Hanging glaciers and hot springs

Started the drive from Chaiten to Puyuhuapi with a stop at the El Amarillo hot springs.  Not so much a resort as a couple of hot pools with a swimming pool.  But it was cheap at 3000pesos each and the cabanas there looked better than where we´d stayed the night.

On down the Carretera Austral south for about 5 hours.  Very scenic drive, and gravel all the way, but they are widening and tarmacing has started in quite a few places.  Stopped to buy provisions in La Junta, a little town in a beautiful location, gets a bad write up in the guide books, but the supremarket was very good.  Lots of cheap beef...

´s Torres del Paine training

Whilst in Puyuhuapi we went for a couple of walks in the Quelat National Park.  The first, the Sendero Los Pumas, was probably not worth it.  A steep tiring walk through a forest, with a big lake at the top.  The first part of Jamie´s Torres del Paine training.  And she quite liked it although all the trees meant it wasn´t too scenic.

The next day the walk up to the Ventisquero Colgante glacier overlook was much better in the views-per-stride equation, around 3 hours there and back to a viewpoint around 3km from the front face of the glacier.  The photos don´t really do it justice as the main waterfall coming down from this hanging glacier must have been about 400m high.  Whilst we were up there munching on some more rubbish Chilean chocolate we saw a big chunk fall of the glacier.  The snow and the noise it created as it crashed into the bottom were something we won´t forget in a hurry...

After a visit to the thermal springs with the luckiest Israeli hitchikers alive.  They saw us in the car park at the glacier and asked if we were going back to Puyuyhuapi.  We said we were, but unfortunately we had to stop at the thermal springs on the way back.  Which got them very excited as they were planning on arranging a tour there the following day.  A very nice end to the day, finished off with dinner in a very German restaurant run by realtives of some of Puyuhuapi´s original settlers.

Back on the road to Coyhaique we have hit some car trouble.  The alternator that we had repaired in Pucon has started playing up, and an overheating battery and smell of acid dominated the day´s driving.  Still, the car is at a nice garage (that it shudder to a halt outside) at the moment, and hopefully we´ll be on the way again tomorrow.