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Well G´day all
It´s been a busy few weeks since our last entry, lots to report so here goes.
LB´s last entry had us in Pucon, Chile at the base of volcano Villarrica. Pucon is a very pretty small resort town (some may even call it quaint).The volcano is only 10km from the town and dominates the skyline.LB won the contest (see last blog) and we caught the chairlift which got us part way up the mountain.We then had to don hats, gloves, crampons and an ice pick for the trek up the snow covered peak.It was actually pretty full on - much more so than anything we did on the Everest base camp trip.It took about 3 hours of zig-zagging in the snow/ice until we reached the top.There we were treated with clear blue sky and great views of the surrounding peaks and valleys (actually very lucky with the weather as the previous days climb was cancelled due to rain and the subsequent one was aborted half way up due to cloud cover).
No lava to report but lots of steam and unpleasant sulfur smell (or was it me due to all the dried fruits I had been consuming on the climb?)Asked the guide if we could walk around the rim, "Sure, its your life".That´s what I love about doing these kind of things in developing countries.If this was Oz the authorities would not let you anywhere near the thing - in fact they would probably relocate the entire town for fear of an eruption.But give the Chilians their due, a volcano alarm system is in effect in Pucon, alarms go off around the town every afternoon which the locals subsequently ignore.Perhaps its when the alarm doesn´t sound that there is a grande problemo (check out the Spainsh, I´m virtually bilingual!).
So hiking up and volcano and peering into the crater was pretty good but it wasn´t the best part, not even close.Rather than a tedious long walk back down, we slipped on a waterproof garment over our trousers, best described as a large adult nappy, which instantly turned us into a human toboggan.We then flew down the side of the volcano on our butts on what must be the worlds longest toboggan run.Truly a blast.If you every get over to this side of the world, I highly recommend checking out this place.
After Pucon we caught another overnight bus North to Mendoza.Now most people would perhaps dread spending 10 plus hours on a bus but the ones in Argentina and Chilie are ultra modern and comfy.Big seats that recline almost flat make the journey quite relaxing - much better than economy airplane seats.
We were of course in Mendoza for the wine but getting to the actual wineries proved a bit more difficult than we envisaged.The organised tours were a bit too "touristy" for my liking and you have to book individual visits to the wineries, can´t just rock up at the front gate like in the Barossa!Managed to find a wine bar in town and the people there were nice enough to ring around and arrange everything for us.We visited one winery in the morning including some barrel tastings and then went to another for lunch.At this place we were guided to a private room and greeted with the biggest antipasta platter I have ever seen.A massive table overflowing with breads, pate, meats, cheeses, salads, pickles, vegetables, you name it.We basically sat down and spent a good part of the afternoon devouring what we could whilst a waiter appeared every now and again to check on our progress, bring in some hot dishes (which we really didn´t need) and refill our wine glasses (which we did) - now this is what travelling is all about my friends!After a few hours of this to top it off we retired to the patio to enjoy desert, champagne and cigars under the vines.
I expect this entry has lifted the jealousy factor a few notches!Bye for now.
Cheers,
MT&LB
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