Chile - 1 Week Roadtrip Santiago to Pucon
We flew in on a hot Thursday afternoon. Thank goodness my friend Sammy was able to meet us at the airport. With our lack of Spanish we would have gotten lost on our way to her apartment for sure!
Arthur and I have realized that we have plenty of Spanish vocab, but formulating sentences and understanding what people are saying is another story!
Phrases and words we have down:
¡Lo siento, mi Español es muy malo! - I’m sorry, my Spanish is very bad!
Bano? - Bathroom?
Con queso, por favor - With cheese, please
Vino tinto - red wine
Gracias - Thank you. Perdon/disculpe - pardon/excuse me. *These were proven to be the most important. If we were going to be those tourists who went to a country and didn’t speak the language, at least we could be polite!
We had a fabulous first night at Sammy’s, then woke up the next day to pick up a rental car and head about 9 hours South to an awesome mountain town called Pucon. We picked Pucon, not only because it is breathtakingly beautiful, but also there was an Ironman race in which Sammy had a number of friends participating. Since it was so far from Santiago we decided to make a week long trip out of it, visiting Pucon, Huilo Huilo, Temuco, and Santa Cruz.
Pucon
First, let me just say that Arthur and I LOVED Pucon. It’s a picture-perfect lakeside mountain town, with breathtaking views everywhere you go. Most spectacular is the snow-capped active volcano (below), which can be seen from nearly every street corner throughout downtown. Tourism is the lifeblood of Pucon. We were pleasantly surprised at the multitude of restaurants, artisan shops and adventure tours available. We could have spent weeks bouncing between unique restaurants and wilderness activities, without ever doing (or eating) the same thing twice!
Our first full day Arthur and I went rock climbing with Summit Chile. Our guide, Leo, was an amazing guide and we had a blast climbing with him. If we had more time in Pucon we would have definitely booked more tours with this company. They were very professional and spoke English! This is very important when you don’t speak the native language and you’re participating in adventure sports!
Of course we jumped on the local food as quickly as possible! We had our first Michelada at El Camino. It was honestly WAY TOO SOUR for us but it was fun passing it around to see who would make the best face after taking a sip. We tried others on our trip that weren’t as sour and ended up really loving them. For a complete list of local food/drink you should try in Chile, click HERE.
We stopped at La Birra for an awesome lunch and a couple beers. They have the BEST fries/chips (I’m not sure which they classify as) I have ever had! I, of course had a Completo, which is their version of the ultimate hotdog. You can get Completos with all kinds of toppings, but I went for sauerkraut and bacon. Arthur had the Verde Burger with greens, blue cheese, tomato, mozzarella, and a fried egg on top. Just look at that beautiful egg. Mmmmm. They didn’t have a ton of beers on tap, but they had a nice mix of light beers and IPAs.
We had a delicious meal of fried fish, ceviche, and some kind of mussels with cheese on top at Restaurante Sabores de Chile. With the awesome selection of Chilean food and outdoor seating, we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon here.
We can’t NOT get dessert! So of course we had to stop at Cookeez Pucon to make our own ice cream sandwich. Fresh cookies with any ice cream of your choice in the middle? Yes please!
*Tip: The Mango ice cream was BOMB!
On our last day in the Pucon area, we headed into the mountains to spend the day relaxing at Termas Geometricas. Tucked into a valley high within Villarrica National Park, Termas Geometricas is a network of about 20 geometrically shaped ponds which are naturally heated by thermal water springing from around the volcano. The experience is difficult to put into words. You are immersed in a foggy, damp and otherwise ice-cold mountain stream environment, and yet you are able to take it all in from the comfort of a steaming hot bath of your choice (the baths ranged in temperature from chilly to over 107° F!). Our friend Sammy picked this out upon recommendation from one of her friends. It was a wonderful way to soothe our sore muscles and calloused hands from rock climbing.
Funny Moment: We arrived back at our accommodation later than usual one night and found ourselves locked out of the gate! The gate our hosts told us would always be unlocked! We tried calling our Airbnb host, yelling and shaking the gate viciously, but no one came to our rescue. Fortunately, we’re a crafty group, and found a shopping cart which we used to jump over the tall, spiked gate. We may have laughed so hard we peed a little…
Huilo huilo
Ohhh Huilo Huilo….for a girl that loves waterfalls, I was in waterfall heaven! Just south of Pucon, Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve has a little something for everyone. From hiking and wildlife to a brewery and unique accommodation. We throughly enjoyed our time here. We also saw a sign for a deer disco, but we didn’t venture into that one… We stayed in the Salto del Puma Hostel for 2 nights. Other accommodation options include a hotel and lodge, but they were just outside our price range. We got lucky and had a 10 person bedroom all to ourselves. Highlights included Salta del Puma (waterfall), Cavernas Volcanica (waterfall), Salto del Huilo Huilo (waterfall), Salto del Leona (also a waterfall), Montana Magica Lodge (accommodation that looks like a giant bush, just getting to look at it was cool!), Wild Boar and South Andean Deer Circuit (check out the antlers on those deer!!!), and Petermann Brewing. *Click on image to enlarge.
We took a lunch break just down the road form Huilo Huilo at Lago Pirehueico with a friendly stray dog and bought bread right out of a woman’s house. I’m not kidding…Sammy walked up to this woman’s front door and asked for bread and she sold us some! The things your can do in South America!
Temuco
Time to start heading North, we stopped in Temuco for the night. Of course we grabbed a few beers at Lagerhouse and tried our first sopaipillas with prietas (blood sausage & onions), avocado, sour cream, and some kind of spicy mayo sauce.
We stayed in Temuco because we wanted to get a feel for the Indigenous peoples of Chile, known as the Mapuche. Wanting a more authentic experience than reading about them in a museum, we found a woman who has a Ruka (a traditional Mapuche thatch hut) and allows visitors to share a meal with her and her family and just kind of hang out. She was located in a nearby town, Lumaco, but of course google maps took us off roading and out of the way. We have no idea how we ended up on one way tiny mountain roads instead of the very well established and maintained highway, but our tiny, not 4 wheel drive, rental car DID NOT like those roads! Getting there was an adventure all on it’s own. Once we got there (an hour late…), we had a fabulous time learning more about their culture and way of life. Everything we ate was homemade and from their backyard. They did not speak any English, so Sammy had to translate for us. They told us they have nice skin because they only eat things from their garden, and not from the store. I asked if the volcano erupting had any cultural significance. To them, they said no. They did say they know before it erupts through their dreams and by watching the animals. They invited us back and said they would teach us to cook next time, like boiled eggs….We laughed pretty hard at that one. They must think we buy everything and don’t cook at all. It was obvious they had their assumptions about our way of life, just as we went into this experience with our own assumptions. Overall we had a fabulous afternoon and we HIGHLY recommend checking them out. Click HERE to view more information on what they offer and how to get in touch with them. You’ll have to call to set up a time to stop by. If you have any questions about this experience please let us know! *Click on image to enlarge.
laja falls
Continuing our journey North, we stopped at Laja Falls to well, see the falls. It was a very impressive waterfall but CROWDED. There were a lot of great vendors set up along the path to the waterfall. Of course when I saw I could get shells braided in my hair for barely $3 USD, I caved. The hippie in me couldn’t resist! Take my money and make me feel like a mermaid!
santa cruz
Wine country we have arrived! After all that driving we were ready to spoil ourselves with Chilean wine!
First stop, Fuegos de Apalta. Very classy and well put together, the dinning area, almost completely windows, looked out onto the vineyard in several directions, as well as into a kitchen area with a beautiful brick oven. We had a vineyard tour and tasting scheduled elsewhere, so only had time for a few glasses on wine and an appetizer. They also had a gift shop where you could order wine as well, however they didn’t serve any food there. We highly recommend checking them out, just be prepared to spend a little $$$ if you decide to dine in.
We then headed to Santa Cruz Vineyard. We rode a cable car to the top of a hill where we took an audio tour and were able to purchase a few glasses on wine. Alpacas, a statue from Easter Island, and amazing views made the tour worthwhile for us. We then met up with another group for a wine tasting and tour of their cellars. Another place we were able to get a guide in English (big plus!). It was a fantastic afternoon and we fully believe everyone should check them out if you’re in the area.
*Tip: At the end of the wine tasting you can ask for another “taste” of your favorite wine. You can also ask if you can keep your wine glass. They didn’t offer this up as part of the tour but if you ask, they’ll very kindly oblige.
From Santa Cruz we headed back to Santiago and then Valparaiso for our 2nd week. We didn’t think our trip could get any better after that first week, but oh man, were we pleasantly surprised by the colorful city of Valparaiso!