Well, it is quite a long way down to Patagonia. So we stopped in Pucón and Bariloche, both in the lake district of Chile/Argentina.

In Pucón we wanted to climb the Volcano Villarrica. Due to bad weather we had to wait until Sunday, which was not too bad. ‘Cause aside from a nice hike to a nearby waterfall we stayed at the very nice hostel El Refugio. Aside from being very cozy it had the best hosts ever: Tanja & Dave! An awesome couple from Belgium. Thanks for your very warm welcome, all the great tips and for just being so cordially and caring! I would have loved to stay longer! Happy travels for the two of you!

On Sunday we climbed the Villarrica, one of Chile’s most active volcanos. Well it was more an easy walk than a climb, the volcano is just a 2847 meters high, but you still need crampons for walking on glaciers covering it’s top. At the top we had a good view into the crater, which emits a lot of  vapor, and could enjoy the view onto the surrounding volcanoes and lakes. The way down was even more easy than the way up, because we could slide down in tubes on the snow most of the way. Hm, guess it would have been a lot of fun if I had not hurt my back during the walk to the waterfall the day before… probably the price to pay when an old man is traveling ;-)

Next stop was Bariloche, where we had just a day before a 28h bus ride to El Chalten. We used it to walk up Cerro Campanario from where you have a beautiful view of the surrounding lakes and mountains. Needless to say, that we had sunshine again :-) As is was already quite a touristy trip, we decided to end it with a coffee at the “summit” restaurant. Felt a bit like being 60something, but not the worst feeling. @Berit B.: You would have loved it!

Greets from an old man doing trips for old men ;-)
Michael