Pucón

This was a really amazing weekend. Noah and I went to Pucon for 4 days, and it was wonderful. The reason we wanted to go is because Pucon has everything. There’s lakes, mountains, a volcano!, hot springs, horseback riding, sky diving, you name it. We didn’t go to do all of those things, but I had learned about this place in my Spanish class with Alejandro and Noah knew of it because his friend and travel buddy, Mike, climbed the volcano there. We decided we really wanted to go!

We left on Wednesday night around 11 pm and took a bus 10 hours south. The overnight bus was a great idea, because we slept for most of it, which made the trip feel like it was only a couple of hours. We arrived around 9 am and we quickly realized how cold it was going to be. We knew it was going to be cold, because it was further south and it was the middle of autumn, but it was much colder than anticipated.

We walked the 8 or so blocks down the main road of the town to our hostel. It was a beautiful day, there were no clouds or rain, which we found out later had been happening the days before we had arrived. The town was so gorgeous and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of all the stores, people, and roads. I think the thing I loved most about it was the FRESH AIR! I forgot what it feels like to not breath in pollution. It was amazing.

We arrived at our hostel, Chili Kiwi and I immediately fell in love. It is located right on the huge lake in Pucon, and the view from the front is amazing. There’s a front yard with lawns furniture and tables. Inside, it’s a quaint little hostel with a fireplace in the main room with couches and chairs. There is dining room has a beautiful picture window (view of that lake) and the kitchen has free tea and coffee. We stayed in the cabin, which was a smaller building behind the main one, and it had 2 bedrooms, two bathrooms and its own kitchen. We kept warm with thousands of blankets and a little fireplace of our own. The people who owned it were so wonderful. They helped us with everything we needed, even rebuilt our fires for us, and helped us set up our 3 adventurous days there.

That night the sunset over the lake and the view was incredible. Those were the pictures that I posted on Facebook. The volcano could be seen from the lake and the front walk of our hostel. The sunset made the sky all kinds of pink, orange, red, blue, purple and the volcano even turned a shade of pink. It was an amazing sight to see.

We went to bed early because the next day we got up at 6 am to climb the volcano! Noah woke up with a fever that day, which I didn’t really realize until we got to the volcano. His body felt unnaturally warm but I didn’t put two and two together until later. The day turned out to be a lot hotter than everyone had planned. We had a million layers on because it’s a cold snowy volcano, plus we started early in the morning, and the higher you go, the windier it gets. But the sun was shining so brightly and reflecting off of the snow and making everything hotter. The climb was directly uphill, with barely any leveling out, which was hard on the calves later. But, after getting into the rhythm of it, it got a lot easier. We climbed about ¾ of the way up, which was around 3 miles. There was just no way we could have reached the top that day. It wasn’t in our stars. But we had an amazing guide, and beautiful view and each other. We had to wait for the rest of our group to get to the top and start coming back down, so we found a spot around the ¾ mark and rested there. The view was spectacular and a much better option than sitting in the car and waiting.

You could see the rocky, mountainous terrain of this southern part of Chile. You could see huge lakes and little towns and cities in between everything. There were two other volcanoes in the distance. It was those 2 hours on the resting point of the volcano that I think I truly realized where I was. I’m in South America! I’m in Chile! And I fell even more in love with this country, especially with the south, and have the strongest desire to see so much more.

It was an amazing day.

We went to bed early that night, after eating a lot and drinking a bunch of Gatorade and water. I think we fell asleep around 7 or 8 pm!

The next day we woke up and went to a hot springs area! There are a bunch in and around Pucon because of the volcano. We decided to go to one that was about an hour and a half away, but we were told it was incredible. We shared a van ride with two guys from Scotland and once we got there we had 3 hours to spend before the sun would start setting and we had to head home.

The place was so amazing! There were multiple pools, all throughout this narrow, foresty area, with a few waterfalls, and cabanas to put clothes. The temperatures varied in each pool, from around 90-115 degrees, one around 60 degrees, and the last one at 38 degrees. The air was frigid, but once we got in the pools, it heated our bodies up so much that even getting out and switching pools didn’t cause a shiver. It was such a cool and enjoyable day, especially after all of the climbing we had done the day before and it’s one I’ll never forget.

We had a bus ticket that night for around 10 pm. We got back into Pucon from the hot springs around 7 pm so we decided to find dinner, wifi and someplace warm to stay for a while. We ended up at a place in the center of Pucon called Café La P. They had house made and crafted coffees and other hot drinks. I got a delicious quinoa avocado salad and Noah had a burger. Our drinks though were the most amazing part. I ordered their house made coffee with a mix of amaretto and Noah got their house made hot chocolate. My coffee was phenomenal and Noah said his hot chocolate (I couldn’t taste it, #vegan) was the best he’s ever had. It was such a nice dinner and time together, we talked, got to use the internet a bit (whoops), and stayed warm before our bus ride back.

Pucon is by far, a long long long shot, my favorite place in Chile so far. I think about it so much and I tried to plan to go back in July with Rachel, but now that it is really winter it will be cold and rainy there every day. So, my plan is to go back in November (the spring), maybe even with my parents, maybe even more than one more time. It’s a place I know I’m not finished with yet. Highly, highly recommended J

P.S. More and all pics on my Facebook!