If there was just one reason to come to Chile...

...it would be hot springs.

The most incredible thing I have done so far in Chile is to swim in a naturally heated swimming pool, outdoors, up in the mountains, while it was snowing. With an incredible bunch of girlfriends too.

Way, way back before Carlos and I had our southern Chile trip, I had my first taste of life outside of the metropolis at Nevados de Chillan.

Me and the girls exploring the winter wonderland.
Photo thanks to Bárbara Hermosilla

Nevados de Chillan is reported to be one of the best ski resorts in Chile. I wouldn't know because I have no intention of ever trying skiing, wobbly knee and all, but it certainly has a beautiful resort, spa, pool and restaurant complex up in the mountains - much more my style!

Chillan is reached from Santiago in five hours by train, I think still classified as being in Chile's central valley. The countryside is agricultural and apart from the spine of the Andes, very flat. It reminded me a lot of Lincolnshire (in a good way!)

Morning swim in the snow

The I Love Chile girls and I spent four days relaxing (and working a little!) in this paradise. The food was excellent, the jacuzzi was fun and the view was amazing, but by far the best thing was the pool. I'm talking naturally heated water, direct from volcanoes and other geological phenomena, that have been harnessed by man for bathing up in the mountains.

The night-time dip in the falling snow followed by a early morning swim as the sun rose on snow covered mountainsides I don't think can ever be beaten.

How the other half live

Cross the border back into Chile from Argentina's Bariloche and the international road will take you right past Termas de Puyehue. A little all inclusive stay at this super-luxurious spa and wellness resort was my treat from I Love Chile for the voluntary work I've been doing for them over the last six months. Seriously, this was some present.

We were up early to catch the international bus from Bariloche's terminal. Amusingly, we were shown the same film as on the inbound journey, but hey, it was an enjoyable one (Tony Scott's 'Unstoppable' about a runaway train if you're interested, dubbed into Spanish of course)! After passing through customs without incident, the bus dropped us off at the entrance to the termas. 

A progressive series of 'wows' followed, as we entered a huge reception area and were shown to our enormous and sumptuous room complete with balcony, lake view and various little freebies. After we'd picked ourselves up off the floor, we decided to find out about the various activities on offer before having lunch.

The view from our window

The all inclusive deal involves a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, at least three courses each time. Needless to say my jeans were a little tight by the end. The main restaurant has an idyllic view of the grounds and the lake beyond and we even managed to watch some birds of prey outside while breakfasting on the last morning (sorry, this was a rare occasion where I didn't have my camera with me).

The view from the restaurant

Following lunch, we were taken on a short guided walk (caminata) to the complex's hydroelectricity plant - the turbine dating from the 1930s - before hitting the pool. Hot spring pools are one of the best discoveries I've made here in Chile (you'll see why in a forthcoming post about Nevados de Chillan). Naturally heated by the area's volcanic underground (more on that later too), the pools are extremely relaxing and the minerals in the water make your skin feel really soft.

At Puyehue, there is a large indoor pool heated at around 36 degrees with various hydro-massage jets which we had great fun trying not to get thrown about by. Next to it there is a semi-covered Olympic-sized pool, in which I had a gorgeous early morning swim the next day, and lastly an outdoor 'fun' pool. We messed around in the outdoor pool as the sun went down, being swirled around in a whirlpool, bumped around by water jets and generally acting like big kids.

Local yarn

The next morning, Carlos took advantage of a horse riding trip (cabalgata) while I returned to the pool and pottered around the hotel. I figured my first time on a horse in a language I'm still learning was not the best of ideas. Part of the pottering involved a quick visit to the hotel shop, which to my dismay, held an ample collection of local yarn. You guessed it, I bought some (and it's green).

When we met-up again, we had a packed day ahead of us, starting with a mountain-biking circuit around the grounds, a big lunch and a lovely walk through the forest along the river - where I learnt lots of countryside related vocabulary such as seta (fungus), enganchar (to be hooked on something - i.e. a rama or branch), barro (mud), otoñal (autumnal) and oveja (sheep). I hope that's painted a picture...

Setas (funghi)

Back in the hotel we took in onces - the Chilean version of afternoon tea, which includes bread, ham and cheese, cakes and of course, tea! Rather full, we headed to the spa for a sauna, which after feeling proud of ourselves that it wasn't that hot, we realised wasn't switched on. We sorted that though, before returning to the pool for a refreshing dip.

That night's buffet consisted of traditional Chilean food, including empanadas and pastel de choclo. I enjoyed a kind of beef bourguignon and some of the best desserts - deep fried churro-like pastries and little meringues with fruits of the forest. Finally, we worked off dinner with an hour or so of ping-pong in the games room.

Termas de Puyehue is an oasis of luxury, in a stunning setting, with attentive staff and immaculate attention to detail. It sounds like a cliche, but we kept returning to our room to find more treats - baskets of fruit, chocolates and bottles of the spa's mineral water. Hands down, Termas de Puyehue wins the award for 'the most luxurious place I've ever stayed'.

Termas de Puyehue's grounds with Volcan Puyehue in the background
and the hot spring pool in front

More Termas de Puyehue photos on Flickr:

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Termas de Puyehue photoset

All eyes on Chile... again

As I write this, I'm recovering from another news marathon at I Love Chile. This week, it was the visit of US President Barack Obama. As the only English media group in Chile, we were fortunate to get press passes to the official proceedings, giving our reporters and photographers a nice close up of this important meeting. I may have been office bound, watching events unfold on the Chilean government's live stream, but nonetheless, it was exciting to be part of capturing such an historic occasion.

More and more it seems, Chile is muscling its way onto the world stage. It embarrasses me to say, that I don't think I could have pointed to Chile on a map when I first learned this was going to be home for the next year. Like many of my compatriots, I knew little about this long slither of land at the end of the world.

I've often mused about why this is. Without doubt, geographically, the country is isolated. The majestic Andes form a natural barrier to the east, while the expanse of the Pacific Ocean stretches out to the west. In the north lies the unforgiving Atacama Desert - which in places supports no life - and in the south, Antarctica, the last wilderness on Earth.

Migration, at least between much of Europe and Chile, has historically been fairly low. And until 2010, there was little in the way of cultural or social exports that reached across the Atlantic to make the non-Latin parts of the northern hemisphere stand up and take notice.

Chile's pride is symbolised in the great
bicentennial flag

But all that has started to change. First came the great earthquake of February 27th 2010, now the sixth largest in recorded history, which started to peel open people's eyes. Then came the rescue of the 33 miners, where over a billion people worldwide had their eyes glued to the TV. Finally, yesterday, President Obama chose Chile to be the stage upon which he announced a new type of relationship between the United States and Latin America - as equal partners. Not the world superpower and its underdeveloped cousins. Two equals with much to share and learn from each other.

The US President had high praise for Chile: "Credit for Chile’s success belongs to the Chilean people, whose courage, sacrifices and perseverance built this nation into the leader that it is. [...] So I could not imagine a more fitting place to discuss the new era of partnership that the United States is pursuing not only with Chile, but across the Americas."

With all eyes once again on Chile, word is beginning to spread. Perhaps soon, I will no longer being asked in an incredulous tone: "Why Chile?"

One year on

I could write about nothing else today other than the first anniversary of the great Chilean earthquake of 2010.

At 3.34am on February 27th 2010, a massive earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Chile. Its epicenter was just offshore from Cobquecura, a small town in the central-southern part of the country. Around 30 minutes later, massive tsunami waves triggered by the quake hit Chile's coast, destroying large parts of the country's second city Concepción.

Here in the capital city of Santiago, where the quake measured around 8.0, there was surprisingly little damage. While lots of buildings suffered some surface damage, there was little in the way of major structural problems. Testament to this, our flat had some sizeable cracks in its central walls and a few tiles that had fallen off when we moved in. And like many people we know, our doors don't close properly and the windows don't open without a fight. But the building is standing and sturdy. Reports in the news say that it was business as usual in Santiago after only a couple of days.

In total, the earthquake caused the deaths of 524 people, left 31 missing and 800,000 homeless. But what's amazing, is that these numbers are pretty small. Compare it to the Haiti earthquake just six weeks earlier; this measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, but is thought to have killed over 300,000 people, injured a further 300,000 and left 1 million people homeless. This just goes to show how well prepared Chile is. It understands the risks of its location and knows how to deal with them.

Read my articles about the February 27th earthquake on I Love Chile:

• One year on: remembering Chile's earthquake
• One year on: destruction and reconstruction after the 27F earthquake
• I Love Chile looks back at February 27th 2010

Big news

I'm not quite sure how this happened, but I have managed to find myself a volunteer position as online editor of I Love Chile News, Chile's only English language media group.

It all came about when I was looking through an ex-pat forum and stumbled upon a post about volunteer opportunities. I'd been thinking of volunteering as an English teacher, but found a short note from the editor of I Love Chile News stating they were always on the lookout for writers.

Well, writing is what I do, so I made an enquiry, which led to a meeting with the editor yesterday afternoon. Amazingly, he said he was looking for a website content manager and was this something I'd be interested in? (I'm sure any SUSTAiN folks reading this will be laughing by now).

So here I am, thousands of miles away from home and all of a sudden in charge of a major media channel. I had never thought this would be possible as it just hadn't occurred to me there would be opportunities in my line of work in English.

So keep an eye on: www.ilovechile.cl.