Day 91: Where did he go?

January first I sat in a bus from Pucón to Viña when all of a sudden someone shoved a bag of M&Ms in my face. I was a little puzzeled by took a hand full. Well, starting a conversation can be soooo easy... Next to me sat four jung people from Switzerland. The one with the bag is Michèlle and she's a teacher at the Swiss school in Santiago. We talk about this and that and all of a sudden she tells me that she has a friend who's touring around Chile in his Landrover and is looking people to tag along. Michèlle calls Tobias on her phone and hands it to me...

January 12th, 11:50 p.m. I board a bus to Santiago. Around 06:00 a.m. we arrive at the bus terminal in Santiago. The thing is huge with almost 100 gates for long- and shortrange busses. Unfortunately my bus to Chillán, where I'm going to meet Tobias, doesn't leave until 10:00 a.m....

January 13th, 04:10 p.m., bus terminal Chillán, I only hope that Tobias shows up. I sent him a foto of me but I don't know what he looks like. So I make my way towards the exit. Close to the door a 2m guy is smiling at me, Tobias. Ok, he's only 1.94, you can count on the Swiss :)

We drive out of Chillán to a small camp sight. One where also the "normal" Chileans go for their vacation. Here you can see Tobias and his Landi. He's sleeping in the tent on the roof and I sleep in the coffin :)

We pay $4000.- each, the showers are cold and were built in the 80s...
The next day we drive up a valley to hike to the Aguas Calientes, to the hot springs. The start of the trail quite steep and we're sweating like heck. Have I already mentioned that there are more than 2000 vulcanoes in Chile?

After the cold shower from the day before the hot water is really welcome. The fact that I smell a little like a rotten egg afterwards if a minor inconvenience.
After we cross the pass to the other side we can see our goal. Unfortunately we're running quite late and also dark clouds are surrounding us. We decide to turn around.

On the way back we stop at a public bath featuring hot springs. A blessing after the hike. However, the prices are rather high. They charge us about 10.- Euros for the access. For this price nobody would go to a public pool in Germany. Then again this is private and they don't receive funding. Under these circumstances it'd be the same in Germany. However, the Chileans only earn about a quarter to a third for comparable jobs. So Chile is really expensive. Also for the camp sight next to the pools they want about 45.- Euros. In comparison to the old cars that were at our last camp sight here we only see rather new and expensive cars. The place is also very full and because Chileans like to hear loud musik we decide to spend the night somewhere more quiet...

What a nice quiet night in the middle of nowhere :) Originally I wanted to buy a similar vehicle. Well, at least for the time being I can enjoy one :)

Now that I have a Chilean prepaid card I can also keep you updated...