DAY 10 - CANYONS, HILLSIDES, SNOW AND PINES

A pretty river canyon drive up the hill back towards Chile

. 

with water-birds and horses on the waterside, and decent views of hills and canyons

and a reminder of how close we are to crossing the border

A few more miles

and beautiful pines in no man's land

though it starts to rain hard as we approach Pino Hachado snow-level – harsh cold winds too.

And once more in Chile

and, rolling down windings roads, the Chilean side seems much lusher.  But the rain starts up again as our road heads to Lonquimay. 

where some locals are dressed for the cold

and others are very friendly

 

We stop at Salto de la Princesa to be windswept

 

then battle the rain on a not-so-good road to Curacautin.

Tonight's camp isn't obvious but very cosy:  the Ruta 6 Copec petrol station