of chinese lanterns and chile

Bright paper pops of light dangle from the cathedral ceilings of this small log cabin Refugio hostel we have been directed to in Pucon, Chile- land of hot springs, volcanoes, waterfalls, rivers, mountains, and peace.
We left Bariloche yesterday morning with a few guys from our previous hostel and stayed in a the tiny, adorable town of San Martin for the night. I spent the afternoon hunkered down on a stone bench surrounded by rose bushes in a park while Sean walked around town trying to find the (only) hostel. A lovely Swiss couple asked us to share a bottle of wine with them and they joined us for a pre-sunrise walk to the bus station this morning to get here to Pucon. San Martin... what a gorgeous town. Where even the roses were trying to out do each other with their patterns and colours like I´ve never seen on roses before. If it weren´t that the Red Queen would insist on painting all flowers red, I would have thought we were in Wonderland. But her reign of terror would never have permitted crimson and cream striped petals, or an array of orange and peach colours layered on one another all within one rose.
Pucon is a quiet town, seems like all locals save those of us here at our campsite-cabin feeling Refugio. Sean and I opted for the 6-share tent in the back, plywood floor, chinese lantern in the center, dome tent and super soft bunk beds. There´s an outdoor kitchen, a ladder to assist in your pursuits with the cherry trees in the backyard, almost as many hammocks as there are trees, and a comfortable cabin inside with fireplace and high ceilings and Jack Johnson singing the sun through the windows. I feel like I´m back at the Shannon´s cabin in Bristol :)
Hard to believe that this trip is almost over.
At our previous hostel, at the Penthouse, we met up with Suzanna who had been with us since Mendoza, and as she checked in the day after us and was standing in the kitchen making tea and talking to another employee there- she walked herself right into a job there and decided, spoon in hand stirring her tea, that she would stay in Bariloche for the next...oh...maybe 3 months_ take Spanish classes, work at the hostel.. live life.
Mom- I promise you I almost enlisted right behind her.
After kayaking down a lovely lake with 4 others yesterday afternoon, having tea and an ICE cold swim and kayaking back, Sean & I and Suzanna made a feast of dinner with tortillini, sauteed onions and peppers with basil and some other spice that smelled really good... and toasted bread with olive oil, rosemary and basil. We toasted Suzanna´s new job, and threw the night to the wine and wind playing cards with a Swede and a Frenchman for our last night by the lake.
Now here´s to new evenings, new places, and Chile.