Last two days in Pucon

Recovery day in Pucon

I woke up at 6am to some messages from Josh but dozed until 10am. I finally got up at 11am. There were two Chilean girls who had gone out the night before and the rest of us had climbed the mountain, so no one got up early at all. I cooked myself some breakfast.

The big outing of the day was to the bus station to buy a ticket back to Santiago. I had unfortunately decided to travel Sunday night so it was a bit more expensive. On the way back I wanted some soup for lunch. I stopped in Trawen, a nice local-farmed Chilean restaurant. The waiter was lovely, a vegetarian Chilean man who had every Fat Freddies Drop album, he was playing it in the restaurant! He recommended a type of Chilean soup with chicken, vegetables, quinoa and broth. I also had a ginger juice. He was very spiritual and said perhaps I was meant to be here in Pucon.

I went home via the bank and supermarket for some lemon and ginger tea.

The Chili Kiwi hostal

Back at the hostel, Lucho/Luis, the Chilean guy was sitting in front of the fire drinking ‘vino caliente’. He had put the bottle of wine in front of the fire guard to warm up red wine. The other people who worked at the hostel were there and eventually more and more people joined. Somehow the song ‘all night long’ by Lionel Richie ended up being played at least three times. Lucho and Tara were dancing to crazy 80s songs.

We all moved to the bar and stayed there until midnight. The others went out but I could feel my throat seizing up, so I sensibly decided to stay in.

Salto de Claro 

I woke up around 8am. I guessed Sandra wasn’t going to make it to the national park on the 8.30 bus given I hadn’t even heard Thomaz come home (he was in the lower bunk). It was a freezing morning and there had been a snowstorm overnight in the hills. Once I was up, I felt rested although my cough was still there. I cooked myself breakfast and went to talk to a new person on reception – the New Zealand owner. He grew up in Wellington and knew Ohakune well, so it was cool to have a normal conversation with him.

Around 11am I decided to walk to the waterfall. Lucho and Thomaz were up – Thomaz had missed his 9am bus despite setting four alarms and was hungover.

Lucho had bought a bag of oranges and made a huge amount of fresh orange juice which he shared with us two.

I set off through town, noting the pharmacy was closed. The road went for about 30 minutes along the highway, before turning away from the volcano. I had photo of a little map with instructions on my phone. After a petrol station I turned down a country road that went through peaceful farmland. Two dogs, a King Charles Spaniel and Corgi/cross adopted me and together we walked up through the hills.

The climb was quite steep but just on a dirt country road. Some Chileans asked me for directions in Spanish. I showed them the map. At the top there was snow everywhere! Two Brazilian people from the hostel pulled up in their car just as I went the wrong way. The snow had covered the path, so I took a 10 minute detour down the main road further!

Back on the right track, with the dogs in tow, I followed some snowy fields before going down a very muddy and slippery track. You had to hold tree roots to walk down it. Lots of other tourists were there and these lovely Chilean people told me the right way to go. The dogs had no problems and sprinted ahead.

Suddenly, the waterfall came into view. It was huge, about 80 metres high, in a circular pool with the clearest blue water! I took a few photos but didn’t stick around too long. The dogs shared some of my ham and cheese sandwich. Then we all headed off up the hill; me, the dogs and the Chilean people. The Brazilians were miles behind somewhere. One Chilean girl was struggling and said ‘I need to stop smoking’ to me. I said ‘tambien’/also without thinking and then laughed at myself.

At the top, they offered me a lift back to Pucon, but I wanted to walk mainly to kill time. The dogs and I continued alone until I saw Sandra! She was awake, alive and going to the waterfall. Behind her by 100 metres was Melissa, an American from our hostel. I told her to catch up!

Another three cars stopped to offer me lifts to Pucon. I turned each one down but regretted it slightly because it was freezing cold. I got back just before 5pm. The kiwi guy James was just leaving and told me to say hi to his friend Donny in Ohakune.

All the clouds cleared and the most amazing sunset happened over the lake. The volcano turned pink. I grabbed my camera and rushed out to take some pictures. Sandra, Melissa and Lucho all turned up. I spent the evening sitting in the living room with them. Lucho gave me some good tips for Buenos Aires and then a huge hug as he headed off.