After our second wedding near Temuco, we headed south towards famous Patagonia and to pick up our friends in Puerto Montt and Bariloche. But before we got there, we were entering another region - the lake district - which actually spreads from Temuco to Puerto Montt. This article is going to be one of our shortest, but we had to put it here too. :)
The view around got a lot better, and greener - full of beautiful hills, forests occasional volcanoes with snow-white tops. And the lakes, of course :) The forests were formerly inhabited by indigenous Mapuche, that were resisting until the Chilean army came in 1880's. Nowadays, the descendants live in already mentioned Temuco region. After that, the region became popular with many German, Swiss and Austrian settlers, that brought livestock. And later, typical German-looking villages and tourism.
On our way to Pucón from Villarrica we stopped near the river and enjoyed the view. I can't help but feel...a bit apocalyptic when I look at this picture.
We were in a bit of a hurry, but we heard about some beautiful waterfalls, so we paid them a visit. Ojos de Caburga were a nice detour indeed. And after the trip, we helped some poor girls, who got a flat tire on their rental bike and, much to Ivan's happiness, tested our air compressor for the first time. It worked, yay. :)
After so many hours of driving from Santiago to Temuco, Ivan was still a bit beaten up and deserved some good relax (and Janka wanted it too, of course) so we went for a night bathing in Termas Los Pozones. They were a bit more expensive than our older guide suggested, but overally they were quite good.
The thermal baths were directly in the nature, some were parts of the river - small reservoirs kind of carved in a stone next to the river, or in the river itself. There are six pools with temperature from 30-40 degrees of Celsius.
Heaven. But next time, I'll do two things. First, flip flops are not a bad idea, when you have to walk between the pools, with ground full of small rocks and freezing. Second, don't leave the towel there, because Janka doesn't like to go back the next day and discover it in the trash.
Well, good night. :)
