Blogs from Pucón, Araucanía, Chile, South America - page 13

One afternoon, I joined a mini van tour around Trancura and Lincura valley. This, again, was part of my adventure package. There was Ricardo, from Brazil, who joined me and Mauricio, the driver/guide. The three of us began setting off stopping first at Saltos de Marimann and then Ojos de Carbargua. The waterfalls were stunning especially the Ojos de Carbargua. Afterwards, we stopped for a comfort break at Lago Carbargua. The lake was stunning but it is a place where I would not like to visit in the summer with the masses of tourists descending to the resort. After seeing the lake, we made out way to the Termas Quimey-co, which was a wonderful way to relax in the pools by the river and the jacuzzi was my highlight!! We spent around one and a half ... read more

I wanted to do a Spanish course on my trip and to build up the little Spanish I already know. I wanted to be in a location where it is a short walk from my hostel and the lessons to be one-to-one. I remembered from last year how I was not really keen learning in a group and the ridiculous long commute I had to do every day when studying Spanish in Santiago. I chose Pucon because of being in a small town; the school offered one to one lessons and got a good deal with Cactus Languages a language courses company I highly recommend Monday to Saturday mornings (Tuesday was my day off for trekking in Huerquehue National Park) were when I had my lessons. I went through and consolidated what I already learnt from ... read more

I booked an activity package with the language school in Pucon. This included a day out at Parque Nacional Huerquehue with a guide. My guide, Dominique, met me at my hostel at 8.00am and we made our way to the bus terminal to catch our bus to the National Park. It was a beautiful day and I knew I would be guaranteed seeing stunning views and scenery. It took approximately half an hour by bus to reach the park entrance. We began walking and slowly ascending when we reached the CONAF station, I realised it would be a very steep ascent to the top. I did not appreciate how steep it was so I struggled and had to make frequent stops. Dominique was very patient with me. I think my breathing was more the issue than ... read more

Ross: After a scenic six-hour bus drive north past numerous snowcapped peaks, large lakes and a couple of volcanoes we arrived at Pucon Urban Bus Terminal (by the way Polly's travel sickness seems to be under control thanks to Emedur/Stugeron/Maremir etc, etc...). A short walk for two blocks found us at Hostal Willy (named after the owner, Willy!), consisting of two cosy log cabins, one of which was exclusively ours (the GAP group, not me and Pol) for our three-night stay. Being a couple seems to pay dividends on the GAP tour and we ended up with yet another nice double ensuite room upstairs. After a late afternoon burger at a nearby cafe, Pol, Kyle from Calfiornia, Sam from Melbourne and I headed to one of the ubiquitous tour agencies on the main drag to get ... read more

Some more photos of things I´ve been getting up to in Pucon for the last couple of days. Horse riding two days ago and a walk through the National Park today. It was beautiful. Was supposed to be climbing an active volcano today which would have involved getting kitted out in crampons etc (around 10 hours of walking) but the weather wasn´t good enough - very annoying. Anyway - the photos don´t need any more explanations - enjoy - I definitely am. I´m just sorry that you can´t see the real thing. ... read more