Chile's Adventure Capital

Trip Start Apr 05, 2008
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Trip End Mar 20, 2009

Flag of Chile  , Lake District,
Friday, November 14, 2008

Arriving into Pucon early in the morning it felt like driving into Taupo from Napier. With the Villarrica Lake and the snow capped Volcano looming over the picturesque village it was easy to forget where exactly we were. The chocolate box town is reminiscent of a typical ski village with itfs wooden buildings and tree lined streets. Itfs not at all the sleepy hub Ifm describing but a major spot for adventure junkies where itfs possible to do almost anything you can think of to get the heart rate pumping. The main attraction here is climbing the volcano to see the smoldering crater at the top. I have to confess we considered doing it but then decided that we liked the views of it just fine from the lake, that and Ifll admit to being a wuss when it comes to hiking through snow and ice for 5 hours, I get the feeling of frostbite just thinking about it. With blue sky and sun on full beam we wanted to get the most out of the day and so we hired some bikes to go and see the waterfall Ojos del Caburgua. As we were heading out of town we picked up a friend, an Alsatian who we named the Littlest Hobo after the TV program. We tried in vain to get him to go home but he was determined to tag along with us for the day. He has to be one of the best behaved strays wefve come across, he barely made a sound and had excellent manners (he even went to the loo behind the privacy of bushes - impressive). The scenery was spectacular the entire trip but my favourite spot was from a view point where you could see three snow capped volcanoes (Villarrica, Quetrupillan & Lanin). This view never gets old
This view never gets old
 We stopped at one spot for some very expensive drinks (our own fault really as we werenft very well prepared) but were rewarded with enjoying our beverages on a grassy riverbank with the clearest river water wefve ever seen. Deep and fast flowing but you could still see the bottom where ever you looked and the Littlest Hobo thoroughly enjoyed the drink and dip. The waterfall was spectacular, set at the back of a local farmers land, there was nothing disappointing about making this ride out here. Supposedly a 4 to 5 hour round trip I have to say it was further than even I expected and 6 hours later, 50km clocked (we early on made a wrong turn and went on a wee Barry tour before getting back on track), and with butts so sore we were hovering above the saddle it was safe to say we had deserved a beer or two. The Littlest Hobo was still in tow and quickly passed out in the shade whilst we enjoyed softer seats. We felt it was only fair that we give Hobo some ribs to chow as hefd definitely earned it being our companion and fearless protector; shame we canft take him home. The Littlest Hobo followed us back to our hotel and sat under our window until he was moved on by the hotel owners; wefll miss him.
First waking thought was my body hurts, second thought was I wonder if the Littlest Hobo has returned. The day started off overcast so much so that if we hadnft seen the volcano the day before we wouldnft have known it was there. A leisurely day was in order so we spent the day exploring the town and the beaches around the lake. By early afternoon the sun was shining so we caught some rays down by the lake before going for a vino to help us do some much needed planning for our trip - where to next and how? Sadly in our travels we didnft find the Littlest Hobo and found that we missed his company - there were plenty of other strays to choose from so much so we could see ourselves living here and opening a B&B / home for dogs. After watching a magnificent sunset we headed to eLa Magaf a Uruguayan steak house where we had the best steak we have ever tasted, just delish! Topped off with some Rothschild vino we were certainly back to our budget flashpacking ways ;-)

Note for self: Rothschild 2006, Cab Sav/Camenere/Syrah blend
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