Villarrica - Volcanoes and Thermal Baths!

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Villarrica turned out to be a great place to relax for a few days, do not much, and make new friends. We really enjoyed ourselves despite not seeing much of the town. Our hostel was excellent and we had a view from our window of Volcano Villarrica which dominates the skyline. We wanted to climb it but at US$90 for the trip it was twice the price I had anticipated (45,000 Chilean Pesos). Friends who did the excursion said it was an excellent experience and not too hard to climb. The lakeside area was nice (but I didn't take the camera out when we went for a stroll!) and the indigenous Mapuche fair was good with food, music and dance.

We managed a couple of trips out . Nearby Pucon is the heart of the local tourist industry and we were pleased to be staying in its nearby quieter neighbour. The views of the volcano were truly stunning though. It was nice to wander around the marina and the beach and the weather was fabulous.

Then we ventured further out. A bus took us 65km to the Termas Geometricas, one of many thermal spring baths. It was fantastic. At first it was very quiet and it seemed we had the pick of the 17 pools, all in a stunning mountainside location, to ourselves. Later on it got busy but that didn't spoil the occasion. It was amazing to be soaking in water naturally heated to around 30C but the hotter ones up to 39C were impossible to enter! The steam coming off the water gave the whole place a misty mountain sensation.

So, totally relaxed we headed back to Villarrica and the nightbus to Santiago.

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Photos

The Volcano
and us of course!

A nice long soak
In fact it was an all day soak!