I heart Pucon and Santiago

And so I've finally left Argentina (although not for too long) and made it into Chile. After the initial confusion of a new currency and having to remember the big numbers in spanish (1000 Chilean pesos to the pound) I've settled into Chile pretty well. After an initial cock up of going to Chiloe for 2 days of rain and, for me 2 days of watching bad tv in an anti-social manner while avoiding all people (sometimes it's necessary) I moved onto Pucon, a small town near the lake district famed for an active Volcano and thermal springs.

Once again forgetting that I am not a hiker, or even remotely fit, I signed up to climb the Villaricca Volcano, at nearly 3000 metres high, at 7am the day after I arrived. During my first day in Pucon the weather had been beautiful, the sky cloudless, perfect for hiking in fact. On the day I woke up to climb the volcano, the sky was, naturally, grey/white with low lying clouds. I got to the tour office and set about dressing in my fancy climbing togs, notably a pair of plasticky trousers, gaiters, and a smashing orange hi-vis jacket. Most important of all was the weapon, I mean ice pick. A group of 7 of us plus 2 guides drove up to the base and we received our first piece of bad news... the chances of reaching the top were 50-50 because of bad weather and we were welcome to reschedule. Naturally having woken up at 6am I wanted to climb, (early starts like that don't happen twice in a row for me) as did everyone else. The second piece of bad news was the fact that the chairlift, which normally takes people up to a 1000 metres wasn't working because of the strong winds. Adding an extra few hours to the ascent. Naturally I quickly got into my stride and settled near the back... alright at the very back of the group. The hiking waswaqs difficult in deep snow and depressing as it took us hours to reach where the charilift normally dropped people off. Despite the regular breaks, I found myself dropping back until I was holding up not only my tour group, but a magnificent 2 more groups from different companies behind me. A new and fantastic achievement I think. Having said that by the time we got to the top, a mere 6.5 hours after we set out everyone had slowed to my pace and I think therefore I won.

The crater itself was, unsurprisingly like a massive smoky hole but the views were spectacular and at that point I was pleased to have made it to the top without my legs falling off in despair. The way down on the other hand was much more fun and made me as excited as I get on fireworks night (VERY). We attached plastic nappies - for want of a better word - to our backsides and got to slide down 1000s of metres of snowy mountain, using our icepicks as breaks (or in my case a highly effective accelerator). The best fun ever and possibly my second all time favourite winter sport, after everyone's number 1, the luge. It was only at the bottom of the mountain that I realised I'd beaten my all time non-peeing record at a massive 9.5 hours. My rule on not getting my arse out above the snowline had served me well once again.

Pucon has lots more to offer, beautiful hikes, inspiring bike rides... I of course did none of these after my struggle up the volcano. I did find the energy to visit the thermal springs, which involves sitting in hot lakes in the bottom of an idyllic valley next to a river, it was tough going but I did it for Wales. While I was there a guide tried to persuade me to join him for Pisco sours (a Chilean, or some argue Peruvian drink, which is pretty deadly) later that evening...But as he was about the same age as my dad and dare I say it, much fatter, I decided against it. He did teach me the spanish for atheist however and so served a useful purpose. Several people tried to persuade me to stay in Pucon and I was quite tempted, the laid back atmosphere was wonderful, but I had things to do, places to see. And so I moved onto Chile's capital, Santiago.

Without sounding too damning, as I did like it and there are things to do, Santiago is pleasant enough but not overly exciting. But there's not a huge amount to see, which made me feel far less guilty about spending a large amount of time lying down next to the pool in the hostel, with the occasional variation on this theme... ie getting into the pool or sitting near it in a chair. Very unlike my usual anti-beach holiday stance I grant you but sometimes the body needs a rest. While there I essentially pretended to be a student again, drinking until the early hours all night and hanging out with some really cool people (or 'supercool' as locals would have it). All this and I still had time for some culture, going out to see the Police (with Beck supporting) one night - see me in cool Police rock headband on facebook - and also got to see a free performance of The Nutcracker in the plaza to increase my festiveness. All in all, good times were had by all and I checked out feeling a little sad to be leaving it all behind, not to mention very tired having stayed up all night before my airport transfer at 6.30am. Fortunately for me the next stop was Easter Island, which quickly distracted me from any sadness, being as it is, amazing.