Pucón

After all the big cities I had visited in the north of Argentina and Chile, it was nice to return to nature again. Pucón, although a very touristic holiday resort that reminds of a Swiss mondain skiing resort in summer, is very enjoyable, especially because of its surroundings. There is the huge lake just next to it, national parks close by, the mountains that surround it and above all el volcán Villarica which can be seen from about everywhere in Pucón.

The first day, I took it easy because I had not slept very well on the night bus and I knew I had to get up very early next day. I strolled around the streets of Pucón a bit, up to the lake, where they were windsurfing! Well depending on what you call windsurfing though... In the afternoon, I took the bus to Lago Cabargua and walked to the Ojos de Cabargua, a set of nice waterfalls hidden in the forest. At night, Amanda, Alessandra (the Brasileras I had met in Valpo), two other Brasilians and myself went for some pints on a terrace on Calle O'Higgins, the main street.
Next day, my alarm clock went off at 4.15 am because at 5.00 am we had to start our mission of climbing the Villarica. After about one hour by car, we arrived at the point where we would have started walking but unfortunately, the wind was so strong that we gave up and returned to Pucón after a few hundred meters of walking. In the afternoon, I went to el Parque Nacional de Huerquehue, walked about 9 km to two nice waterfalls and to the first of the lakes, 550 meters up a hill and back. It was all very beautiful and the views on the volcán Villarica and the Laguna Grande were magnificant. I wish I would have had some more time to explore the park, but helas, I had to take the last bus back to Pucón. I had the time to take a dip into the ice cold lake though. Parque Nacional Huerquehue is an excellent place to do a few days of trekking by tent by the way, there are very nice and quiet camping sites.

The day after, same story with the alarm clock, and this time it was bingo, the weather was beautiful and the wind had calmed down. With all our equipment (helmet, boots, trunchons, pickel and special trousers and jacket) we started the mission at about 6.15 am. We were the only group who started that early, so we, two Swiss people, one Austrian, one German, two Chilean guides and me, had the volcano to ourselves. We climbed up 1.400 metres, one hour in the sand and almost four hours in the snow, to the crater where we arrived at 11.00 am. The view there was just gorgeous! The lake, Pucón, all the surrounding mountains and the crater, beautiful! The only annoying thing was that there was quite some sulfer fumes coming out of the crater and I can tell you it is not exactly a nice smell! Anyway, to get back down, we slided on our back and walked when it was not steep enough, or to icy for sliding. It was so good to meet all the other groups, there was quite a few, about half way down!

So, back in Pucón, we had a bit of a celebration on the terrace of our hostel with quite a few beers under the ever present sun. The celebration went on about the whole afternoon and then by 8 pm we left for the Termas Los Pozones, lovely hot springs at a one-hour-drive from Pucón. They are open 24 hours and you can take your own drinks and snacks inside! The springs are all a bit too warm for me, but luckily there is a cold river flowing just next to them, so you can go and cool down a bit at any time.

Saude! Que nunca nos falte!