecture and relaxing at the Hostel (or trying to - the owner had one too many rules for our liking and was constantly following us round telling us off for things). That evening after the weather had cleared we got our first glimpse of the Volcano and decided to book our places on an excursion to scale it, that done we sat back and crossed our fingers for good weather.

We woke early the next morning to find that the wind had picked up considerably over night, but the sky was, fortunately, perfectly clear. After assembling the group, checking all the equipment and meeting our guide Jason we headed off to make our assault on the Volcano. The strong wind meant that Jason was in some doubt as to weather we'd be able to make it all the way to the top due to the swirling gasses coming from the crater - this was an active Volcno after all - though he assured us that he'd take things slowly to give it time to calm down. And so, off we set, ice picks in hands, helmets on and ready to walk to the first base. It wasn't an easy first section and our group lost two members almost immediately (they couldn't hack it!). Even from first base the views over the surrounding countryside were beautiful and after a quick break to don our trendy blue and orange waterproofs and eat some welcome chocolate, the hardcore of the group - us, 3 dutch people, 2 Argentinians and a German - set off for the snowline. Along the way we passed a few groups that had already decided to turn back because of the wind, but Jason our guide was certain that if we kept a slow but steady pace we could make it, and so we pushed on.

We reached the snowline after a couple of hours hiking and that's where our "expedition" really began. We all strapped on our Crampons, added an extra layer under the waterproofs and had a quick lesson in how to stop yourself careering down the mountain if you fell by using your ice axe as a break. Cautiously we set off in the snow, feeling like first time explorers, and walked up the glacier trying to avoid some of the huge crevasses that had opened up. After five hours, a bit of scrambling, a bit more chocolate and a lot of huffing and puffing we reached the top - one of only three groups to make it that day. It was a huge sense of acheivement matched by amazing views of the coutryside, lakes, mountains and other volcanoes. The fumes coming from the top were pretty horrible and really burned the lungs if you breathed in too deeply. We picniced at the top sheltered from the wind and fumes and contemplated the trek back down. It was a little daunting as the climb up had been tiring to say the least. As we set off moral was a little low and our chatter had all but stopped. A little more than 10 minutes into the descent Jason stopped, asked us to strap on a little protective cover over our bums and showed us another way to use the ice pick as a break, before stepping aside to show us the real way down - a maze of slides carved into the glacier that meant that our journey time down was quickly reduced to 1.5 hours of whoops, screams and laughter as we hurled ourselves downhill at pace. It was a fantastic end to a great day that we capped off with a couple of beers in the garden as the volcano gently smoked away in the background. The next day was definitely a recovery day spent eating ice cream, strolling around the lake and trying to relax our aching muscles before the journey further south to Puerto Varas.

Our Journey to Puerto Varas was, for the most part, a pleasant trip through rolling countryside punctuated with the odd volcano cone or lake. That was until we puled up at the side of the highway and were told by the bus driver that we had arrived at destination. We got off the bus and collected our bags assuming that we'd be given instructions on how to get to town. Instead, the driver hopped back on the bus and drove off, leaving us to try and cross an eight lane highway and figure out where to go. Fortunately (or not) we got chatting to an american who'd got off at the same point; he seemed to think that this was quite a common occurance and that it would be a manageable walk into town. Half an hour later we were very happy to have a) reached our destination and b) got rid of one of the most boring people we'd spoken to on the trip so far!

Puerto Varas isn't really (as far as we could work out) a port. In fact it is an old German settlement popular with holidaying Chileans for its Lake, proximity to various walking trails and its Casino. We arrived just at the end of the summer holidays and the remaining families seemed to be desperately making the most of the last summer rays. We, on the otherhand, were desperately seeking a fine bottle of vino to while away an afternoon with. The local super market didn't disappoint and we were soon sat in the hostel garden supping a pleasant drop of Carmenere, reading our books and planning the next few day's activities. Later we finished off the bottle whilst talking to an older couple who seemed to have more energy than teenagers and who had been rock climbing, hiking AND white water rafting all in the few hours since they'd arrived!

Feeling inspired by the all-action heroes of the previous day and and also by the surrounding scenery, the next morning we hopped on a bus to another small town (read two shacks either side of a roundabout) on another lake to hike through the forest to another volcano. We'd come prepared with a picnic, plenty of water and a set of directions and set off like intrepid explorers along the edge of the lake to the start of the trail. An hour or so later, having retraced the route a couple of times , looped around a campsite and along the lake shore as far as we could we could we came to the conclusion that the "lying planet" had struck again and sat down on the beach to console ourselves with a couple of empanadas (South Americas version of a pasty). To try and make the most of the afternoon we walked 6kms back along the dusty access road to see some waterfalls that we'd seen advertised on the way passed. Unfortunately by the time we arrived, the park ranger was just shutting up for the day and we had to give up and jump on a bus back to town for another bottle of red and more tales from the couple who were sixty going on seventeen. An altogether more relaxing time was spent the following day pottering around the town avoiding the ubiquitous hot dog stalls, munching on more empanadas, and taking in the goings on of small town life.

In truth, our time in Chile was not quite as Gung-ho as we had expected South America to be; for the most part it felt much like we'd accidentally flown to Spain and so felt a little disappointed. Having said that the climb up the volcano and the wines proved to be highlights. We left Chile the following day hoping that Argentina would give us more of the wild side of South America.

Kate and Alan x