VOLCANO

I climbed a 2,847 m Volcano today.

OUR GROUP AT THE TOP!

It was unreal. As I start to even think about it, I cannot believe that I ever made it down and am now here to tell you about it. We were picked up around 7am from our hostel, I think about 11 of us total went. We are all excited and ready to go. Little did we know...

I think it was the hardest, most amazing, tiring, long, discouraging, inspiring, unreal thing I have ever done in my entire life. Period. Ever. I did not realize how huge this volcano was. Its Volcano Villarrica in Pucon, Chile. We were lead by three guys, Oscar, Joaquin, and Felipe. Oscar was my guide, we were the middle group, I struggled a lot! Man o man did I think I was literally going to DIE. Never make it to the top, let alone back down! He said he climbs the mountain 5-6 times a week. INSANE. He guessed he´d been up around 3000 times. Awesome guy. The peak just seemed to get further and further away.

We were wearing snow gear, heavy boots, big backpacks with tons of goodies inside, aka mouth warmer, shields, lunch, etc. We had pickaxes to assist ourselves, or save us if needed...The hike to the top took about 5 hours, in the snow, with the sun on our faces, with my legs feeling like I would never walk again. But....we made it....

The view at the top was absolutely breathtaking. Even at our stops on our way up, the view was just incredible. You could see for ages and there seemed to be perfect nature in all directions. Our town was a little grouping of buildings in the FAR FAR distance and we were surrounded by snow and silence. It was unlike anything I have ever described before.

I now know what it feels like to win a gold medal in the olympics, because arriving at the top of the Volcano was the most amazing feeling. This volcano is still active, last exploded in 1984. You could smell the activity, like sulfur on a hot day. And you couldnt see the actual lava, but you could take a good look into the hole.

Going back down the summit was probably the most fun part! You literally SLIDE down. On your bum. Literally. Our guides would lead and create a path and you would just GO. Like a bobsled! It was SO MUCH FUN. You really could pick up some speed out there! It was hilarious after struggling so much to get up the damn thing, we just played and sled right on down! Feel the wind in your hair and take off. So much fun.

Tonight, we´re going to sit in the thermal baths under the stars for as long as our bodies will allow. It will be heavenly...although the hike already took care of that.......

Pucón, Chile

We arrived in Pucón after an 11 hour bus trip. It actually turned out to be not that bad, we left Santiago around 1120pm and arrived around 10am. It´s the cutest town ever, everything is wood and it´s surrounded by lakes, mountains and volcanos! Reminds me of Tahoe. TODO the activities are outdoor. Rafting, biking, you name it....

We did the zip line or canopy on our first day. It was so much fun. We did a total of 11 lines across the river, through the trees, it was beautiful. And such a good adrenaline rush! Waiting to go I think was a little bit scarrier because we stood on these wood, man made platforms, that swayed in the wind. Still, it was great fun! Below is Billy heading down and Vale and I ready to go!

We´re staying in Hostel Willy, a very cute little hostel. Valentina and I got hooked up with our own room and private bath, I think because Daniele loves us perché siamo le ragazze italiane e possiamo parlare con lui! Dunque, last night we grabbed a quick bite and then we went and hung out in our common room. It was great fun! I taught people Spoons, the card game, and we played that most of the night. It was so funny; they all loved it!!!!!

Pucón is awesome.

Some Updates....

Ninfa, our hostel owner, invited us for a private breakfast at her house about a block up from where the hostel was. We were expecting a mansion because she seemed like the Queen of Viña. We were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted by a gorgeous mural on the steps leading up to an outdoor patio. Her house seemed like the closest thing to a mansion we'd be staying in on this trip...turns out it was her B&B. We got the hostel when a block up the road, people were staying in luxory.

Ninfa was an amazing woman, born in Concepcion, went to high school and studied in Pennsylvania for a year and then graduated from college. She lost her son in a car accident three years ago and then was diagnosed with cancer. She bought the building that was our hostel after her diagnosis to have a place to leave to her children. After chemo, she went to the doctor and he said ´¨you are amazing and perfect¨so she had this house and wasn't dying....so she decided to turn it into a hostel. Ever since she's been taking in travellers. She was an amazing woman full of stories and spoke English perfectly.

We met two German travellers at the B&B and forgot to ask their names, but they offered us a ride to the train station! Of course we hoped right in and headed back to Santiago on the bus. Another bus ride = another nap. Something interesting about the bus rides is that the drivers have what appear to be assistants. They collect the tickets, sit next to the driver, load the bags, and apparently close the blinds if you pass out on your ride. Greg, maybe you could come get that job?

Arriving in Santiago on Sunday, especially Oct 26, which is election day. Todo and I mean todo is closed... Not even like in Italia on a Sunday, everything. We sat in a park for awhile and witnessed a little boy ¨taking care of business¨ on the wall of the play station. That was interesting...he then did it again later, closer to the bench we were sitting on and his dad said ¨no¨when we looked at him with glares of disgust, but still neglected to stop him. Interesting.

Dinner was a total of 2.250 pesos, or about $2 each for some chicken and what we thought were little potatoe balls, but about 95% of them were empty. Still, a yummy dinner.

I got sick and was in our hotel all day Monday. Didn´t leave once. Valentina left to meet Santi, one of her friend´s from home, Sasha´s, cousin. He gave her some pointers and ended up explaining the make-out obsession here. Apparently about three years ago, some girl was caught on a camera phone doing something inapporpriate and it was posted all over YouTube. YouTube is huge here, so it turned into a sort a sexual liberation and so all the teens are into PDA.

We met up with our group. Our leader is an Italian from Roma named Daniele. I think it´s really hard for him because no one else speaks Italian or even Spanish and his English is not so great. So when we arrived, he instantly became our best friend. He chats it up with us any moment he can. He´s been travelling for awhile and will be our leader until Buenos Aires, where he will go back to La Paz and start the tour again!

Most of our group, apart from the two of us, a Scottish girl (DAVIDE, she´s from Glasgow! and amazing) and another American (the only other one), Billy. Everyone else has been travelling for a really long time, including Peru, Inca Trail, Bolivia. Most are English and there´s one Australian and a guy from Brazil. I think I might be the youngest! They are all so interesting and so up for anything. Can´t wait to learn more......

Valparaiso

P.S. to my previous post. After our yummy dinner at Como Agua Para Chocolate we had our first injury. I was walking down the stairs around 1am and Vale was on the computer. I was wearing my sandals (aka no grip) and the stairs were authentic wood, probably straight off the trees. Well, I was heading to the bathroom and slipped right on my elbow and culo. The entire hostel got quiet and I was down for the count...NOT okay. I think my elbow might be broken in ten different places, BUT the show must go on....

If we have learned two things from being here for all of three days it would be:
1. Teens love to make-out on the streets, benches, in the sand, on the grass, on the bus, anywhere they possibly can
and
2. Stray dogs LOVE me. And probs Vale too. Last night after a few Escudos we headed back to our hostel only to be followed by a huge scary brown stray dog. There are probably stray dogs every ten feet here, but usually they're passed out, looking dead. This one followed us the ENTIRE walk home and I tried to run and it just got excited and followed. Then, this morning, on our way down to the boardwalk, a black one followed...the WHOLE time. Even when petted by some crazy man and his child, he came after us. We even walked on the rocks on the water and he tried to get up there! We had to fake him out to ditch him....I don't think he realized that I hate most dogs, let alone some strange homeless ones with sketchy white spots on them.

We went to Valapariso today and spent the day walking and looking at the colorful houses. The highlight was definitely going to the market and buying a ton of fresh avocados and tomatoes for a tastey dinner of pasta al pomodoro and guacamole with fresh bread. I could eat the avocados here everyday, all day. I have never seen them so perfectly green and fresh....heavenly.

Tomorrow we're heading back to Santiago and maybe heading to Isla Negra first to check out Pablo Neruda's house that looks like a ship...first, breakfast with our hostel owner at her house! I'm sure yummy things are to come...

Hasta luego.

The Arrival!

We have been in Chile for only three days and it feels like we've been here forever!





We arrived in Santiago Thursday morning around 9am. Our flight was very nice and we got to sit next each other. We pretty much passed out after attempting to watch some horrible movie. We landed in Santiago with open eyes and an eagerness to explore! We were staying in Hotel Luz Azul off the Los Heroes metro stop. Easy to get to and really great staff! We checked in and left right away to start exploring. With little idea where to go, we looked at two lists I had from friends (Aubrey and Melissa) and chose one to start with - Cerro San Lucia. We hike up to the top for a great view of the city (although it's no SF or Firenze skyline). We wandered around the entire city that day, eager to make the most of our first day. We made it to Plaza de Armas, La Vega Central (a giant and amazing fruit market), Mercado Central (a huge fish market where we had lunch and our first taste of Pisco Sour - the national Chilean ¨booze¨ as Melissa explained), and ended at Cerro San Cristobal. Aubrey wrote that we should climb Cerro San Cristobal and that it's a ¨bit of hike, but it's worth it¨. What she forgot to mention was that it was the longest hill of my life. Granted, we're pretty sure we entered the wrong way, we seem to have gone the way the cars are meant to enter, so the street was LONG with little to NO incline. It felt like the road to no where and I wanted to turn around around sweating my face off and thinking that the damn road was just going to wind up to nothing! But, we trekked on and finally made it half way (after what felt like 5 hours in the hot sun) to a lift that took us the rest of the way to the top (thank God because even that ride was like 15 mins). It was a great view of the city however and definitely worked my buns into shape! We took the lift back to the bottom and wandered back to the subway to get back to our hostel. On our way we picked up a nice bottle of vino and enjoyed that for a bit before heading to dinner.



Aubrey also suggested going to a restaurant in the Barrio Bellavista called 'Como Agua Para Chocolate', adding that we would not regret it in all caps, so I figured we HAD to go. Aubrey forgot to mention that it would be the best meal of our entire lives and we would leave feeling like we were carrying ten babies because it would be so amazing that we would not want to stop. Well, it was amazing. We each had a Caipiroska and just the bread and this spread was AWESOME. Then we had like a cheese fondue with baby shrimp in it and chips. Finally, we stuffed our faces with fajitas that came with beef, chicken, and shrimp with rice, beans, best guac EVER, and tortillas. We each tried to shove as much as we could in, but left feeling like we should've shoved more in! It was awesome, and thanks Aubrey for the best meal of our lives!



The next morning we headed to the bus station to go to Viña del Mar. We were excited and hoped to head to the beach immediately. We rocked out to ¨Vamos alla Playa¨ on Vale's ipod to prepare ourselves. The bus ride was about two hours and we passed our for a majority of it. When we woke up, we were welcomed by the FOG and coldness of Viña del Mar. We thought maybe we went back to San Francisco. Bummer. No beach today, just overcast and cold. We arrived in our hostel - Hostel Reloj de los Flores - put our stuff down and went out to explore right away. We walked all along the boardwalk and headed up to the main street to catch the bus to Con Con. The buses here are quite amazing - they work like a taxi in the states, meaning you can wave it down wherever the hell you want on the street! There are 'paradas' or stops, but they mean little to absolutely nothing. The driver flashes its lights at you and you either confirm that you want on or you ignore. O, another thing, the drivers are about 40000 times worse than in Italia, meaning that they don't stop or slow down for ANYTHING, not even an elderly woman carrying her grandchild. Trust me, we are not playing around on the streets!

So, we headed to Con Con after a recommendation from a woman at our hostel. Let's just say that Vale and I were expecting people and were quite surprised to find about two people in restaurants and the rest of the 'town' was left to the pelicans. And even the pelicans were boring and did nothing. O well, Con Con actually turned out to be one of our favorite spots thanks to one thing - EMPANADAS. We had a fresh empanada con mariscos y camarones. Heavenly. I was on the hunt for them after Melissa described them as 'sweet juicy seafood heaven' and Im pretty sure there is no other explanation. We hunted for some de jaiba (crab) but didn't find some until dinner that night.

We headed back to Viña to hit up the casino, expecting a great time there. Little did we know, that you have to pay 3.500 pesos just to ENTER. Rip off, so we stood at the balcony in awe of what must've been millionares playing. They have crazy chips here and the dealer for one game controls a giant paddle. It was amazing and we were very intreged. Also, instead of alchohol at the tables, they all drink coffee and maybe a coke or two...crazy people!

We went to a bar/restaurant in the Hotel Viña del Mar (where the casino is) and some drinks and a plate of mixed empanadas. We sat at the bar and chatted it up with the pizza maker and a bartender, both named Sebastian. They suggested a bar to check out later, but I didn't have my ID, so we went to a local bar and had some Escudo and tried to fit in best we could. We were missing low riding jeans and a mullet. O well, next time.

Benvenuti!

Hi Everyone,

I've decided to keep a blog instead of constantly sending emails so you can check in whenever you can and keep up with my travels!

Comment away and I hope you enjoy the ride...

xoxo,
Francesca