Pucon and finally Bariloche!!!!

After Valpo we headed south in Chile to the town of Pucon. It had been recommended by others and seemed like a good stop over before Bariloche. We decided to clime one of the nearby volcanos (there are many many people who do it each year, not overly dangerous trust me). The weather was not great for the first two mornings so we couldn´t go.

On our second day we had a picnic with some of the others from our hostel when the weather cleared. We had a few univited guests but it made for a much more interesting lunch.

A view of the Villarica volcano that we climbed from town. (sorry about the power lines!)
On our third day we were able to make the climb/hike/trek to the top! The first hour and a half was rocky and quite unstable, we then put on cramptons and hiked up a glacier for another 2 hours and finally climbed an hour on volcanic rock. The climb was probably the hardest hike I have done before. The view and the ride down made it completely worth it, I say that now a week later. On our way down, we put these pads on our butts and slide down the glacier on what seemed like a bobsled track it was soo cool, definitely the best sledding I have ever done.

View from the top, looking into Argentina. The volcano in the distance marks the border between Argentina and Chile.
Pablo our guide at the top.
View from my room in Bariloche. The town is situated on Lago Nahuel Huapi....a really huge lake. It is absolutely breathtaking with the Andes mountains as the backdrop.


The town of Pucon from one of the hills behind town with our new friends.

Cool street art in Bariloche that Mara matched.
Great sign we saw in Bariloche.
Our last picture together on our trip. Bye-bye prima, we had a great run together!

The second part of my journey is now starting. Mara is leaving tonight out of Buenos Aires back to Philly and I am staying on in Bariloche. I am half way through my first week of Spanish classes and have another week to go.