Pucon

Monday 20th December

Early bus to cross the border into Chile. Lovely views of Volcano Lanin at the border crossing:

 

Arrived in Pucon and checked into ´El Refugio´ hostel (7,000 CHP per night). I was recommended this hostel by Patricia, the dutch girl I met in Bariloche. I also met a New Zealand guy James while I was in Bariloche who used to manage this hostel and he said it would be a nice place to spend Christmas.

http://www.hostalelrefugio.cl/

I got an onward ticket to leave Pucon on Sunday night (26th) so I had 6 days in total to spend in Pucon .. plenty of time to see and do alot of things and of course take it easy for a few days to enjoy Christmas. Pucon is very touristy .. the main attraction here is the volcano  overlooking the town .. Volcan Villarica.

My first day was spent walking around the town getting to know the place. Looks like a really nice place. Very touristy but a real nice place to spend a few days. I went to Tourist Information (who were absolutely crap), so I got most of my information from Peter (the dutch guy who owned the hostel). Sam and Marie (from Netherlands and Germany) managed the hostel and were also a great help in deciding what to see and do around Pucon. 

Tuesday 21st December

Early start ... 06:15! Off to climb Volcan Villarica! We all met at 07:00 at the climb centre where we picked up our packs with all the technical equipment needed for the climb. Its not possible to ascend the volcano every day and sometimes a crowd can leave in the morning only to be told later that they cannot ascend to the summit ... it all depends on the weather. On this particular day were were lucky to be able to make it all the way up although it did get quite windy when we reached the summit so we couldnt spend too long up there. The smell of sulphur smoking from the volcano was quite toxic and depending on the wind direction sometimes it could be unbearable. It took us in total about 4 hours to ascend .. starting at the base at 08:20. The climb was good ... and was not too difficult except for the final part which was quite tiring and the cold wind didnt help. Coming down was alot easier ... as we all took turns to slide down the mountain in the snow. We all had water proof gear but for some reason I got soaked in snow and was freezing all the way down the mountain! Was a great day out and despite the price of CHP 34,000 (Appx Euro55) was delighted to have done. I met other backpackers subsequently who also went to do the climb but couldnt as they were not allowed due to poor weather conditions, so I count myself lucky to be able to do it.

Was so tired when I got home that evening.  After going for a nice steak dinner and getting back to the hostel, myself and some friends (Lara and Alicja from Germany and Leon and Judith from the Netherlands) went to the local thermal baths (natural hot springs). Cost was appx CHP11,000 (17 Euro) ... much cheaper if you have your own transport. We spent about 2 hours at the thermal baths ... so relaxing. Could have spent much longer there.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday  (22nd, 23rd & 24th December)

Exceptionally lazy days ... Lara, Alicja, Judith and Leon all checked out to move on to other places for Christmas, and loads of new people arrived to spend Christmas in the hostel. I spent these two days relaxing in Pucon and enjoying the scorching sunny weather. Wednesday was spent at the beach (Playa Blanca) on Lake Caburgua (a short bus ride from Pucon).

On Thursday I done some sightseeing ... a morning trek to Salto El Claro (a local waterfall about 5km outside Pucon) and Ojos del Caburgua (about 17km from Pucon).

Another lazy afternoon on Playa Blanca beach but it turned out to be a bit overcast. I probably should have done something active like rafting or kayaking but I was so lazy.

By 24th, I had met some really great people staying at the hostel ... all who were staying for the Christmas. The hostel were putting on a BBQ Christmas dinner tomorrow for Christmas day so looking forward to that. On Christms Eve evening, the hostel made lots of mulled wine. Heres a pic of Becks, Gaz and Teegan (from Australia) and Dan (from Canada) drinking Christmas Egg Nog.

After a few drinks, a few of us went to another hostel down the road ... 'Casa Chica' and had a few drinks there.  Not many people heading out on the town ... myself and Gaz headed to local bar called 'Mamas y Tapas' .... good spot with good music, but not very Christmassy although it was Christmas Eve! Seemed to be no closing time to the place!

Christmas Day & St. Stephens Day

Obviously .. I had 2 very lazy days for Christmas and my birthday. Hung out with Crista and Jen (from England) for most of the day. Went to the beach about 13:00, came back and got mass at 15:00 and then just hung out at the hostel. At 20:00, we all met up for the Christmas BBQ. Was great craic ... about 30 people in total ... lots of food, music and drink.

Markus, Christa, me and Jen:

Surprise birthday cake at midnight:

We all went down to Mama y Tapas after the BBQ but it died down after that. Myself and a few others stayed on till closing but the music was crap. Still .. the BBQ was great fun.

Was up fairly early next day as I had to check out by 10am. Felt strange packing my backpack again after 6 days in one place (my longest stay in any one place since arriving in South America). I left my back pack in the hostel and went out for a bit. It seemed like everyone was having a lazy day today so we put on a dvd for the afternoon. Afterwards, I headed out for a bite to eat before catching a 21.30 bus to Santiago (790kms, 11 hours) ... as it was my birthday today I decided to pay the extra for a cama seat (a seat that reclines like a bed). Definitely worth the money .. I didnt want to get off the bus the next morning. Will miss Pucon and the nice crowd I met there ... hope I meet some more nice people for New Years celebrations.