Pucon

We left Cusco, got a flight to Chile via Lima, and I had a smile on my face. Not sure why; maybe because we were going back to a familiar place or because I’ve fallen in love with Chile. Maybe it’s that extraordinary privilege of having toilet paper when nature calls. Or maybe I was just happy to get back to those reclining seats on Chilean buses.

Give people "fuck all" and they start appreciating the small things…

We left Santiago airport for the central station and from there took an overnight bus to Pucon, a small town that serves as a holiday resort for Chileans but also attracts foreign travellers for its famous active volcano, which sits beneath a glacier.

We hadn’t yet fully recovered from the Inca trek, but we still signed up for this 6-hour climbing exercise. At this point, I want to publicly apologize to Dora. She will hate me for years for what’s about to come, but honestly, I didn’t know. I got the brochure that said, “Visit the active volcano,” with no details on how you get to the top of the mountain.

Anyway, we woke up and got to the meeting point for the trek. We got a bit worried when we saw gas masks and special boot spikes as part of the necessary gear, but it was all needed since much of the trek was on the steep, icy side of the mountain, with poisonous fumes from the volcano at the top.

It was a difficult one (again, sorry, Dora), but the view from the top made it all worthwhile. I’ll try to sugar-coat this by saying it’s another “thing to do before you die,” but it was more like “another thing to do if you want to die.”

Well, the way down was more fun as we travelled most of the distance sliding down on our bums in soft snow, wearing thick layered pants (I wish I had my snowboard).

This trek completes my detailed and carefully planned itinerary for South America, and from this point on, the rest of the continent is unplanned. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Paul (the contractor from SKY) who helped me build this itinerary (pretty much following what he did a year ago).

We’re now off to Argentina, crossing by bus over the snow-capped Andes, with the first stop in Bariloche.

Steaks… come out, come out, wherever you are!!!