Santiago

Day 98 - Smog

Our bus pulled into Santiago just as it was getting light, I think it could have been light earlier but thick smog seems to permanently linger over Santiago (prompting cold like symptoms in Erin for the duration of our stay). An efficient connection via the Metro put us at our hostel quite early where our room was already prepared, we were on a roll. We’d been amassing quite a to-do list for Santiago, so we set right to it. We found someone to replace the battery on Erin’s fancy watch, hit a ginormous shopping mall to replace some recently stolen items and stopped in a Japanese restaurant to satisfy our mounting sushi craving.

Part of the ginormous mall.

For dinner we made a start on our anniversary celebration (3 years married tomorrow). I finally managed to hunt down all the required ingredients to prepare Erin’s favourite, Thai Green Curry. I nearly choked some of the other hostel guests frying the curry paste!

Day 99 – Isn’t it your turn?

We decided before our first wedding anniversary that we’d take it in turns to organise something. A couple of weeks ago Erin started asking me what I was going to organise. We realised this morning that it was actually Erin’s turn, clearly I’d not arranged a very memorable occasion last year! [E: No it was my cunning plan!!! Ha hahaha!]

Anyway, we forged forward with my plan which failed to clear the first hurdle. I’d planned for us to catch the funicular up the hill behind our hostel, then the cable car across the top of the hill to a huge open air pool which overlooks the city. Alas, the cable car is closed for maintenance until July.

Instead we went for a walk around town. Including up Cerro Santa Lucia which is a steep parkland hill sticking up from the middle of the CBD. The afternoon’s anniversary treat was a massage, which thankfully worked out OK. Choosing somewhere to book had been a challenge though. To get a feel for what I mean check out this website!
The Palacio Bella Artes. [Looks a bit messier now!]

Downtown Santiago from atop Cerro Santa Lucia. Note the smog, those hills in the background are only about 20km away.

Cerro Santa Lucia again.

For dinner we headed a short way out of the centre to Ñuñoa, a bohemian restaurant strip reminiscent of Brunswick in Melbourne. The weather was nice so we sat outside enjoying our cocktails, prawn gyoza, conger with wasabi mash and Indian chicken skewers with ratatouille.

On the bus on the way home Erin’s puppy sensor sounded when she noticed movement from the shoebox on the lap of the girl next to us. Twenty seconds later, language barrier proving to be no hindrance, Erin had possession of the puppy. Not 10 seconds after that the puppy took to opportunity take a piss, in Erin’s lap and all over her handbag. The girl look mortified until Erin’s hysterical laughing put her at ease.

Erin with the puppy after he had done emptying his bladder.

Day 100 – Surf’s up

For lunch we’d tracked down an all you can eat sushi place to try and quiet our cravings for a while (until we hit Canada in all likelihood). I scoffed 32 rolls and Erin somewhere in the mid twenties. I think we got our money’s worth.

Mmm… sushi

After sushi we wobbled our way onto a bus toward the outskirts of town and ‘Mall Sport’, which as the name suggests is a mall dedicated to sporting goods. But first, a rant… Trains on Santiago’s Metro system run every couple of minutes from dawn until nearly midnight, whilst many buses run on a similar frequency and continue all night. Ticketing is via rechargeable swipe card system that allows you to transfer between services free of charge. Express buses are frequent, have priority lanes and don’t stop so often that it takes decades to reach where you’re going. When you do get near your target smaller local buses deliver you close to your destination. They’ve added 5 stations to the subway system in the last twelve months and will add at least that number again in the coming 12 months. It makes Melbourne’s public transport system look pathetic, and the excuses of the state government and transport operators look quite hollow. Rant over.

Santiago loves its malls, Mall Sport is a pretty good example. The central atrium contains a decent sized rock climbing gym and high ropes course, outside there is a marina (to test your new boat) and a standing wave pool. You can buy everything from guns to jet skis, but alas we could still not find Erin a decent waterproof jacket. We did at least manage to replace my backpack (with a much smaller one, yay!).

Indoor climbing.

Marina.

Boogie boarding on the standing wave.

The area we were staying in, Bellavista, was renowned for it bars and graffiti, but must get a bit rough at times. I went out to buy some beer that evening and initially thought the bottle shop was closed. But instead it turns out that they keep the shutters down and serve you through a small hole!

Day 101 – Still not a robbery

We decided to have another crack at getting to the pool. So we took the funicular up the hill and wandered around taking some pictures of the view. We started walking to the pool but decided we didn’t have time if we were going to get a bus to Valparaíso at a decent time. So we gave up again and headed back down.

The funicular pulling into the base station.

Breathe that smog.

Keeping watch.

Her too…

People come to pray for the Virgin Mary’s intervention, the safe delivery of a child for example. If things go well they come and erect a thankyou plaque at the base of the statue.

Heading back down the funicular.

On the way to the bus station (via the fish market for lunch) we stopped to photograph some graffiti. Next thing I know the camera is snatched mid-photo from my hands and our would be robber is heading as quick as he can around the corner. I set off in pursuit with Erin close behind. When he glanced over his shoulder and saw the two of us (packs and all) bearing down on him, Erin screaming obscenities, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort and dropped the camera. At this point I went for one of those beach cricket style catches, but this proved to be ill conceived for a couple of reasons. Firstly, bitumen is substantially less forgiving than sand, and secondly, the camera is one of those drop proof jobbies, far better designed to hit the tarmac than I am. Not that it mattered because I’m an awful catch and it hit the road anyway, but it only got one small scratch, whereas I was now bleeding from the elbow, knee and both hands.

A kind waitress at a nearby restaurant let us use the bathroom and a bit of space in the restaurant to conduct some first aid and calm down a little before we headed off for lunch and the bus. Our consultant on such matters, Sarah the AFP officer, advised us the first time we were robbed (from the hotel room in Puerto Varas) that is was not actually a robbery, but a burglary. This time we assume the term would be ‘attempted robbery’ given there was confrontation and we got the camera back. She was however impressed with our ‘successful foot pursuit’!

The photo prior to the snatch.

If I was a kindergarten student I reckon this would freak me out as I arrived each morning!

From the bus station in Valparaíso it was about a 45 minute walk to our hostel. The flat section of Valparaíso is much like any other dirty port city, but things changed once we got up onto Cerro Bellavista (Beautiful View Hill) where our hostel was located. Many of the houses are painted bright colours or covered in graffiti and they are stacked on top of another up the steep hill. Many houses have small terraces and gardens jutting out at strange angles. Our hostel was down a narrow street only accessible via stairs meaning that there was no traffic. The hostel itself is in an old house that was first converted to a bar, then to a hostel just last year. The main downstairs bar area is still a living area and some of the upstairs rooms have beautiful views across to the adjacent hill (Hostal Casa Valparaíso).

The father and son team who run the place are keen hosts. From the time we arrived they fussed over us, giving us directions, refusing to let us do even our own dishes and jumping to attention every time it looked as though we needed something. After the events of the day we were pretty exhausted, so we watched a bit of the Winter Olympics, but still didn’t get to bed until 1.30.

A neighbourhood cat keeping an eye on one of Valparaíso’s many staircases.

Street art decorating a retaining wall (of which there are also many).

Some of the aforementioned graffiti, which adorns many of Valparaiso’s old buildings.

What a hoot!

Pucon

Day 94 – I-want-to-go-to-there! (In the style of Liz from 30-Rock)

This morning we bummed around again in front of the fire, chatting with other guests. It was raining again and we were actually keeping a hopeful eye out for parting visitors with vehicles (we were packed and ready to go!) so that we could get a lift back to Pucon, rather than trudge through the rain (me with no jacket) back to the park gates to catch the bus.

We were out of luck on the lift front, but lucky enough that at 1.15pm when we had to start our walk to the bus at 2pm, the rain stopped. It even stopped for the whole walk there and until we got on the bus (that was at least 30 mins late!)

The first time through Pucon, I had seen Volcan Villarica (it’s pretty hard to miss) but I was tired and we were trying to hurry to shop for food and not miss the bus to Tinquilco, so saw it as scenery and nothing much else. This time, getting off the minibus fully rested, I saw it staring down over the town and instantly become obsessed. I wanted to go up there.

Volcan Villarica from Pucon (Note the smoke! Yes its active!)

I’ve always wanted to climb a Volcano and I always imagined it would be Mt. Fuji, but once I had seen Villarica and heard it was possible, I didn’t want to miss it.

So as soon as we had put our stuff in our room, we went down to the agency, Aguaventura, recommended by both the guidebook and the hostel manager to find out ‘the deal’. It cost 40,000 pesos (about $85AUD) to go, they provided all the gear and the guides were placed one per three people, so we thought that was reasonable. Unfortunately there was no space for the next day (forecast to be glorious weather) so we settled on the day after. The guy told us that in his opinion the day after would be better anyway, but I was sure they say that to everyone. He did explain though that it wasn’t just about weather, but more about the conditions up top, ie how much smoke or sulfur and gases the volcano was giving off, as if the conditions were ‘wrong’, you could climb two thirds of the way up there and be told to turn back, but that was part of the risk.

Trip booked and back at the hostel we met our roommates, we shall call them “Princess” and “Big Bro”, ate some dinner, got the goss on what’s hot in town and watched the first of some Winter Olympics. Princess was aptly named as such as the teenage Chilean had spread the contents of her suitcase most of the way across the generous floor space in our dorm and then taken over 2hours in the bathroom (shared one between eight) to get ready for her night out. I was met with a rude look and big sigh when I finally could not ‘hold it’ for any longer and knocked on the door, and later blamed for making her late when her brother was still waiting for her! Matt and I found it hilarious though as they finally headed out at about midnight, but by 3am Big Bro and another guy had to carry her back in and dump her drunken arse in bed (fully clothed) and then head back out!

Day 95 – Go, caution, stop!

Today we had some time to kill, wandered around Pucon in the glorious sunshine, ate SUSHI for lunch – a real treat – and stared up into the sky to check out our challenge.

The lake front with Villarica in the background.

Becoming familiar with the local warning system in the centre of town:
Green = Todo bien (literally “all good”); Orange = Do you smell smoke?; Red = We’re all screwed, hope you’re wearing your good underwear.

It was early to bed for us (and quite a few of the rest of the hostel) as we had to be at Aguaventura at 6.30am the next morning!

Day 96 – What goes up, usually comes down on its arse!

After having a quick breakfast at 5.30am with Princess and Big Bro who had just slinked in after another night out, we were off to Aguaventura to be loaded onto a minibus for the ride to Volcan Villarica ski centre where the trek begins. The sun had just risen when we were unloaded off the bus and the 2,847m volcano was casting a huge shadow over the blanket of clouds we had just risen above.

The first part of the trek wasn’t a trek at all and we were treated to a chairlift ride skipping the first part of the ascent. The bottom part of the volcano is actually a ski resort in Winter and so we were able to catch the lift up to where the snow line began.

At the top of the lift it was time to gear up and lace up our heavy boots although as the snow was quite soft from the warm weather the day before, we didn’t need to put on our crampons (disappointing!). After a quick demonstration of how to use your ice-axe to stop yourself rolling back to the bottom if you fall, we were off.

Although there was one guide per three people, we found ourselves stuck in a long line of people single file, somewhere towards the back, and also competing with the two or three other agencies and their group of 30-odd tackling the hill today. It was frustratingly slow and stop start to begin with, but as the others took longer and longer breathers the further they went up the hill, we soon found some space, our guide realising we were capable of kicking our own steps to pass the slow-pokes.

The view from the first rest stop, with another tiny little volcano in the distance.

The view up the hill and another tour group dotted along the skyline.

The view from another rest stop further up the hill.

The guys giving water to “Guia” (”Guide”) literally our guide!

The trek rises approximately a kilometre in altitude, but we walked approximately 5km by the time the switchbacks were taken into account and it took us about 4 hours to reach the top. Matt and I were first and second to the top and we were extremely lucky as conditions were perfect! We were able to walk most of the way round the edge and even peer in! Unfortunately the lava was currently about 500m down the hole, so we couldn’t see it (disappointing!) but we spent an hour or so wandering around and checking out the view. I would hate to know what it would be like on a bad day as every few minutes the volcano would belch out an invisible cloud of sulfur gas which would enter our nose and mouth sending us coughing and spluttering just to breathe!

The top! (In gale force wind)

The obligatory self portrait.

The view to Volcan Lanin from the east side of the rim (with Guia showing us where the edge is (just beyond his left paw if you can see it!))

Volcan Lanin

Inside the crater.

Matt walking along the wider side of the rim (crater down to the left of the photo).

Having enjoyed our reward enough, and definitely having had enough of the gas taking over our whole respiratory systems, we were ready for the fun part – Down!

Down didn’t involve just trekking back down our path, but mostly SLIDING ON OUR BUTTS! So fun! It ended up being about two thirds bumsledding in the end. When there is enough snow, and if you can be bothered carrying skis up, you are actually allowed to ski back down. We were told this wasn’t an option so instead we carried up a plastic plate the size of our butts to slide down on. I’m really not sure what the highlight was now! Matt made a little video (with my remaining camera), which isn’t great, but funny none-the-less! Here:

Before we knew it we were back at Aguaventura sharing a beer with our guides and the other couple of fast people!

That night we went out to the local vegetarian restaurant for another treat we hadn’t had in ages: Yellow curry – yum! A fantastic day all-in-all but the trek didn’t turn out to be that hard… so will still have to find another volcano to climb sometime soon.

Day 97 – It’s Hyyyyyydro-ma-tic! Why its greased lightning!

With Pucon equating itself to Queenstown as the adventure sport capital of South America, we were not yet satisfied that we had had our fill of adventurous sports. So when we got back to Aguaventura last night, we booked in to do something called “Hidrospeed” the following afternoon. Hidrospeed is basically like white water rafting but without the raft. Instead you don wetsuits, life jackets, flippers and a helmet and are given a bodyboard type floatation device to hold onto as you float down a river riding the sections of white water that pop up every so often.

We had chosen a 2pm session so we would have time to sleep in, pack up and check out of our hostel ready for our intended night bus to Santiago at 9pm that evening, but that plan went down the drain when the agency rang at 10 to 10am and said that if we couldn’t get down there in the next 15 minutes they would have to cancel on us. So I quickly packed up our stuff while Matt ran down to the bus station to pick up our bus tickets and we were there just in time.

The rivers chosen by our guides were Rio Liucura which flowed into Rio Trancura with Class II and III rapids. Our guide, Valentino, recommended that we didn’t take our camera (even though it’s waterproof) but he was wearing a camera on his helmet which he later gave us a copy of the videos!

The Liucura river where we set off from.

Me trying to demonstrate how beautiful and clear the water was (if you look you can see a log on the river floor in the photo).

Riding the rapids was short (only about an hour) but lots of fun!

Refugio Tinquilco

Day 91 – So 6am is really the only option?

There are two transborder buses a day from San Martin to Pucon, for some inexplicable reason (it’s not a long journey) they both leave at 6am. This has the added disadvantage of both buses arriving at the border at the same time, making this border crossing the slowest we’ve endured so far. One saving grace was the spectacular location of the border, in a pass below the snow capped Volcan Lanin.

Volcan Lanin from the Argentine border post.

After some tasty burritos in Pucon, a nice change from the standard fare, we headed back out of town toward Parque Nacional Huerquehue. About half an hour’s walk along the lake shore from the park entrance and we were at Refugio Tinquilco. Run by the charismatic and energetic ‘Pato’, the refugio is a kind of ecological retreat set on private land surrounded by the national park. Downstairs is the living area with couches around a fire, kitchen and bar. Upstairs is a small but very well stocked library (I polished off Vineland by Thomas Pynchon while we were there) and five small rooms.

They’d stuffed up our booking and were one bed short, so they made me a bed in the library. I didn’t really mind sleeping surrounded by all the books!

Refugio Tinquilco.

Pato and his son mixing Pisco Sours in bulk.

Day 92 – Watching the rain

I woke up in the library to the sound of rain on the roof. It didn’t really let up all day so I had a chance to get into the book, while Erin got some knitting done and chatted to two very inquisitive Chilean girls and their mum and Swiss girl who had just had a baby and was there with her Chilean partner and his family. Some of the other guests played Trivial Pursuit in Spanish, but it proved a bit too challenging for us! Instead we played a game like Mastermind that Erin was soon flogging me at.

At dinner time we were lazy and let our hosts do the cooking for us. I had a delicious turkey stew and Erin was treated to salmon with a spicy mash.

That evening Pato’s sons put on a bit of a concert, however we got the feeling that this might have been pretty much a nightly event. At one stage Pato and his brother (who was there for a brief stay) took it in turns providing vocals and limericks and although we couldn’t catch all that they were saying I get the feeling there was a bit of sibling rivalry happening, but everyone found it hilarious.

The evening’s entertainment.

Day 93 – Lagunas

It wasn’t exactly sunny when we got up, but the rain had stopped, so we made a dash for the national park. The track climbs steeply from the refugio to a high pass, nearly 1000m up in total, made a little more difficult by the mud. This is probably one of those occasions when pictures speak louder than words:

Salto Nido de Aguila

Lago Tinquilco from halfway up the hill.

Lago Chico

Once a again an evening concert broke out, this time with Pato taking the lead. Many of the songs seemed to be popular singalongs, alas there was nothing we knew.

Pato entertaining once again, this time accompanied by a mouth piano thingy (which probably has a more official name).

Bariloche

Day 86 – Home, sweet temporary home

Amazed that our report was indeed ready at 8am, we boarded our bus to Bariloche at 10.30, ready to leave this bad luck behind and hit the shops to find Matt some jocks and socks and well, basically everything else, as all he had left were the clothes he was in and his hat! Border security was quick, as there was only two thirds of a one pack to search, and we were soon in the middle of picturesque Bariloche, the self proclaimed Chocolate Capital of South America.

Lucky this had a chest high fence around it otherwise I may have got myself in a little trouble.

We had booked a place called La Justina off the internet a few days before as accommodation in Bariloche was tight, this place being well and truly on both the local and backpacker tourist track and it being the middle of Summer. After a trudge up a very steep hill to the hostel (the whole town is built into the hill!), we were instantly welcomed by the live-in-manager Lucia and some of the other guests, including a couple of Israelis we had shared a minibus with to Chile Chico. Argentina had began to feel a bit like home as we keep coming back here between brief periods in Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile and Argentineans have generally been the most hospitable and had the best internet connections for Skyping real home!

After settling in, taking a brief walk downtown and hitting up the supermarket, we arrived back to a flurry of activity in the kitchen. The Israelis were cooking up a feast and it seemed the rest of the hostel had sniffed it out too and were hanging out in the kitchen. We were chuffed that we had found enough ingredients, a tray and and over in order to make lasagne, but this ended up looking boring in comparison! We were immediately invited to join anyways and had a great night in!

Day 87 – PROJECT: Dress Matt II

The next morning, as I was innocently heading downstairs to breakfast, I heard the dulcet tones of too Aussie accents singing John Farnham’s “Your the Voice” from the next room (with the door open). I couldn’t help myself and as I walked past giggling, I shouted “There must be Aussies in the house!” I think Maddy and Andrew may have been a little embarrassed that they were caught, but it turned out to be the best thing for Matt and I as chatting later (together with a little covert move on my behalf of stealing their email address from the sign-in book) we now have the details of their blog guiding and entertaining us as we head north. Our chat was brief (as they were waiting for a taxi), but it seemed we had met ourselves coming the other direction down this amazing continent, except with much more writing talent!

Anyways, back to the project at hand - as well as trying to find enough clothes and things for Matt to feel like he had possessions again, we had decided we were going to investigate the prospect of climbing in Bariloche. We had received an email from Andrew and Marta – the Torres del Paine Aussies – saying that they had done some and absolutely loved it. We figured we had at least better look into it as is one of South America’s most established climbing destinations. And that we did, however not being able to afford the $150USD or so a day that they paid for a guide and gear, we looked around to see what gear/climbs could be hired/done independently. Unfortunately, there was not a place in town that had sport climbing gear for rent and when we rang our insurer we were told that we wouldn’t be covered for climbing anyways... so that idea was quickly forgotten again.

So…. it was back to shopping. I won’t bore you with the long and painful details of dressing my husband, but you should take comfort that he now has some bits and bobs and enough clothes to have something to present at the laundromat (except still no pack to put them in). I on the other hand am still jacketless and praying that it doesn’t rain anytime soon, but happy that I stumbled across the absolute BEST chocolate in the entire world! It is seriously the best I have ever tasted and for those who know me at all – that says a lot.

Mamuschka – the best chocolate in the world.

Along the way we also stumbled across these guys too – big, medium and small St. Bernard's!! They were so beautiful! I snapped this photo of them napping, only to receive a sharp “HEY!” from a derelict looking guy sitting in a nearby doorway. I looked at him, he glared at me, I wasn’t sure what was happening so I just kept walking to catch up with Matt. Later on, on our walk around town, it had become apparent why I was yelled at – he sets them up in the town square in a row so that people can PAY to have their photo with them! So I guess they were napping from a hard days work. Sorry dude.

So after some successful shopping, Matt now had appropriate clothing that would get him into the local brewery, Antares, so of course that was what happened next. We started with a tasting set:

….and by about 5 minutes later we had made our decisions ready to tackle the remaining hour and a half of ‘happy hour’.

Two pints and a half down, and with the pub filling up due to it being Friday night, we decided we had better order food having both eyed off something on the specials menu – Matt: stew with key ingredient wild mushrooms and me: trout with lemon cream sauce. Over dinner we read more about the beers we were drinking and Matt became highly outraged at the below piece of information:

Given my father had not complied Matt wanted “a refund”, however I was prompt to remind him that he hates honey beer and wouldn’t drink it anyway!

Day 88 – We could totally live here.

The next morning we had planned to do the Circuito Chico mountain bike circuit taking in all the best views of the nearby lakes from the hills… but we woke up late, were exhausted from walking every street in the whole town the day before, then easing our dehydration with beer and so as soon as the forecast said ‘strong wind’ that plan was canned. I was also a bit miserable as something had bitten me on both arms and swelled up so bad I had extra biceps and pins and needles in my hands! The Israelis had gone hiking and having no one to entertain us, we flopped around the house with Tomer, the most loveable house labrador and blogged, etc.

Tomer in his favourite spot on the stairs. No he doesn’t move for you to get past.

Later in the afternoon we went out for ice cream and to check out the lakefront and also check buses for Pucon (back in Chile), given they had also been booking out well in advance.

A view over the deep blue Lago Nahuel Huapi. The town of Bariloche is in a gorgeous setting on the lake and built up into the hills. There are ski resorts here too, so with skiing in Winter and activities in glorious but not-too-hot sun in Summer this placed seemed the most ‘liveable’ for us out of the places we have visited so far (and of course, don’t forget the chocolate shops).

That night, with no Israelis to cook for us, we went out for Israeli food instead:

Day 89 – I will never be a professional downhill bike rider.

The next morning we were up and on the bus to where you hire bikes from (KM Marker 18) to do the Circuito Chico mountain bike tour. Our bikes were decent with suspension, gears and excellent brakes! The track follows main roads and was hilly but not too bad riding, (apart from cars wizzing by), but the side trips were a little more challenging! Most were down and back up steep dirt/gravel tracks with crater pots holes - and no where near what I was used to speeding on my road bike. Matt of course had no troubles and was even talking about visiting Cerro Catedral – a place where you catch a lift up a ski run and speed back down. (Thankfully he was convinced otherwise of that one). Here’s some pictures of the day:

This was one of the side trips down to a pebbly beach accessing the water in view – a little cold for swimming though!

Matt on a bridge at one of the low points. Was fun getting down there, but it was only up after that!

Me and the best views on the circuit – the merging point between Lake Moreno and Lake Nahuel Huapi.

Same lookout.

Matt at Colonia Suiza, a market about 3km down a dirt track. It was scary getting down there sliding all over the place and disgusting getting back up as lots of cars and buses were whizzing past and kicking up dirt. It was also toward the end of the day… not pleasant.

Real curanto cooking (See Chiloe) at the market. Matt lined up only to find out that tickets were pre-sold and he had missed out!

We fell into bed that night feeling exhausted and very unfit!

Day 90 – Ruta de Los Siete Lagos

A popular tourist activity in and around Bariloche is to take the “Seven Lakes Drive” between Bariloche and San Martin de Los Andes to the north which is extremely beautiful and takes you past, you guessed it, seven gorgeous lakes. Most people drive the 180-odd kilometres over a couple of days and camp at the some of the lakes. Unfortunately with no tent anymore and unable the afford the one-way rental of a car (which was actually twice the price of return rentals???) we had to be satisfied that the bus to San Martin de Los Andes, where we were headed next anyway, would take this route.

The bus left at 11am so we could see all the lakes in daylight. This was a huge struggle for both of us, as we have got falling asleep within 20 minutes of boarding any bus down to a fine art. We struggled to stay awake between lakes and got a few snaps out the window:

Unable to book one of the two hostels over the internet or make reservations by phone (so stupid), we were lucky to get some beds at Secuoya Hostel, when we walked in. It was lucky because San Martin is a very swanky town so we may have been on the street otherwise – the next choice was $100! It was one of the most expensive “beds for a night” we have had and we hardly used it given we were up at 5am for the bus to Pucon.