During
my travels with Chris over the
Christmas 2004-2005 break we ran into Andy, a young guy that had headed out to Ecuador to teach English for a year. It was a break between things back home in the States, and we met him in
Pucon, Chile of all places.
It is always interesting when you are travelling, to find out more about the people who cross your paths. Sometimes people stick for a while, but mostly they come and go as fast as the next bus you have booked a seat on. Andy is a sticker. We are not best-of-buddies, but we keep in touch.
He is now back home studying law, and tells me it is nothing like his experiences in Ecuador, teaching in a school in a small town somewhere in the mountains. School was on break when he ventured down to Chile to get a better look around South America.
We met at the hostel that we all ended up staying at. I cannot speak for Andy here, because I never did get around to asking him, but when Chris and I arrived at the bus terminal there was one guy there waiting for us who kindly invited us to his hostel which he hastened to add was not very far out of town. We eventually decided that even though we had not looked around yet, we may as well check out his place. By the time we headed off in his direction, two other guys had also come to try and seduce us for our money but we had been worn out by the first.
Taking a photo while still riding is not too easy. Chris riding.
So landing at this hostel which was considerably further from town than first claimed, we decided to stay there, and that was when we met Andy. For the next day, while our main goal of climbing the namesake snow covered volcano was thwarted, we hung out together riding mountain bikes and exploring the small township.
Andy was with a few others, and eventually they had to move on after waiting for the clouds to release their grip on the local volcano for several days. I cannot remember if they ever got to climb it in the end. It would have been close if not.
This was the main reason we were all here anyway, most of us guided by the enthusiastic descriptions in our traveller's guide books. Chris and I eventually made it up there and can vouch that it was certainly worth the wait, with the return down sliding on your bottom all the way being one of the highlights. Well, ok, there was looking down the mouth of it at the molten lava, and the view from the top, and a few other cool parts too.
Thanks Andy for your recent email and for these two photos which serve as good reminders of the fun and adventures that we all had while down in Pucon, Chile last December.