Christmas in the Chilean lake district

Our journey to Pucón from La Serena was long: about twenty hours by bus with a bit of time to change between bus stations and grab some dinner in Santiago.

Bleary eyed, we wandered about the town before the shops and restaurants had opened. It's a small, smart place: like a Chilean Morzine, perhaps? The nearby Volcán Villarrica looms large above the town.

The beach.

The square.

A man pushing his bicycle along Avenida O'Higgins.

Once the hostel opened we checked in, did some shopping for Christmas day treats and spent time sunbathing and playing with the hostel's dogs. We watched the sun set on the shore of the Villarrica lake (with a Patagonia beer).

The following day (Christmas Eve) we grabbed some bikes and headed towards Caburgua, with its sandy beach bordering a beautiful lake.

View from the road to Caburgua

Lago Caburgua

On the way we stopped off at the Ojos de Caburgua, a series of waterfalls at the confluence of three streams. Highly recommended.

Christmas day started off with a nice long run, perhaps attempting to preempt the cheese consumption we were planning for later on the day.

We made it to about one minute past midday before popping the cork of our £3.50 sparkling wine (which was nicer than expected tbh). We were sharing the hostel with a couple of friendly volunteers, so it wasn't as quiet as we'd worried it might be. The dogs came and kept us company too 😆

On Boxing Day, as is traditional, we went for a nice long walk. This year was across the snow fields of the volcano.

The view from (nearly) the top

The crater we couldn't quite get to.

We weren't allowed all the way to the top as Villarrica is currently rumbling and smoking more than is usual. Check out the ash that's settled on top of the snow.

All great fun and helped to clear out our cloudy heads and cheesy arteries. Especially since they let us slide down the snow all the way to the bottom on plastic spade things / toboggans 👌

On our final day in Pucón, we jumped on a bus back in the direction of Caburgua, all the way to the Termas de Pozones hot springs. These were great, nice and simple with stony pools and a river in which to cool off between soaks.

The springs were in this pretty valley

Pucón was a great place to spend a few days over Christmas. Now we're heading off back to Santiago to pick up mis padres for New Year in Valparaíso. Should be fun!