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 planningAfter 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, 2018So, 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
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Ricardo JiménezExpansion works due to be ready for 2020 (Hopefully)
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Ricardo JiménezAs 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
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Ricardo JiménezAfter 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
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Ricardo JiménezSafety card and buy-on-board menu
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Ricardo JiménezThe interior looked really good, specially with those red seat headrests
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Ricardo JiménezOn 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.
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Ricardo JiménezSpace between seats is quite good, at least for a short, 1.71m (5.6ft) guy, like me.
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Ricardo JiménezSo, 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.
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Ricardo JiménezHere's a video from our take off (you can hear my friends in the back joking):
https://youtu.be/gKyXHlZlsFABoth take off and flight were quite smooth.and uneventful
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Ricardo JiménezLATAM's (Chile and Brazil) fleet, still showing... an A330?
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Ricardo JiménezLanding 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/50Mu3mEc08gAirport 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
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Ricardo JiménezAfter 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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Ricardo JiménezThe 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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Ricardo JiménezAnd 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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