Rental Car Fiasco?!

Our rental van for six people plus luggage was supposed to be delivered at 10 am.  It arrived at 10:45 am and it would seat 6 people comfortably but not with luggage. After some major discussions with the driver and all three guys putting their heads together we were able to cram all the suitcases plus five backpacks in the back of the Toyota SUV.  One person sat in the back with the suitcases as his seat back, three girls in the midde and the driver and navigator and one backpack up front.  The hotel concierge helped with translation between John and the rental employee to negotiate the insurance deposit and voucher payment. Over one hour later we were able to start our drive to wine country.

It's always an adventure to drive in a foreign country. We circled a roundabout once then turned into a parking lot instead of onto the freeway ramp but we made it onto Ruta 5 Sur (route 5 south the Pan-America Highway) on our way to Colchagua Valley, a highly rated wine region of Chile and the location of our B&B.  Along the way we stopped for lunch and again took a wrong turn trying to get to the restaurant but out little detour took us thru a cute village.

The B&B is about 15 miles off of the Pan-American Highway in the middle of a forest between two ranges of the Andes Mtns. We are a long ways from civilization in an area most tourists will not visit. The owner of Tumunan Lodge is British and built this place about 5 years ago.  There are only 4 bedrooms but they have a huge pool and a wood fire heated hot tub. Located on 40 acres of land between two hills there is a river running thru the property and the owner, Will, has planted a small plot of grape vines.  He has arranged a winery tour for us tomorrow.