I assembled my (folding recumbent BikeFriday) bike in Temuco, loaded all I needed and left. Just before that I went to visit a famous, and very large, fruit and vegetable market. It is at least the biggest in Chile, and indeed had an amazing variety of foods to offer. Loaded with bananas, apples, raisins, and carrots - not to mention all the Power Bars and Rebars I brought from Canada (and they are HEAVY) - I left towards the lake area (or district), to a town called Villarica. The distance was about 100 km, give or take, and the plan was to reach it in a day, or less. I mean, hey, I am a strong cyclist, have done longer distances before, and so - why not?!

For some reason, I can see some of you smiling to yourselves...

The first part of the way was red - nice and paved. The scenery in this part of Chile is absolutely amazing - gentle rolling hills, absolutely everything is green, with a mix of forests and pasture fields, cows and other animals wandering around. Very much like countryside England. Lush, beautiful, peaceful, with some clouds in the sky, but warm and sunny. Friendly people, many workring their fields... and I have seen farmers using a couple of bulls to plow their fields.

Then I switched from the red roads onto the black ones, and this is when things became very different. I have found out that there are two types of gravel roads in Chile - packed and not packed. Packed gravel is not bad, for I can still cycle on it, and even though the speed is quite slow - about 8-10 km/hour - it is manageable. Most of the road I was on, however, was unpacked gravel... which was REALLY bad. Small and large stones, covering the road completele. Actually, that was the road. At times, I could cycle, vibrating at a speed of about 5-6 km/hour. At times, I had to walk, pushing the bike. And I had about 50-60 km of that road to cover... and I was becoming less and less happy. About life, about Chile, about the bike I have... about almost everything. Very quickly it was getting closer to 6 PM, and I was still about 37 km away from my destination, Villarica. I realized that I have about 2 options - either continue struggling with the road pretty much through the night, or find a place to sleep. Couple of the little hotels on the way were closed (not yet tourist season in the area), and I started contemplating what would it be like to sleep under the stars... and as I sent back home all my camping gear, this option wasn´t making me very happy either.

Just as I was getting thoroughly disappointed with life, I saw a very fancy sign in English, "Trailanque - Hotel, Spa, Golf, Cabines" and my mood immediately improved. More like went through the roof, actually. I blazed off the road and found myself in an amazing, very western-like hotel. All wood and log, beautifully built and maintained... and absolutely in the middle of nowhere. And there was even a room available - the very last one, after some very heart-felt begging in Spanish!

Chilean hotels are very interesting. For example, they never have a problem with me bringing my bike and all the gear right into the room - be it a fancy room and a dirty bike.

During the day, as I was passing through a little village and thinking of stopping for a bite to eat, someone called me from the local corner bar. Being curiously cautious, I went in and found myself in a company of about 12 men, of various ages, who have been spending this Saturday afternoon seriously sampling local beverages. For the next 10 minutes, I kept refusing everything they tried to offer me, using the excuse of being on the bike. Eventually my resistence gave in, and I sampled some local white wine that one of them offered to me. After a few more minutes of chat I told them I must be leaving, as I have to get to Villarica. Then they started giving me directions... in a somewhat of a wine-influenced Spanish. I eventually managed to leave these friendly people and even found my way...

I am now in the lake district, which has two major towns, Villarica (where I am staying) and Pucon, where I am now sitting in an Internet Cafe with signs in Hebrew all over the place. Villarica is more of a quiet and laid-back town, while Pucon is more touristy, commercialized, and busy. The scenery is fantastic - both are on a lakeshore, and one can see some of the famous volcanoes pretty much from every street. The day after tomorrow (whatever that day will be) I am planning to climb it, Volcano Villarica, which is slightly active, and on a good day one can see the lava bubbling in it.

I am staying in a lovely hostel, La Torre Swissa, managed by a Swiss couple who, years ago, cycled the world for about 2.5 years. Actually, they told me they only cycled half the world and then decided they had enough. The walls are filled with photos and postcards, and is very inspiring. Now they have this hostel, children, a community of friends, and a very friendly dog.