A place to reinvent yourself

June 26, 2015 
Temuco - Pucon, Chile
Day 17
Pucon is a popular holiday resort a couple of hours away from Temuco. There is a huge coned volcano - Volcan Villarrica - towering above this attractive town, which is also blessed by a lake on one side, a black side beach on another, and high Norwegian fjord style cliffs on the fourth angle. Villarrica erupted in March of this year, gaining worldwide attention.

Pucon has a great feel to it. An excellent place to chill, party or partake of endless adventure tourism opportunities. It is also, i feel, one of those places where an individual can reinvent themselves. You can move here, start with a bed in a hostel, and then find a job as a kayak instructor, or waiter or guide. I am staying at easily the best-value hostel of the trip - Insolente Princesa - where a cool French girl and a smart girl from Michigan run the show. Both no longer wish to return to their respective homelands, having discovered that life outside of the US and France is often better and more real. I enjoy half the day chilling and chatting to them, and the latter half sat on the beach admiring the stunning views of the Volcano and the sunset.

In the evening, Argentina just manage to make it to the semis, needing a 5-4 penalty win to beat James, Falcao and Carlos Sanchez of Colombia.