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).