This is a day measured in hours rather than stops — the longest single push of this stretch of the trip, trading the lake district's volcanoes and forests for the flat agricultural expanse of Chile's central valley. By the time the day ends, the landscape outside the window will have changed completely, from araucaria forest to vineyard rows.
North on Ruta 5
The morning's route rejoins Ruta 5 north of Villarrica and settles into the steady rhythm of the Panamericana — through Temuco and on past Victoria and Collipulli in the Araucanía, the forested hills gradually giving way to open farmland as the highway pushes north. A fuel stop at a Copec station breaks up the morning before the road crosses into the Biobío region, the landscape opening further into the wheat and pine plantations that define this stretch of the valley.