Bryon's family is so nice and so welcoming! When we walked into their house, it smelled like freshly baked pastries and cakes. Bryon's mom and dad are both bakers! They were up at 6am making double layer cakes with homemade frosting, and their fridge is full of cartons of cream! Byron was the head chef at Cliffs when Bailey worked their, and he said he was inspired by his parents and their bakery business. Byron also has a brother who is studying kinesiology in Temuco, and a sister who is studying to be a tour guide. Byron recently got back from a five month solo backpacking trip through South America, visiting Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru. Bailey and I really enjoyed staying at Byron's house! It was so comfortable and relaxing, and you could even hear the horses walk by in the morning, their hooves click-clacking on the cobblestones as they carry buggies full of fruits and vegetables. I love it.
Our first night in Villarrica, Byron showed us around the town. We walked along the lake, saw Byron's church and school, and visited the artisans craft shops. Miguel (also a chef at Cliffs) came to visit. We had Mexican food for dinner (yay for corn tortillas!), and then we joined two of Byron's cousins at a bar for drinks. Mmmm tequila and piscolas. So Chilean!
The next day, Byron went with Bailey and I to Pucon. Pucon is a great town! It's very walkable, has lots of restaurants and cafes, and tons of outfitters and tour operators that provide a plethora of adventure activities. There are also a couple of lakes with views of Volcan Villarrica, as well as lots and lots of stray dogs (which is common in every city in Chile, except that these strays were huge dogs that chased cars for fun). We ate lunch (and dinner!) at an awesome restaurant in Pucon that Byron loves (and coming from a chef, that means it must be really good)! I had gorgonzola bean gnocchi for lunch and then a smoked salmon, avocado, and ricotta cheese sandwich for dinner. Yum! We got a hostel in Pucon for the night since there were quite a few activites we wanted to do.
It was cold when we were in Pucon, but it didn't stop us! Bailey, Byron, and I went whitewater rafting on the Trancura River. There were five Class 4 rapids and one Class 5+ rapid that we walked (and then jumped from the rocks back into the river). This was the most intense rafting I had ever done (since before I'd only done Class 3's), and it was so intense. The rapids we did today weren't even rapids! They were waterfalls! It was insanely fun, but I was legit scared at times too. We had a great guide though, who gave commands in Spanish and in English, and he also explained the route/line through the rapid that we were going to take very well.
The next day we went hiking in Huerquehue National Park, about an hour bus ride north of Pucon. The national park is home to beautiful green, tree-covered mountains, waterfalls, cascades, and several lakes formed by glaciers in the mountain valleys. We didn't have much time in the park since we wanted to get back to Villarrica in time for dinner, but we managed to hike for about five hours along the trail to Los Lagos. The portion of the trail that we hiked was through the mud along the calm, turquoise-colored Lake Trinquilco and then up one of the mountains to get a view of the lake from above. If we had had time to continue, we would have hiked down the other side of the mountain to see the other lakes. Even though we didn't spend a ton of time in the park, I was happy to be outside and hiking for the day.
When we returned to Villarrica, Byron made a version of pastel de choclo for dinner, which is a Chilean dish of corn and meat. After dinner we walked down to the lake- we finally had a clear sky with no rain clouds" so there was a magnificent view of Volcan Villarrica! As the sun was setting, the snow-covered volcano changed colors from white to orange, then to pink and to red.
The next morning we slept in, and Byron made a brunch of scrambled eggs, avocado, and chicken, as well as yogurt, cereal, and fruit. We had beautiful weather today, so I did some souvenir shopping and went down to the lake for more pictures of Volcan Villarrica. The sky was perfectly blue with no clouds. You could see the steam coming out of the top of the volcano and how the wind blew it across the sky! It was incredibly beautiful! Byron's mom had a lunch of chicken, beef, rice, and peas for us before we got on the bus for Valdivia. Byron and his family are so amazing! His mom is absolutely adorable, and even called me "mi hija" when we said goodbye. So lovely! I just feel so rested and relaxed and happy :)
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