Pucon, Chile

The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing the volcano. I know I have already shared my excitement about there, but now here are some logistical details. I went up with a small group, just four of us and two guides. The guides were fantastic, very informative, helpful, and attuned to our needs. Because the volcano is covered in snow and ice, you have to wear crampons and use a pick ax. It definitely would not be possible without those things. Thankfully I never slipped, but some people from my hostel told me someone in their group fell quite a ways down. Luckily she was stopped by another guide who jumped on top of her and used his ax.

We took a lift up a part of the way in the beginning, saving up an hour of walking. It was optional to walk if you wanted, but I figured that like 4 or 5 hours of walking up an incline would be enough. Making it to the top was of course a great feeling and the view was pretty indescribable. Here are some pictures I took.

Beautiful Chile from 2847 meters up.

Just hanging out above the clouds. It was possible to see three different lakes from up there.

This is another volcano, I forget the name of it, but my guide told me it is something like 5000 meters, much higher than Villarrica.

This was right after we made it to the top, notice the smoke in the background coming out of the volcano. I was quite happy to have made it.

This was the best picture I could get of the crater. It was very cold and windy so we couldn't really get any closer for safety purposes. But at least you can see all the smoke. Apparently the last time it erupted was in 1984.

Other things I did while in Pucon: on the first day I visited some thermals. The place I went to had two, one completely outdoors and other with a shelter built on top. I preferred the one outdoors it felt hotter and because it was a cold rainy day it felt really nice to be in there. I stayed in until I was quite wrinkly. Yesterday I went on a bike ride in search of waterfalls with a newfound friend. Didn't make it to the waterfalls, but we rode for a long time and at least saw a river and a lots of lovely land. It was nice to get away from Pucon and breathe the fresh country air. My legs were definitely struggling at points riding up hills, though. Needless to say, after the past few days of physical activity I am more motivated to get back into better shape. Now if I only I could cut back on bread and sweets...