Hey guys

So, long time without a trip report, which coincides with me working like crazy during 2017. But anyway. Here comes a nice, comprehensive trip report on my last vacations. Here goes.

The planning

After breaking up with my girlfriend, I started planning a trip with my friends to, basically, anywhere. At first, the idea was to spend our summer vacation in Montevideo. Then, after a meeting in which, at first, we were supposed to make the reservations at the hostel in Montevideo and also booking our flight, we started looking for other options. First came Mancora, in Perú. Then came Buzios, in Brazil. And suddenly, someone said "Hey, let's stay in Chile this time". Good! So we put two options on the table. It was either Coyhaique in the south of Chile, the place where I was born, or San Pedro de Atacama, in the north of Chile. But of course, then came a third option. I said "Hey, why don't we try Pucon". Yes, Pucon, again. I went there on December 2016 and I simply loved it, but both my friends had never been there. So, after a quick voting and a few beers, Pucon was the way to go for February this year!

2nd February, 2018

So, we started early in the morning. We had already booked a TransVip private taxi towards the airport for around 38 bucks at 6:30AM to pick the three of us. Our flight was at 10:10AM, so we had plenty of time to get to the airport on time, which is a good idea on high season at SCL, and specially because of the terminal's expansion, which makes things a bit chaotic. So, on with some pics!

Early morning on a sunny Friday
IMG_4063 by Ricardo Jiménez
Expansion works due to be ready for 2020 (Hopefully)
IMG_4065 by Ricardo Jiménez

As expected, the terminal was quite full, but check in was done in less than 15 minutes. LATAM Airlines has a 3-step check in at SCL:

1) There are some self check in machines in which you can either scan your printed boarding pass bar code or your iPhone's wallet QR Code and then you get your luggage tag and another boarding pass. (I don't know if there's an alternative for Android phones).

2) Then you stand on queue for one the many counters LATAM has at SCL, then you just show your boarding pass or iPhone's QR together with your ID, they weigh your luggage and that's it. All of this in less than 15 minutes.

3) Relax and wait for your flight

IMG_4060 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4061 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4062 by Ricardo Jiménez

After an espresso and a cheese and ham croissant at the domestic terminal's Starbucks, it was time to board our plane.

The Flight


Flight: LA037
Departure time: 10:15AM (Yeah, it was a bit delayed)
Arrival at Temuco: 11:36AM
Flight time: 01:10hrs
Plane: CC-BFX, a 3-year-old Airbus A320-214SL, delivered directly to LAN Airlines in July 2014 before being transferred to LATAM Airlines in 2016. Still in LAN Airlines colors.
Gate: 27
Seat: 8L

So, boarding was quick and with no issues. We were pushed back at 10:25 because there was a missing passenger who was stuck in one of the airport's bathrooms, but no worries.

Ahh perfect view
IMG_4074 by Ricardo Jiménez
Safety card and buy-on-board menu
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IMG_4077 by Ricardo Jiménez
The interior looked really good, specially with those red seat headrests
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On domestic flights, LATAM Airlines offers LATAM Entertainment, which is a sort of Personal IFE in which you have to install a Phone/Tablet app and connect to the airplane's WiFi. It offers movies, TV series, music and documentaries. I didn't use it though, as it was a really short flight and I was flying with my friends.
IMG_4081 by Ricardo JiménezIMG_4082 by Ricardo JiménezIMG_4083 by Ricardo Jiménez
Space between seats is quite good, at least for a short, 1.71m (5.6ft) guy, like me.
IMG_4080 by Ricardo Jiménez

So, my idea of picking the right side of the plane was so I could be able to get some pictures of the main terminal while taking off from Runway 17L, but I was shocked when I noticed that we were going to take off from 17R. Oh well.
IMG_4085 by Ricardo Jiménez

Here's a video from our take off (you can hear my friends in the back joking): https://youtu.be/gKyXHlZlsFA

Both take off and flight were quite smooth.and uneventful
IMG_4091 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4092 by Ricardo Jiménez
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IMG_4094 by Ricardo Jiménez
LATAM's (Chile and Brazil) fleet, still showing... an A330?
IMG_4097 by Ricardo Jiménez,
IMG_4098 by Ricardo Jiménez

Landing was loooong. The flight crew made a few turns left and right before landing on runway 19. We came in a bit faster than usual, so we had to backtrack the runway, but all in all, it was good. Here's a video of it: https://youtu.be/50Mu3mEc08g

Airport had no planes on the tarmac or terminal, except for quite a special one. FACH985, the presidential plane, which had brought in some national police and government executives to the region
IMG_4103 by Ricardo Jiménez

After getting my luggage from the belt, we took a shuttle that, on high season, takes you directly from Temuco's airport to Pucon for 17 bucks on a 01.15hr trip. Quite cheap. Ours was being driven by Luigi
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The way to Pucon gets quite green and lakey. And volcanoey too! This is Villarrica, a town a few miles before Pucon.
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And there we were. At last! So, the next part will be some few pictures of the town and many many things you can do and get there
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The town

Our hostel was quite good and quite cheap, relatively near the city center. It was owned by a french guy (hence the French Andes name) and all the front desk receptionists were also french (some of them very nice looking). We had a really good kitchen to our disposal, an electric stove, a convection oven and a microwave. We also had Netflix and quite a nice space to rest and relax. Here are some pics:

IMG_4518 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4519 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4520 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4521 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4522 by Ricardo Jiménez

Oh, if you like weird things, these big bad boys come out at night and go around the backyard, so watch your feet
IMG_4128 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4277 by Ricardo Jiménez

We did different things on the 9 days we spent at Pucon.

Trekking at the Huerquehue National Park was the first thing. We got up early in the morning and took a bus that takes you there and then picks you up at 5:30PM to take you back to Pucon. It's a really nice place to go. There are three trails you can take. The easier one is an 800m trail, which is more suitable for older people and children. The one we took is the medium difficulty one. It's a 17.6km walk (8.8 kms up and down), with an ascent of about a 1000 meters that takes you through 3 beautiful lakes, the highest one at 1310 meters. It takes about 3 hours to get to the last lake and 2 hours to go back down. You can get a map at the entrance from a QR Code. There's also an "expert mode" one, which is 16km walk (8 up and 8 down), with no beacons and more difficult trails. You just have to pay a fee of about 8 dollars to enter the park and take plenty of water, though there are some places in which you can refill any container you have.

IMG_4129 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4132 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4134 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4153 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4167 by Ricardo Jiménez
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IMG_4212 by Ricardo Jiménez

So, that's taken care of and, as we had a really nice kitchen and we liked cooking, we bought some local delicacies and started cooking. Those weird looking baby potatoes are a called "Papas Chilotas". Some of them are kinda sweet. They are really good.
IMG_4256 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4257 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4258 by Ricardo Jiménez

Now, Caburgua, a small town near Pucon that has a lake and two beaches, one with white sands and the other one with brown-ish sand. Nice, cheap and quiet place, famous for being the place most presidents and politics prefer to spend their vacation.
IMG_4265 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4268 by Ricardo Jiménez

You can't beat a sunset by the lake in Pucon
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Oh, there goes one of LATAM's NEOs coming from Punta Arenas.
IMG_4293 by Ricardo Jiménez

Second thing we did, and first time for the three of us was Rafting. Boy did I have fun. The only sad thing was that the pictures provided by the tour guide were not in a very good quality, but anyway, here are some of them
IMG_4304 by Ricardo Jiménez
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IMG_4312 by Ricardo Jiménez
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Yeah, I forgot to put sunscreen on a really sunny day. Ouch
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God I love clouds at sunset.
IMG_4325 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4328 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4423 by Ricardo Jiménez

Now, if you ever go to Pucon, go visit this place. It's called "The Americano". It's a burger joint which has delicious burgers and other types of food, and, as special party piece, a one liter piscola (Coke and Pisco), our national drink. Drink it carefully though. Oh, they also have excellent music and beers.

IMG_4465 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4466 by Ricardo Jiménez
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IMG_4472 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4480 by Ricardo Jiménez

Oh, by the way, if you are into beers and you come to Chile, when you go to a good bar, make sure you ask for an Austral Calafate Ale, which is, probably, the best local beer. Trust me on this.

A General view from Pucon's cemetery.
IMG_4493 by Ricardo Jiménez

Now, 48 hours before our flight, it was time to do our Check In. You can do it on LATAM Airlines' app.
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Some few last pics of the surroundings before packing
IMG_4501 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4504 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4533 by Ricardo Jiménez
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Last part coming up!

The sad ending

Now, it was time to go back to Santiago. We booked the same shuttle bus service that took us to Pucon to go back to the airport. We said goodbye to the guys at the hostel and left for the airport.

When we got there, I saw a thing a never thought I would see at an airport's security notice: An Emoji, which basically said "Don't mention things related to explosives"
IMG_4540 by Ricardo Jiménez

Temuco's airport is quite functional and very well planned, thought it can get a bit crammed at the boarding area. Check in was done in less than five minutes. Here are some pics:
IMG_4541 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4542 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4546 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4547 by Ricardo Jiménez

As the flight from Santiago was coming in a bit late, we had plenty of time to eat something at the airport and do stuff.

The Flight Back to Santiago

Flight: LA036
Departure time: 17:34 (Actually, we departed about 20 minutes late)
Arrival at Temuco: 18:45 (We eventually got there at 19:05)
Flight time: 01:10hrs
Plane: CC-BAY, a 5-year-old Airbus A320-214, delivered directly to LAN Airlines in June 2012 before being transferred to LATAM Airlines in 2016. Still in LAN Airlines colors.
Gate: 1
Seat: 7L

This plane was one with the older, grey-ish interiors and was a bit on the dirty side, though it is understandable as there was little to no time to turn it around for the flight back to Santiago. Still, the flight was impecable and the crew was very nice. On with the pics

We need a new Oneworld Logo, capt'n!
IMG_4550 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4551 by Ricardo Jiménez

The take off video goes here: https://youtu.be/EHNNpoCM2u8

Some pics from the flight:
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IMG_4557 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4559 by Ricardo Jiménez
Hi there Santiago!
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IMG_4562 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4563 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4564 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4565 by Ricardo Jiménez

The video from the Landing on 17L: https://youtu.be/FSBjSce32q0

One of LATAM's 787-9
IMG_4576 by Ricardo Jiménez
Yes! We were going to be taken by bus to the terminal. More pics!
IMG_4578 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4581 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4584 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4585 by Ricardo Jiménez
IMG_4586 by Ricardo Jiménez
A Mitsubishi Mu-2 going to LATAM's Maintenance area.
IMG_4587 by Ricardo Jiménez
Hey DAP Mineral 737-200!
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And that's it!
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So that's it. All in all, I spent some really marvelous 9 days at one of my favourite places on earth with my two best friends. What more can you ask?

Thanks for watching guys and sorry for the HUGE amount of pics.

Happy Wednesday!

Wow, fantastic trip report and great pictures! I am jealous of all of the great food and adventures you got to go on while in Pucon. I spent a semester studying Spanish in Chile and have fond memories of this beautiful country. I stayed in Vina with a host family and traveled all over the country. One of my favorite trips was flying to Puerto Montt and doing an all day private excursion with a guide and my two friends around the area. So much to do and see in Chile. Thanks again for sharing.

Thank you for this report and especially all these pictures!!!
The scenery down there looked breathtaking - I've only been to Latin America once before but Pucon will definitely be on my list now!

LATAM looks good too, I've had the pleasure to fly them (as LAN) between Frankfurt and Madrid and I was already impressed with them then. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing more reports from Chile in the future!

Lukas

Beautiful. Want to go to Chile. When is the best month to go to Pacon / Lake District?

lychemsa wrote:

Beautiful. Want to go to Chile. When is the best month to go to Pacon / Lake District?

Hi! Thanks for your comment!

Well, you have three options:

- If you are a winter person, you should definitely go between June and August. It gets really cold though and a bit crowded, but you get snow and you also get to go to the ski center, which is right next to the volcano

- If you like summery days, you should definitely go between December and March. Really good weather, which means you can go to the lake, do rafting and more partying.

Both those are Pucon’s high seasons. The rest of the year is a quiet place, so if you like just resting and doing stuff like sitting next to a chimney while looking at the lake or stuff like that, you also can do that

Thanks for the comments guys!

Thanks for posting such a detailed report. These are my favorite type of trip reports. I feel like I was almost there. And that steak was cooked to perfection lol. Made me hungry.

Wonderful TR, great pictures - not too much writing, well done!

However, as an aviation geek, I was looking for a more "exotic" airline than LATAM; like JetSmart or Sky... Maybe next time?!

Phenomenal trip repot. Thank you for posting! I was in Pucon and surrounding areas in January and it was absolutely breathtaking. Flew ZCO to SCL on a LATAM A321 and your report brought back a lot of great memories.

Awesome report! Do you know what the hostel is called, by chance?

Amazing report, really enjoyed all of it! I also flew that day on a LATAM Chile flight. Very nice service

debonair wrote:

Wonderful TR, great pictures - not too much writing, well done!

However, as an aviation geek, I was looking for a more "exotic" airline than LATAM; like JetSmart or Sky... Maybe next time?!

hahaha thanks for the comment. And yes! Actually, I was planning on flying with JetSmart, but they were not flying to Temuco on Fridays at that time, probably because of fleet availability. And I also wanted to add more miles to my LATAM Pass account, but next time I will surely give them a go

Cointrin330 wrote:

Phenomenal trip repot. Thank you for posting! I was in Pucon and surrounding areas in January and it was absolutely breathtaking. Flew ZCO to SCL on a LATAM A321 and your report brought back a lot of great memories.

Oh lucky you! I wanted to try LATAM's A321s, but on February they changed the whole operation to A320s.

tkoenig95 wrote:

Awesome report! Do you know what the hostel is called, by chance?

Hi! Yes, the hostel was called "French Andes". You can find it on Booking.com or hostelworld.

They also have a website https://www.french-andes.com/

LANA343x wrote:

Amazing report, really enjoyed all of it! I also flew that day on a LATAM Chile flight. Very nice service

I saw your video on YouTube. The sound was amazing!

Thanks for sharing your journey with us! I need to spend more time in Chile last time. I took a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. Definitely enjoyed that part of the world.