Andrea goes exploring again!

From Temuco I made my way to Pucón. Originally I'd I intended to arrive here in a week or so as February is peak season, but whilst I've wanted to visit a number of Parque Nacionals it's been incredibly difficult doing so by public transport. However, I knew that it would be possible from Pucón and so I bit the bullet and just decided to put up with the place being full of people. What a great decision! I stayed in Gecko hostel just on the outskirts of the town, which is really quite small so about a 3 minute walk away from the centre! It had such a great group of people in it. The first night I was there they were having an asado (BBQ) so I put my name down straight off! I then went for a wander round town.  One of the main attractions of the area is the active volcano, Volcan Villarrica, around 15kms from Pucon which many people go there to climb. For me, it was love at first sight ❤️❤️❤️ It is one of the most perfectly shaped volcanoes, and had a dusting of snow at its p...

So the city was forgotten only by me! I realised I hadn't done my post from here when I was chatting to my parents and then I realised I was struggling to remember what I'd done there! Eek! That looks bad for Temuco but really it's more a reflection on me! So I arrived in Temuco and was faced with the joy of working out yet another bus system. The challenge is usually: how do I buy a ticket? This may sound simple but I've had to buy tickets in numerous different ways including from a conductor on the bus, paying via an oyster-like card, buying them from the kiosk by the bus stop, buying them from a kiosk nowhere near the bus stop, paying the driver when you get on and paying the driver when you get off to name but a few! Most days you just take this in your stride but I was thrown in Temuco as this time the challenge was not how to buy a ticket but where to get the bus from, because a man standing in front of the stop with a sign saying 7A (the bus I needed) said it def...

Today's post is going to cover the last two places I've visited: Curicó and Talca. I've only spent a couple of days in each and so decided I'd put the two together. I'd traveled to Curicó from Valpo via Santiago. I could have gone directly but decided to do it with a stop off in Santiago as I'm doing so many long journeys, I thought I'd try to limit my risk of DVT by introducing a break to the trip. It also meant I didn't have to carry any food with me as I could get some at the bus station in Santiago, although little did I realise at this point that at major stops along the way, people get on to the bus selling all kinds of foods so there's absolutely no reason for you to go hungry on a journey! Despite my careful planning so I knew where the bus would drop me in Curicó, of course, it dropped me somewhere differently! Fortunately not too far from where I needed to be (thank you again Hayley for the Ulmon recommendation for offline maps that saves m...