It was bittersweet leaving Chepu on Monday morning. We knew it was time to move on, and yet the sun was rising on a beautiful day. We said goodbye to Fernando and hopped on the rural bus to Ancud. We arrived to the Ancud terminal at the perfect time, we hopped another bus 10 minutes later back to the mainland to Puerto Montt. Our goal for the day was to head to the outdoor mountain paradise of Pucon (near the Andes and Argentina border). After a 2 hour lunch layover, we hopped another 6 hour bus direct to Pucon. We arrived around 8pm and found a cheap hostel close to the bus station. Pucon is a very resort-like town so hostels are definitely in abundance and great deals are to be found in the off-season.

Pucon is an outdoor haven for adventurers - hiking, rafting, kayaking and biking companies are in everywhere. It is a picturesque little town set on the shore of Lago Villarica and near the base of Volcan Villarica, a beautiful, snow-capped (and active!) volcano.

Mark and I headed out to explore the town, grab some groceries, and we hit up a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant to try one of Chile's delicacies - completos. Ok, so maybe delicacy is a bit of a strong word. Completos are Chilean hotdogs! But hotdogs done in my style - covered in tomatoes and heaps of guacamole! They were pretty tasty. The hotdog seemed like an after thought in the huge bun with all the toppings.

Tuesday morning, we woke up LATE. It was so nice to sleep in and have tons of warm covers. We made a great french toast breakfast and were about to head out for the day to find a nearby hike or walk the beach but it started to pour! The weather was calling for rain but we didn't expect crazy downpours! When the rain seemed to let up a bit, we headed out for a walk to explore the black rocky volcanic beach. Of course, as soon as we arrived at the lake, the downpours started again and we were soaked! Since we were already wet, we toured the town a bit, and grabbed some soup and empanadas to bring home for lunch. We stayed in a lot of the afternoon because it really just rained continuously. We have been so lucky on this trip with the weather we've had - we're really not accustomed to the rain!

Mark and I had a nice dinner out at a local bar. We saw a sign that advertised both 2 for 1 pints AND 20% off mexican food before 9pm. Perfect! It was tasty!

We awoke to crazy rain and winds in the middle of the night and again this morning. Our visions of hiking all day evaporated as we turned off the alarm and decided to sleep in again!

Today, we've been playing hide and seek with the sun - it seems to alternate sunny breaks with crazy downpours. In the sun breaks, we bop around trying to get a feel of the town. (We are often followed by stray dogs. Today one that hopped on three legs followed me around and Beth had a pack of five, including two puppies, following her.)