Chilly Chile & Skiing

After an incident with a bulb of garlic and a turnip in our bag (with the threat of a $200 fine) we crossed the boarder into freezing Chile and landed in a town called Puerto Montt. If we weren't starving, smelly and exhausted we would have moved on immediately because this was without a doubt the most depressing and miserable town we'd ever seen. So we found somewhere to rest our heads for the night (and a cinema to watch Prince of Persia...there's 2 hrs of our lives we'll never get back!) and moved on early in the morning for Pucón. We had heard that there was a possibility for skiing here on the volcano which towers over the town. When we arrived it was raining and it didn't stop raining for 4 days solid so there went any hopes of snow arriving. But Pucón itself was quite charming so we hung around for a few days (of course there was no travelling allowed when England were playing...rubbishly may I add!). After walking through the town we found a reasonably priced hostel owned by a little "abuela" (grandmother) who didn't speak a word of English...so we settled there for a few days. She was definitely the most memorable host we've had - pottering around after us, wrapping us up in blankets on the couch to make sure we were warm enough. It was almost enough to make us feel homesick...well not quite! We fit in a trip to some thermal baths as well to warm up. Mitch was extremely reluctant given the minus temperatures and rain but once he saw the steam rising and felt the heat he was in heaven! After a few days of lounging and one disastrous England match we packed our bags once more and made our way north to Santiago. We checked out skiing straight away and found out the price was pretty shocking. So we decided to think about it for a few days and enjoy the city. Santiago itself is stunning...especially with the backdrop of the snowy Andes. After a few very drunken nights and a lot of research we headed east back into Argentina to Malargüe where we would commute to Las Lenas ski resort for the next few days. It would be an early start every day (with a 1 and a half hr commute) but we were dying to get on the slopes.
The first day was a bit shaky with LOTS of tumbles (on my part) and a bit of sunburn but the next few days were heaven. The snow was very different to Europe and the views stunning...we were skiing/snowboarding in the Andes...we were very happy! With very sore bums, aching limbs and big smiles on our faces we moved on back to Mendoza a week later to begin our tour of the vineyards...and we can't wait to get stuck in!
(pic1: View of Santiago; pic2: Having a rest on my snowboard with a beer)