Woke after a great sleep, had a shower in a clean bathroom and sat down to a breakfast of jamon, queso, pan, mermalade and coffee (ham, cheese, bread, jam and coffee). Julia was very attentive filling our cups and making sure all was ok! Oh so easy, we just had to strap the bags on the back of the bikes, wheel them out and head off. We set the GPS and IPhone up for the route hoping they would set us in the right direction, took a few photos bringing the bikes out of the front door of the Mandragora, waved goodbye to Julia and the entourage gathered outside and headed off. Ahhh success, we hit Ruta 5 and cruised down the very busy highway through Temuco to turn off on a backroad to Villarica and sights of the volcano with the same name. I had memories of Kath and I standing atop the same eight years ago. Since that time the volcano has erupted, March 3, 2015 with no fatalities, luckily!
On our way along Ruta 5 we made use of the Copec fuel stations and their facilities. At one of these we met a French couple who were on their way to Villa Kunterbundt to send their 1961 BMW and sidecar back to France after their adventure in South America. Paul was very excited about the set up, taking photos and engaging the French guy in conversation (Pauls incredibly bad French and his incredibly bad English), but it worked. So well in fact that we had difficulty escaping as the French couple having an audience followed us to the bike as we were putting on our gear and preparing to leave, making it difficult to disengage and actually get away!! On another occasion we parked the bikes and went inside for a coffee to come outside to see a toy motorcycle parked next to ours. A small boy had placed his bike there in the parking lot with ours. We then invited him to sit on one of the bikes for a photo.
In Villarica we bought food at the Super Mercado and headed to a camp ground down by the lake. It was very ordinary for our first camping experience. We found the reception, unmarked and in a cabin down the back, “Cuanto cuesta” (How much) I asked, “10,000” was the reply, “5000” we said, the guy laughed and the price was settled on. Later on I found a sign and it actually stated 5000 per person, oh well Australia 1 Chile 20, it will take awhile to even the score if that is even possible!
Managed to set up camp among bird shit, dog shit, cigarette butts and rubbish with the all too common street dogs looking on. A prime tourist destination, a million dollar position for a campsite overlooking a lake with views of mountains and volcanoes. Glad to see that the owners know how to entice patrons with their well maintained camp sites and bathrooms ready for demolition. I cooked dinner on the MSR after siphoning fuel out of the tank and served up the Tortellini with a flourish! Paul Then discovered he has no mug or eating utensils, luckily I had a spare spork. The dogs looked on as we ate hoping for a morsel, no chance we were ravenous, mopping up the sauce with bread and washing it all down with the local beer Cristal Cerveza.
I set the alarm on the bike and put the cover over her then settled down for a well earned rest. Just got to sleep and I hear the alarm prime for an ear piercing session so grab the keys then jump out of the tent to quickly disarm it. I check it out just in time to see the four legged intruder slink off into the darkness. I am half asleep as I head off for a quick whizz and climb back into the tent. I then proceed to put the keys back into an accessible spot in case the alarm goes off again, only problem is I have misplaced the keys!! I pull the tent apart, no keys, retrace my steps, no keys! OH SHIT!! I then go through the tent again and there they are, I can rest easy but am now wide awake! For the rest of the night I toss and turn and those f#%&ing dogs of Villarica proceed to bark and carry on all night until we both arise totally shattered. As I proceed to make porridge silence ensues, the dogs are a little tired and settle down for a sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment