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Published: February 3rd 2009
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After a nice week in Mendoza, I (just) caught the night bus to Santiago. Unfortunately, a 4 hour hold up at the border meant not much sleep was had, and as it turned out, I arrived with only seconds to spare before my connecting bus to Pucon left. So much for having 3 hours to kill!
Anyway, as my bus motored its way towards Pucon, it was very clear that the Chile I had entered this time was very different to the Chile I left up in San Pedro. Gone was the vast expanses of desert, and in its place were lakes, forests and snow capped volcanoes. I'm fairly sure you've already guessed which I prefer.
Sadly, I hadn't been clever enough to find out where the hostel I'd booked was in Pucon, so I ended up arriving and realising I didn't really have a clue what to do. This was spotted by a passing local, who offered me a room in his house for 3,000 pesos less than the hostal would have cost. Despite initial reservations about taking a room from some random, my wallet decided that the saving was worth it, and I followed him to his
house, where it turned out he had 3 other people staying, so it seemed all was alright. This chap happened to be the editor of the local news, which I discovered in a bizarre fashion when a fire alarm went off down the street, and he ran to the phone to find out from the fire brigade if he needed to be out there covering it.
Anyway, it was really nice to be set in a house, after feeling a bit weary from all the hostels, and I spent a large amount of time just sat around watching The Simpsons and other stuff on the telly. Which isn't to say I didn't get out and enjoy Pucon, I did, but it was really nice to be able just to slob out for a change.
On one break from the telly, I took a bike out to Lago Caburgua for the day. This involved a 24km cycle along a gravelly track, which wasn't really the most pleasant I've cycled on, as whenever a car came past I ended up with a lovely face full of dust. Unfortunately, there was a tourist attraction, the Ojos de Caburgua, on this track,
which meant dustface was a far more regular occurence than I'd have liked. The ojos themselves were lovely pools of water with waterfalls flowing into them. I really fancied a swim, but the big no swimming signs kind of spoilt my fun.
I wouldn't be stopped for long though, and up in Lago Caburgua I did manage to get a good bit of swimming in, which was needed mainly just to get all the dust off! The beach was very nice, although stupidly overcrowded with Chilean families on their January holidays. Soon enough, it was time to head back to Pucon, and this time I stuck firmly to the paved road. I learn my lessons I do.
My other main adventure in Pucon, climbing the volcano, has been documented elsewhere, and I'm sure you don't want to be bored further with more exciting stories such as the one about me having a lie in and therefore not going fishing like I intended. Therefore, I shall cut this entry short here. From Pucon, I was heading to Valdivia, and, arriving at the bus stop 1 minute before it left, as is my way, I bumped into Chris from Salkantay
who was also going that way.
You can hear the story of our search for camping gear next time folks.
Stewart
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