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).
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