Skiing.

We book a car to take us up the mountain and, just a few miles up the road, we run out of petrol. I can never understand people who run out of petrol. Did you not notice the little needle going into the red? Did you not see the petrol light come on?

A windy mountain road and 2 hours later, we’re up at El Colorado for 3 days/2 nights of skiing. With 18 runs comprising a total of 568 acres, this place has the biggest ski area in Chile. It’s all ridiculously expensive up here compared to the rest of Chile and Will somehow manages to strike a deal whereby we don’t get our skis and boots until after lunch and we therefore pay only 2 days rental instead of 3. Still very expensive.

Our cabin is cute but a bit of a pain in the butt that it’s 200m from the hotel as it means we have to wrap up in the evenings just to go to the hotel for dinner, but since we all only have one set of clothes warm enough for this weather, that doesn’t take too long.

The advertised 18 runs is a bit of a cheat since it’s about 5 runs, split up with poles and netting which turns it into more. You wouldn’t get away with this kind of advertising in Europe. Still, we’re skiing with the kids and can hardly go mad. Will has Harley (who’s on skis for the first time) between his legs and I’m reacquainting Ruby with the delights of snowploughs as this is only her second time on skis, the last one 2 ½ years ago. It’s a pretty tiring way of skiing but very gratifying to see them making progress, even if I did have to get Ruby to side-slip down the top of the red slope for 15 minutes after she lost her nerve.

We’re both exhausted the next day and the muscles in our legs are shot to pieces, so we’re delighted to discover that we can put them both in ski school for 2 hours, even though it costs £40. We’re like crazy things as we drop them both off and then race to the chair lift which will whisk us right up to the top of the only black run. We manage to ski top to bottom of the mountain six times in the next 2 hours before we arrive, panting, at ski school, just in time to witness Harley doing snow ploughs on his own (good) and Ruby doing turns through bollards (bad, she’s way beyond this). But whether their skiing ability has improved or not, it was great for us to have 2 hours to ourselves.

The evening sunset is one of the most amazing I have ever witnessed. Santiago is just below us in the valley and during the day can be seen in the morning before the smog sets in. During the evening, if the smog isn’t too bad you can see the lights but tonight, the sunset is incredible. The brightest oranges and reds, stretching right across the sky.

Mr I’ve-Run-Out-of-Petrol is back to take us to the airport but he’s trying to fob us off into a smaller car which would mean we all have to sit in the back with bags on the front seat. We’ve already paid over the odds for his car (a 4-wheel drive) so he’s got some front trying to pull a fast one now. Only when Will makes a pretence of calling for another car (which we wouldn’t have had time to wait for since we have a flight to catch) does he miraculously decide to honour our deal and put his new passengers into the smaller car and let us back into his. Talk about being a member of the Better Offer Club. He’s in a bit of a hurry for some reason and we have a very hairy ride back down the mountain overtaking buses and cars on blind bends and getting far too close to sheer drops. He’s either double booked or else he’s trying to get us to the airport before the petrol runs out (if you’re low on fuel, should you drive fast to get as close to your desired location as you can before running out, or drive slowly to make the fuel last longer??).

We’re in plenty of time for our flight but, since I wasn’t able to get an internet connection up on the mountain, we currently have nowhere to stay in Lima. A frantic search of every website and I manage to book somewhere literally in the nick of time, just as we’re called to board our flight. With no time to read the reviews on Tripadvisor.com, I hope I’ve made an ok choice at El Condado www.condado.com.pe.