Villarrica

The second part of Brian and John's Adventure down south lead us to the town of Villarrica.

We arrived around midday at Villarrica set out to find lodging. This was of course after a little hiccup that we had immediately after we got off the bus. In my, all to common, absentmindedness and lack of attention to detail i left my camera in the pouch of my seat as it set off to its next destination. Thanks to the help of Carlos, the employee at Jacks(the bus company) we (like i truly had anything to do with finding my camera) were able to track down my camera and have it returned to me later that day.
After hearing that my camera was going to be returned later that day, we left and found a nice little hostel in near the Lake in Villarrica. The lodging was a step up from our past lodging and had a nice little log cabin feel to it.

Things we did in Villarrica:

-Saw yet another free concert in the city
This was a small folkloric group that we happened upon after going out to have a drink and converse at night. It is impressive to see the amazing musical talent of so many artists here. I have come to appreciate it more. Living with a music player has definitely opened me up to new and otherwise unknown types of music.
-Went to the beach in Villarrica.
It was nice just to be able to soak in the sun and enjoy the lake water. Again, not being a details person, i overlooked the need for sunscreen and found myself slightly burnt. This would present itself to be a problem the next day.
-Visiting Pucon
This is the more touristy city on the lake. After our visit to the beach we went and saw the city of Pucon. It was a typical resort city and was a little overwhelming to be honest. We did step in to a Casino, in honor of a friend of ours who recommended we go. I was fairly successful doubling up in poker and winning 20 bucks and then playing 5 cent slot i won an additional 15 bucks. So for 45 minutes worth of work it was rather fruitful. This also helped pay for the rather extravagant lunch that we had. (something that wasn't planned into the budget, but the food was delicious and we just had to splurge)
-The hike up a volcano
The next day we went on a 24-28 km hike up Mt Villarrica, a live volcano that gave impressive views of the surrounding lakes, mountains as well as being able to see the smoke the was coming out of the volcano. The hike was wonderful barring the rubbing of the backpack on our recently sunburned backs.
-Visiting the University in Villarrica
Originally we went to visit the University to see the chapel and we were then recommended (forced) to see the little museum that they had in the basement. The exhibit was fairly impressive and the guide that we had was very helpful. He actually had us try on some replicas of indigenous clothing and then had us sit in an actual indigenous canoe (over 400 years old) to take a picture. This was slightly awkward for us, considering we are taught in the U.S. not to touch the artifact, and the guide had us simply step into it.

At the end of the day we got on a night bus to Santiago and enjoyed a 10.5 hour bus ride home, reaching Santiago early Thursday morning.