Villarrica, Chile

After our morning breakfast fiasco (I ordered and paid for whichever breakfast they'd be able to have ready for us before we needed to head to the bus station - but the breakfast never materialized and I had to get our money back) - we rushed out the door to catch our taxi. Kip was able to find a nearby pastry shop (though almost everywhere still appeared to be closed), so we had some tasty snacks for the cab ride to the bus station (which was 8 times more expensive than our subway ride the day before).

The double decker bus was quite nice, and the service fantastic! Not only were we treated to a constant stream of movies and TV (mostly notably The Rock), but blankets were provided and the bus attendant would strategically raise and lower the window shades throughout based on the position of the sun and the direction of the bus! Our 11 hour ride cost roughly $15.

At the bus terminal, we were greeted by my uncle's girlfriend (who I'd never met, and didn't speak english). Tom came along minutes later in his new car (which would prove useful for our adventuring over the next few days).

We drove about 5 minutes outside of town to Tom's house - little more than a 3 room cabin on an acre of land (with a view of Volcano Villarrica). Though under construction (a utility room was being built in the back), the place was quaint and his yardwork efforts were slowly paying off (a small vegetable garden had recently been planted in the back corner - near the homemade scarecrow!) He cooked us up some amazing steak (with broccoli and mushrooms).

It wasn't long before we hit his new hottub - little more than the bottom half of a giant wooden barrel. And wood powered?!? Basically you just create a little wood fire inside a metal box which sits inside the tub, and voila - hot water! The downside is that it takes an hour or two to warm up.

Today, we woke up late, had breakfast, and then set off to Lake Caburgua, via the nearby tourist town Pucon. Pucon sits at the base of the volcano, on the other side of the lake. It's cute, and more touristy and modern than I would have guessed. It seems to cater to both international visitors and local tourists, and the surrounding countryside is filled with little cabins and getaways.

The driving scenery was spectacular - mountains and volcanoes connected by lush green valleys. We sped down the narrow two lane road around vineyards, past horses, and through tiny little groups of quaint houses. I didn't expect Chile to seem so...first world?!?

Lake Caburgua turned out to be rather enormous, flanked by mountains several thousand feet more in elevation (I'd guess we were around 2000-3000 feet above sea level). Despite the extremely hot sand (though it was only in the 80s), we tossed the frisbee around a bit, and waded into the water a bit just to cool off our feet!

On the way home we stopped at Anna's parents house. The house actually has rooms for rent, and a small backyard with cabins and camping - how Tom met Anna in the first place. Her parents are super nice though have a habit of feeding guests too much food...one bread product after another, after another. (In this case, sopapillas saltdas, followed by homemade bread, followed by queque - basically fruitcake!)

The night closed with a jam session back at Tom's place. Ryan on the guitar. Tom on the piano. And Kip, with some impressive freestyle lyrical skills - which he would be mostly unable to replicate for the rest of the trip.

We did a few errands in town (including buying a connector so we could listen to iPods in the car!), and finally set out to the hot springs in Liquine. We stopped in the town of Licon Ray for lunch and did a driveby of the black sand beach.

We continued on towards the hot springs, which ended up being more like a 2 hour drive, despite promises that it was only an hour or so. We stopped for a break a bit early, and ambled down to the river which was EXTREMELY cold. There were an odd assortment of women with a boat, presumably to shuttle people across the river, but I"m not sure why, as there didn't appear to be anything on the other side?!?

After driving just a bit further (down wind-y, jungly roads), we reached the hot springs / camping site. The springs were pretty unimpressive, a lot of empty pools (and one or two full ones - but the smelly, muddy kind). An entire busload of miners was at the camp, taking a relaxing break from their hellish, underground working life.

On the way back through town, we bought tickets for a hike up Volcan Villirrica!

Back and Tom's we had dinner and did a slideshow of the wedding, honeymoon, and Thailand trips.

Today is Volcano Day.

Volcan Villarrica (Villarrica Volcano) rises 9,300 feet, towering 8,500 feet above the nearby town of Pucon. Our day started early, with a bus ride to Pucon, and a quick orientation of the hike. Sadly, you MUST be on a guided tour, as climbing on your own is not allowed. Well worth the $50.

Our small group of four rode up to the base of the local ski area (roughly 4,000 feet), where the hike would begin.

The loose volcanic rocks underneath eventually gave way to snow and lifeless ski lifts, as we wound our way up the steep snowy switchbacks. Ice axes in hand (to use as an emergency brake should we fall), we stopped to rest every 45 minutes or so. Each time, we seemed to be so close, but one false peak after another left us weary and disillusioned.

Especially Kip. I don't want to throw him and his inferior hiking skills under the bus, but alas I must tell the truth.

This guy was struggling.

He lagged behind, dropping further and further back, mixing in with the other hiking groups. To make matters worse, the more he fell behind, the more determined I became to push hard to the top for a well deserved rest - making it hard for our guides to keep track of our group as it grew further apart.

As I approached the top, clouds began to roll in, blocking the view, but providing the surreal sensation of having hiked into the clouds - and beyond to the heavens.

Kip's cramping was miraculously resolved by a handful of nectarines in his last ditch effort to make it to the top. Success!

Have you ever been on top of an active volcano? Me neither. Believe it or not, you could hear the lava sloshing around deep inside the cone, like distant waves forcefully crashing into a rocky cliff face.

One area of the cone felt like the moon...a blank landscape that curved into the abyss. I hiked to the other side, and was able to peer down into the center - the rocks funneled into a bottomless tube. When the wind changed directions, the rotten egg smell was so strong that my eyes and nose began to water and I almost threw up. Seriously!

As I mentioned, clouds had approached, so some of the view down to the surrounding countryside was obscured, but it was a really cool sensation to be above the clouds.

Seems like it would be tedious hiking back down the volcano, right? Well, not when you don't have to walk!

For the descent, our guides outfitted us with snowpants and a slippery butt apron (for lack of a better word) - then taught us how to brake and steer with our ice axes. Moments later we were sliding down narrow snow chutes formed by previous groups. Most were roughly 8 inches deep, but one section had a 6 foot trough which looked like fun, until you went down and were repeatedly launched into the air and slammed back on your ass by the bumpy ride!

How disappointing that I had forgotten my video camera!

After roughly 30 minutes of descent (mostly sliding, though occasionally running & flailing downhill through the snow to connect up to the next chute), we reached the bottom. Mission complete!"