Sin Bicis: Santiago and Beautiful Pucon

Our bikes at the bus terminal, Santiago, Chile.
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Los Andes, Santiago and Pucon (Chile)

From Los Andes, Tole and I hopped a bus to Santiago for a short layover before heading to Pucon via overnight bus.  We were impressed with Santiago, more so than we expected to be.  It´s a fine and clean town, with a lively feel and tasty pisco sours.  Pisco sours are our favorite new Chilean discovery!  We did notice, though, that Chile is significantly more expensive than Argentina.  Not good when you´re looking to stick to a budget.

Mmmm, pisco sours

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While in Santiago, though, we got the bad news that Annalee had fallen off her bike on the way into Los Andes and broken her clavicle.  She caught her tire on a ridge in the concrete, which is the same way that I´ve fallen a few times in the past.  She just had some particularly bad luck, and now she and Chris are back in the States so that Annalee can heal up and get ready for more traveling.  But we are really sorry not to be sharing this experience with them, and think about them a lot as we make our way down south.  Get better soon, Annalee!

Toles cool shot of a tower in Santiago, Chile.
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After riding around Santiago and having a leisurely meal outdoors (with Pisco Sours, of course), we boarded our unbelievably comfy bus to Pucon.  In Chile, people travel primarily by bus, so the buses are fantastic.  There are "bus attendants" that bring food and drinks around.  The seats on the overnight buses recline completely and have foot rests, so we got lots of sleep and woke up to find ourselves in the beautiful Lake District of Chile.  Along the road to Pucon, we had clear views of the perfectly conical, snow-covered Volcan Villarica.  The lush, green and misty landscape was a stark contrast to our trip over the harsh and arid Andes from Mendoza.

Plaza de Armas, Santiago, Chile.
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We stayed in Pucon for 3 days, including a few nights of birthday-anniversary present at the lovely Hotel Antumalal on Lake Villarica.  There we had massages, deeply appreciated after the Andes crossing, soaked our bones in the hot tub, and read books in front of the beautiful common-area fireplace.  By Sunday, we were ready to set off on our bikes again, this time in the chilly drizzle of the Chilean Spring.