Temuco & Pucon (Chile)

We spent our last morning in Valparaiso trying to figure out what we should do with the last four weeks (!) of our trip. Originally we had planned to go all the way down to Ushuaia (the southernmost city in the world), but later scrapped that plan in the interest of time, and money. However, as we looked at our options Ushuaia was suddenly back on the table. The hostel owners told us there was a train from Santiago to Temuco (in the Lakes District) which was very beautiful, and inexpensive. We headed to Santiago to catch the train, but found out at the train station that the February 2010 earthquake had destroyed the tracks south of Talca. We took the train to Talca regardless, and then a night bus from Talca to Temuco, arriving at 5:00am. We hadn`t planned on ending up in Temuco that morning, since the original plan was to take the day train. Normally this wouldn`t have been a problem, but Temuco is (in no way, shape, or form) a backpacker destination, and proved very challenging. We took a cab from the bus station to one of the only two hostels listed in the guidebook. Frustratingly, the cab tried (and somewhat succeeded) to ``take us to the cleaners``. He obviously assumed we didn`t know the town very well, and took us on the most roundabout way. We called him out on it, but he played dumb, and wasn`t going to give us our bags from the trunk if we didn`t pay up. We bargained the rip-off price down to 4000 pesos ($8)  (about twice what it should have been), but then he didn`t have change, so we walked away paying far more that we should have. In the end, it only cost us about $10, but it was more the principle that was so irritating. To top things off, no one answered the doorbell at the hostel, so we ended up spending another 20 minutes flagging down a cab and cabbing to the other side of town where the second listed hostel was. It didn't exist, but luckily cab driver #2 was nice and took us to the cheapest (but safe) hotel option he knew. Twice what you'd pay at a hostel, but we were just happy to have a bed at that point. The whole point of going to Temuco was to hike the Sierra Nevada train in the national park, but there had been snow the day before and the trails were closed... go figure! Our guidebook said Temuco is a challenge for backpackers... they aren't kidding!  We spent a day in Temuco planning the rest of our trip and wandering around. We tried some good local food; pastel de choclo (baked corn mash, cheese and meat pie...similar to shepherds pie, but with corn not mashed potatoes), and shellfish stew (very fishy!). I guess Temuco was a relative fail, but to be honest, we haven't had many of those on this trip, so we took it in stride and carried on.

The next day (eager to get out of Temuco) we hopped on a bus to Pucon, in the Araucanía region of Chile. We loved Pucon at first sight (it had a very "ski town" feel to it), and our hostel only made it better. Hostel El Refugio was a cute converted wood cabin in central Pucon complete with fireplace (and clothes drying racks above), friendly dog, feather duvets, WIFI and great company. The hostel staff suggested we hike to a nearby waterfall, armed us with a "treasure map", and sent us on our way.

The walk was very beautiful and tranquil (p.s. there is lots of land for sale here if anyone is interested!!).

We walked past farmyards, and through fields of cows, and down narrow rooted paths with bamboo (who knew?) growing on both sides. We loved the roses that all the locals had growing in their yards and on the fences.

The waterfall was magnificent, and we enjoyed the lack of other tourists.  

We were hoping to get a chance to hike one of Chile's most active volcanoes, the Villarrica volcano (and snowboard down!), but unfortunately it began raining that evening (not to stop for 3 days), and so the trip was cancelled. Instead we ventured up to Huerquehue national park for a day hike (Los Lagos), which turned into a half-day hike as the rain didn't lay off. It was a very beautiful hike, and we made it to the first two (of four) lakes.

We hiked along lakes, and through forest teeming with famous Monkey-puzzle (a.k.a. Araucaria) trees.

Araucaria trees are sometimes described as living fossils, since they grow up to 40m high and 2m wide, and can live for over a thousand years! Even if trees aren't your thing, you would have to admit these trees are pretty neat. Here is a close-up photo of the "foliage" (if you can call it that) of a juvenile Monkey-puzzle tree.

By noon we were soaked to the bone (down to our underwear) and it was cold enough out that the rain even turned to snow a bit, so we decided to turn around and take the 2:10 bus back. We were very glad we did, because by the time we arrived back in Pucon we were miserable, wet, and cold (and were so grateful for free tea, hot showers, dry clothes, and the fireplace). We decided we don't need to hike in the rain ever again! What we didn't plan on was our shoes being wet for 3 days (too humid out to dry), and having to wear flip flops in the barely-above-freezing temperatures.

Here was a gorgeous waterfall that we saw en-route to the lakes. It was challenging to photograph because you had about 1 second between when you turned around and when the lens would be completely covered in water droplets from the spray and the rain (not to mention the Nikon isn't really supposed to get wet).

We would have stuck around Pucon for another day or two if we thought we'd get a chance to hike the volcano, but the forecast was grim, so we decided to head to Bariloche (on the Argentinian side of the Andes) instead. The scenery on the bus ride was very beautiful, but as you can see from the attempted photo below it was still raining steadily, and photography from the bus wasn't really possible.

Buses across the border always take longer than predicted, and we arrived in Bariloche after about 12 hours of travel. You wouldn't think we'd still be tired after sleeping so much all day (on the bus) but we pretty much just went to bed after we arrived!