Well worth it

A few weeks back, some friends invited us to join them on a long weekend trip to Pucon, Chile.  Pucon is about an 8 hour trip to the south and the way to travel in this situation is by overnight bus.  The buses here are lovely, smooth and generally right on the money as far as timing goes, so for about $30 a person round trip, we were off.  Well, almost off.  It had been a bit of a strange week for us starting with a sudden windstorm ripping through the city and causing small pockets of damage.  Our storm shutter smashed through our window creating a noisy, breezy week for us.  The student protest at our University had picked up a notch and we got our first salty taste of a gas bomb.  A weekend out of the smog and crowds was just what we needed and we had purchased the last 2 bus tickets available a couple days in advance.  But when we arrived at the bus terminal, the gentleman greeting riders on the steps of the Tur-bus refused to let us board.  Something was said about our tickets and this bus not going to Pucon.   About an hour and a half later we were finally granted admission on a bus, luggage was loaded, and the grumpy mass of travelers settled in for the long ride.  Turns out the window had broken in our originally scheduled bus, hmm....

We awoke to the sights and sounds of 80's pop rock videos cutting in and out of the on board entertainment system.  The young kids behind us were among the mass of youth in this country who love anything 80's so our peaceful bus turned quickly in to an early morning karaoke bar. I don't think I can fully explain the joy one experiences hearing half a dozen 17 year olds belt out Madonna's best hits and only hit about a third of the words correctly.  At 7 in the morning.    With no way of escape.  The only thing that got us through was Tyler's calm and patient demeanor for this kind of disturbance.  Je je je, as they say in Chile.

After unloading the bus, befriending a sweet stray dog we called Lucy and finding Hostel Monkey Puzzle, we met up with our friends Brook and Ryan and began our search for a guide to take us up the mountain.  Pucon is a small tourist town at the start of the Lakes District and surrounded by beautiful lakes and highly active volcanoes.  Brook had been wanting to climb Volcan Villarrica since well before arriving in this country and had done fantastic research on our options.  It didn't take long before we settled on a company that provided English speaking guides, breakfast, lunch and all our supplies.  All we had left to do was enjoy the afternoon over beers and sandwiches and psych ourselves up for the big day tomorrow.  Which came very early.  We had to show up for breakfast at 5 am to begin our hike by 6:30.  Climbing out of a twin sized bed pre-dawn in the very chilly air was way less than ideal by my standards, but as soon as we began our ascent, my hesitations about the day ceased to exist.  With no one on the mountain but our small group, a sliver of a moon and the sun just beginning to warm the horizon, I knew this day was going to be amazing.  Our group of 4 had grown to 12 and Ze Germans who joined us were an all around friendly, intelligent and fun loving bunch.  Oh, and tri or qua-lingual.  Yikes.  One of our favorite Germans took about 300 pictures of the day (maybe 100 of which were of himself in every imaginable pose) and provided us all with a cd compilation of his best shots.  Cool people, Ze Germans.

The climb took about 10 hours round trip and we were incredibly lucky with the weather.  We actually were among a limited number of climbers who were able to crest the mountain from the front; strong winds usually prevent this.  The vistas from the top were beyond words and even pictures couldn't do them justice- it was absolutely gorgeous.  When our guides felt we'd breathed in enough sulphuric gas for one day, they rounded us up and we began our descent.  After about 45 difficult minutes scrambling down awkward terrain, our trip down the hill turned into an alpine slide.  We strapped on "pampers" as they are referred to because of the application process and slid feet first down the slopes using our ice picks as brakes.  At certain points a train of bodies linked up and took out anyone in its path.  Our rico suave guides showed off by skiing slalom down the slide routes.  Overall, soooo much more fun than climbing up the hill.

On our third day in Pucon we decided to rent bikes and head out to a small village about 25 kilometers away.  Things were going great as began but soon the road steepened and we discovered our bikes were far from top of the line.  A major difference between mountain biking and road biking is that when you take on a hill, the option to stand up and push for the top is not available due to tires spinning out in the soft ground.  And our bikes seemed incapable of shifting while pedaling.  So we did a bit of walking up the hills and didn't exactly make it to our intended destination, but we took in some beautiful views of the countryside nonetheless.  After returning our bikes, grabbing a bite and a shower, it was time to return to the bus stop for our return trip.  Feeling a bit more casual than before due to the delay in our departure, we strolled up to the bus stop with 2 minutes to spare.  And we saw our bus pulling away from the curb.  Thankfully the driver took pity on us and we were allowed to board.  Flash forward 8 hours and we rolled into the dark busy streets of Santiago, back to our breezy apartment in the middle of the city.  The trip cost more than we'd planned, we were wiped out at work the next day, but it was no doubt well worth it.