(Nicola’s solo adventure)
Activity Summary
Wednesday 8th November - Day 400
Bus to Pucon
Thursday 9th November - Day 401
Beautiful day, explore the town and lake walk
Friday 10th November - Day 402
Termas Geometricas Hot Springs
Saturday 11th November - Day 403
Rain day and shopping
Sunday 12th November - Day 404
Travel to Puerto Montt
Summary
Pucon
A breath of fresh air in a town - really lovely German alpine vibes with lots of lovely shops and restaurants. Big fan of this place and would have done more if the rain and travel plans had allowed.
Accommodation
Pucon Selina
Number of nights - 4
Price per night per person - £12
Positives:
Really lovely hostel with garden and pool
Negatives:
Kitchen was very basic
Recommend?
Yes
Diary
Wednesday 8th November - Day 400
Bus to Pucon from Santiago took around 14h, but was very comfortable and arrived in time for sunset. There were wonderful views of Villarica volcano on the drive in and I got my first real Patagonia vibes start. Luke had his first fun day in Mendoza and by the time the bus arrived I was feeling rather relieved that I hadn't joined him after his long journey to Mendoza the day before.
Thursday 9th November - Day 401
The weather was wonderful and so wanting a relaxed day around town, I had a walk along the lakefront, looked in the shops and called Luke. I sunbathed in the garden and got chatting to a few people in the hostel. I was very content and ready for Luke to join me the following evening.
Friday 10th November - Day 402
Waking up at 7.30 I had a text from Luke - “Border closed to Santiago due to weather” - Worried that the border wouldn’t open for a few days due to the snowfall we did some lateral thinking and suggested Luke got the evening and overnight bus to Bariloche, then to Puerto Montt, then to Pucon. This would mean at earliest he would arrive in Pucon on the Sunday morning meaning he’d get one day in Pucon before heading to Puerto Montt again. Realising that Pucon wasn’t going to happen for him we changed our plans. I decided to head to Puerto Montt a day earlier to meet him on the Sunday as I was also missing his company by this point.
After a morning of changing plans I headed on an afternoon tour to Termas Geometricas Hot Springs. It was around £55 for the tour, but in my opinion it was well worth the spend. It was one of the nicest I've been to, with a gorgeous thermal river running through a canyon in the temperate rainforest with about 30 man made pools to relax in.
The only thing about hot springs is that after a while they become a little boring without some company, so I got chatting to another solo French woman. She was vaguely interesting, but not someone I'd keep in contact with. However it was good enough company and relaxing chat which improved the experience overall.
Saturday 11th November - Day 403
The weather was shocking, so I backed out of my original plan to go and visit the national park and waterfalls. Instead I wandered around town trying to buy a warm coat (my current clothes were definitely designed for warmer temperatures). Looking in charity shops, uninteresting coats were £20 for something a bit shit, and in the other outdoor shops new ones were £100+, so I scrapped that. I headed to the Post Office to try to collect a Poste Restant Credit Card we’d sent for the car hire, which hadn’t arrived (it’d actually been sent back to the UK). With wet feet I headed back to the cinema room in the hostel and watched movies for the rest of the day.
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