We travelled to Pucon (pronounced pookon ) by bus from Chillan . It was described as the most touristy place in southern Chile. Easy to see why when you see the vision of the active volcano standing over the beautiful blue lake.

The top of the volcano was visible from my pillow ! It constantly smoulders. During the day this is seen as a white cloudy smoke against the blue sky & at night as an orange glow against the night sky. Very impressive. Most people go there to climb the volcano . A days hike & you can look into the molten lava from the rim of the crater. Didn't think we were quite fit enough for that though , 2847m. I think it was the thought of attaching crampons to my boots that put me off.

The adventure travel business is strong in the town . Literally every other shop is selling trips up the volcano , river-rafting , kayaking , horse-riding etc.

We were lazy & settled for a day-trip around the area in a mini-bus which took us to view several waterfalls & then dropped us off at some wonderful thermal hot springs where we spent 3 hours soaking in outside pools filled with natural minerals & temperatures only just bearable to your skin.

We spent another afternoon on a boat on the lake in scorching sunshine .

The 4th day there disaster struck . It rained ! We coudn't see the mountains & no-one knew what to do. It was the first day of rain we had had in 9 weeks.

We realy liked Pucon though. Very different to anywhere else we have been here. There is a strong German influence on this whole area . Many Germans migrated here in the late 19th century . The buildings are like those in the mountains of Bavaria.

We have now moved further south . We are in a town called Puerto Montt. It is a very busy port . From here the roads further south in Chile are not so good. Chile sort of fragments into lots of islands. We plan to cross back into Argentina soon to continue our travels south.

Temperatures are falling but other than that all is well & the sun is still shining.