Laguna de Laja National Park

19.12. It's payday at the campsite. A young man comes to collect. Today we're going to Laguna de Laja National Park. When we arrive at the entrance, unfortunately the park is already closed. And it turns out the park is only open from Tuesday to Sunday. Great!

Since we now know that nothing works without a reservation, we hope for Wi-Fi. But that proves to be difficult. The owner of the small campsite Acampamento Viejo says he can create a hotspot for us, but it's more or less a dead zone here. We should go to Antuco, it's better there. But even in Antuco, as we have to realize, it's not better.

When we are promised some Wi-Fi at a tavern and order a cold beer, the owner rushes out of the kitchen seconds later and tells us to quickly drink up the beer, it's against the law and she will get into trouble. It's election Sunday and there is an alcohol ban throughout Chile. Only the waitress forgot about it - even though the television was showing the latest election projections. So we return to the campsite empty-handed. The owner's hotspot doesn't help either. So we cook and wait for tomorrow. Then a second car arrives: a young couple and it turns out they are from Wallis!?

After dinner, they join us and we exchange experiences. Vivian and Michel are very nice and have been on the road for a long time too. It turns out that we have almost the same route planned. So we will meet again along the way. The campsite dog keeps us from sleeping at night. It barks and barks and doesn't stop, and it's only half a meter away from our tent. Eventually we've had enough, the owner doesn't care, so Roman carries him to the toilets and locks him up there. That gives us at least 2-3 hours of peace until the owner lets him out again in the morning hours…

20.12. We want to try our luck at the national park again - despite it being a day of rest. And lo and behold: a ranger is on site. He comes to the car and asks us if we have a reservation or not. Without one, we admit. Ah, he teaches us, a visit to the park is ONLY possible with a reservation. But he doesn't want to be difficult, we can go in. It costs 3 francs admission, but that's okay, we don't have to pay. Somewhat confused but not unhappy, we set off. Since there are no hiking trails on the volcano and we are not interested in the other paths, it will be short. We visit the lagoon and the martyr memorial. In the year 2000, an entire Swiss army company froze to death here due to sudden heavy snowfall and poor equipment.

We continue driving and are allowed to stay overnight at a very idyllic campsite called "Las Margaritas". It is actually closed for renovations, but the owner doesn't mind.

He also generously offers that we can use the pool (only halfway full with water and the rest filled with leaves) ;)