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Published: April 23rd 2007
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Taking the lead up the mountain...
...although we did start 2 hours before the groups in the background (who took the opportunity to use a chair lift as a substitute for the first 2 hours climbing!!) Plenty to report in this edition of the Travel Blog after an action packed few days in Pucon, on the shores of the Lago Villarrica.
You may recall that we made it to Pucon on Wednesday and were routinely kidnpapped by Claudio who owned the backpackers hostel around the corner from the bus station. Despite a bed that can only be described as undulating with a few rogue springs, we stayed at his great and welcoming hostel for the duration of our stay.
The weather wasn´t great for the first day so we pottered around the town and took it easy. Our two new chums, Pete and Steph, arrived on the afternoon bus. They look a little surprised to be accosted at the bus station by us, but our texting hadn´t worked so we thought the direct approach would work. We dragged them to the same hostel (they didn´t go know that we were getting a 2.7% discount by touting for business - all of which went towards purchasing a sachet of mayonaise).
Anyway, the next day Jon embarked on an assent of the Villarica Volcano with Pete and a group of intrepid climbers. The hostel owner
use to lead the groups up the volcano but after 1,275 times he felt it was time to try something different, anything different I am sure would have been welcome after so many trips up the same hill. However, he organised the tour which set off at 5:30am and allowed us to see the sun rise from high above the town. We trekked on for 3-4 hours but an hour or so from the top the conditions were too icy to continue. We had crampons on our feet and ice axes but the ice was brittle and any slip would have meant a slide down about 200 metres and some sort of injury. So we turned back which in itself was a bit of an effort and required much concentration.
When faced with 5 hours of knee-crunching plodding up hill one often finds a soundtrack. Some of our group chose Led Zeplin, one of their tunes had been on the radio that morning, or Walking Back to Happiness. Unfortunately Jon had the words of the guide book flowing through his mind - "...the views are fantatsic followed by a rollicking ride down the slopes on your backside.". It was
So near, yet so far
As every great climber will tell you (Edmund Hillary, Chris Bonnington etc) a swimming cap is THE essential piece of mountaineering equipment. the only thing keeping him going. However, the freshly laid snow not only made the climb tougher but meant that it wasn´t possible to slide down. So much for the guide book soundtrack.
On a totally random point: Ric Astley is playing in this internet cafe (not in person, on the radio). Great!
In the meantime, Natalie and Steph took a three hour pony trek that was equally painful, except in different areas. Natalie has been making the best use of the cushions in the hostel since that day. Natalie´s horse took more interest in eating grass than trekking, and her encouragement to her horse wasn´t helped by calling it Archie when it´s real name was Ocho. However, they made it to a waterfall and back again. And walked like John Wayne for the next 24 hours.
Natalie also took part in her own extreme sport in Pucon, shopping.
Friday night was one of the most memorable of the trip with Al Forno making an appearance. For those who don´t know Al, he´s not a bearded traveller from Rome, but a pasta and sausage dish often served to conicide with a champions league footy game. Well, even if we do say so ourselves we served up a pretty mean Al Forno here in Chile with two guest sausages, homemade sauce and even a guest pasta. We made a big dish full of Al Forno and true to the rules of the game didn´t leave the table until it was finished (although this required a third serving all round).
A lazy day on Saturday and an explore around the town. Followed by a few too many Pisco Sours as the four of us hit the town - well, the one bar that was open after 10pm.
On Sunday we booked onto a Canopying trip. This comprised climbing up ladders to platforms built in the trees and travelling at varying speeds via zip wire to the next tree. There were 11 zip lines and we got more confident as we continued on our tree top adventure. We will try to get some video footage of the experience on You Tube before long.
We left Pucon on Sunday night on a luxury bus. This time it was proper luxury (not like the ´luxury cruise´previously, with reclining beds like business class on BA. We managed to sleep for about 5 hours of the ten hour journey, got to Santiago and picked up a bus to Valparaiso (by the seaside) within 10 mins of arriving. So here we are. Natalie is catching up on the missing 5 hours sleep and Jon is blogging to the tunes of MC Hammer and Europe.
Three days here (with the afternoons spent watching Champions League semi-finals on ESPN - hurrah) and then off to Bolivia.
Photos of Natalie tackling Ocho the Horse will follow. So keep your eyes peeled.
Keep sending us comments and news - we love it!!!
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Hugh and Janelle
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Wonderful adventures
Hi again. Well, what adventures you two are having. We look forward to opening the blog and hoping that another entry has appeared. That was a shame Jon, that you couldn't get to the volcano, you certainly tried hard but better to come down in one piece than have an accident just to see it. Take care, love to you both