Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey again everybody!!!
I cant even remember where I left this thing off, but I have been mighty busy since I last updated!!
Im in Valdivia, in the Chilean Lake district at the moment, but since I left Santiago about 6 days ago, we have also been in Pucon, about 3 hours from here, too.
Because Im so used to the bus-journeys-from-hell now, the 8 hour overnight journey didnt seem bad at all. Oh no, Im a bit confused now, because we went somewhere else for a night as well in a holiday inn, but I cant remember the name of that place....oopsy...
Anyway, the bus from that place to Pucon was only 2 hours long, so in terms of bus journeys, that was a stringy piece of piss, and I hardly felt like Id sat down before I got off again!(Although we were, unfortunately situated right at the rear of the bus, next to the toilet aka bog of eternal stench, that smelt like it had never been cleaned, which actually made Paul gag when Mum merely openned the door to the thing and then pegged it back out....!)
So, even though the journey was short, on second thoughts, it wasnt quite so sweet....lol.
When we arrived in Pucon, we were greeted at the Bus station by Peter, the guy that owned the Hostel, who is from Holland and came to Pucon ayear ago and decided never to go home, and he took us the 2 second walk to the place, which turned out to just actually be his and his girlfriends house, that they had decided to put bunkbeds in, which was a little wierd, but, it was nice enough.Apart from the fact that I was slightly petrified of the whole bunk bed situation, as they were assembled in such a way that they werent supported the conventional way, you know, with 4 posts or anything...no, they were hanging from the cieling by 2 ropes!!! And, they had corners on them as sharp as razors that nearly took my eye out every time I turned round. And the wooden floors were reminiscent of an ice rink...especially as you had to take your shoes off at the door.Oo, and the stairs were a death trap, and the doors always stuck, so whenever I tried to open the bloody door, my feet would go the opposite way, and the door would stay put.
Hmmmm...now I think of it, it was a bit of a house of Hazards!!! Mum and I even called it the house that Jack built.And it was freezin cold, as it was made completely of wood!!!
OOO I must interupt this broadcast as Im rather excited that the music chanel is having a 90s hour, and Erasure have just been on, and now, Right Now is on by Van Hlen is on-this is what I like to hear!!!lol.
Anyway, the fact that the house that Jack built was a bit hmmm, shoddy didnt seem to matter that much, because he was really friendly, and the views in Pucon are amazing everywhere you look- especially of the big ice capped volcano just in front of the village!!
On our first full day, we decided to go Horse Riding, despite my apprehention because of the mad horse that I was subjected to in Cusco. I was set at ease when we arrived at the stables, though, because the Horses looked really well looked after and healthy compared to the ones in Cusco.
The German guy that owned the place then gave us a 20 second masterclass on how to ride a horse "Chilean style", Oh mu god, Chumbawumba are on now!!!
Soz bout that....yeah, turns out that Chileans prefer to ride with the reins 1 handed, which not only meant that the Horse would not understand a bloody thing if you forgot, and held it in 2 hands, but also that it was even less to hold onto!!!! Aargh!!!!! Then he was like, oh, yeah, this is how you turn left and right, now you learn by doing....off you pop!!
Which was hilarious. Also, they gave me a bloody Horse that was too many hands for me to even get onto on my own, as my legs are so short, I couldnt even reach the stirrups without Pablo, the guide lifting my leg into it for me.Great. As if I didnt feel a dunce already.
My Horse was really beautiful, though. He was called Inka, and was white with brown splodges, like a cow. But, predictably, it was bound to give me a hard time, and similar to the Horse in Cusco, who was an Aguaholic, he was a flowerholic- any sniff of a flower within the ten mile radius, and off he would pop, regardless of anything I told him to do!
Matters werent helped by the fact that German guy was a sadist, and decided that whenever I was going a bit too slow for his liking, he would ride behind me and whip my horse on the ass, without any warning, and send it off on a downhill rampage!!! Thanks!!! (Just because you have been riding your horse 8 hours everyday for the past 10 years....showoff!!)
The scenery was really beautiful,we went through the wods and mountains, and we crossed a river, and I managed to keep control of the Horse, well, I would have if it hadnt have been for Carly, a girl that was practically terrified, even more than me!!! And evertime her horse even did a bit of a hop, she would scream her lungs off and really friek the poor thing out into a frenzy, which would then friek mine out.Tssskkk.
I was like, erm, excuse me, on a crazy Horse here-not helping!!!lol.
Woohoo!!!!!Take That now!!! (How deep is your love-what a classic, even though its a BeeGees one, really.....)
Yeah, so anyway, the Horse riding was good on the whole-I was chuffed as I even did a little trot, but Mum and Paul did gallop.Showoffs.Tsssskkk.....hehe.
The next day, we hired a car and went driving around in search of some local waterfalls. When we set off, and when we came back, the same Italian girl was on the computer at the Hostel-she hadnt moved!!! Which was rather amusing in some ways, but also quite annoying-another reason that I aint updated in a while-because she was like a hawk, everytime that you wanted the computer she would just appear there!! It became like a little covert operation between the 3 of us trying to coordinate when we could get on the thing without her intercepting!!!lol. I knew that we should have bought those walky talkies in Peru......
Anyway, we found all of the waterfalls, which were all really beautiful, but unfortunately situated up bloody big hills and cliffs, which meant that I spent most of the time praying not to fall, as stupidly, I only had converse on the feet!!! It was actually rather fuuny, because to get to most of the falls, you have to pay an entrance fee to someone or other that in reality, probably doesnt even own the waterfall-how can they?? But, they happen to have a house or whatever that you have to cross their land. We made the mistake of taking one guy up on an offer of a drink and a bite to eat, and it cost us about 20 quid or something!!!! What a scammer!!!! Oh well, we had eaten it by that point, so we couldnt really dispute it.....
Then, in the late afternoon, we found some volcanic hotsprings, and went to them.
They were so nice, they were down in a creek, with mountains all around above them!! And some of them were so hot, they were like getting into a boiling hot bath!! We were red raw when we got out!! It was nice though when it started raining, because the sensation of being really hot,and then having cold rain on your head was a bit strange!!! But hen, after giving our muscles a good relax after all our hiking, we had to climb about a bizillion stairs to get back to the car again, so it wasnt actually any help for the muscles!!!
The car, by the way, was more like a clampet van- a Nissan, Red pickup from the 80s I think-2x4. It was more like being on a bucking bronko than being in a car going all the Chilean country roads (its times like those that I wish I had wore a sports bra, if you get my drift, girlies!!)And I kept on hitting my head on the roof every time that we went over a bump(like, every 2 seconds!!!!!!!)
The next day, after minimal sleep (as the volcano is still active in Pucon, they have this kinda combined volcano eruption warning, and normal emergency warning system, which operates on a traffic light system, outside the Municipal Hall.But , when there is a fire or whatever, they ring this really loud siren, like, once for fire, twice for ambulance, three times for everybody run theres an eruption....)and it kept on going off!!! I think that there were a few fires or something, but I dont see why they have to inform the whole town whenever they need a fire engine, or an ambulance-why dont they just ring the siren in the firestation, or whatever?????
Anyway, we went in search of more waterfalls, the Lion, and the China (I dont know why they are called that) but, they were really beautiful, too. It was a bit of a pain, though, as it was absolutely chucking it down, and they were through the woods again, but thankfully, not up a mini mountain!!! At the Lion, there were wooden planks that lead right towards the falls (Salto) that lead you right near to them. But because it was raining, and the water was flowing over the actual falls extra fast, and creating loads of spray, due to the extra water, the planks were obviously quite slippy.
And, despite my most cautious efforts, I managed to fall flat on my arse, yet again.(I see a pattern emerging here...) and bashed myself on the hand, on the way down. I should really know better than to eeven do these things......
Then, yesterday, we took the Bus from Pucon to Valdivia, where we are now, which was about 3 hours long, which was relatively uneventful (we sat at the front this time, to avoid the unbearable stench) apart from we stopped for a while at another bus station, and whilst Paul got off to stretch his legs, an old drunken man wearing cord trousers and braces-you know the kind, came on and attempted to steal his seat.(Until the attendant came along and kindly informed the gentleman that he was actually booked onto a mini bus that wasnt actually leaving for another hour....but, he went to the back and sat down anyway, and then got off again in the midle of nowhere.....(*&^^%%$) And then there was the really annoying kid that was kicking the back of my seat and singing really loudly all the way......just the average, really.
We had a little walk around, and went for something to eat.Then we went to a famous chocolate shop here, and made pigs out of ourselves eating massive cakes, and then buying more chocolate on top of that. Then I felt sick with stomach cramps all night, which I still have now, but I maintain that it was dodgy fish that I ate.........
And thats about it at the moment!! Im sorry if this entry has dragged on a bit!!\
There are loads of photos that I need to add, too, but I need to sift through all the ones that Mum (aka David Attenborough) has taken of all the nature-or, anything that moves- to get the really good ones for your viewing pleasure!!
To be fair, she has taken some really good ones, but I would never put you through 3000 views of the same mountain, its just not fair!!!lol.
So, I hope to hear from you all again soon, and that you are all alright!!!
Miss you as ever, loads and loads of love!!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
ps. can you believe that I am a third of the way through my trip!!!!!????
- comments