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| Entre Lagos 8th July 1997 Dear Everyone, I'm not sure who this should be to so I'll keep on writing and decide who to post it to later. It's now nearly 10pm so I won't write much tonight but we are having a day off tomorrow so I will continue then. At the moment I am lying in a bed with clean sheets having had a shower earlier and it feels gorgeous - makes a change to be clean and warm and dry. Most of the time lately we've been dirty cold and wet, at times dirty warm and wet and occasionally dirty cold and dry, but not often. It seems to have been peeing down for the last two months, or rather it has been - almost constantly. We have had the odd dry day but only a few since we left Coyhaique in May! We ended up staying 3 weeks in Puerto Montt with Conaf. We were beginning to think we'd have to give up but at last the mare was sound so off we set. Almost every day for 3 weeks it poured down (I remember 2 dry clear afternoons). We were glad to be on the road again after over a month off although it was sad and strange to leave our nice accommodation. We had lots of lovely goodbyes and good-lucks from the Conaf boys and ended up with lots of presents - they gave us a Conaf cap and T-shirt each and then a towel each with Conaf on - a great souvenir, and a pair of socks and a pair of trousers - great tough cotton trousers-wonderful gifts, poor Rupert , more to carry! On our way leaving we called to say goodbye to the lovely family at the "heria" (?) next door (market) they'd adopted us while we were there and we had many meals with them and a very nice day out at Petrohue (?) Falls, near Puerto Varas-did you see them Jane?. Really such nice people it was touching to see how sad they were that we were leaving. Claudio, the son, is hoping to come to England in a couple of years for a couple of months and it will be great to see him if he comes. On our first night at Conaf he came to visit us as he'd seen our walk through the city from a car as he passed and when he got home he recognised the horses next door. We had coffee with them and offer of lunch but we really had to leave - horses all packed up outside in the rain! It was hard to say no to lunch, before we left we were give two girths and two bits for the horses by the father - a real surprise-he was lovely but quite quiet while we were there. And I was given a T-shirt by Claudio with pictures of the sights of "Sur(?) de Chile" on it - so sweet of them, lots of hugs and kisses and well wishes. Mum gave us a dozen eggs - bit difficult to pack safely at the last minute! And off we went into the rain as they all sat down to a big Sunday lunch - I did wonder what on earth we were doing! We rode down this huge road - luckily lots of road works meant one side was coned off so we had it to ourselves. As it was Sunday no road works and not much traffic. After a couple of kilometres we turned off onto a private lane - we had been to ask permission to use this lane a couple of days before and had met a lovely chap who worked on this huge estate. He had been a merchant seaman 15 years ago (and for 15 years) and was very interesting to chat to. When Padraig said he was from Ireland he said "Belfast or Dublin?" (Doobleen) most people here haven't heard of Ireland so this was a surprise. Next surprise was when he spoke English-he said he couldn't remember much now but he used to be able to. He'd been sailing all around Britain ,spent a while in Glasgow and was in dry dock in Swansea for a while. He was lovely to chat to and was trying to remember something to tell us for a while, something he ate that was delicious when he was in England. Eventually it came back to him - a Cornish pasty! We met him again that morning, presumably Sunday was his day off as he was all dressed up and walking to the main road to catch a bus to Puerto Montt. A really sweet man, I liked talking to him. When we called we'd been shown round the stables - very nice, lots of well groomed and cared-for horses and immaculate stables, but this was Sunday all was quite and shut up. We reached the other side of this land and joined a dirt road, despite the rain it was nice to be moving again. We camped that night in a clearing in the wood by the side of the road, the grazing wasn't brilliant but the horses wolfed it down after their exercise, they'd been getting jolly bored at Conaf. It really seemed strange to be without Brown Dog. It was over a month since he'd been knocked down but as it was the first night in the tent without him it was quite odd, not having him there with us, he was always the first to find his bed. We'd be diddling about over a flat sheltered spot for the tent and where to graze the horses and he'd have straight away found a dry patch under a bush or fallen tree and curl up and doze until supper time. It was a wet night and a bit miserable and again I wondered why we were doing this! The next day we did manage to get packed up before it really started to rain seriously but we plodded on in the drizzle/downpour. We had to join a busy road ( the road from Puerto Varas to Fusenada (?) do you know it Jane, South side of Lago Uanquihue (?) <sorry, can't read her writing>. It was paved and wide enough for 2 vehicles but meant everything went very fast and there wasn't an awful lot of room for us. Being wet and horrible made it even worse. We tried to stop at a really nice patch of grass outside a restaurant (Club Aleman) but they wouldn't let us - we've not asked people to let us stay often but were a bit desperate as we didn't want to be on this road when it was getting dark. These people were loaded - lots of very rich Germans living round here and I s'pose outside their lovely posh restaurant they didn't want us camping. The restaurant was shut so I thought it would be OK. Anyway they weren't going to help us out so on we went, bit fed up and disappointed. We at last came to a lovely wide grassy verge and set up camp. I wasn't going to move whatever anyone said but the first person to come along was a lovely little round man in a poncho which almost came to the ground. He lived next-door and when we said was it OK to camp he said "why not, of course". Seems to be the less you have the more willing you are to share. It was an awful wet and windy night, luckily the horses had lots of grass but we didn't sleep with the wind. It was blowing the tent into us so our sleeping bags became very wet. We woke up in the morning quite despondent. It was absolutely chucking down and we just lay in our soggy tent and wondered what to do. We'd decided not to go on that day, there was plenty of grass and the idea of trying to pack up was awful. Mid-morning it stopped raining so we quickly hung things out to dry. We then caught a little bus into Puerto Varas. We felt pretty miserable and were fit to give up. We enquired at the train station about whether they carry horses thinking that maybe if we got farther North the weather would be better but the woman behind the desk didn't deal with cargo but said the office in Osorno(?) could help us. By this time we'd sort of fizzled out and didn't know what to do with ourselves so we did some shopping (comfort eating!) and took the bus back. When we tried to ask for the bus and explain where we wanted to be dropped off the driver came up and said "the horses of course"!. We'd become quite famous camped at the side of the road. We got lots of beeps and waves and it lifted our spirits a bit. The little round man came to see if we were all right and offered us a field for the horses which was great as they could be loose for the night, much easier to keep warm if you can move around and shelter. He invited us in for a cup of tea with his mother and sister and when we went in it turned out to be "once" (pronounced "onsay") which means 11 but is a tea-type meal. This was a grand affair with coffee and milk and cake and home made bread and salad and a pork chop! They were so kind to us it was lovely and we sat and watched "Oro Verde", green gold - it's the chileno version of Emmerdale Farm and we try to keep up with it when we stay somewhere with a TV. It's quite fun trying to see how much we can understand ! It rained again that night and we packed up in the rain the next morning. We'd managed to keep dry overnight by pegging the tent out better and it wasn't so windy but we'd got quite damp by the by the time we got going. It's very difficult trying to keep everything dry while you tack up. We rode along in the pouring rain with lots of huge lorries steaming by but the horses were very brave and we were pleased with them. After a couple of hours we had pulled in to let a car pass when it also pulled in and stopped. A man jumped out and came over and said "I have a question - have you come from the Carreterra Austral?" "Yes" we said. It turned out he'd seen us in Puyuhuapi, in May, when he'd been on holiday. He and his wife had been to visit his father in Coyhaique and had been down to visit family in La Junta". They'd passed us on the road and when they mentioned us to the relatives they had seen us as well (we'd stopped to shop in La Junta). When he'd driven past us today he'd recognised us and turned round and driven back to say hello. He said that as we were all wet we should go to his house to dry off and warm up. He gave us directions but said he and his wife and son were off to Puerto Montt for the day. They'd be back around 8PM and would see us then. He gave us written down how to get to his farm and that we'd find a fat man called Arturo to show us where to put our stuff and the horses. We rode on for another couple of hours, jolly wet and cold by this time and eventually reached "Rio Blanco" and his farm, a lovely big place. We found a lady and tried to explain who we were. She turned out to be Arturo's wife and, although a bit unsure, let us into the house after we untacked the horses and put them in an orchard. We showed her the note but she didn't really understand who we were or why we were there - mind you, we weren't entirely sure ourselves! We warmed up and dried off, it was lovely to sit by a blazing stove and drink hot drinks. We ate our food for lunch as this lady apologised for not having much bread in and then left us to it and went to her own house across the field. We went and watched her and Arturo milk the cows that afternoon - both lovely people although still unsure of us. The later it got the more unsure we were. "They must have wanted us to stay if they said they'd see us at 8PM - they'd have known we couldn't ride on then". Arturo then took us over to meet the mother-in -law of the man in the car. She lived in a posh new bungalow next to the house we'd been in. Poor Arturo didn't really know how to introduce us and it was a little embarrassing trying to answer questions like "How long have you been friends with Christian?" Who is Christian? Oh yes the man in the car! Well we're not exactly friends! Anyway she was fairly friendly and we were allowed to sit in the house alone to wait. At last Christian and Sandra came home and (phew) seemed delighted to see us there. Everyone relaxed and got used to the idea of these strangers. It was a lovely stay, we'd been ready to put the tent up in the orchard if we hadn't felt they wanted us on the floor but we were made so welcome. After supper and lots of chatting Sandra showed me to our room. It was luxury, clean sheets and little bedside lamps. Then she asked for our dirty laundry as she had a washing machine - wow! We had showers and tucked ourselves in. The next day they expected us to stay so we did, the weather was lovely and we enjoyed ourselves, Padraig helping on the farm and me chatting with Sandra. She's lovely and they seemed to so enjoy having us. Its great meeting people like this - we're meeting people that we'd not have met if we were travelling in a bus like tourists normally do. Lots of people come here with their bikes to cycle, which is good for meeting people, but as we are on horses and especially as we are here in the winter, we are quite a novelty, so people are interested in us. Sandra is the daughter of the farm owner, quite a well-off family. She asked me if I did my own washing-up at home! Things are different here, labour is cheap so you could have people work for you without being really rich. They have Arturo and Senora Lucy working for them (and have a lovely big house and cars) and yet she thought I was incredibly lucky to have a vacuum cleaner! I did point out that I didn't have a house to clean at the moment, but it's obviously quite a thing to have one here. That's because all the houses are made of "Madera" (?) wood and so have lovely wooden floors that they polish. I' rather have those than a vacuum cleaner any day! In the afternoon Padraig and Cristian went fishing, illegally, with something called a gaff. He (Cristian) used to be in the carabineros so I didn't think I'd have to explain to Mrs Queally how he'd been locked up for a while! I went out to see the horses in the field while Sandra took young Cristian (1 year old) for a nap. They were dozing in the sunshine stuffed full of grass. I gave them all a nice brush and they all relaxed so much that they dozed off and they were twitching and dreaming. The mare was making little whickering noises, its nice that they are so relaxed with us around. In fact I think they almost felt it was OK to have a deep sleep as I was there. Just then Arturo came over. I didn't recognise him at first as he was in a white shirt and braces (with a huge tummy), shaved, hair combed and no woolly hat. It turned out to be his day off - he gets one a month - I found later he also doesn't work Sundays but every Sunday and on his one day off a month he still has to milk the cows at 5 am and 4 pm - some day off! We had a lovely chat, they'd obviously decided we were OK and had really liked us coming to see them milking the cows and taking photos. We told them we'd send copies when we get back, which delighted them (we'll have lots of photos to send when we get back as we have tons of addresses already). Arturo said he'd like to give me a photo of them so off he went into his little house and came back five minutes later clutching a handful of old photos. I got the feeling they were all the photos he had that weren't on walls or framed - he showed them to me, a few of kids and family and then of him and Senora Lucy getting married. He asked me to choose one to remember them. This amazed me, how kind, he had only 2 to choose from (of the 2 of them) and they were wedding photos, very old and tatty. I chose 1 after asking if he was really sure that he wanted to give one away. How sweet, I was really touched. He asked if I had a pen so he could sign it. I didn't but said I'd bring one to the milking shed later. He said the photo was just for us and not to show it to them inside the house. He said they were good people to work for but there was an enormous gap between staff and employers. I was really touched that we were allowed to feel more on their level if you see what I mean. Although we felt equally at home in the house with the family we were outsiders and so could cross the divide so to speak. When I went down with the pen I took a copy of our little picture that we have been sending as postcards. I'd told him about Brown Dog and he was genuinely sad as he loves his dogs and seemed to really understand what a pity it is he's not with us any more. He was really pleased with the picture and I was glad I'd given it as it meant so much. That night we ate salmon which Cristian had caught. Padraig didn't catch any, he'd had lots of bites but they got away. He'd taken the camera with him but they'd been too busy fishing and hiding in the weeds of the river bank to take any photos which was a real shame as the day was perfect and the farm was up a hill looking down at Lago ??uquihue<Sorry> between 2 volcanoes. Volcano Calbuco behind and Volcano Osorno across the lake, absolutely crystal clear and beautiful and we don't have any good photos as it was almost dark when they got back. The salmon was delicious and we drank some fizzy champagne stuff they had. Very nice although we haven't drunk any alcohol since leaving home and so after a glass our cheeks felt quite rosy! The next day wasn't such nice weather which was a shame as Sandra and I had thought of going for a ride up to Volcan Calbuco but we had a nice day not doing much, eating lots ! They were so generous and we were given everything we could have wanted and looked after so well, really treated like special guests. We left the next morning, sadly - it had been lovely staying there but we'd only left Puerto Montt on the previous Sunday. It was Saturday when we left Rio Blanco, having stayed 3 nights, so it was time we were off. They didn't want us to leave, lots more photos and goodbyes. We rode on along this road to Rusenada and then turned on a quiet dirt road. Nice to feel we were in the wilds again. In Rusenada <I'm sure this is not what Kate has written but I can't make out what it should be> we met a young bloke on a motorbike who suggested we ride up to Petrohue Falls (but we'd already seen them and wanted to get going). He said 2 other tourists had ridden through a few weeks before and had left their Pilchero in Rusenada, <or wherever> and ridden around the volcano - other tourists on horses ! We reached a lovely campsite on the banks of the lake and stayed there. The people were lovely, they run an hospedaje (hostel) and when they saw us trying to camp on the side of the road they said we could camp in their campsite (we hadn't realised it was next door) and they said we could stay for free. It was a lovely place with tables and benches and trees and a beach. They were so friendly, they said we must come and cook on their stove rather than outside so we spent a very pleasant evening chatting with them in their lovely warm kitchen. They have tons of tourists in summer and obviously love meeting people. There was a daughter of about 35 and the parents. Most interestingly they told us about 2 Australians travelling with horses who had also stopped at this campsite about 4 or 5 weeks before. They'd bought the horses near Puerto Montt and were also heading North ! How exciting! We haven't met any other tourists for yonks (not since we set off with the horses). We did meet two missionaries from Canada on the road near Entre Lagos so we had a brief chat English. It would to meet two other doing the same thing! We really enjoyed our evening with this family they were lovely people. We watched Chile beat Colombia at football. They insisted we had breakfast with them next day which was yummy (lots of dairies around as its good land here so lots of milk !). We were given a lovely send off and the mother gave us a pair of hand made woolly socks each and the daughter, Julieta, gave me a woollen beret. Again we were amazed at such kindness. They were very sorry we were only staying one night and gave us a lovely send off standing waving outside the house. We rode on and had a few rainy days and thought maybe we should have stayed and seen the winter out with Julieta and her family. We met a few people on the road who said the Australians had passed through. One man stopped and chatted and told us they'd paid a fortune for their horses - three times what we paid. I don't know if they are very special horses or they were diddled. All their tack was bought new as well. Seeing as how ours is getting destroyed in the weather I'm glad we've got old stuff. We reached the town of Entre Lagos and asked the carabineros where we could stay with the horses and were sent to a very nice hospedaje. The woman who runs it was away in Santiago but her son and her mother were there. It was so nice we stayed 3 nights. There was tons of grass in the garden and we grazed them along the verge outside and down by the lake as they were right on the edge of the lake. The family were lovely. We went out on the lake in a rowboat one afternoon as the weather was glorious. I swam in the lake for about 3 mins as it was so lovely but very cold ! Oh I forgot to say, when we arrived and explained we wanted to stay with the horses they said "Oh of course, like the Australians, David and Heidi" They were here before us at the same hostel. We took their address as they'd left it and I've sent them one of our postcards to say that we are behind them and maybe will catch up one day ! We left Entre Lagos on another clear sunny day and rode along some very small quiet lanes through villages that don't see many tourists. We rode around the Lago Ranco and had to take a ferry across a river. The horses were jolly good about getting on it - it was a small flat wooden raft - it would only have held 2 or 3 cars but luckily we were the only ones. We held them all standing together looking at this swirling water that we were pulling across. Unfortunately the wooden planks to get off were wet and slippery so Alazan, who I led down first, slipped and pushed me down. He ended up sitting in the water ! Rupert was more careful having seen that and although he slid he kept on his feet. Salsa who came last tiptoed to the top of the plank, very gently sat down (seemingly on purpose), slid gracefully down and got to her feet as she reached the water and bank. She's a very clever horse and always works things out. We reached the town of Uigen (?) that night and the carabineros there were most impressed at us coming from Cochrane - most people these days haven't heard of Cochrane - one of them was from that area. We stayed at an hospedaje that night and weren't at all surprised when they said "are you friends of David and Heidi, the Australians?". They reckoned they'd been there 3 weeks before ! Again we were following in their footprints - hoof-prints. We fed the horses oats for the first time that night. They'd had a bale of hay the night before and not much grass at lunchtime, so when they got put into a very bare field at the side of this house they marched around it in search of something to eat and then came back to the fence and stared at us whinnying every time they heard our voices or saw us. Perfect for trying to feed them something new. I might have told you I tried to feed them porridge at Cochrane but they refused and since we left they've only eaten grass or hay. I keep trying them with apple cores but as fast as I push them in they spit them out. We took over the bucket and put 3 piles on the ground. Rupert was quite sure it was food, Alazan seemed to understand what the bucket meant but Salsa just ignored us. Rupert and Alazan chewed theirs up quite happily and Salsa ate hers after a while although she didn't finish it - most unlike her as she's very fond of her food. We gave them a bale of hay for the night and then another feed of oats in the morning - they were ready for it. We'd been told by the carabineros that the road we had planned to take wasn't possible as the bridge was down (and had been for years). It was a bit of a shame as it was much more direct for us and a nice quiet road. We headed through Uigen thinking we'd have to go to Futrona(?) but as we stopped outside the bakers to stock up we met a nice friendly man who chatted to Padraig as he was getting bread. When he heard he was Irish he spoke in English and then said he was a vet! He'd worked in the States which is where he'd learned English and had just been working at dairy farm down the road. He said that maybe there was a way through to our road. He showed us where he meant on the map. We exchanged addresses and said our goodbyes and rode off. We stopped at a little shop to get more food as we realised if we weren't going to Futrona we didn't have enough but the lovely there didn't have porridge or pasta or crackers or bread but gave us a packet of biscuits each as a present ! We went on and found what we thought was the road. We were just thinking of going to a nearby house when I saw a bit of paper on the fence - "Patrick this is the road" it said! Wonderful, he must have stopped on his way home. So off we set, it was lovely to be riding in the hills. It was a most beautiful valley and we were ever so happy to be on the road. We'd had pretty good weather since leaving Entre Lagos and this day was glorious. We stopped and spoke to a lovely old man hoeing his fields and he told us that the road didn't go to the road we hoped to take but if we forked left there was a lane for 25 kilometres and then a path across the mountains to Enco - possible by horse. Hooray ! We went on for a while and then camped by the side of the lane. Really lovely countryside, its so different here North of Puerto Montt. Lots more people and so lots more fences and roads. Its been difficult camping and finding a place for the horses. Between Cochrane and Chaiten (7 weeks) we stayed in a house 3 times. Since then we've stayed in houses 5 times already (in 4 weeks) - but this valley was open and beautiful, no fences. We thought we ought to ask anyway so I waited with Rupert & Salsa while Padraig rode back on Alazan as he was more energetic. He rode up to the nearest house and a woman from a window upstairs boomed down and said "why not, of course you can camp there". He cantered back in the sunshine with Alazan whinnying for his friends - it looked lovely. We were putting up the tent when we heard a whinny - a man and 2 boys (1 on a pony) were looking down the bank from the lane so we clambered up to say hello - lovely country people, they'd been working in the forest. He didn't know of this path and said there was a lot of snow near the volcano and it wouldn't be possible to go up to the refugio. This was a poo as we were so pleased at the prospect of being off the road again - nice for the horses not to worry about traffic (and us). Still we enjoyed our evening. The moon was full and it was frosty but dry enough to have a fire which was lovely. The grass wasn't thick & tall but the area right down to the river was huge & so we let the horses loose until bedtime which they appreciated. The next day was glorious again and we tacked up a bit disappointed to be going back to the road. Just as we were about to set off I found the bit of paper that had been on the fence. When I turned it over it said "40 kilometres to volcano" so he must have asked someone and realised it went that way, not to the road we had originally thought to head to. We decided to try it as we really wanted to go that way & it was an awfully long way round the other way. So we set off hoping the old man who said there wasn't much snow had been right and not the man from last night. It was a glorious day, Alazan had to carry the pack so he didn't really enjoy it. Rupert was starting to get a bald patch rubbed on his back. We worked out later what the problem was, the straps had slipped and the packs were too far apart and too low down so they went from side to side too much - all better now. We rode up this wonderful valley getting nearer & nearer to the head of it. We didn't see a soul until we reached a very posh looking farmhouse and found one of the workmen in the fields. We asked him about the state of the path & he said it wasn't possible as there was snow. He said it was possible on foot but not with horses. What a disappointment, but we'd had a beautiful day. We had lunch in the sunshine and then rode all the way back to the same campsite. They seemed to know where we were going and quite liked it. It was another clear and frosty night with an almost full moon - lovely, we were glad we'd tried it. The next day we rode back to the main road and carried on to Futrona. A big road but surprisingly quiet with a nice wide verge which we lunched on. The town of Futrono wasn't as we imagined and we found ourselves going down the busy high street before we realised it. We got stared at a lot - reminded me of leading the horses through Puerto Montt. Although it wasn't nearly as big it was a busy street with tons of shops & people, buses & taxis. We rode on until we found the carabineros & were pleased to see a field with a horse in and stables out the back but although very kind and helpful they didn't offer to put the horses up. I wish I'd taken a photo of the three horses, we left them tied to the fence outside, on the pavement and as I was going back down the path their faces were peering between the hedges wondering where we were. One of the carabineros had a friend with some Cabanas (holiday cottages). We hadn't seen any hospedajes on the way so had wondered where we were going to stay. He said he'd get us a good price & so he rang up for us & we went off to see it. They had an hospedaje as well but the price for 2 beds (without breakfast) was 8,000 pesos and the cabana was 10,000 - normally 15,000. I was thinking this was all jolly expensive but when we saw it , it was beautiful. Small, all wooden, a huge balcony/terrace with a lovely view of Lago Ranco, a lovely little kitchen, a beautifully furnished bedroom & a bathroom. We said we'd stay! We unpacked and put all the tack and packs on the balcony and then put the horses in their field - a lovely big field with lots of grass, long and lush, they were happy. Nice for them to be spending so much time without being tethered these days. It was so lovely we decided to have a day off and so spent two nights. We did all the washing we could - the horses' underwear first - all their towels for under the saddles and girths. Then all our clothes, we had an endless supply of hot water and a gas heater as well but luckily the day was glorious so everything dried in the sunshine. We then did a lot of shopping to replenish the stocks (poor Alazan, still pilchero) and cooked ourselves a huge meal on our stove in our lovely kitchen. If it hadn't been Sunday the next day we'd have been very tempted to stay another day - we give ourselves days off and never seem to have time for ourselves before we're packing up to head off again - never get around to writing letters! I'm very sad to realise that the large long letter I wrote was never received. I wrote it to Jane but then heard she was in Colombia. I was going to give it to her if she came to visit us in Puerto Montt but when we heard she wasn't coming I posted it to Daddy. I was going to send it to Adrian but thought maybe Daddy would get it copied and sent round quicker. There was a letter to Daddy with it explaining, and answering his letters to Puerto Montt. The long letter to you all was 26 or 27 sides and took me ages to write and was describing our journey from Puyuhuapi on until Chaiten when Brown Dog was killed as I hadn't told you of that part of the journey when I wrote from Chaiten about Brown Dog, and then about our stay in Chaiten and the boat journey with the horses from Chaiten to Puerto Montt. Its a shame you didn't get it. I think it was a good one as it made me laugh to write it and made Padraig laugh when he read it. I posted it on 17th June along with a lot of other post including a letter to Mummy which I think she received. Aunty Pudge was sent a letter on the same day - hope these got there OK and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the big one will turn up as I will have to write it again - we haven't been keeping up the journal at all and so we were hoping the letters would be kept as a record for us to remember. I won't start now though. We did end up leaving on the Sunday, it was a busy road and we wanted to get it done on the quiet day. We reached our turn-off onto the quiet lanes and had lunch on the verge. Overcast but another dry day - we've had lots lately, makes such a difference. That night we were getting worried about where to stay as it was getting late and there was no room at the side of the road and no grass. In the end we saw an old man collecting his cows and asked if he could help us. We wanted somewhere to put the horses and maybe buy a bale. He said he didn't have much land or grass but if we waited while he got his cows he'd come with us to ask someone with more land. We chatted to him as we walked along and he must have decide he liked us as he changed his mind and said he did have somewhere we could put them although there wasn't much grass and we could buy a bale over the road. It turned out to be an orchard and so we let them free. We asked if we could camp with the horses but he thought we should be nearer the house so we were getting our things ready when he said we should put our tack and stuff in the shed and sleep on the wooden floor of the outside bathroom and washroom - even better. They brought chairs out for us - more & more family came to meet us. The old man's wife was lovely, wonderful smile and face - she held on to my hand and said we weren't to cook on our stove outside, we must use her stove in the kitchen, then, no, we must eat with them and not cook at all - it was changing fast! We had a lovely evening chatting with them and watched Chile playing Paraguay (and winning) at football. When it came time for bed I was led into the dining room/lounge and told we'd be more comfortable there, not outside ! The next morning we were up early. It was a grey day, it had rained in the night. The old man, Juan, said we shouldn't go but stay as it was windy and rainy. It wasn't terrible weather but we stayed anyway. They were lovely people - not much land, 5 sheep, 3 calves & 2 cows. They keep bees and make honey. They've been married 48 years and have 11 children (they had 12 but one died), most live nearby. We really enjoyed our stay. I stayed in the kitchen with Katelina while Padraig was out with Juan tending the stock. They were genuinely sad to see us go and delighted that we took photos and said we'd send them copies. We left the next morning after a breakfast of home-made bread and fried eggs - the tastiest eggs I've had in years, their own hens. They had a cockerel that attacked me every time I went to the outside toilet. I nearly knocked him out by hitting him with our potty (we were given one for the night - very sensible!) but he still came back for more ! The day was grey but not too bad and we rode on. Again that night we found nowhere to stay. We were on a lane through a very large fundo (farm-estate) and when we asked a workman riding by we were sent to the house of the farm manager. He was a lovely man and although a bit unsure at first he let us camp in his garage & the horses grazed his garden all night. We had dinner and breakfast with them & their daughters - a lovely family. People are so kind, sometimes we wish they wouldn't feel obliged to give us so much. We really would have been happy in a field but it was lovely to spend some time with them. We drank a glass of wine with dinner and had a glass of home-made cider before - I felt jolly tiddly with glowing cheeks but the food sorted me out. We are not used to drinking at all now. It was a clear night and the next day was wonderful. We set off after breakfast (a pork chop, would you believe!). Raol (?), the father, came with us to show us the way for the first km - very nice man. It was a lovely day and at lunchtime we reached Rinihue, a village on the shore of Lago Rinihue. It was beautiful and is full of tourists in the summer. Again we were glad to be here in the winter as we had this beach and park, full of trees and grass, to ourselves for lunch, it was wonderful, Volcan (illegible) at the end of the lake with a snowy mountain next door. We had to go on after lunch to make more time but luckily found a wide verge for the night. The grass wasn't great so after it got dark we nipped over the fence into the forestry plantation and filled one of our sacks with long yummy grass and gave them a big pile each. It wasn't really stealing we told ourselves as it was only going to waste as nothing was going to graze in there and there was tons. So we did the same thing next morning and got another sackful which they ate while we had breakfast. The wind changed and it got cloudy but the rain held off for most of the day while we rode along the shore of Lago Rinihue and up in the trees above the lake. The road got steadily worse and after one sawmill it became obvious no vehicle had been along it this year. Some of the wooden bridges had seen better days but we got off and led them carefully over. They were very brave except Alazan who had slipped over on the first one and so didn't trust them. He didn't want to go at all over the second one but when I said "Oh righto Alazan, nasty bridge, can't go on , better go back to Cochrane" he decided he'd risk it. The last one he thought was not to be stepped on so he jumped which was a bit alarming as I was leading him but we all got over safely. We then found a gorgeous clearing in the trees with very long lush grass and so although it was only 3.15 PM we stopped. It was starting to rain so it seemed the best thing to do. We were nearly in Enco, the village that the track in the mountains (past Volcan Choshuenco) led to all those days ago. The rain got steadily worse and hasn't stopped once. Its now 26 hours later and it is still pouring down. We woke up this morning and decided to stay put as there was tons of grass. It has been hammering down all day and was all night. Luckily its not windy so we stayed fairly dry in here. This enforced day off has meant we have time to write letters and can't do anything else! Its now almost dark. We have left the horses loose all day and they've been very good and not run away. They know there's no grass further back and there's that horrible bridge. They could have gone on along the road but they've stayed close to the tent. We'll tie them up again for the night. It should be at least 5 more days until a village called Curarrehue from where we can catch a bus to Villarrica and hope to collect all our mail. It should time it perfectly for my birthday as its 25th July today. I can't wait to read letters from you all ! I will post this as soon as I can although it might not be until Villarrica as its quite in the middle of nowhere. Fingers crossed it stops raining as we'll have to move on any way tomorrow. Lots of love Kate & Padraig Alazan Rupert & Salsa X X X X X X X We went in to ask for shelter and were immediately welcomed. They are lovely people and here we are 3 days later still being looked after. We have been given one of the men's huts to stay in - its tiny but very cosy and after 3 very wet nights in the tent its heaven. They lit an enormous fire in the shed to dry everything (all our stuff was soaked and has taken ages to dry out - sheepskins etc). We are being called for 3 good meals a day in the kitchen. There are 15 men here, some from Los Lagos, 2 hours away, some from Chillan, 8 hours away, they all live in little wooden huts and go home for a few days every month. One of the men's wives does the cooking - they are all lovely, so kind and friendly. When we arrived we were worried about the horses as there was no hay anywhere but they have a bit of grazing & we mended the roof of an old tumble-down shed so they have shelter as well. Yesterday it stopped raining for the first time - 5 days non-stop, day & night. The horses are happy to be a bit dry. Its been showery since but not as bad. We are hoping that a lorry will arrive today with hay and oats for them. The road has been cut with a bridge down further back so nothing has been getting through. Don't s'pose I'll be able to get my post by my birthday which is a real shame as reading letters from you all would be the best present. Any way better go now as its nearly "almuezo" - lunch ! Lots of love to you all Kate & Padraig XXX They've told us we mustn't leave until the weather is really good - so , maybe in the Springtime ! (Typist's apologies for all the errors, some of which are due to the difficulty of reading Kate's writing but most of which result from my incompetence at the keyboard. Perhaps I will spend a happy hour at the local photocopying emporium for the other letter I have here , a re-write of the one that never reached us. PJW August 97) (2nd editor's comment: paragraphs appear to be rather few and long - eventually will edit where appropriate while awaiting Kate's instructions. Transmission problems have probably resulted in most of the actual paragraph breaks that there are as they don't often appear in logical places!. AMW 1st Sept 1997)
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Copyright ©2001 Adrian M Wadley. All Rights Reserved. South America photographs, letters and text used with permission and copyright ©Kate and Padraig Queally 1997-1998. All Rights Reserved. |