Puerto Montt

km 17365
Clayton here. Had some time, so we thought we'd put an update on even though there's not too much to say. We came from Pucon on lake Villarrica, a beautiful little tourist town. The lake was cold and clear, with an active volcano for a backdrop. Quite a sight at night.
Another first: we finally cooked our own meal. Piet found a good set of camping utensils in Santiago, so we had our first barbecue. Pretty good I might add. That night we had to sleep with our bags in the tent, so first thing in the morning we started looking for a bigger tent. Found a good one for almost half price and then we sold my old tent to the camp owner, so it worked out to be a pretty good deal.
Here in Puerto Montt, we have a few days to kill as our ferry does not leave until Tuesday night. In the time being we will go to Lagos Todos los Santos, which, according to our guidebook, is the most beautiful in the Lake District. It is rather pretty country down here, more and more beautiful forests the further we go. For that reason, among others, I am glad to finally be away from Santiago. Maybe it's just the big city aspect, but I can't see that I would want to go back there, speaking only for myself of course.
We should be in Torres del Paine by next Sunday at the latest, arriving in Ushuaia (just a little further south of Tierra del Fuego) by the end of March. It's all a little later than we had originally planned, but it's no problema.
I wish I had some evocative thoughts to share, maybe even spark some kind of debate, for interest's sake. I'll leave you with a quote from one of my esteemed uncles. "Life is like a roll of toilet paper: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes." Until the next sheet of two-ply...
P.S. That reminds me of an interesting fact that you may not be aware of. Everywhere south of Mexico you are required to place the toilet paper in the garbage receptacle, as it will plug the sewer. There are many signs posted to remind you. After a couple of months it seems almost natural. Just thought you should know.