Gudenschwager Hotel Pucon

... in all directions obscuring the wilderness and the town of Pucon, peeking down the crater at the top of the volcano, smelling the sulfur and other gases - I soaked up what I could while catching my breath and trying to get my pulse to slow down...<br><br>Getting down the mountain was a whole lot easier and funner - sliding down the icy glacier! Sometimes we even had to use the ice pick to slow down!...<br>

... but totally worth it. We truly lucked out with the weather once again... it is pretty common for the conditions to be too windy or cloudy to actually be able to hike to the very top... but today was perfect (still windy but not enough to call off the hikes!) We started off driving with a group (including a couple from the ship a few days ago) to the base of the mountain then taking a chairlift (skilift during the winter months) up about 10 minutes. From there ...

Pucon is a nice little town, though very touristy, on the shores of Lago Villarilla- actually reminded us loads of Queenstown in NZ. We had 2 very chilled out days in Pucon. Plans for biking and hiking were scrapped when the weather turned bad. There was not a great deal to see in the town itself. Though we did chance upon the ...

... shorter reins.<br><br>Last week I fell in love... not with a wave or horse, but with an abandoned dog. She followed us for more than a day and was obviously searching for a new home. Unfortunately there are many abanoned dogs around touristy Pucon.<br><br>German version:<br>Nachdem ich nun schon einige Zeit in Antilco bin, wird es Zeit fuer einen neuen Eintrag. Haupterkenntnis der letzten ein bis zwei Wochen: Meine Kajakbegeisterung verblasst, wenn ich in der ...

... d'investissement que les propriétaires sont disposés à y faire... Aprés une heure et demi d'ascension, nous continuons à 5 avec Oren et Boz, 2 Israëliens, Javier un Chilien, José-Thomas, notre guide et moi-même car les autres sont plus lents. Nous faisons nos premiers pas dans la neige qui recouvre les flancs du volcan. Vu la saison estivale, la neige n'est pas vraiment gelée et nous pouvons continuer sans crampons. Le guide nous explique néanmoins la technique du ...

... in spaans.. Dus die mooie wegwijs borden hebben we dus geheel over het hoofd gezien.. Na wat navraag en 8km extra gereden te hebben hadden we eindelijk de watervallen ontdekt! En wat een plaatje! Helaas kan ik nog geen foto´s plaatsen.. die komen nog zeker wel! Na een grote stop bij deze watervallen gingen we de laatste 22km weer terug naar Pucón. Volgens mij heb ik m´n verjaardag nog nooit zo sportief gevuld! Maar het gaf zeker voldoening ...

... using our ice picks to help us balance and I have a few tears thinking how am I going to get back down but I keep pushing on. We make it and what a sense of relief. Peering into the crater was amazing and the smell of sulphur disgusting but it was worth all that. After a few snaps we make our way back down. Neil gets the skis on and is on his way. The rest of the group attach a 'butt cover' and slide down ...