Pucón adventures

I just returned from a 4 day stay in Pucón. Overall I had a great experience. It felt wonderful leaving the urban setting of Concepción and seeing the countryside of Chile. The bus ride itself was my favorite part of the trip since I got to see tons of cows and little cottages and farms.

Pucón itself is a very touristy town with moderately priced food and fairly cheap lodging since it's the off-season. I really enjoyed the atmosphere with all the foreigners from Europe and Asia and the US (I felt a little like I was back at UIUC hearing so many languages). While I was in Pucón I attempted to climb Volcán Villarrica, but stopped about 2/3 of the way up when it started getting really cloudy. Even though I didn't get all the way up it was worth it to see the view from a couple thousand meters high. I also went zip-lining, which I highly recommend. It was about US $20 for about 1 kilometer of zip-lining, but the experience was amazing! I felt like I was flying. I can't wait to try again someplace with more to see.

The 18th was the day of Fiestas Patrias, so there was a little shin-dig in the town center. Before the parade the mayor gave a speech about Pucón's spirit and strength. This was regarding a huge fire that destroyed one of the most respected hotels in the town the day before. After his speech a little 10 year old gave a rousing speech about the strength of Chile and the greatness of the flag. After these speeches the government officials each had the traditional swig of chicha from a cow horn. Chicha is the traditional drink of the celebration, it is a kind of very sweet sangria that's not very potent. Finally the regional winners of youth cueca competitions took the stage and danced 3 cuecas (the national dance of Chile). Next the parade started. It was 2 blocks long and consisted of every student of Pucón representing their respective school, the taxis of Pucón, the firefighters, the jockey club, the car racing club, and special this year the employees of the hotel that burned down. Compared to the Fourth of July parades I'm used to it wasn't much, but it was definitely a good window into how festivals are in Chile.

While in Pucón I stayed in donde German Hostel, which was a good choice. The owners are very accomodating and the atmosphere is great. It's a big off the main drag, but that was nice because I felt like I was really staying in the country since I could see cows out of my window. The best part was that there were 13 students from the US staying there also, so I got to talk to some Americans!

I had a great time, and I would definitely recommend Pucón as a way to see a very beautiful part of Chile. I don't ski, but I heard it's fairly decent and pretty cheap. Also, there are tons of tourist agencies running trips to all parts of the area. The hot springs are supposed to be great, and people I talked to who biked around said it was beautiful. I wouldn't want to go during high season as I'm sure it's very crowded, but the weather held up for the most part while we were there, and it wasn't cold when we were walking around. I can't wait to go even further south and see even more beautiful countryside.