Del Volcan Pucon

... from service, h*s * knee jerk re*ction *nd bulldozes my hostel room. I digress... Pucon is * holid*y resort for Chile*ns, the m*in dr*ws being the gr*iny bl*ck s*nd be*ch, n*tion*l p*rks, hot springs, *nd the smoking volc*no Vill*rric*. They even h*ve * volc*no *lert system in the centre of town indic*ting how likely *n eruption is b*sed on * green, *mber, red sc*le. I went to the Heurquehue ...

... in Coporaque (Colca Canyon), Amantani (Lake Titicaca), and Huayna Picchu, not to mention all the hikes that we did in the jungle (Manu), and going up the Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Machu Picchu. So naturally, I was reluctant to believe what our guides were telling us.<br><br>It turns out I was mistaken. It did take that long, probably longer. Part of the reason was that there is a glacier on ...

... It turned out to be very nice as we had our own room with ensuite, and a clean kitchen which is always a plus...<br><br>Pucón, perhaps, is most famous for the active volcano covered by a glacier that can be seen from the town. It was this volcano and the possibility to climb it that lured us to Pucón. Having said that, we shopped around for 2 things: the first, an ...

... and ice picks! 6 hours later we are still trekking to the top of Villirica volcano, which was smoking something chronic, however i think it may have been a good thing to not realise just how high up i was! i really enjoyed the trek but at points it was quite hair raising, shouting 'rock' to warn other climbers not to get knocked out! however the highlight was strapping on a bit plastic nappy type thing and then getting to slide on ...

... Rodeoarena, habe ich ein Foto nach dem anderen gemacht. Deutlich fotogener als Fussball!<br><br>Auf dem Pferd sass ich inzwischen auch, ich durfte bei einer Einfuehrung fuer Anfaenger mitreiten. Ein gutes Gefuehl, mal wieder mit und ohne Sattel hoch zu Ross zu sein! Wobei hoch relativ ist, die trittsicheren Criollos haben ueblicherweise ein Stockmass von etwa 150 cm. Ich bin gespannt darauf, noch mehr ueber die chilenische Art, zu reiten, zu lernen ...

... I told you about earlier for lunch- delicious again. With full bellies we went to the beach to relax and read in the sun... only problem was that it got cloudy then windy about 45 min after we got there! We just stopped by the grocery store a little while ago to get some fruit for our overnight bus trip to Santiago tonight, and now we're sitting in our hotel lobby hanging out. Got about an hour and a half to go before we head to the bus station at 8:15...

... ou dans les parcs naturels de Huerquehue ou de Villarrica, du kayak, du parachute ascensionnel, du bateau ou bien tout simplement se prélasser sur la plage de sable noir et se baigner, faire du shopping et manger au restaurant. Je m'informe à l'office du tourisme pour faire l'ascension du volcan. A mon grand regret, il semble que la présence d'un guide soit recommandée. Je me résigne et m'inscrit à une excursion en groupe. L'agence fournit tout l'équipement n ...

... te gaan om een paar mountenbikes te huren! Door de thermaal baden hadden we gelukkig helemaal geen last van spierpijn! Een bepaalde route werd door de agent aangeraden; een route van z´n 40k met het bezoek aan watervallen.. Begin ging wel een beetje omhoog maar daarna zouden we kunnen dalen.. Nou prima dachten we.. Uiteindelijk waren we om half 9 terug.. De route was inderdaad mooi! De weg bewijzering was echter niet echt aanwezig en op goed geluk ...

Trekking up the volcano. We arrived at the outfitters at 7am to get changed and ready to go. It was me (MEL) and four other blokes, straight away I felt the neves setting in. We arrived at the base of the volcano and started to climb, after 30 minutes I was sweating and felt sick. 'What have I signed myself up for?' We were walking on soil for the first while and then snow. The views were unbelievable and the ...