Well, you could really have Christmas in July here in Pucón. Not only is it snowing, but this quaint little pueblito would be the perfect place to spend a winter vacation. Which I guess is what we're doing...albeit the Chilean winter.
After a 10-hour bus ride with minimal heating (and a leaking ceiling tile which Carolyn was lucky enough to sit under), we spent our first four hours in Pucón trying to get warm. There's a fire and a wood-burning stove in our hostel, yet for some reason our room is at least 10 degrees colder than the rest of the building. Fortunately, we found a delicious café specializing in chocolate where we enjoyed the hot fire with our hot drinks. And we managed to stumble upon some cheap artesanias who sell some wonderfully warm hats and socks.
It was definitely a week full of adventures.
#1: Canopy
Think Tarzan. But with ropes. And helmets. I thought I was going to be terrified, and in reality I just had a blast! Although our guide book said safety didn't have the same standards here, our guides took good care of us and we quickly learned how to keep ourselves hooked into the trees. I think it was hard to be terrified once we did the actual zip-lining because the first part was so much scarier. The first thing we had to do was climb the trees and walk across ladders made of ropes. At least during the ziplining part we were supposed to be hanging. And we knew we were strapped in. The greatest part was going across the river. It was a long ride and just beautiful. Honestly, I can't imagine a prettier spot to fly through the air.
#2: Subiendo el Volcán Villarica
This was a bit on the hard side for me. Between the altitude and the fact that the only normal type of exercise I do is swimming, I was tired before we even started the real climb. But, I made it to the place we stopped for lunch and was pretty proud of that. Of course the fact that the guide had to hold my hand for the last 20 minutes was a bit on the embarrassing side, but the fact that I didn't fall down the mountain made it all worth it. By the time we were gonna start the second part of the climb, the guides told us there was so much wind that we probably wouldn't get much further. While about half our group decided to continue anyway, the rest of us decided we wanted to begin the decline...which was definitely a good idea! After harnessing ourselves into what you could essentially call butt-protecters, we pretty much slid down the mountain. I honestly think it was the most fun I've had in my entire life. Not to mention, I turned out to be pretty handy with the piolet, or ice pick, and managed to stop myself from sliding down the wrong side of the mountain. I would climb that volcano in a hearbeat just to slide down it again.
The funniest thing about Pucón, is that no one speaks Spanish. Ok, well not no one, but there are an awful lot of Europeans. I think I heard more German than English and more English than Spanish. The greatest thing about Pucón - at least in the winter - is that everyone is best friends. We saw our canopy guide in an internet café, then in our hostel, and in Cypress - the only place to go at night. And one of our mountain-climbing guides actually walked with us to Cypress that night after having dinner in our hostel. I even danced with the dueno of our hostel!
All in all, it was a relaxing yet adventurous journey. I'd like to go back during the summer, when I can feel my toes even when I'm not sitting in front of the fire.
Classes start this week, although apparently noone goes - including the professor. We'll see what happens.
More to come!
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