Bubbling Inferno

Volcano Villarica, Pucón

12/5 Up at 6am, out at 7, and over the clouds by 8 ready to start a 5 hour climb to the top of Volcano Villarica. It's a beautiful start, the sun rising over the horizon, a blanket of cloud punctured only by the odd volcano or mountain. We head at a slow but steady pace that becomes hypnotic.. crunch crunch crunch crunch ... stopping every 40 mins or so for a short break.

For the last 2 hours we put on crampons (spikey soles for walking on ice). It's a steep climb, and in autumn now the snow is mostly iced up and very slippery. I'm not that keen on heights so try to keep focus on each step, rather than where i may end up if i slip. Good practice for life generally, I remind myself. But i was curious and afterwards I asked about incidents -- I was told they were rare considering the numbers that climb. A couple of months earlier one chap did do a 400 metre "superman" style fall, eventually stopping in some softer snow.

Finally at the top of the crater its a good job the ground is pretty solid, coz there ain't no soft snow to catch you at the bottom of this angry baby... just a bubbling cauldron of molten lava...!

There were a couple of explosions where we all tried to flee, one of the guys in our group got hit by a small piece of solidified lava, but fortunately the light whirlwind in this crater only caught the tiny pieces which cooled very quickly. I understand why the tour is cancelled on very windy days, its not uncommon for clothing to be singed.

Since the latest earthquake in Chile this volcano has been bubbling away more than usual, but apparently it's "safe" to view since there is no pressure build-up. The ones to worry about show no smoke but then suddenly erupt violently without warning... hmm seems familiar somehow.

Once done dodging lava and filling our lungs with sulphurous gases we settled for some lunch on a quieter edge of the crater. Coming down was a lot easier - half the way we sat on our arses and slid down the volcano using the pick-axe as a break. This was a lot of fun and less scary than i thought. We went down in several runs, some quite soft, others steeper.

Back at base, looking weathered.

More pics..

Pucón, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina (see map)

13/5 - 14/5 I was sad to say goodbye to my travel buddies Gus & Jess, they were heading off south to Puerto Montt to catch a 4-day boat south. I took the car back to Bariloche, stopping on the way to relax at another volcanic spa, "Pozones". I got a little lost, and dodgy roads and turkeys slowed me down, but a farmer hitched a lift with me and pointed the way.

Feeling very relaxed I head back on the road, this time taking a smoother border-crossing than the one we'd come on. Still it was quiet and there was hardly any traffic. The main hassards to watch out for were animals. A couple of suicidal dogs chased me down from 100km to 0 in a few seconds (they actually followed my swerve as I tried to avoid them, and only backed off once i'd completely stopped), and later after dark a deer standing quietly on the side of the road acted as reminder to keep a check on my speed on these otherwise smoothe and clear roads.

Made it to the border before they close at 7pm. In their remote log-cabin office, a small cluster of civil servants were killing time on their PCs playing patience or browsing porn. Paper processing was a smoothe affair, and they were very friendly.

I drove on to Junin de los Andes and stayed the night there as it was getting late, then carried on first thing the next morning. My only regret was not working out the mileage properly as I'd overrun the allowance (yes that's a giant penis-shaped rock you see below), the cost excess exceeded that of keeping the car an extra day, so I could have returned more leisurely if I'd planned it. That said, I was pleased to get the car back in one piece.

One for the girls.

More pics..

Llao llao :-(
15/5 I've never liked dogs until today, always being a cat person. But on a bike ride today this little chap tagged along the whole way, wanting nothing in return, not a biscuit or even water. Just company. We were cycling in Llao Llao national park, so it was natural to call him Llao llao (which sweetly rhymes with how hispanics describe a dog bark). The whole afternoon he stayed with us, through the woods and braving all the viscious guard dogs protecting the private farms, resting with us, and following us back. However returning on the main road we lost him, and we felt bad, but I imagine his home was somewhere near.

Llao llao following his new cycling friends, and shielding from the wind.

Taking a late afternoon siesta.

Sunset back at hostel 1004, but where is Llao llao :-(


Still in Bariloche
16/5 - 22/5 More spanish lessons with my mad teacher and her cat. She also agreed to be my pimp / matchmaker when I was gone, forwarding any pretty brunette students in my direction.

Discovering that the following weekend would be Argentinia's bicentenary celebrations, I decided to return to Buenos Aires. It was a good excuse I thought, but really I just had an itch for city life and to see some familar faces. After all the constant goodbyes of being on the road, it would be nice to say hello again.

So I warmed up with some tango classes at the local Rincon del Tango, and booked a "super-cama" overnight bus. The journey flew by, but was quite intense. Suddenly as we cruised along one of the windows went bang and imploded over an unsuspecting passenger. Good job it was safety glass. Probably some kid had thrown a rock or something, anyway we had to pit-stop to change buses, luckily we'd just passed one of the terminals so not too huge a detour. The film choices were also pretty intense... Braveheart, Gladiator, and Life is Beautiful. I was pretty depressed after that... a romantic at heart I wished I could love a woman that much. Well I had a (fairly pathetic) go in Buenos Aires...