We did not leave the bees behind in Argentina. They followed us to the lakes district resort town of Pucon, Chile, and made their presence known every time we ate outside (which was pretty often, considering how darn tempting the beautiful weather was). Makes me wonder if KD would have been our bee killer in Chile the way she was our cockroach cazadora in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
The bus ride over the Andes was foggy, loud (full of one huge group of Israelis), and motion-sickness-inducing. I stood outside in the rain during our one hour delay at the Argentine border, gulping fresh air and hoping not to see breakfast again. I entered Chile for the second time in a dreary drizzle - this country doesn't know how to make good first impressions - and the chaos of throwing away fruit, vegetables and nuts and x-raying bags ensued. After clearing the second border, our bus blew the competition of all-time-worst bus movies out of the water with the director's cut of White Chicks.
After a three-hour layover in Osorno, a very unimpressive city, a mercifully movie-free bus finally delivered us to Pucon at 11:30 pm. We took a cab to Hostel Etnico Eco, an incredibly peaceful, quiet place, for a good night's sleep and the beginning of our stay in my favorite place in Chile!
Etnico Eco Hostel
Hostel gardens and pool
Volcan Villarrica
We signed up with an agency to do the required excursion in Pucon - summitting Volcan Villarrica, a 2890-meter (9400 ft) active volcano. Although the summit was clear as we drove up to the trailhead, the peak was completely clouded over by the time we reached the top, and it was difficult to tell that it was the top. We couldn't even see the crater, although we could smell the smoke. The trip was still worth it, just for the fun of hiking for the first time with an ice ax, helmet and cramp-ons, not to mention the exhilirating (and wet) slide back down the snow.
This is a good look.
Hiking up the volcano...
...and sliding down using the ice ax as a brake!
We spent a wonderful, relaxing four full days in Pucon. Below is a random list of lazy notes to match the lazy mood:
Mountain biking in las afueras de Pucon
Salmon a la plancha at La Grilla - we definitely didn't go hungry!
And the gorging continued in Santiago...
The bus ride over the Andes was foggy, loud (full of one huge group of Israelis), and motion-sickness-inducing. I stood outside in the rain during our one hour delay at the Argentine border, gulping fresh air and hoping not to see breakfast again. I entered Chile for the second time in a dreary drizzle - this country doesn't know how to make good first impressions - and the chaos of throwing away fruit, vegetables and nuts and x-raying bags ensued. After clearing the second border, our bus blew the competition of all-time-worst bus movies out of the water with the director's cut of White Chicks.
After a three-hour layover in Osorno, a very unimpressive city, a mercifully movie-free bus finally delivered us to Pucon at 11:30 pm. We took a cab to Hostel Etnico Eco, an incredibly peaceful, quiet place, for a good night's sleep and the beginning of our stay in my favorite place in Chile!
Etnico Eco Hostel
Hostel gardens and pool
Volcan Villarrica
We signed up with an agency to do the required excursion in Pucon - summitting Volcan Villarrica, a 2890-meter (9400 ft) active volcano. Although the summit was clear as we drove up to the trailhead, the peak was completely clouded over by the time we reached the top, and it was difficult to tell that it was the top. We couldn't even see the crater, although we could smell the smoke. The trip was still worth it, just for the fun of hiking for the first time with an ice ax, helmet and cramp-ons, not to mention the exhilirating (and wet) slide back down the snow.
This is a good look.
Hiking up the volcano...
...and sliding down using the ice ax as a brake!
We spent a wonderful, relaxing four full days in Pucon. Below is a random list of lazy notes to match the lazy mood:
- Termas Los Pozones - "lukewarm springs" instead of hot springs
- Cerveza "retornable" that the grocery store wouldn't allow us to buy because we didn't have an empty bottle to return, even though it was our first one in Chile
- Juan and Javier, our goofy, chatty interns at the hostel, who played a lot of ping pong when the owners weren't around and taught us a bit of Chilean slang
- Biking to Quelhue road (the second one), blackberries
- Caldillo de congrio and exciting futbol match
- Fellow hostel-mates from Israel, England, New Zealand, West Virginia
- Iron Maiden T-shirts. Disappointing kuchen desserts. Mayonesa everywhere. Watch tans. Hammocks. Screw-top wine. Malta by mistake (better than strawberry champagne by mistake). Chocolate. Into Thin Air.
Mountain biking in las afueras de Pucon
Salmon a la plancha at La Grilla - we definitely didn't go hungry!
And the gorging continued in Santiago...
for the record, I do not kill bees.
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