Straight outta fairy tail: the tiny city of Pucón
I didn't even know Pucón existed, to be honest. Then, I saw the volcano and there it was, my first opportunity to actually get close to a freaking volcano. Don't ask me why. I just needed to be around that thingy. Not on top of it, though. Just hanging around and taking pictures. Soon I realized Pucón is so much more than a beautiful backdrop for your Instagram urges. It's a land of adventure and wonder. I stayed there for almost a month and it wasn't enough. I still plan to come back in a couple of years (or maybe months, who knows?).
How to get there: Pucón it's located at the beginning of the Chilean south. It's a nine hour bus from Santiago, so your best bet is to take the overnight bus. I swear the roads in Chile are smooth and you'll sleep like a baby.
What to do: this is the city for people looking for adventure. If you walk the main street you’ll find a myriad of tour operators offering activities like rafting, kayaking, mountain bike, and of course, hiking all the way up to the volcano, Villarrica. If you’re on the lazy side, like me, you can just chill around Lake Villarica, go to the hot springs (Termas Geometricas being the best one), and my personal favorite: visit Park Huerquehue. Oh, if the weather is nice, go to Cerro San Sebastian inside the national park. It's a seven-hour hike and you'll climb from 700m to 2000m. The reward? A clear view of eight volcanos and 14 lagoons.
Where to stay: Pucón is expensive, but you can still find good hostels for as little as 13USD. It's such a tiny city that it doesn't matter the area where you'll be staying. Everything is within walking distance.
Safety: even though there's a lot of foot traffic during the high season, you'll feel secure at all times. I know I did. And I'm Miss Worry For Nothing. Of course, always be cautious. The amount of high-end gear I saw left unattended, inside hostels and even on restaurants, was out of this world.
Digital nomads: I didn't find a coffee shop where I could work for awhile. Luckily, the hostel where I was volunteering had high-speed internet. People would stream movies all day every day and I was still able to get my work done. There's also free wifi around the city.
Because you need to leave the country once every 90-days, I had to say goodbye to Pucón and hi to Mendoza, Argentina. Maybe this was a good thing. If it wasn't for the law, I would've stayed in Pucón forever. And my nomad project would be over too soon.
