Pucón, a city at the foot of the volcano

After leaving Santiago, I took an 11-hour bus ride south. My destination was Pucón, a small vacation spot. It is located directly below the most active volcano in South America. But there is much more to see and do here.

In Santiago, Motti recommended a hostel called Lucky's Hostel, which I had already reserved for three nights. It is the best hostel I have ever been to. It was opened about 2 months ago by Sebastian and Esperanza, a Chilean couple who have traveled around the world themselves. Both of them are in their late twenties and really know what matters. Everything is clean, the kitchen is well-equipped (including a spaetzle grater :D), there is breakfast with homemade bread, muffins, and jam. It is not a very big hostel, so in the mornings, we all have breakfast together at a big table and easily get into conversations. The atmosphere was amazing, so I decided to stay here for a whole week.

During this time, I experienced a lot and met a lot of great people. A real small hostel family developed. It consisted of Alex, Malina, Jürgen, and me. We are all traveling alone and each have our own story. We all got along very well and always sat together in the evenings. Jürgen is in his mid-50s, a cook, and comes from the Allgäu region. After his last child moved out, he treated himself to a sabbatical year. Of course, many other people from different countries also came, so the evenings never ended before midnight.

The highlight here was, of course, the tour of the volcano. But there were also other great days. One day, I hiked to a beautiful 80-meter-high waterfall. It was a nice hike through the mountains. The other days, we went swimming in the lake, explored the town, or just sat in the hostel, exchanging stories and planning our next routes. Then another highlight came. Jürgen discovered a spaetzle grater in the kitchen. As a cook, he couldn't resist, so we decided to make cheese spaetzle. So we asked around who wanted to join us for dinner and bought groceries for 8 people. Jürgen, Alex, and I then cooked the spaetzle, while Alex and I were only responsible for cutting and cleaning the salad. In the end, 10 people sat at the table and enjoyed the meal. It was a fantastic evening. The next day, Alex continued his journey and Jürgen and I decided to rent bicycles and ride to Lago Caburgua, passing by two waterfalls. We packed sandwiches and bought avocados, tomatoes, and peaches from the fruit vendor. Then we took a beautiful forest path to the waterfalls. It was incredibly exhausting because it was mostly uphill. When we finally arrived at the waterfalls, I was already exhausted. We took a few pictures, enjoyed the nature, ate a cereal bar, and then continued. In the middle of the forest, there was an old man selling "maize porridge" cooked in corn husks. We bought 4 of them and continued our journey to the lake. There, we had a big feast. The maize treats were delicious, but unfortunately, I don't remember their name. Then we had a little dip in the lake, and then we had to return to return the bicycles. The way back was pleasant. We took the main road. It was mostly downhill or flat. That's how we managed the last 22 kilometers in an hour.

Time flew by, and another great week is over. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the time. Tomorrow, I will continue my journey south for 9 hours by bus. My next destination is Castro on the Chiloé Island. There, I will meet Jürgen again, as he has already traveled there today.