Volcanoes & Thermal Springs

After our jaunt to Argentina, we spent a long weekend in the town of Pucon, in the Araucaria Region, with my brother.

Volcan Villarica is one of the natural highlights.

We stayed at a cozy bed & breakfast called Ecole, nestled between the volcano and a big lake.





The vegetarian restaurant attached to the B&B served tasty, fresh-baked, whole-wheat bread on tables set under grape trelisses.





They served delicious lunches too.





We had nice views from our window. On Saturday we went hiking in Parque Nacional Herquehue and enjoyed beautiful views. I think I set the pace a bit too fast, and my brother and wife were exhausted by the time we paused for lunch on a mountain ridge. Next time I think I'll go slower and try to enjoy the scenery more.



On Sunday we enjoyed flying through the forest canopy on a 1 hour zip-line ride.

In the late afternoon we went to Termas Geometricas, a series of 12 stone swimming pools naturally heated by geothermal energy, and a cold creek running by.


The water was deliciously warm, and we enjoyed jumping from pool to pool, sampling the various temperatures. My brother & I took bracing showers under the icy-cold waterfall and then jumping back into the steaming pools. As dusk fell, the management set out candles. Reluctantly, we drove home and easily fell into a deep sleep.



All too soon, it was time to come home to Santiago.

We discovered a new salon opened just next door to our apartment building. "I'll have two secrets to go, please."

My brother spent the next couple of weeks touring around Santiago & Chile on his own because we had to go back to work in the Embassy. He is a fairly independent traveller, but we also enjoyed some quality time together reminising about the good and bad old days of the past. On Sunday, we went to the pottery village of Pomaire again.

On my brother's last day in Chile, we went to Parque de Recuerdos to enjoy some nature, and then had lunch a little vegetarian restaurant called La Chakra. When we came back to our car a couple of hours later, we discovered to our shock and dismay that our car had been broken into. The door lock was broken with a screwdriver, our dashboard was completely ripped out. The CD player, a folder of CD's, some expensive electronics, and the items in our trunk were stolen. My distraught wife wept, and I contacted the RSO (the Embassy's Regional Security Officer) to report the incident and get advice about filing a police report with the Carabineros. There was little else we could do.

We were sad to say good-bye to my brother at the airport that evening. But we didn't have long to feel sad, because we had to pack for our very early flight the next morning to meet my parents in Argentina for a 2-week cruise vacation with them.