A short catch up - as there is nothing to say!

The 4 hour drive from Puerto Montt to Temuco was not bad (was Easter Friday). But nearing Temuco you could see off in the distance the Llaima volcano, one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile, but it would have been a 4 hour detour to get there! Temuco is the capital of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. It's located 670 kilometres (416 miles) south of Santiago and lies in the middle of the historic Araucanía, a traditional land of the indigenous Mapuche. And that's about it. There is nothing to see or do here. A visit to Pinto Fair (the markets) on the way to my hotel was nothing. There are only two statues in the whole city and one street (Alemania Avenue) worth walking on. Even the tourist information office had closed down! So it was a day to do some washing, but the laundromat had shut too.... I suppose when you are in a city of nearly 300,000 and over 25% live well below the poverty line - tourism is not high on the list of priorities.

Even Atlas Obscura couldn't help! But one of the statues did have an interesting story - the Monumento a Caupolicán, the first great military leader of the Mapuche people in XVI century. He earned his rank by holding up a heavy tree trunk on his shoulders during three days and nights, remaining undeterred due his great physical strength and courage. During his military career he commanded more than 50,000 native warriors against Spanish governors. He was finally captured and condemned to death by impalement in 1558. However his statue on a busy intersection had no signage and was covered in graffiti.

Hopefully I'll find somewhere more interesting at Concepcion.