Pucon

We’d heard good things about Pucon for over a year (yes, we’ve already been in South America 15 months now!). It’s a touristy town at the base of a glacier covered volcano. The large number of gringos and the volcano continually blowing smoke may turn off some visitors, but we found it a nice place to hang for while.

Tourist come to visit for all sorts of outdoor activities that are offered throughout town. You can climb the volcano with ice picks, you can white water raft, you can zip line. But a fair amount of international tourist have decided to settle down here, too. Including a California couple who once drove this route in a pickup truck. They returned, opened a restaurant and are raising a family.

The town had what we needed. After all the bus troubles, we needed a few days to just do some easy living. The campsite was right next to the lake in town. We opted out of the expensive activities and enjoyed some free local activities like a free children’s theater performance of Little Red Riding Hood, and hanging out all day at another nearby lake. High marks for the local playground, the nearby hot springs and the sushi, too.