Pucon

27/03/13 to 29/03/13 - We arrived in Pucon with the Villarica volcano looming over the town. We heard the loud evacuation siren sound which made us jump, then we realised it was exactly midday, and that it was the weekly test. Pucon was a bit like a ski resort town, but as it was the end of summer it was quiet and there weren’t many tourists around.

The next morning we took a bus to Huerquehue National park where we did plenty of walking uphill along the ‘Los Lagos’ trail. The route circled near 5 lakes and was supposed to take 3.5 hours. We saw some incredible views of the lakes with their crystal clear water, and of the volcano in the distance. However, the route seemed longer than we thought it would and when we returned 7 hours later, we find out that we had missed the last bus back.



We went back to the ticket office and one of the rangers was there. We told him that his 3 and a half hours walk written on the small board was a big lie. He smiled and pointed to the small print below which read, "one way". We thought, "How on earth can a loop be one way?" The ranger seemed relaxed and told us to take a seat by the entrance and wait for another car heading back to the main road 8km away. We sat down and opened our Spanish phrase book to work out what to say... but we ran out of time as a jeep was coming our way and we jumped in front of it and made up something. After a very fast drive, five minutes down the road we stopped behind a bus and the driver joked "here's your bus". We laughed and the 3 guys in the Jeep got out of the car. We soon recognised the man lying under the bus trying to repair it as our driver from earlier in the day and realised it was in fact our bus that had broken down. We checked to see if it was going to get going again and then we got back on it... relieved. That evening after a hot shower we sat down to eat in our hostel's restaurant, only to realise it was vegetarian. We could have murdered for some protein.

The following day (with stiff legs) we went on a rafting trip down the Rio Trancura. It was great fun, and we got be right at the front, with the responsibility of setting the tempo, as well as getting the most wet. The water was icy cold, but really refreshing. Half way down the river we had to get out of the raft, walk through a small bit of forest and then jump (from 5/6 metres high) off a rock back into the river and swim to our raft.



In the evening, after trying a traditional chilean Brasero (barbeque) to warm us up, we went to some Termas (hot springs) by night. We could sooth our aching legs and arms to warm up after the icy cold dunking we got earlier on the day. Unfortunately, the water didn’t feel that warm and there was a power cut soon after we entered the pools, which meant we bathed in the dark and the pumps stopped pumping in hot water. At least we could get a better view of the stars.