Entries from Friday, April 6. 2007

Pucon is an outdoor enthusiasts dream town.  The town is made up of mostly tour operators, hotels and restaurants so there's not much to do if you're not interested in getting out of town and into the mountains.  One of the big attractions is the climb up the Villarrica Volcano.  Half our group did that, but I opted for a more relaxed day and later start time and did a hike in the Huerquehue National Park.  The trails in the park were surprisingly well maintained and we enjoyed a couple hours of wandering before relaxing over lunch next to one of the lakes.  Later that night we ventured out to some natural hot springs to help relax our aching muscles.  I've been to several hot springs in the northwest but these were among the nicest I've seen and again surprisingly well maintained with a changing room that even had stairs directly down into the springs.   The rest of my time in Pucon I've spent relaxing at the beach and catching up on the internet.  I went 4 days without touching a computer (probably a record for me in my adult life!) and I have to say, it was just what I needed to recharge from the daily grind of life at home. I think we all need to disconnect like that every once in a while.

Getting from Argentina to Chile was a bit of an adventure.  Since our guide couldn´t get bus tickets, he arranged a van to the border.  We then checked out of Argentina and walkd a couple hundred meters through a national park to Chile where we went through customs and got on another van to Pucon, Chile.  We were fortunate that this travel was fairly seamless and only took a few hours.  With the one hour time difference (Chile is the same time zone as New York), we even had time to enjoy an afternoon activity in Pucon.

Continue reading "Bienvenidos a Chile!"

Our last stop in Argentina was San Martin.  It´s a small town on a Lake (shocking, in the Lake District!) and was really charming.  We only had one night there, though it could have easily been more as our guide had some challenges getting us bus tickets out.  Oh, the joys of traveling... one must be flexible and ready to change course at any minute.  In any case, we enjoyed a lazy afternoon in San Martin and sun bathed on the lake.  We also indulged in some shopping where I was finally suckered into a leather handbag (Lori bought 2 in Buenos Aires). 

We met the crew for dinner where I dined an a smoked deer pizza.  It was surprisingly tasty and I really must start photographing food for my blog since that´s such a part of my experience here!