Volcano -V- Burger : Pucon : Thurs 20th Feb

You get what you pay for sometimes. This is what we woke up to in Valdivia... glorious skies and a car park.

The room itself was pretty comfy though, even if it did look like some sort of TV DIY project in progress.

The first of what might be several Chinese restaurants we eat in in Chile during the next month.

A lovely bus terminal.

All a load of guff. It's only a wee three hour journey across country to Pucón today. The plan is (was) to get there, walk up a volcano with all the other tourists, then come back down, book some more accommodation in Chile and then leave. Sarah, however, has slightly different outlook, involving not walking up anything that might aggravate her small toe (nor vertigo). Not entirely unreasonable. Also, her weekend plans revolve around catching England v Ireland on Saturday. She is funny. When life is all about football, she becomes enraged. When the same applies to rugby... quite different (so long as Rob 'Carnage / Carne' Kearney is playing. Quite studley, apparently).

Anyway, here's what the road from Valdivia to Pucón looks like.

So far so familiar. But what's that enormous, snow-capped peak ahead of us? Is it A VOLCANO?

You're bloody right it is. Villarrica Volcán looms large over the lake, and over the town of Villarrica, the eastern point of Lago Villarrica (obviously enough). Lots of people get out here. It looks ok. We're carrying on another few miles though.

Pucón appears all of a sudden, another tiny little town whose sole existence is to cater to tourists who want to walk up (and slide down) an active volcano for $45000 or so, who then want a decent burger and beer, then maybe do some sort of water sports the next day (not the deviant type of water sports, of course). The immediate impression is of its Argentine equivalent, Bariloche, but the difference in feeling is also clear. Where Bariloche is a town packed to the gills with tourists, all buying expensive chocolate and then going somewhere else (to ski or something), Pucon is much more sparse, lots of room on the pavement and simply a nicer feel. Less horrid kids around too, clogging up the space and making too much noise.

This is the view of the volcano from just outside the bus station. High, mighty, and probably flipping cold once that cloud rolls in. I feel a bit silly thinking that volcano would be smaller. It utterly dominates the surrounding area.

Hostel Chili Kiwi is easy to find, walk all the way to the waterfront and go right. Its a big house overlooking the lake, a bargain, nice staff, rather a lot of people around when we first get there but then thats always the way. Amanda manages to run through what the town offers, and we murmur mmms and yeahs throughout, but really the only thing on our minds is food. "We recommend you go to Latitude 39. It's cheap for what you get, the beers are 2 for 1 til 7pm, and they do a burger with peanut butter on it". Really? Sold.

This is the monstrosity that I ordered. It doesn't normally come with peanut butter, rather salsa golf, but to hell with that. Our waiter is a legend and conjures up a piece of meaty magic (a bargain $5200). He does give us two bottles of ketchup though. He must know about my dislike of mayo (which is everywhere down here. They love it! A bit like Europeans I guess. Imagine going to a country where there isn't any mayonnaise, like Thailand. How awesome would that be! Actually, its possible that there wasn't any mayo in Brazil. Sometimes you don't notice the absence of foods because the replacement is so good. In Brazil's case it was salsa picante, served with everything. Sarah got a Thai Salad and that came with a magical chill / lemon / peanut sauce on the side. Seriously, what is the point of mayonnaise?)

The reflection in the window of the restaurant.

We had a beer. We had some more beers. Hell, they were BOGOF, so why not? After a while we moved inside to warm up a little. Pucón is gloriously warm in the sunshine, but when the sun drops and the night moves in it gets a bit nippy. Inside we found some Guinness related pruck, like this stool...

...and this fridge, full of Guinness Extra Stout and other, local, beers.

Ok, so truth be told we liked Latitude 39 against our strongest desires, just because it was so good at everything. The owner is a chap from San Diego who visited Pucón a few years back, then he and his missus packed in their jobs back in California and moved down here to open a restaurant. Got to admire anyone who does that.

The sun gone, nothing to do but wander back to the hostel via the black sand beach. Doesn't really look too exciting at night, black sand. We resolve to come back tomorrow. Sarah has forsworn that she will not be climbing any volcanos. I consider my options. Sarah tries to barter with a man running an artisan market stall over a wooly hat. He doesn't appreciate her drunken banter. We leave, hat-less.