I am Pucon, Chile at the moment. Getting here was an adventure but being here promises to be even more of an adventure. My trip started simple enough with a long drive from Gold Hill, OR to San Fransisco, CA. My flight left at 1:35 on the morning of the 19th of October and was scheduled to arrive in Santiago de Chile at 2:30 in the morning on the 20th. Well, flying cheap has its advantages and disadvantages, and upon arriving in Bogota after stopping in San Salvador, El Salvador and San Jose, Costa Rica I ran into one of the disadvantages. My flight to Lima, Peru was cancelled and all the instructions for what the now stranded passengers should do were in spanish. Lucky for me, a large group formed around one unfortunate airline employee and soon everyone dashed off in the same direction. I was last in the race to the immigration office, as I was just following everybody, but I made it there and after some confused hand signals I was no longer in transit through, but officially in Bogota, Colombia. Great! Now what?
Again, I followed the group to the airline counter where they seiged some poor employees again. I also made my way to the counter, and with the assistance of a very helpful Brit, I got myself a reservation at an upscale hotel in downtown Bogota.
After a hot shower and a little rest after the strenuous day, it was time to cruise the streets of Bogota. The hotel was across the street from a university, and one block away from a main street that held many bars, clubs, and people. The university was gated so I was limited to the street, but I was not to be dissapointed and had a fun time walking around the city.
The next morning I made my way to the Airport with a San Salvadorian who had helped me the night before at the hotel desk, and boarded a plane to Santiago. Once in Santiago, I found that the buses didn't run at 3:00 in the morning, so I was forced to wait in a coffee shop in the airport until 6:00 AM when I could get a ride to the bus station.
I had not slept well since leaving Oregon, so was very thankful that I got to sit in the back of the bus and get a surprsing amount of rest on the 10 hour bus ride to Pucon. When I arrived in Pucon, a woman offered me a room to sleep in, at a hostal of course, and as we walked the three blocks to the hostal she carried my paddle and told me about the town and area. I walked around Pucon for the next hour then went back to my hostal and soon fell asleep with hopes of running great whitewater the next day.
