MARCH 5, 2014-Wednesday, Pucon, Chile

MARCH 5, 2014 - WEDNESDAY

BOTTOM LINE:
Pucon, Chile

NOTEWORTHY:
On most days, our single goal is to stumble upon something uniquely interesting,  to discover something or someone special that we were not looking for.   Today we found a gourmet food stand in the middle of nowhere and met a mature 18 year old young woman who had run away from Santiago to find herself and ended up working at this dusty roadside oasis at the edge of the forest.

BACK STORY:
Today's adventure was centered around a drive up to Lago (Lake) Tinquilco to do a trek (hike) to a cascade (another word for waterfall) and then drive along the Rio Llucurra to some thermal hot pools that we had seen advertised.

Marker for turn off

 The entry fees to the waterfall trails were clearly to be paid to the National Park System's official office and not a private land owner as was the case yesterday.  The use of the Banos and toilet paper were included!

The hike along the lake was beautiful and the breeze felt good against our faces. The trail joined a narrow one lane rural road which crossed a small creek before forking off to it's own trail again.  The road section  gave us an up close and personal look at the little plots of farmland that natives called their Casa (home). One such home had pigs and chickens running around with barefoot little kids playing under the trees.  Sheep and a few cows were on the other side of the road fenced in.  Just beyond the house was a stand selling miel (honey) and queso (cheese) without refrigeration.

Bruce hamming it up! 

Hog Heaven

Henny Penny

As we rejoined the trail we climbed a very steep hill giving us a false sense that we were getting close to the sight of our destination.  We could hear water and could see a stream every so often but we never found the waterfall.  We turned around disappointed but thankful for the exercise.

As we descended, the piglets at the farm had snuck through the fence and were now chasing the turkeys and ducks with the children running not far behind!  Chaos ensued as we continued to walk back to our car laughing at the sight.

Good exercise always seems to be followed by hunger.  We continued up the road and came upon a little stand with outside seating.  I had a good feeling about the place as it looked clean! Ha!  It was indeed a "find."  The gal behind the counter spoke fluent English as she had been to Maryland three summers in a row.

We found a little table in the shade.  The place had a hodgepodge of chairs and tables and had a sprinkler going to keep the dust down from incoming cars.  What they lacked in finer accommodations they made up with their lemon/mint iced tea and gourmet turkey, onion, queso (cheese) and prune Empenadas.  I was in HEAVEN in the midst of a seemingly impoverished area of Patagonia!!!  Delish!

Empinada lunch

Continuing up the road to the Termas de Huife (thermal pools) we found a huge entry with a matching entry fee...$30 each!  It seemed as though a "destination" experience to be enjoyed for an entire day and not a late afternoon arrival.

We left and headed home to pack for our departure and full day drive in the following day. On the way back to our hotel Bruce wanted to check out the "Parque Jardin Pucon" (Picon Garden Park)...turned out to be a cemetery!

Picon Garden Park

Park...cemetery