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Published: March 27th 2006
Surprise surprise we missed our 8:15am bus on Sunday to Valdivia from Pucon. The other group was going to spend the day hiking in the park, but I was pretty set on seeing Valdivia, a 3 hour bus ride away from Pucon, and convinced Mike and Laura it would be worth it. Especially because it was only another $6 or so to go there.
Missing our bus turned out not to be so bad- we had some time to get some tea from a little store and enjoy it out on a table in the street. A guy we met at the bus stop (who had also been heading to Monkey Puzzle on Scott´s reference) came by and joined us. He was from Israel, 10 years out of the army and now traveling through a bit of South America. I must say I had never met anyone from Israel, but within the past 2 days I had met about 10. Apparently Pucon is a hot spot for Israelis. In fact, the tour group that brought us up the volcano was Israeli and gave special discounts to other Israelis as well. He spoke 3 languages and explained to us the Hebrew
alphabet a little bit.. I could probably spend my life studying it and still be confused. While drinking our tea and eating our breakfast of soda crackers and jelly (newly discovered treat of ours) with our new Israeli friend, 2 of our canopy guides walked by on their way to work, just as a man who worked at the bus station (and had told us a joke in English to ´cheer us up´after we missed our bus) that we met pulled up in his car... it was a weird moment to have all these different people we had met all suddenly in the same place in Pucon on a quiet Sunday morning. Nice though.
So we caught the next bus to Valdivia- so glad we went!! The German influence was really strong there, and the town was pretty cute, situated along the river. Reminded me a little bit of Stillwater, MN. First stop- the Kuntsmann brewery. The beer was amazing and it beat the Guiness Factory hands down. To be honest there wasn´t a lot in Valdivia but we did all the little touristy things anyway, seeing a house from 1870, an old tower (bit of a let down),
and then a lot of our own wandering and exploring. Watched the sunset over the Calle Calle River from the littlest little park. The 3 of us and 2 Chilean couples (Chilean couples are everywhere, all the time). We had psyched ourselves up for a great German dinner, and when it was closed we were a bit sad to have to go to the standard ol´chilean restaurant. It´s ok though- I´m now one step closer to being Chilean, by the fact that I ordered a hot dog with palta (avocado) and tomatoes off the menu. That was my consulation! More wandering, more talking, buying cheap candy and hanging out in the plaza until our bus left at 9:50pm back to Santiago, arriving at 7:45am... giving me just enough time this morning to commute back home, wash my hair, thow my school stuff in a bag, grab a sandwich and run back to the Metro for my 10am class. Did all that happen in just 3 days?
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View from Puente Pedro de Valdivia
Francisca
non-member comment
My country it's Great!
jajaja.. Chile it's the best in south America! Hola, soy chilena y me alegro qte guste x aca! mi novio es sobrino del dueño de la cerveceria! son muy ricas!;) buena suerte!! y ahora debes conocer el norte de chile!! q es más hermoso!!!