I took a bus all day from Mendoza to Santiago, which lasted 10 hours. Most of the time was wasted at immigration, where there was a massive clusterfuck. I stayed the night in Santiago and hung out the next day with Kadin and Tamara, hoping to catch the night bus to Pucon, Chile (10 hours away). I spent the day walking around and eating.
Pucon is known for its volcano. It’s a small town (probably under 30k people) and very attractive/active during the summer. It’s not very busy during the winter, however, and the primary outdoor attractions (biking, rafting, hiking) are closed.
I wanted to go in and out, spending like…three days max in Pucon. That plan went to shit when the weather sucked ass all week long. I got into Pucon on Monday morning and I wasn’t able to go to the volcano until Friday. I was also cutting things a tad close as my flight out of here was drawing closer and closer.
I spent the week dicking around, mainly just sitting on my ass and eating. There is also a casino in Pucon and it is one of the larger attractions. Unfortunately there was no live poker to speak of, probably due to the small population during winter. I wasted my money on a King-Kong themed slot machine, trying to see what old people see in slots (the appeal). Losing both my money and interest, I failed to see how this could be ‘fun’.
I walked around and saw a few games offered. Blackjack, Roulette, and my bane: Texas Holdem Bonus. Seeing as I had no idea how to really play correct BJ strategy and not enough to put all my $ everywhere on roulette, I decided to play Holdem Bonus.
It turned out this was a perverse version and not really the same one played in the U.S. I lost my money and busted my peso roll, running out of the casino while swearing up a storm.
I went to the Volcano early the next morning with a group. It was a long trek up, and my entire group was French (as it was a French company). Some elected to bring skis up the mountain, which would later prove disastrous.
Anyways, the trek itself was mildly difficult. The snow was tough to walk through and I could see how much easier the summer would be. Our group moved at a snail’s pace and we reached a point about 3 hours in where a decision was to be made.
I was tired by hour three but I was still able to walk with the guide. Sadly, the same could not be said for my pathetic French group, nearly all of whom were straggling behind. Those wearing the skis on their backs were especially desperate, wasting away in the back. The guides pretty much told us that we were moving too slow and that the conditions were too harsh at the top.
Alas, we were not able to reach the top. I was super fucking bitter at my idiotic pathetic French teammates, having wasted an entire day, money, and time. Walking that far and putting myself through a difficult trek was fruitless given that we didn’t reach the top. So we got to the plateau and were forced to go down, mainly on either our asses or on these mini sleds.
Talk about lame…fucking Frenchies.
the summit view…something I’ll probably never see in my life, thanks to French weaklings.
Went back to Santiago, walked around all day long. Don’t really feel like uploading any pictures of Santiago as I don’t really feel it was super interesting. I woke this morning at 3:30 am and am now in Lima, where I’ll spend the last two days of my trip.
Ready to go to Vegas…