"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans"

The Ultimate Volcano Experience

Parque Nacional Conguillio (photo top left) was spectacular. We had a spot of bad weather in the beginning of our walk (very unusual for this time of year) but later it cleared up. We walked for about 4 hours mostly in the forest. There were spectacular views og lake Conguillio and the Sierra Nevada.
the next day I went to the small town of Villarica. Beautiful town right by the lake and it has Vulcan Villarica in the background (photo middle left). After a 3 hour hike in the countryside the next day - just south of Villarica - molested by huge flies that wanted my nothing but harm, I took the bus to Pucòn which is a nice resort town...a little bit turisty but nice all the same. From there I took a tour up to the very active volcano Villarica. If you look into the crater you see the the lava bubbling and sometimes it erupts a couple of meters in the air. Very impressive sight. I took a special early morning tour that started from Pucón at 4:00 in the morning. A group of 6 persons + two guides. As all the other tours start at 7:00 there were just us on the Volcano. After 1 hour in the dark the sun came up and the view was quite spectacular: I think we could see about 4 or 5 other volcanoes from the top. The worst thing was the sulphor gases that the crater emittet. Reminded me of my teargas experience in Quito four years ago. We slided most of the way back so the trip down was only an hour. That night I ran into a guy I had met in Villarica and we had a Pisco Sour and a "few" beers in the Mamas and Tapas bar. Tomorrow I am taking the bus to San Martin de los Andes in Argentina.

Hasta Argentina

posted by Nonni @ 11:45 e.h.