Vacaciones en Verano: Puerto Varas

Well, this one is going to be short and sweet. I spent a total of two days in Puerto Varas and it rained both days. In fact, as I walked into my hostel, soaked only after a three block walk from the bus station, I asked the German at the front desk what the weather looked like for the next couple of days. He pulled up the 2-week weather forecast and it was nothing but rain. Then, as if to emphasize that fact, he said in a deadpan, heavily accented voice, "Yea, it looks like a lot of raining." "Well, OK, we'll see what happens," I thought.

One thing that is awesome about Chile (among many) is the fact that because it is such a long country running North and South that it has an very wide variety of landscapes. In the North you have desert, the Central has mountains, and in the South you have beautiful, lush forests. Unfortunately for the South, that also means a lot of rain year 'round.

Puerto Varas is similar to Pucon in that it has the small Colorado resort town feel and look to it. Additionally there are several outdoor sports (canyoning, rafting, hiking) you can do when the weather isn't bad.

My first night I met a British couple in their early thirties who are on sabbatical from work and traveling around the world for a year. Pretty cool if you ask me. I didn't even know that the British got sabbaticals from corporate jobs. Lucky bastards!

There was a free concert going in the town center so we went to that. It was a really famous Chilean (well, famous here), but I forgot their name. Not exactly my type of music, but I appreciated their professionalism.

The next day I woke up and it was relatively clear outside, so I decided to take a bus out to Petrohue, a small town about an hour away from Puerto Varas. It is supposed to be a beautiful area...when it's not extremely cloudy. In Petrohue you can hike around Volcano Orsono. Unfortunately for me, once I stepped off of the bus it started drizzling. I decided to muscle through it, and I hiked for about an hour and a half before it starting pouring off and on, so I decided to return and took the bus back. Because of the cloud cover, I couldn't see the volcano, or too far across the beautifully turquoise lake.

Later that evening, I made dinner and spent the remainder of the night chatting up the British couple from the previous night as well as a Dutch couple.

The next day, I was off to Isla de Chiloe!

Vacaciones en Verano: Valdvia & Niebla

After Pucón, I made my way to Valdivia. Valdivia is a city that lies on a river, slightly inland from the Pacific Ocean. The south of Chile is known to have some German influence here and there, and Valdivia is pretty much at the epicenter of that. There is a clear German influence in the architecture and food. Unbeknownst to me, there was a festival, Noche Valdiviana, the very weekend I was coming that resulted in their being no hostels available. So, I elected to camp in a town 20-30 minutes away on the Pacific coast, called Niebla. I found a campsite that was essentially someone's backyard. There were about 15 other couples and groups that were at the campsite. It was only a 10 minute walk from a beautiful beach. The first day in Niebla, it rained (but most drizzle) all day long. Still, that was not going to stop me. I took a ferry to an island called Corral which has one of the oldest and best kept fortresses from the War of Independence that Chile had against Spain. I walked around the hilly town a little bit and then decided to eat a seafood stew for lunch, which was indescribably delicious. Corral made me think of what small towns on the Northwest coast might be like, maybe in Oregon or Washington. (I know I keep comparing Chilean towns to places in the United States, but I just can't help it since I have the most perspective from living in the States). Then I took the ferry back and went to Kuntsmann Brewery, which is the most famous artisanal brewery in Chile.

While I was sipping beers, two guys sat down next to me and I overheard them speaking English. Then I heard them speaking French...and then Spanish. Finally, I asked, "Where are you guys from?" The shorter one said he was from the United States and is teaching English in Santiago. The taller one said he was from France and is a student in Santiago. I told them that I was teaching English in Santiago. After we got to talking for a while, they invited me over to their table for beers where I met the shorter one's Chilean girlfriend, as well as two girls they are friends with, one from England and the other from South Africa. Quite the international crew!

I exchanged contact information with the shorter one and I actually went to a party he hosted last week. Pretty funny how that worked out.

The next day, I went to the beach immediately after waking up and spent a couple of hours walking up and down it, as well as sunbathing. I would swim but the ocean water is ghastly cold in Chile, unless you're far up in the north. Then I went to this humongous indoor fair (for lack of a better term). Every vendor was selling food and drinks in celebration of Noche Valdiviana (more on the celebration later). At this fair, they also had performers singing traditional Chilean songs and dancing traditional Chilean dances. While most of my trip I was eating tuna, nuts, and fruit, I decided to indulge at this fair, because all the food looked so damn good! I bought salmon stuffed with parmesan cheese, tomato, and sausage (only the Chileans would think of a way to make something like salmon UNHEALTHY for you) with potatoes and a side salad. Then I bought two miniature, seafood-stuffed empanadas. Finally I had kuchen for dessert. I was stuffed silly, but it was all delicious.

After I got back to my campsite, I started to talk to some young Chileans. Three of them were from San Antonio (on the coast and southwest from Santiago), and the other was studying in Valparaiso. Two of them were 18, one was 20, and the other 23. They were all musicians and they had a vast library of Chilean folk music at their disposal. They played all of the time in the campsite and I never heard a song repeated. I can't remember the last time I met four people so full of life! In some way, and in lacking a better way to put it; everything seemed so big and important to them. It was less than 10 years ago that I was still a teenager, and I can't even remember having those types of feelings about the world. Spending time with them didn't make me nostalgic as I was more prone to do a few years ago, as much as it made me reflective of where I was and where I am today.

Anyway, Noche Valdiviana is the biggest annual festival in Valdivia, and it features a parade of boats with various float designs, street performers, and fireworks. We walked around admiring everything. Once it was time for the boat parade, we got some beers and sat on the dock while watching the boats go by. Afterwards, we danced inside one of the drum circles until the fireworks started going off around midnight.

When we got back to the campsite, there were other people around that were still partying and we talked and played music. The next morning I packed up and headed to Puerto Varas!

Vacaciones en Verano: Pucón

My first stop in my trip was Pucón. I had heard a lot about Pucón from friends who had visited and a friend whose father lives there. My first impression of Pucón was that it reminded me of small resort towns in Colorado. My hostel was literally right across the street from the bus station and arrived EXACTLY at the time that I had listed as my arrival time, which completely amazed the nice woman at the front desk. She was Dutch and spoke near perfect English.

That was actually one of the themes from my travels: meeting Dutch people that spoke near perfect English so much so that I assumed they were either British or North American. The only thing that makes me realize whether or not they are Dutch is that when they say a word that includes "th", especially at the beginning of a word like "the", they can't pronounce it correctly. Instead, "the" sounds like "da". When I was discussing this topic with a Dutch couple and a British couple, the Dutch woman said, "No one learns our language, so we have to learn other languages." I suppose that is certainly true!

Anyway, the day that I arrive in Pucón, I decide that I'm going to climb a volcano! Specifically, Volcano Villarica (over 9,000 feet high) just outside of Pucón. An active volcano that last erupted in 1971. We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to meet at 4:00 a.m. There was a group of about 12 of us, all from my hostel. There were about 6 Germans, an Irishman, an Englishman, one Dutch woman, two French women, and myself. I started off behind the rest because I couldn't find the gloves they had provided us. I ended up being the last one in our long line throughout the entire journey, but I wasn't beat up about it or anything. For the most part, everyone else seemed to be in better shape than I was and I certainly realized that. One of the guides, a girl named Isara, stayed with me most of the time and kept on tell me, "Todo esta aqui" ("Everything is here") and would point to her head. As much as I'd like to believe my exhaustion was all in my head, I certainly had a hard time believing it.

Once we got to a certain part of the volcano, we had to attach crimpers (spiked add-ons) to our shoes, because there was a large portion that was ice and snow. We were also given an ice pick. I knew then and there that this part was going to be serious business. Our guides advised us on the various safety measures that we should take. We followed lightly made trails in the snow and switched back and forth all the way up. It was odd, because the sun was beating down hot on us, but the cold winds were enough for me to put a second jacket on.

Once we reached the top I admired the view, took some pictures, unavoidably inhaled some fumes from the smoking volcano, and promptly laid down and took a nap. That's right. Not only can I say that I climbed a volcano now, but I also took a nap on top of one. While most of the other crew was off taking pictures with a Chilean flag, I was laying down for a cat nap.

The way down, we'll say, was a tad different than the way up. We slid the entire way down! There were pre-made slides carved into the ice and snow and we used our ice picks as "brakes". I say "brakes" with quotation marks because the slides were so slick that we could hardly stop ourselves at all. We all got done more or less unscathed, but there were a couple of crashes on the way down.

Unfortunately, and I can say this now since I have safely climbed and descended and there is no more need for Mom and Grandma to worry, it was just a week ago that two people died while trying to scale the volcano with a certified company in Pucón. Not sure which company, but hopefully they give climbers a bit more training beforehand in the future.

When we got back to our hostel, I drank water, coffee, and beer as well as ate some empanadas. Just what I needed after close to 9 hour trek up and slide down the mountain.

After I was done eating and taking a shower, a curious thing happened. Right next to the outdoor sink of our hostel, the wall suddenly came crashing down. Behind the wall was a bus who had just backed into the wall. Thankfully, no one was in front of the wall when it came down. A Chilean (actually one of our guides from the volcano) was at the hostel at the time and came out to survey the damage. He nonchalantly said, "Welcome to Chile" as the bus driver stood by his bus with his forehead in his hand and shaking his head.

After that one night in the hostel and the volcano climb, I decided that I wanted to camp for a few nights in a national park right outside of Pucón, called Parque Nacional Huerquehue. It's a humongous and gorgeous area with trails probably covering no more than 10% of the area (probably due to the low funding that National Parks receive in Chile). I camped pretty much right next to the lake. The first day I took it easy and climbed a trail that took me a 2 or 3 hours. It had a great, grassy view from the top where I could say the volcano I climbed as well as one or two more. The next day I did a 5 or 6 hour hike that led me to some beautiful lakes and areas within the park. It was so peaceful and relaxing (except for the mess of people on occasion). On the clearest night I was there, I laid on the picnic table in my camping space and watched the stars come out. Then I just watched the stars for about 30 minutes. It's always an amazing sight when there aren't any major cities around for miles and miles.

I wish I could have the opportunity to go back to Pucón at some point. I think it has been my favorite place so far in Chile, and I felt like there was a lot to do there that I didn't get the chance to (like white water rafting for instance).