The Backpacker's Disneyland

Vacation Rewind Part 4 of 6

The city of Pucón lies quite a bit south of Santiago where our bus from Argentina dropped us off at about 8 pm. Having spent close to two weeks in Santiago when we first arrived in Chile, we knew we didn't want to stay there any longer than we had to. Fortunately, we were able to find a bus that would leave at 9:30 and take us on our way out of the city and into, quite literally, greener pastures. So after a bus station meal consisting of chicken and avocado sandwiches, we said our goodbyes to our friend Jeff who was planning to head north for a few days to wrap up his vacation and boarded our overnight bus to Pucón.

We sprung for the full-cama seats on this bus because our bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago took an entire 4 hours longer than it was supposed to (gotta love those border crossings!) which left us sore and irritable. The difference between semi-cama and full-cama seats in buses is comparable to the difference between first class and coach on an airplane. Being that we'd been on a bus for about 9 hours already and had an additional 14-15 hours ahead of us, we decided fully reclining seats were a must. After experiencing the joys of the full-cama, I'm having a hard time imagining an overnight bus without them.

When we arrived the next morning, we were greeted by a heavy rain storm that we knew we'd have to walk around in for at least a few minutes before we found a hostel to stay in. We'd researched the options a few days before but weren't sure which ones would have rooms available and what the prices might be. Luckily, one of the hostels was only a couple blocks from the bus station so we made our way there first. Because of the torrential downpour, we were soaked by the time we got there and immediately agreed to stay as soon as we stepped in the door. Despite our seemingly rash decision, the hostel was actually one of the best we stayed in during our entire trip. It looked a lot like a big cabin and even had a resident dog named "Negra" that kept us company while the rain poured. The only downside was the lack of heat. As with all places in Chile not named Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales, there isn't much in the way of gas heating. This means that the main source of heat is always log burning stoves and fireplaces. While some volunteers have become extremely adept at starting and maintaining fires for hours at a time in order to keep warm, I haven't been able to hone those skills since I'm spoiled with nice gas heaters in almost every room of the house. Our room was equipped with a small stove-type heater that we'd need to figure out how to use in order to keep from freezing at night. I gave it my best shot but we never got it to work quite the way it was supposed to. Nevertheless, it did the job and we came away from Pucón with all our fingers and toes.

We only planned to stay for a couple of days as we knew there were a couple more places further south that we'd need to visit before returning to the bottom of the planet so we immediately discussed what kinds of activities were available with the hostel owner. He told us about quite a few things, including scaling the nearby volcano and sledding down, but we decided on two of the more relaxing experiences. Our first night would be spent up on the side of the volcano enjoying the mineral pools that spring up along the river that takes the snow melt from the mountain to the lake. The day after would be spent riding horses around the countryside and the foothills outside town.

Before our night time excursion to the hot springs, we wandered around town to see what kinds of things it had to offer. Lonely Planet describes it as a backpacker's Disneyland and I couldn't agree more with the description. It was incredibly touristy (read: expensive). While this can be a drawback for certain aspects of the experience it certainly presents you with tons of benefits as well. For example, the type of food available there is unlike any other place I've been or heard of in Chile. There were Peruvian, Argentine, Mexican, Italian, American and even Middle Eastern restaurants all over the place. There was also a fantastic place that tripled as a hostel, bar and vegetarian restaurant that we visited twice to sample the delicious food they had on offer. One time for lunch, where we sampled the black bean nachos (just like home) and a thai curry dish and one time for breakfast where Marie finally got to enjoy her favorite thing in the world: fresh fruit with yogurt and granola. We were happy kids.

Traveling to the hot springs that night was pretty painless and the pools themselves were great. There must have been at least 7 different size pools to choose from and they were all relatively empty. It was great to be there at night because everything was very quiet and you could relax but I was disappointed about not being able to see the scenery that surrounded the pools because it looked like it'd be pretty incredible with a large river and tons of very tall trees all around. At any rate, you can never underestimate just how happy a bit of warm water can make you. It's the simple things, right?

The next day we were picked up by a very nice woman that would take us out to the ranch where we'd set out on horses for a few hours. Marie had never been horseback riding but had always wanted to so she was VERY excited and a bit nervous. I'd only been a few times but always enjoyed it so I was looking forward to an interesting experience. When we arrived, we found our two trusty steeds ready to take us away. Mine was named Esperanza and Marie had Polka. For reasons only known to cowboys, I had a great time. I noticed myself smiling ear to ear quite a few times and I wasn't totally sure why. The mixture of the greenery, the rivers, the volcanoes, the sheep watching us stroll by, the galloping and the fresh air just made me incredibly content.




We enjoyed our short time in Pucón and I'm sure it's even more impressive during the summer when the weather is warm and swimming in the lake is encouraged. We left a little disappointed that we couldn't be spending more time there but knew that our next destination, Chiloe, would have plenty to make us satisfied to be moving on.