Action packed adventure.

Wed 5th-Sat 8th Jan

Tuesday night we caught, you guessed it, another overnight bus! This time it was a comfortable ten hours only to the picturesque town of Puno. We must have appeased the bus God some how. The toilet worked, we weren’t next to the toilet door, we were given blankets and pillows and the seats went back quite far. Hugging those Christians must have payed off……we thought. The realities of bus travel again came back to kick us in the rear when around 7.30am, after the bus stopped at some small town to let people off, it decided that it didn’t want to start again. The bus had broken down!! After trying to sacrifice a small yet hugely annoying child in order to get our motor running, we excepted our fate. We had to wait in the stuffy fart-ridden bus for three hours while bus driver/mechanic tried to bring the bus back to life. Not a child tantrum too soon, finally the bus company brought in another bus to replace the smelly broken one so we could be on our way. Problem solved? Not really. The bus they brought in was smaller then the original one, so, Pete and I and another couple had to stand in the aisles as there were not enough seats! About half an hour into it, some lovely people all decided to squish together in their seats so we could sit down. After so much bus travel and so many uncomfortable incidences, were hoping that we have our fair share of bus scares to remedy the next potential bout of travel hiccups.

When we did finally make it to Pucon we were four hours over schedule, but still five hours under slept. We did our usual routine and found ourselves a bed and went out to scavenge for a bite. We were starving since we had planned to be in Pucon for breakfast. We then went into one of many travel agencies that organise tours for the many adventurous trips they have on offer in and around Pucon. This is the place to be if you want adrenaline pumping adventure, just don’t forget your wallet. Absolutely free on the other hand and perhaps Pucon’s best attraction is its green fields, flora, lakes and snow capped volcano. The volcano is spectacular. We were fortunate enough to have its beauty staring at us even when we showered. A perfect view of Volcan Villarrica as we looked out of the our bathroom window!

Thursday.

In the afternoon we were booked to do Hydro-Speed. For you people in the dark, its a newly evolved German water-sport which sees its victim hanging on to dear life and a small dolphin-nose shaped piece of foam as they plummet down grade three white-washed rapids! Sounds like fun-we thought so too. On our way to the tour company we anxiously walked around Pucon, had a look at the beach and dipped our toes in the lake. We made it to the tour company and were whisked off in a van to head to a river a bit out of town. There we changed into wetsuits and slipped into our flippers, helmets and piece of foam, which didn’t exactly inspire much confidence. Then flop, we were in the water to get instructions on how to navigate the rapids and how to consume oxygen in the likely event of capsizing. The water was freezing! After practising the moves and getting used to kicking with the flippers, we were off, or should I say the current took us.

There were ten of us in the Hydro-Speed posse in total, of all nationalities. Three brave women and seven giddy men being watched by four guides- three in the water and one in a life raft. Having someone watching us from all angles was reassuring, as was the option to abandon the rapids to retreat to the raft when you felt distressed. In fact the instructors insisted on the policy that if they thought you would drown or that you looked like you weren’t having fun they would pull you out of the water breathing or not.

To begin with the current carried us down stream in its steady, gentle flow. The scenery was gorgeous and it was so peaceful…. then we hit the first rapid. The idea to conquer the rapids was easy, we all had to try and stay in line with the first guide as the currents were trying to pull us in different directions and try to aim for the highest waves which are normally caused by two currents coming together. We had to go head first in to the waves and come out the other side. Easier instructed then done. Trying to see anything with water in your eyes and stealing a breathe before the next wave crashes on your head is tricky. Especially when you’re meant to be making sure your were on the right side of the river and not going to plough head first into a half submerged boulder. We thought ‘what have we signed up for?‘ The river had shallow sections of water which meant your legs would cop a battering. Pete often complained that he had hit a rock or three. After being battered by the first couple of rapids the other two girls and one of guys were out. They were only halfway through the course! As our guides were prepping us for the last rapid, I thought that I wanted out too. The last rapid was a class three, that’s mild in Merrill Streep- River Wild terms, but bigger than any of the ones we had already done. I told one of the instructors that I wanted out, he said, ‘No you’ll be fine!’ He held onto my foam dolphin and rode through the first wave with me. That’s when shit went wrong. I must have breathed in a litre water and spent the next minute choking it back up, while trying to breath in between other waves offering me a drink. Just say I panicked a bit. I finally calmed down towards the end of the rapid, when I caught my breath, then we had a gingerly ride down river to meet up with the tour bus. When we hopped out our toes were so numb we couldn’t feel them, but once out of the water we warmed up pretty quick. We were in a bit of shock but we couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces. It was an experience we will never forget, but after a deep review perhaps not one we are willing to repeat. If you want see the video of my near death experience or pictures of Pete looking more of a dick then usual then check us out on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=614946412#!/pages/pucontours/174387067363
Photo section on the left hand side, click on ‘see all’ and find 06 de enero de 2011 for our photos. You’ll see Pete’s face, can’t miss it. Underneath the photo section is where you can find the video, look for 6 enero,noon [HQ] in the ‘see all’ section. It doesn’t last very long, the music is pretty loud though so be warned and wait till the end as you’ll see me not looking very impressed being lead through the last rapid.

Friday.

We awoke early to get ready for our next adventure, a 2847 metre walk to the top of the volcano. Our bodies were a little sore form the day before. Pete’s thigh got a bit of a battering and it was sore when he walked, not good when your about to climb for five hours! We arrived at our meeting point and hopped in a van with six others and was driven to the base camp. From there we got a ski lift which would eliminate 40 mins walk, which our legs didn’t disagree with, then started a slow zigzag walk up the side in the snowy mountain. We stopped a few times for water and a nibble on a chocolate bar or two.

The higher we got the more thick and sludgey the snow was. We had ice picks to help us with balance, but it was still really slow going, though quite funny too. Pete thought he was Sir Edmund Hillary for a minute or two.
Once we reached the top we couldn’t really see into the volcano as it was thick with toxic fumes and eye-watering smoke and it hit our throats pretty hard too. The view at the top looking down was needless to say but I’ll say it anyway, remarkable. (See Pic).

The way down was why we endured the climb to the top. Tobogganing!! We had to put on a layer of protective clothing from head-to-foot, then headed to a section of snow where other tourists had crafted arse-made snow chutes. There we hopped on our little seats and slid our way down. I can’t tell you how much fun this was. When we slid down we really picked up some speed. The only problem was that the people in front of us didn’t dare to go fast and a couple of times there would be pile ups. Pete was getting the shits due to one German bird who always ended up in front of him and who would go real slow. The last slope was a long one and at the end both Pete and I spun out, which was a bit freaky. We were wet through and through, cold, but extremely happy. It was a definite delight highlight.

That evening we had booked to go to another one of Pucon’s attractions: the thermal pools. Our bodies were in need of some good R n’ R. We arrived just as night was falling, which was around quarter past nine. The setting was beautiful. We were dropped off at the top of a hill and had to walk down to the bottom where there were several open rock-pools with trees surrounding them and a flowing stream to the side. We walked down the stairs and found ourselves at the first pool which we thought we would try. It was so hot. It was like trying to hop into a really, really hot bath. Pete loved it and was moving around in it. I had to hop out after a little while, I couldn’t cope!

We tried another one that wasn’t as hot, then sat by the creek with a beer. Some english people came by and had a dip in the cold creek before heading back to the hot pools. I had to give it a go. It was freezing, I ran in, sat down, then ran out to hop back into one of the hot pools. It was lovely to lay back and look at the stars while soaking my sore body in hot water, listening to the stream running over the rocks. Bliss!

Saturday we were up early, much to our bodies disagreement, again to catch a six hour bus to Puerta Montt, our gateway stop over to Isla Grande de Chiloe, that is if the bus gets us there. Will write you then!!! xxx

Action packed adventure.

Pucon, Chile