Blogs from Pucón, Araucanía, Chile, South America - page 21

22 November, Wednesday... Got into Pucón bright and early and decided to ignore the nice woman at the bus terminal who offered us the chance to stay in a nice hostel and went off in search of one we saw on the internet instead. That involved a lot of walking back and forth until we gave up and found a family run guesthouse with no atmosphere which we decided would have to do. There's one main activity to do in Pucón and that's to climb the great big Volcano Villareal which dominates the skyline. It's just what you'd expect a big volcano to look like, massive, conical and with lava pouring from the crater at the snow covered summit. We booked ourselves onto a climb for tomorrow (you have to go with a guide as it's ... read more

I met up with my tour group on the first day and we arrived in Pucon late in the afternoon... a small resort town which sits at the base of a massive active volcano. Not a major party town but me and jay (room mate for this leg of the tour) organised ourselves with some tinnies and started drinking early. Basically Chile is famous for it´s seafood and wine so we had plenty of both. The next day we climbed the volcano...as usual i was a bit unprepared... as the average age of my tour group is around 30 i didn´t expect this to be some crazy hike. so we rock up at the base camp that morning and they start hooking us up with ice axes metal spikes for our boots etc. I thought it ... read more

The Pucón area is blessed with stunning physical beauty, and we couldn't resist giving our bikes a rest to stay for awhile to explore. Besides, we'd booked ourselves a week of Spanish lessons. Pucón is a very touristy tourist town, and we're glad to be visiting outside the tourist season. There is lots of money traded here during the short summer, and now it is quiet. Villarica, although larger, is quieter, being 25km further away from most of the natural attractions. We did take the bikes out for a jaunt out of town one afternoon after a Spanish lesson, to follow the Trancura River and one of its tributaries, the Liucura, along a gravel (ripio) road that not only gave us lovely views of the two rivers roaring and tumbling with snow melt, but also vistas ... read more

We wanted to see the Villarrica volcano near Pucon, Chile and maybe have a go at climbing it! Unfortunately there seemed to be no easy way to reach Pucon from Bariloche. We had to take a bus to San Martin de Los Andes (still in Argentina) and spend the night, catching a 6am bus the next day direct to Pucon. Arriving in Pucon we decided to get a lift with one of the hostal touts to check out his place. He promised to drive us back to the bus station if we didn´t like it so nothing to lose. Cabanas Tronkitos turned out to be a decent place and only 10 luca (around 10 uk pounds) per night - I think we got a discount because the place was so quiet. We had a private bathroom ... read more

Sadeilma alkaa olemaan taas vallitseva sadetyyppi. Olemme lammitelleet kaksi paivaa sisalla takkatulen loimussa, lukeneet kirjojamme ja jutelleet muiden sadeilmaa pitaneiden reissaajien kanssa. Ihan rentouttavaa tamakin valilla, mutta nyt alkaa tuntua silta, etta pitaisi paasta siirtymaan seuraavaan paikkaan, ellei ilma ala kohta muuttumaan kauniimmaksi. Pucon on pieni kaupunki Chilen jarvialueella ja kaikkien seikkailunhaluisten ihmisten aktiviteettiparatiisi. Toimintaa loytyy lahes joka lahtoon: perinteista maastopyorailya, vaeltelua ja luonnossa liikkumista, hieman seikkailunhaluisemmille loytyy sitten koskimelontaa, vuori- ja kalliokiipeilya, joiden jalkeen on sitten hyva menna rentoutumaan paikkakunnan useisiin luonnon kuumiin lahteisiin, joissa veden lampotila on 40:n asteen molemmilla puolilla. Kaiken taman huippuna on sitten tietysti (kuten kuumista lahteista voitte hyvin paat... read more