Seeing the Other Side of Pucon

We are currently in Pucon, Chile and are working on buying a truck and attending a difficult and heady Spanish class.  Today was a more interesting day and more tiring as well.  In the morning we moved out of the Pucon Kayak Hostel and in the afternoon we explored the Pucon lakeside.

The reason for our departure from the Kayak Hostel was the arrival of the New Rivers kayak high school.  The New Rivers school travels all around the world staying at top river running destinations with extremely skilled high school kayakers.  They attend school on the road, interspersed with daily world class kayaking.  With the arrival of twelve high school kids, their teachers, and some parents, we were afraid of chaos, and did not want to interrupt their school.  We left early in the morning to Elly’s B&B in the outskirts of Pucon.  Elly works in the language school where we are taking lessons, and helps out around the Kayak Hostel.  She has a twelve year old daughter and a cozy house.  Nora and two of her friends are also staying at the B&B.  I am content with the decision and am excited to be in a new place, closer to town, with different opportunities.

The back yard of the B&B

After another somnolent Spanish lesson, we decided to see the lake and the other side of Pucon.  Pucon has a volcano on it’s western side and Lake Villarrica to the East.  We have mostly been exploring the volcano side, and today were interested to see the rest of the town.  On the lake side of Pucon, there is a popular beach.  As we headed across town, a growing crowd of hundreds of tourists, carrying beach towels, crowded and pushed towards the lake .  At the shore, we pushed through a small area crowded with people, loud booming music and vendors.  After one look at the flashy, loud, and chaotic beach, we decided to head back to Elly’s.  On the way, we stopped for dinner on the lake side.  We did not enjoy the food and the price was crazy!  We had seen the other side of town and hoped not to lay eyes on it again.

Language class

A view form the language school

Today was fun, but still a little tiring.  We moved to a new B&B, and discovered a different side of town, not as relaxing as the one we normally visit.  I’m excited for the rest of our days in South America still to come. 

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!