Pucón

Pucón comes in the books as a chilean touristic summer place, but also as a neverending source of pleasure, experiences and natural beauty. It is a sort of San Pedro de Atacama of the south, a small cosy town with wooden houses and a lot of tour agencies and trendy shops, located in the chilean lake region, right before Patagonia starts. Its main landmarks are the lake and volcano Villarica, the most active in south america and a constant presence throughout the town. I got myself a very nice and cheap hostel, École, with a vegetarian restaurant and from which some tours could be arranged easily.

The main attraction here is the volcano, but this will have a post of its own soon. However, there are activities for all tastes and all weather conditions. In the day I arrived I went to do rafting for the first time. All equipment was provided and we did it in a six-people (plus the instructor) boat in Rio Trancura, in level IV rapids. Instructions came during the ride, as we would need to perform a specific maneouvre to the boat. It was the most fun, with some falls into the water and 4m cliff dives. In the end, we had beer and cookies and that night we all went out together. Great spirit.

On another day I went trekking to Huerqueue National Park, a beautiful mix of basaltic cliffs, native forest and blue lakes. It was an 8 km trek with a nice 500m height difference along the way. The park hosts the peculiar Araucaria tree, the chilean national symbol. Even though there were quite some people there for trekking, I could manage to do it most of the times alone, enjoying the peacefulness coming from the Nature contact.

In my last day, I went around Pucón. It has a private peninsula and a volcanic sand beach by the lake, a casino and a big park, where local wooden craftworks are sold. I then moved to Villarica, a town half an hour away from Pucón, which gives the name to the lake and the volcano. It is also touristy but nothing compared to its neighbour. The view by the lake with the volcano as background is the most remarkable thing about it, together with two main streets. This is not however all I have to tell about my trip to Pucón, more to come in the next posts.

Pucón Photo Album