Today I had my first mountaineering experience climbing a Villarica volcano right outside of Pucón, Chile. It was the hardest thing for me physically so far, because it was very steep and the gear is pretty heavy and uncomfortable (mainly the boots). The altitude was not the issue since it was only 2,800 meters. We had three guides that were locals. The group was not very big, only 9 people - Israeli, Brazilian and us. Everyone was in good shape (especially the ...

The first day in Pucón, I decided to go a famous thermal springs spa called Thermas Geometricas and it was quite amazing. It was designed by a famous architect, in Japanese style, with red wooden houses and a walkway through a rainforest, with two water falls, and big trees and plants. It was absolutely breathtaking and very zen. There were so many pools, you can be totally isolated from the others. The last pool had a huge waterfall, and was pretty cold. I atte...

View of the Osorno volcano from Puerto Varas

Steamed oysters...

Today we were lucky to get another very sunny day and made a trip to isla quinchao from Castro (on isla Chiloé). The idea was to visit little fishermen villages, eat seafood and visit the wooden churches. Most of them were built without nails or metal, and have been recognized by Unesco world heritage for this uniqueness. Most of them were closed but we still found seafood places, and had giant oysters (Ostras), freshly steamed. They tasted excellent, much like...