Departing from Puerto Montt as soon as possible the day after the Navimag we headed for the small resort town of Pucon. This is where it all began. In late December of 2006, I met the girl who would change everything. Now, a little over 9 years later we returned to the little town where we first met.
The problem was, it was no longer the little town we met in. The changes of economy in Chile over the last 9 years had meant a lot more internal tourism and the small adventure town had become a mega resort with the small restaurants and artensanias replaced with large tourist hangouts and numerous large scale hotels lining the local lake.
Still feeling a little but poorly after the Navimag, we decided to head to the Herquehue national park for some fresh air and light walking.
It is possible to spend a week or more out here on the various 1 and 2 day trails, with a number of refugios both already in existence and new ones being built. Unlike some of the walks through national parks we had already done, this trail was pretty quiet. The trail we picked seemed to go uphill for the most part and so we didn't make it all that far into the park that day but the scenery was gorgeous and worth the trip.
I was feeling a little better in the afternoon compared to Claire. With the weather possibly turning in a few days, it was time to conquer the other reason for returning to Pucon - The Villarrica volcano.
Last time we were here, I tried to climb that volcano twice. The first time was clouded out and we went Hidrospeeding (boadyboarding down river rapids) which lead to Claire tearing the ligaments in her knee (that was only realised a couple of weeks later). The second time I climbed (minus Claire and her knee) but half way up we got clouds over the top and we had to turn around. Third time lucky?
Whilst Claire slept in and planned to walk another trail in Herquehue, my morning started at 6am, where we got our boots and protective gear, and then jumped in the van to the start of the volcano. Starting at 800m, it took about 4hrs to walk up to the peak at 2860m, with about half of that being in the snow and ice. But a little after lunch time, coughing and spluttering, I finally got to see the top and was rewarded with small amounts of lava spewing from deep beneath (we caught glimpses. It was pretty deep)
Getting back down was a change of pace. We changed into waterproof pants and pulled out little hard plastic seats. Oh yeah, we were sliding down the volcano. What took 4 hours up, took about an hour to slide down plus about 20min of walking the last part where the snow stopped. Unfortunately my camera had died at the top but if you want to see the slide down, this is one of the better you tube clips I've seen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grujhNHxe0Q)
Arriving back around 4pm, it was time for a shower, a quick stretch, and then for beer and a highly recommended Parilla (BBQ) place. Of course, still being on Australian eating time we finished up our beers and headed to the restaurant around 7:30 and were given that look of pity followed by a "we don't open til 8pm but we'll reserve you a table". So we went to the lake to see the last of the sunlight.
And that was it. The return to Pucon had finished. It was a little sad that it had changed so much but that's the problem with travel. You can never really go back.
So onwards. We next head across the boarder to San Martin de los Andes and Mendoza, which for the first time this trip neither of us had previously visited. Woo hoo.
24 587 Km (14011Km Flights, 7831Km Sailing, 2630Km Bus, 97km Hiking, 18Km Horse riding)