Bariloche

After Pucón, I headed east across the Chile/Argentina border again and into pretty little Bariloche. Another stunning town set in the middle of mountains and lakes.

All you hostel haters...

Those of you who were so worried about me staying in hostels, check this out! This is the backyard of my hostel in Pucón. Very nice! BBQ, pool, etc.

The hostel dogs -

View of the volcano from the backyard of the hostel.

Bike ride to a waterfall

A few of us from the hostel rented bikes and went on a big 40km loop to see these waterfalls. I nearly passed out from exhaustion, while everyone else seemed to be just fine. I just didn't get it.

Flowers: real or fake?

These (above) are wooden flowers which they sell all over Pucón.

This is a real flower growing on the side of the street. They had these everywhere in big bushes!! Soooo pretty.

Pucón

Randomly (on a recommendation from a dreadlocked German that I met), I decided to go south from Santiago and visit a small town called Pucón. It's famous for the active volcano there, Volcán Villarrica. This town amazed me - you look one way and see the snow capped volcano, another direction and see the Andes, and the black sand beach tops it all off. Wow! The last pic is a view from the actual volcano when I attempted to hike up it. Unfortunately, the weather conditions weren't good so we had to turn back before getting to the top. It sucked cause if you make it all the way up you can actually look into the crater! Next time, I guess.

Birds at the Los Dominicos market

I was fascinated with all the birds at the artisen market I visited. There were TONS of different kinds in huge cages. All I could think about was how I wished Chad were there to see them all!!

Soccer game

We went to a soccer game in Santiago. It wasn't any major teams, but the Spanish obsession with the sport was definitely still present! It was fun. I spent most of my time watching the crowds go crazy. I think they were singing/chanting for 3 hours straight.