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After spending 4 weeks travelling together, it was sad to see Zanna leave and now writing a solo blog is an even weirder experience. We parted ways in the evening as I left to catch my night bus down to Puerto Varas and neither of us could really believe how quickly time had gone and how much we have done over these few weeks!
Upon arrival in Puerto Varas, I made my way to the hostel of which the main selling point was the feather duvets, luxury not spared by the majority of hostels. While my first solo journey had been relatively painless, I was very much looking forward to meeting some new travelling friends in the hostel. However, I was incredibly disappointed to learn that the hostel no longer had dorms meaning that I was in for a lonely night in a tiny single room that ressembled Harry Potter´s cupboard under the stairs. A very bizarre experience after spending 24/7 with Zanna, I didn´t know what to do with myself but was nevertheless determined to make the most of my time in this beautiful setting.
While the town itself is quaint and small, it has an interesting history, first fluorishing after German colonisation. Walking around the town, it was bizarre to notice reminders of the German influence such as signs for ´Kuchen´ everywhere. Of course I took advantage of this, happily sampling the local pastries. Deciding I needed to work out the calorie bomb I had just consumed, I ventured on a ´hike´ around the town, taking in the views of Volcano Osorno and Lago Llanquihue. Expecting this to fill up most of my afternoon, I was slightly surprised when I ended up finshing the loop (along with a detour along the lake) in a mere 2 hours. With time to kill, I headed to the bus office to book my ticket on to Bariloche. I should have known better after our bad luck with transport (or maybe it´s just me that´s the unlucky one, perhaps Zanna would have had more luck on her own). I was soon informed that it was temporarily impossible to get to Bariloche from Puerto Varas because of ash from Volcano Puyehue that had errupted over 2 months ago. I came to the conclusion that volcanoes are not my friend, given my previous bad luck when I attempted to visit Lorna in Seville. Sadly not being able to afford the US$240 to cross the lake as Che Guevara had done on his tour around South America, I settled for the only available alternative and booked a bus to a border further north in Temuco. After booking a tour of Volcano Osorno (which, fortunately enough, is dormant) and Petrohue waterfalls for the following day, I grabbed a bite to eat in a cafe and headed back to the hostel.
Not having heard a sound the night before, I was incredibly shocked to see 4 other guests having breakfast when I ventured downstairs the following morning. I was convinced I would meet some fellow backpackers on the tour yet upon being picked up, it soon dawned on me that I was the only person who was not from Brazil. While they were all friendly and tried their best to include me, I certainly missed out on the jokes they shared in Portuguese. However, I am clearly a natural in Portuñol, understanding everything the guide explained as we passed by the amazing views. Both the volcano and waterfall are in the setting of the Parque Nacional Vincente Perez Rosales which is stunning. Stopping off at the thundering (yet mini) falls, the water was crystal clear and several mini rainbows formed along the observation point. Making our way up to the volcano, it was strange to see bamboo covered in snow and surviving in the freezing cold. After stopping to tow a minibus around an icy corner, we took in the amazing views from the top of the volcano. Yet again, this was another first for me as we were taken up the volcano in the chairlifts that serviced the tiny ski resort. Unfortunately we didn´t have enough time to ski so had to head up in our walking boots- how bizarre!! Heading back to the town, I had an early dinner and treated myself to yet another generous portion of cake as a final reminder of this lovely town.
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