Valdivia-Villarrica

The lodgings were a bit run down but the bed was comfy and I slept very well. Fortunately there was hot water for the shower in the morning though the taps were fiddly. The landlady was Germanic, and served Kuchen for breakfast.

I walked to the river to wander through the feria fluvial (riverside market). The woman in the picture was selling bundles of dried kelp called cochayuyo. I knew they were a kind of seaweed but didn't know what variety and what it was used for until I looked it up for this blog. It is reconstituted with water and used as a vegetable in salads and soups.

Colourful fruits and flowers.

Pelicans hanging out for scraps from the fishmonger.

The day had started off overcast but brightened up as it wore on.

I decided not to bother with Isla Teja, a fluvial island, but to press on to Villarrica. The bus stopped everywhere, but I was in no hurry. We passed fields of yellow hops. It was All Saints' Day and people were in the cemeteries tidying the graves. The food vendors were there too doing business.

At Villarrica, I had a lunch of lomo a lo pobre (poor man's steak) in Café Chito. It is similar to Portuguese steak. If this is poverty cuisine, then I'll be happy to be poor. Not your meal if you need to avoid cholesterol but tasty and filling.

I took a room at the Hotel Fuente. It was in the attic, rather basic with a low ceiling. In retrospect I should have proceeded to Pucón, but I was less spontaneous in those days.

Villarrica is on the shore of the eponymous lake and the shore comprises brown sand and pebbles. A Chilean was talking to some USAns in English as he pulled his boat out of the water. Luckily for him it was fresh water. Turned out he had lived in Miami.

Villarrica was a tourist resort with a couple of streets and not much else. It seemed that Café-Bar 2001 was the place to hang out. Not much was happening because it was still out of season, though I heard some disco music in the vicinity that night.