Pucón – Why Would I Shit in the Shower?…I Have Manners

Firstly, there are two things I should point out about the above title. A: It wasn’t me who produced that brilliant one liner, and B: It wasn’t me who shat in the shower – I have an alibi.

There is one main reason to travel to Pucón – to hike the peak of Volcán Villarrica – an active volcano making up part of the world famous Ring of Fire. Good old ‘Wiki’ tells me that Volcán Villarrica has had more than 82 eruptions since 1558, that’s one every 5.5 years. And given I owe my engineering degree to ‘Wiki’ (and possibly Liam), I am inclined to believe this stat.

On our arrival, the majority of the hostel had just come back from scaling the volcano and although tired and weary, were all pretty happy with themselves. This led to a rather eventful night, with near on everyone from the hostel ending up at the local nightclub, Mamas y Tapas. Most of the revellers came home in dribs and drabs, and that’s when things got interesting.

According to what is now Chili Kiwi Hostel folklore, one of the staff noticed that someone had overnight mistaken the shower for the toilet and had proceeded to make quite the mess. James, the hostel owner, then had to pay the cleaner extra ‘danger/hazardous’ pay to make the shower usable – although I do know someone who continued to refuse to use the shower in question.

James then proceeded to ask most of the hostel guests if they had an explanation for this pleasant surprise. Apparently I was at the top of the suspect list – no idea why? After asking one of the more enthusiastic revellers, a Belgian lad who enjoyed a froth or two, who was still half asleep, and definitely still drunk, he got the best response one could have given to such as question.

“Why would I shit in the shower, I have manners!”

I rolled out of bed that day at about 2.30pm, and one of the WA girls that worked at the hostel asked me if my girlfriend had told me what I did last night. This was a question coming from a girl who we had helped back to the hostel at around 3am because she was falling over in the pub. Myself, a Sydney lad and the Belgian then thought it would be a top idea to head back to the pub. And although it didn’t work out too well for me in the short run, it did save me in the long run.

I somehow managed to be the last one of the 3 standing at the pub, but also got myself lost on the walk home. Pucón is a place with one main street, and the hostel was located at one end of this street and the pub was about 5 blocks up, so one does wonder how I got lost. Anyway, I ended up walking out of the pub at around 6am (to be honest I am a little hazy on the finer details) and walked around until 9am (there may or may not have been a quick kip with a homeless bum for warmth but this has yet to be verified) when I final stumbled across the hostel and was let in by one of the volcano guides returning from a morning trip – he later confirmed this time for me. And given the night’s most talked about activity was first spotted at 5am, that gives me an airtight alibi!

So fair to say, although it was quite a baptism of fire at Chili Kiwi, the way everything was handled was all in good spirits, and all was well in the end, with everyone (bar the cleaner) having a fair few laughs at the night’s festivities.

If only the chair lift was operating!

After a few days of shitty weather (pun intended) we finally got a day that shaped as being promising for the volcano summit. You start the day nice and early (6.30am), getting kitted out with all your climbing gear, including crampons and an ice pick for the final ascent. We probably started the climb at a bit before 8.00am and didn’t reach the summit until 1.00pm. That’s a gruelling 5 hours of walking uphill, and not a gentle slope either.

All smiles at the beginning of the hike

However, along the way you are rewarded with breathtaking views of Lago Villarrica and the surrounding mountains and countryside. After about 2 hours you start the serious climbing – out come the crampons and the ice pick. It was about this time that Nic started suffering. It was our first serious hike since Torres del Paine, and all our old aches and pains came flooding back. Each step up for Nic felt like someone was stabbing her with scissors (yes, not a knife that would be too normal) in the right hip flexor, but like the well-mannered mule she was in Torres, the mule stubbornness kicked in and she soldiered on.

Things starting to get serious 

On our particular hike we actually ascended through the clouds, rising above them to get our first real glimpse of the volcano peak. That sight spurs you on for the last hour of the hike, as before we got through the cloud, we really didn’t know if we would be able to reach the peak, or see anything from it even if we did.

Getting above the clouds 

Reaching the summit was worth it, even if it was 5 hours of pain, with often no end in sight. Arriving at the top you are greeted with winds bringing the temperature well below zero, and volcanic gases that cause you to struggle for breath and cough a bit – well worth those 5 hours hey?

But in all seriousness, the views towards Volcán Quetrupillán and Volcán Lanín are some of the best we have seen to date. A panoramic view from the top also gives you a clear picture of the entire Villarrica National Park, along with Lago Villarrica and Lago Calafquén – something you can only get after 5 hours of pain, or a scenic flight if you’ve got the cash to burn.

Taking in the sights of Volcán Quetrupillán and Volcán Lanín

And being able to look down the open crater of an active volcano, complete with volcanic gases rising from its depths is something I doubt I will get the chance to do again. There are stories of the Chilean dictator Pinochet dropping/hiding the bodies of his opponents in the crater during his 17 year reign, to which our guides responded, ‘Why not? Good place to hide a body, no?’

Looking down the crater of Volcán Villarrica 

After a few group shots and some time to take in our achievements we then started the decline. With the right conditions (less ice) you can slide down the majority of the volcano (5 hours up turns into 30 minutes down) with the use of a sort of plastic seat and someone else’s pants – sort of like your rock board when snowboarding. Unfortunately we were forced to descend for about an hour and half, before the plastic seats came out and you knock off the last hour or so in under 10 minutes – much kinder on the legs, not so kind on the pants – hence the use of some other clown’s (in this case part of the hire equipment essential for the hike).

The Summiteers 

Monkey Puzzle Trees

All capped off with a couple of cold froths back at the hostel made for one hell of a day that I won’t be forgetting in a while.

We spent the next few days recovering indoors as the weather wasn’t inviting outside. After a few days we finally got another day that promised sunshine and another hike. This time we planned to hike Santuario El Cañi, a nature reserve about half an hour out of Pucón. What we hadn’t planned for was the hike in, about 4 hours, is all uphill.

The walk is one of the nicer day hikes we have done. You wind you way up through semi jungle type flora to the many lagoons, where the vegetation changes and you are surrounded by the iconic monkey puzzle trees. At this height the ground was covered in fresh snow, and you feel like you are in a completely different environment from an hour ago.

We then made a mad dash up the snow covered track to the mirador complete with a few slips and falls along the way. The mirador gives you a beautiful view back over the lagoons and across to the surrounding mountain ranges – not quite as grand as the view from the top of Volcán Villarrica, but breathtaking all the same.

Santuario El Cañi

Santuario El Cañi

After taking in the scenery for about half an hour we started the scramble back down the mountain and turned 4 hours up into 2 hours down with only a few falls along the way, before getting back to the hostel and the warm fire to dry off and tip a few cold froths back.

One would say we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Pucón, and more so the Chili Kiwi, a place filled with laughs, shenanigans, adventures, activities and yeah you guessed it, cold froths.

Wilfred chilling with Kiw Steve and the night watchman